Deena Payne

Diane Margaret "Deena" Payne (born 29 August 1954) is an English actress and former singer. She is best known for playing Viv Hope in the long-running ITV soap opera Emmerdale.

Deena Payne
Payne in 2010
Born	Diane Margaret Payne (1954-08-29) 29 August 1954 (age 70) Orpington, Kent, England
Occupations	Actress singer
Years active	1976–present
Known for	Emmerdale (1993–2011)

Life and career

Payne was born in Orpington, Kent. She used to tour with ex-Animals keyboard player Alan Price as a backing singer and she was a member of the novelty girl band Cats U.K., who scored a UK top 30 hit with "Luton Airport" in October 1979. She was also one of the dancers in Rock Follies of '77. Before Emmerdale, Payne had acted in episodes of Tales of Sherwood Forest and The Bill. She has also appeared in Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.^[1]

Her Emmerdale character was written out of the series in 2011 after 18 years, dying in her sleep during a fire, as the bosses felt the character had run its course. Since leaving Emmerdale, Deena has returned to the stage, appearing in Calendar Girls and various pantomimes. Most recently, she featured on the television show True Crime as the character Irene. In 2020, she appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Patricia Taymount.^[2]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2003	The British Soap Awards	Best Actress	Nominated	[3]
2005	The British Soap Awards	Best Comedy Performance	Nominated	[4]
2006	The British Soap Awards	Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Tony Audenshaw)	Nominated	[5]
2007	Inside Soap Awards	Best Couple (shared with Audenshaw)	Nominated	[6]
2008	Digital Spy Soap Awards	Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Audenshaw)	Nominated	[7]