Harley Bird

Harley Bird
Born
Harley Fiona Riley

(2001-12-13) 13 December 2001 (age 23)
Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England
Other namesHarley Riley
Alma materManchester School of Theatre
OccupationActress
Years active2007–present

Harley Fiona Riley (born 13 December 2001),[1][2] better known by her stage name of Harley Bird, is an English actress.[3] She was the third as well as the longest running voice of Peppa Pig, taking on the role in 2007 and leaving in 2020. The role was taken over by Amelie Bea Smith.

Early life and education

Harley Fiona Riley[4] was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester in Northern England to Gill and Craig Riley, the second eldest of four children, with two sisters and a brother.[5] Bird attended Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire on their Tring Park Associates programme before enrolling into the main school.[6] She went on to graduate from the Manchester School of Theatre in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Acting.[7]

Career

At age five, she was signed to Alphabet Kidz Talent Agency. A month later she gained the voice role of Peppa in the children's animated series Peppa Pig. She replaced the previous actors, Lily Snowden-Fine and Cecily Bloom. She first voiced Peppa on the 2007 "Peppa's Christmas" special and continued to voice the character for seasons 3, 4, 5 and the first half of the 6th. She voiced Peppa Pig on "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" and various other pieces of show merchandise.[8]

Bird's TV appearances and radio broadcasts include a behind-the-scenes feature on CBBC's Newsround[9] and an interview in character as Peppa on BBC Radio One's Chris Moyles Show.[10] She became the youngest British Academy Film Award winner when she won the Performer award at the 2011 British Academy Children's Awards for her voice-artist work as Peppa Pig.[11][12]

Bird announced that she was leaving the role of Peppa Pig on 31 January 2020, after 13 years and 185 episodes in the role.[13] She was succeeded in the role by Amelie Bea Smith.[13]

Bird starred as Daisy in Blueberry, a 2009 short film which won the Audience Award at the Cinequest Film Festival,[14] She also starred as Piper alongside Saoirse Ronan[15] in Kevin Macdonald's How I Live Now, released in 2013.[16] She also starred in Goodbye, a radio drama by Morwenna Banks, her Peppa Pig co-star, that aired on BBC Radio 4 alongside Olivia Colman, Natascha McElhone, Darren Boyd, Alison Steadman, and John Simm.[17] In 2017, Bird played the lead role of Sammy in Disney Channel's webisode series, So Sammy.[18] In 2024, Bird starred in the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black as Winehouse's best friend Juliette Ashby.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2007–2020 Peppa Pig Peppa Pig and Baby Alexander Voice
2009 Blueberry Daisy Short film
2010–2014 Hailey and Friends Mika Dubbed Voice
2013 How I Live Now Piper Film
2013 Goodbye Maddy BBC Radio 4 drama
2013–2020 Milkshake! Peppa Pig Voice
2014 Doctor Who Ruby Episode: "In the Forest of the Night"
2017 So Sammy Sammy Disney mini series
2024 Back to Black Juliette Ashby

References

  1. ^ "12 today! I love my pressies....!x". Twitter. 13 December 2013. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  2. ^ Iuzzolino, Sarah; Lewis, Hannah; Matthews, Donovan; Vieni, Izzy (29 December 2017). "Harley Bird, voice of Peppa Pig, talks with Long Island kids". Newsday. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Alphabet Kidz talent agency". Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Pipers Corner School Pupil wins Children's BAFTA". UK Boarding Schools. 16 February 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  5. ^ Thompson, Melissa (25 January 2015). "Meet TV's Peppa Pig... the 13-year-old girl from Rochdale". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  6. ^ Barns, Sarah (16 January 2015). "'I'm Peppa Pig' Meet Harley Bird, 13, the voice behind the world's most famous cartoon hog". Express. Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Harley Bird". Manchester School of Theatre. Retrieved 8 August 2024.
  8. ^ "Peppa Pig star Harley Bird on 10 years oinking", BBC News, 21 March 2017, retrieved 21 March 2017
  9. ^ "Harley Bird: The Voice Behind Peppa Pig". Retrieved 8 August 2012. BBC Newsround, 9 February 2012
  10. ^ "Chris Moyles Guests 2011". Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  11. ^ "BAFTA Children's Awards Winners 2011". Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  12. ^ Woods, Judith (22 December 2011). "Why middle-class England is potty about Peppa Pig". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 23 December 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2012.
  13. ^ a b "Peppa Pig voice actor Harley Bird quits after 13 years". The Guardian. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  14. ^ "Blueberry". Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  15. ^ "Saoirse Ronan to star in How I Live Now". Studio Magazine. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Press release for "How I Live Now" film". 25 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2012.Meg Rosoff blog
  17. ^ "John Simm joins Olivia Coleman, Natascha McElhone & Olivia Poulet for 'Goodbye'". 27 October 2013.
  18. ^ Taylor, Frances (14 February 2017). "Miranda Hart makes foray into children's TV with new Disney web series So Sammy". Radio Times. Retrieved 11 April 2017.