Glynis
Barber
Glynis Barber is a South African-born British actress best known as Sgt. Harriet Makepeace in the 1980s ITV police drama Dempsey and Makepeace. Born in Durban, she also played Soolin in Blake’s 7 and later became a soap regular in Emmerdale, EastEnders and Hollyoaks. Today, October 25, 2026, she turns 71, and she is still acting, touring the stage, voicing documentaries and running her own healthy-ageing brand.
| Date of Birth | October 25, 1955 |
|---|---|
| Age | 71 years |
| Nationality | South African |
| Zodiac Sign | Scorpio |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Husband | Michael Brandon |
| Children | 1 (Alex) |
Kevin Michael RichardsonGlynis Barber Biography
Glynis Barber was born Glynis van der Riet on October 25, 1955, in Durban, South Africa. Her parents were Heather Maureen (née Robb) and Frederick Barry van der Riet. They divorced when she was young, and at five she moved with her mother to Johannesburg.
She decided to act at the age of five, after seeing Hayley Mills in The Parent Trap, according to her official biography. She was a very shy child, but her classmates kept putting her name forward for school plays. At 15, inspired by a drama tutor, she read the complete works of Shakespeare in two weeks.
Growing up under apartheid also shaped her. Helen Suzman, then the only woman and the only liberal voice in the South African parliament, spoke at her school, and it sparked a lifelong interest in politics and human rights. She still supports the legal charity Protimos and is a patron of The Autism Trust.
Her mother died when Glynis was 17. She spent a year doing different jobs, including modelling, and at 18 her stepfather paid for her move to London. There she took a three-year course at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Her first job after graduating was as an actress and assistant stage manager at Chelmsford Rep. Early screen parts were small, such as a secretary in the Thames TV series Bognor in 1981.
Career
Barber’s first big TV role came in Blake’s 7. She first appeared as a Mutoid in a 1978 episode, then joined the main cast as the gunslinger Soolin in the fourth and final series in 1981. From 1982 to 1984 she played the title role in the BBC’s Jane, a comic-strip wartime heroine shot against blue-screen cartoon backgrounds.
Dempsey and Makepeace made her a household name. She played the upper-class Sgt. Harriet Makepeace opposite Michael Brandon’s New York cop James Dempsey, and they filmed most of the first series in 1984 before it aired in early 1985. Speaking on This Morning in February 2024, Brandon said the show still had 20 million viewers when it was cancelled after three series in 1986.
Film roles followed. She played Elisabeth Jekyll opposite Anthony Perkins in Edge of Sanity (1989) and appeared alongside Vanessa Redgrave in Déjà Vu (1997). Later she had small parts in Edge of Tomorrow (2014) and Point Break (2015). Her TV work in this period included Fiona Brake in the ITV drama Night and Day from 2001 to 2003, plus guest roles in New Tricks, The Royal and two Agatha Christie’s Marple stories.
Soaps then became a big part of her career. She played DCI Grace Barraclough in Emmerdale in 2006 and 2007, and Glenda Mitchell, mother of Ronnie and Roxy, in EastEnders across 109 episodes in 2010 to 2011 and 2016 to 2017. From 2022 to 2024 she played crime boss Norma Crow in Hollyoaks. Speaking to Lorraine in April 2025, she said the part was first meant for a man, until the producers decided to cast a woman. “Who can say no to that?” she said.
She also does a lot of voice work. She has narrated the Channel 5 series The Wonderful World of Chocolate since 2019 and voiced characters in Big Finish’s Blake’s 7 and Doctor Who audio dramas. On screen, she guest-starred as Caroline Bergqvist in Silent Witness in 2022.
On stage, she played Genie Klein in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical in the West End in 2015 and starred with her husband in Love Letters in 2013. In 2025 she joined the UK and Ireland tour of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile as Salome Otterbourne, opposite Mark Hadfield’s Poirot. The tour opened at The Lowry in Salford on September 26, 2025, and ran until May 2026. “I couldn’t be more excited to be returning to the stage,” she said when the casting was announced.
Glynis Barber Filmography
Here are her main film and TV credits, with the years she appeared.
