Stage Her first acting role was as a young boy in a production of
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists at the
Half Moon Theatre (in 2016 she became a patron of the theatre). During the 1980s, she was also involved in a play called
Passionaria at the
Newcastle Playhouse, starring
Denise Black and Kate McKenzie, and they later formed the jazz group Denise Black and the Kray Sisters. Her work in comedy began as a result of starring in a
Donmar Warehouse play called
Songs For Stray Cats and hearing the audience invited to supply lines and ideas for improvisers appearing in after-show cabaret. She starred as the title character in the 1993 Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith production of the musical
Moll Flanders. From 1994 to 1996, Lawrence played Katharine in the
Royal Shakespeare Company production of
The Taming of the Shrew in both
Stratford-upon-Avon and London, for which she received a
Dame Peggy Ashcroft award for Best Actress. In 2005, she appeared with
Victoria Wood,
Julie Walters and
Celia Imrie in the cult West End production of Wood's
Acorn Antiques: The Musical. In 2008, Lawrence took the lead role in
Tom Stoppard's
Hapgood at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre and later at the
West Yorkshire Playhouse in which she was a secret spymaster given the task of exposing a traitor who is leaking vital information to the Russians. In the same year, she co-directed
The Time Step, a comedy about fantasies and talent contests, with
Linda Marlowe at the
Edinburgh Festival. Lawrence appeared as Madame Ranevskaya in a new version of
Chekhov's
The Cherry Orchard, translated by
Tom Stoppard, at the
Birmingham Repertory Theatre in autumn 2010.
Film and television Lawrence came to public attention as a regular performer on the
Channel 4 improvisational comedy series
Whose Line Is It Anyway? at its launch in 1988. Lawrence's speciality on the show was her ability to improvise songs on the spot. She was the first female performer to appear on the show, featuring in both the original pilot episode and the first broadcast episode. Lawrence was featured on
Whose Line until its ninth series in 1997 and 1998, which was the last of the UK series to actually be filmed in the UK. She also performed in two episodes of the American edition of the show in 1999. In 1991, she had her own short-lived comedy series , also on Channel 4. The next year she starred in
Enchanted April, a British remake of
the 1935 film based on
Elizabeth von Arnim's novel. Her other television work includes the comedy series
Not with a Bang and
Downwardly Mobile, and she is remembered for her performances as Maggie Costello in the cricketing comedy drama
Outside Edge alongside
Timothy Spall,
Robert Daws, and
Brenda Blethyn, for which she was awarded the Spectacle Wearer of the Year award in 1993. She went on to perform in
Sealed with a Loving Kiss and
Lunch in the Park as part of the ''
Paul Merton in Galton and Simpson's... series on 16 February 1996 and 21 October 1997. She appeared in the 1999 made-for-television film The Flint Street Nativity'' as both Debbie Bennett and Debbie's mother. In 2000, she played Camilla in
A Many Splintered Thing. Between 1999 and 2001, she was the voice of "Duck" in the children's television show
Dog and Duck. In 2006, she starred alongside
Peter Davison in
The Complete Guide to Parenting as Phoebe Huntley. She has also appeared in the
BBC One drama series
Robin Hood and as Mrs Jiniwin in the 2007 ITV adaptation of
The Old Curiosity Shop. She appeared in an episode of the 2007
E4 teen comedy/drama
Skins, playing Liz Jenkins, estranged mother of
Sid Jenkins, a role which she reprised in the second series. Lawrence was in
EastEnders from March 2009 to February 2010. She played
Manda Best, an old flame of
Minty Peterson. She was featured with
Meera Syal in a celebrity special of
Who Wants to be a Millionaire? that aired on 31 January 2009. She has appeared as a guest on the panel show games
QI and
Never Mind the Buzzcocks. In 2010, Lawrence appeared in series 25, episode 3 of
Casualty named "The Chaos Theory". Lawrence played Mrs Janet Haines, head teacher of a school where sixteen children were admitted to the emergency department having taken LSD. Also in 2010, she played the part of Sandra, Tony's agent, in
the 2010 British feature film version of
Tony Hawks' best selling book
Round Ireland with a Fridge that was released in September 2010 and was released on DVD in November 2010. In 2012, she appeared in
Doctors alongside
Louise Jameson who has also appeared in
EastEnders. Lawrence played Cathy Dayman, and Jameson played Shirley Carter. Also in 2012, she appeared on one episode of the US improv series,
Trust Us With Your Life, similar to
Whose Line is it Anyway?, but never made it to air. Lawrence provided the voice of "The Brain" in the 2015 BBC Two quiz show
Beat The Brain. In 2016, she played Barbara, a synthetic marriage counsellor in series 2 of the Channel 4 television series
Humans. In 2018, she played the lover of a married man portrayed by former "Whose Line" castmate
John Sessions in the feature film
Finding Your Feet. In 2019, she played Agnes Nutter in the Amazon Prime series
Good Omens. In 2020, she appeared in the BBC television series
Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators episode 3.5 "Thy Fury Spent" as Dr Helen Middleton.
