Dido Miles

Miles was born Eleanor Amy Dido Deloince. She wanted to use the stage name Dido Deloince, but her mother, a fellow actress, believed that it sounded like the name of a sex worker. She instead opted to use her mother's maiden name, Miles, following her mother's death when she was a teenager. Her father, a former actor, was a teacher. Whilst growing up, her actor grandfather, Bernard Miles, founded the Mermaid Theatre. Her grandmother, Josephine Wilson, was also an actress. She spent a lot of time at the Mermaid Theatre as a child. Miles attended comprehensive school in North London, where she dropped out aged 15. Her first job was as an usherette.^[1]

Aged 19, Miles auditioned for actress Pat Heywood at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She was nervous as she performed a monologue from Romeo and Juliet which Heywood had performed in a film. She was successful and was offered a scholarship.^[1] Miles made her acting debut in an episode of the BBC anthology series Screenplay. Following this, she appeared in the 1994 film Black Beauty, and she later appeared in the 1995 film First Knight. Miles also starred in the 1996 film Emma as Isabella Knight.^[2] Following this, she went on to appear in series such as The Bill, Making Waves, and Dani's House.^[2] In May 2009, Miles portrayed the role of Viv Bates in three episodes of the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She reprised her role as Viv for one episode in October 2019.^[3]

In 2012, Miles made her first appearance as Emma Reid in the BBC soap opera Doctors.^[4] Whilst on the series, her character's storylines have included dealing with her husband's assisted suicide, having a miscarriage, suffering from depression, grieving the death of a partner, having an affair with a married woman, coming out as pansexual and being the victim of a homophobic assault.<ef name="emma" />^[5][6][7] For her portrayal of Emma, Miles has garnered several nominations at the British Soap Awards in categories including Best On-Screen Partnership with Ian Kelsey at the 2016 ceremony,^[8] and Best Dramatic Performance at the 2013 and 2017 ceremonies.^[9] She took an unprompted and sudden extended break from the role at the end of 2023, to care for her dying father in real life. In the soap, Emma's absence was explained away by her caring for her son in Australia. In 2024, Doctors was cancelled by the BBC and Miles returned and remained in her role as Emma until its final episode.^[10] Following Doctors, she is set to appear in an episode of Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators.^[1]

• Dido Miles at IMDb