- Terror (1978)
- Yesterday’s Hero (1979)
- Blake’s 7 (1978, 1981)
- Invaders of the Lost Gold (1982)
- Tangiers (1982)
- Jane (1982 to 1984)
- The Wicked Lady (1983)
- The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983, TV film)
- Dempsey and Makepeace (1985 to 1986)
- Edge of Sanity (1989)
- Déjà Vu (1997)
- Night and Day (2001 to 2003)
- Emmerdale (2006 to 2007)
- EastEnders (2010 to 2011, 2016 to 2017)
- Hammer of the Gods (2013)
- Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
- Point Break (2015)
- The Outpost (2019 to 2020)
- Hollyoaks (2022 to 2024)
- Silent Witness (2022)
- Dream Hacker (2025)
Health Writing and Ageless by Glynis Barber
Away from acting, Barber runs Ageless by Glynis Barber, a website and YouTube channel on health and beauty for women in midlife and beyond. She told Lorraine she became passionate about wellbeing in her twenties in the 1980s and started eating organic food when “people literally scoffed.” She began writing about it online about 12 years before that 2025 interview, and she also writes for Hello! magazine.
In 2015 she published The In-Sync Diet with nutritional therapist Fleur Borrelli. On Loose Women in July 2015, she said Borrelli changed how she ate and taught her about inflammation. In the same Lorraine interview she said she gave up being “a real gym bunny” during the pandemic and now prefers home workouts, weights, yoga and long walks with her dog. “Exercise is the closest thing there is to an anti-aging pill,” she said.
Awards and Nominations
Her award nods have come mostly from soaps. She was nominated for Sexiest Female at the 2002 British Soap Awards for Night and Day and for Villain of the Year in 2011 for EastEnders. She earned a Digital Spy Soap Awards nomination for Best Exit in 2008 for Emmerdale, and an Inside Soap Awards nomination for Best Villain in 2022 for Hollyoaks.
Glynis Barber Marital Status and Personal Life
Barber is married to American actor Michael Brandon, her Dempsey and Makepeace co-star. They wed on November 18, 1989. Their son, Alex, was born in Los Angeles in 1992, and the family moved back to London in 1996.
It was not love at first sight, at least not for her. The pair first met over tea at the Ritz hotel in London in 1984, set up by the show’s producer. Speaking on This Morning in 2024, she said she went home and told her then-boyfriend, “This man is a nightmare,” because Brandon was so loud and brash. On Loose Women in 2015, she said she didn’t like him for about a year, while Brandon said he was in love with her from the first episode.
More than 35 years later, they are still together. “They said it wouldn’t last,” she told Lorraine in April 2025. On Instagram on October 14, 2026, she shared photos of the two of them at a Hello! magazine party for its 2026 power list of women “blazing a trail for midlife and beyond.” On October 23, 2026, she posted a picture from Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman’s 90th birthday celebration.
Before Brandon, Barber was married to actor Paul Antony-Barber, whom she met at drama school. They married in 1977 and divorced in 1979. She also dated her Blake’s 7 co-star Steven Pacey while they worked on the show.
Glynis Barber Net Worth
Barber’s wealth comes from more than four decades of steady work in British TV, film and theatre. Her income has come from Dempsey and Makepeace, three long soap runs, national stage tours such as Death on the Nile, and regular narration for Channel 5. She also earns from her writing for Hello! magazine, her diet book and her Ageless by Glynis Barber brand.
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Glynis Barber?
She was born on October 25, 1955, so she turns 71 on October 25, 2026.
Is Glynis Barber still married to Michael Brandon?
Yes. She married Michael Brandon on November 18, 1989, and the couple still appear together, including at a Hello! magazine event in October 2026.
Does Glynis Barber have children?
Yes. She and Michael Brandon have one son, Alex, who was born in Los Angeles in 1992.
Who did Glynis Barber play in EastEnders?
She played Glenda Mitchell, the mother of Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell, in 2010 to 2011 and again in 2016 to 2017.
Where is Glynis Barber from?
She was born in Durban, South Africa, grew up in Johannesburg and moved to London at 18 to study acting.
What is Glynis Barber doing now?
She toured the UK and Ireland in Death on the Nile from September 2025 to May 2026, and she runs her Ageless by Glynis Barber website and YouTube channel.