Radio Lawrence starred in three series of the improvised comedy series
The Masterson Inheritance from 1993 to 1995 on
BBC Radio 4 alongside
Paul Merton,
Phelim McDermott,
Caroline Quentin,
Lee Simpson and
Jim Sweeney. Each episode comprised a different time period, and the plots were improvised based on suggestions from the studio audience. One unaired episode was produced and narrated by Lawrence, but it was released on the internet by Jim Sweeney on his official site. The
BBC Radio 4 series
The Lawrence Sweeney Mix aired from 27 February to 20 March 2007 and was described as "Josie Lawrence and Jim Sweeney create improvised sketches from audience suggestions". Series 2 began airing on 29 January 2008. She has starred in three other
BBC Radio 4 comedy series: the science fiction comedy
Married in 1996 and the dark comedy series
Vent in 2006 as well as appearing in a
Galton and Simpson Radio Playhouse 50th Anniversary recording of
Clicquot et Fils alongside
Richard Griffiths and
Roger Lloyd-Pack that originally aired on 29 December 1998. In December 2004, BBC Radio 3 broadcast an adaptation by Jim Poyser of
The Provoked Wife originally written by John Vanbrugh and directed by Pauline Harris. The cast included Lawrence as Lady Fanciful. She played the role of 'Amanda' in the comedy series
Reluctant Persuaders on BBC Radio 4. Lawrence made her debut appearance in the long-running BBC Radio 4 show
Just a Minute on 7 January 2008 and returned again in the following series. In December 2014, Lawrence played the role of Agnes Nutter in an adaptation of
Terry Pratchett and
Neil Gaiman's book
Good Omens for BBC Radio 4. In 2019, she reprised the role for the Amazon/BBC television production of the book.
Audio books Lawrence has lent her voice to several
audiobooks, the majority of which were books for children. She has recorded several of the books in
Roger Hargreaves'
Little Miss series, namely,
Bossy,
Giggles,
Trouble,
Tiny,
Sunshine,
Naughty,
Somersault and
Neat and four of
Jacqueline Wilson's books,
Secrets,
The Illustrated Mum,
Bad Girls and
The Bed and Breakfast Star. She has also recorded books from
Felicity Wishes,
Eric Hill's
Spot the Dog and
Tony Bradman's
Dilly the Dinosaur, as well as
Philip Ridley's
Mercedes Ice and
Julia Donaldson and
Axel Scheffler's
Room on the Broom as well as the 2005
Muffin The Mule story books for a grand
CD release. For adults, Lawrence has recorded
audiocassettes of
Rosie Thomas's
Sun at Midnight,
Lynne Truss's
Going Loco and
Daphne du Maurier's
Jamaica Inn.
Video games She appeared on the 1992–1993 series of
GamesMaster, playing
Mad Dog McCree winning her challenge. ==Philanthropy==