Suzanne Packer (born Suzanne Jackson; 20 June 1958) is a Welsh actress who is best known for playing the role of Tess Bateman in the long-running television series, Casualty.The daughter of Jamaican immigrant parents to Abergavenny, her mother worked as a nurse. She is the elder sister of the Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson. Whilst studying at Llanedeyrn High School in Cardiff, she already showed an interest in acting, playing the lead in school plays including Oklahoma and The King and I.Embarking on an acting career, in the early 1990s she was most well known for her role as Mick Johnson's wife Josie in the Channel 4 soap Brookside. She then undertook a degree in teaching at Goldsmiths College, and after graduating in 1996 taught drama in London.Whilst acting, she met and married American actor Jesse Newman. The couple moved to New York city, where she taught drama and acted, and in 2003 gave birth to their son Paris. Post the birth their relationship began to breakdown, and they agreed to move back to the UK, but Newman later decided to stay in the USA. The couple divorced the following year.Arriving back in Cardiff with her three-month old son, she gained an audition for BBC drama "Casualty". Three weeks later she started work as Sister Tess Bateman, first appearing on screen from September 2003. Packer is currently the third longest serving cast member.Packer appeared with her brother Colin on Series 1, Episode 3 of Celebrity Pointless on 6 July 2011. They were eliminated in the first round.
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