Jennifer Hennessy was born in 1970 in Stockport and gained her first taste of fame as part of St. Winifred's School Choir when they released their chart-topping Christmas hit There's No-one Quite Like Grandma in December 1980 (Sally Lindsay, later to play Shelley Unwin in Coronation Street, was also one of the choristers). Jennifer became an actress after leaving school and had her first professional television role in Pauline Calf's Wedding Video in 1994. Further roles followed in Clocking Off, The Office, Emmerdale and Drop Dead Gorgeous.