Susan Cookson will soon bid farewell to Emmerdale fans as her character Wendy Posner leaves the soap.
After five years, the nurse’s past is coming back to haunt her as a journalist, turned blackmailer, puts her under pressure.
Landing her Emmerdale role was a strange twist of fate for the actress as she was considering changing profession to become a nurse after caring for her late husband - a well-known actor.
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Childhood
Susan was born on 20 April 1965, making him 59 years old. She is originally from Manchester in England.
Acting career
While Susan may be best known for portraying Wendy Posner, she has played two other characters on the show.
She starred as D.C. Fallon back in 1997 and DI Judy Dove between 2002 and 2003.
She returned to the soap opera in 2019, as the mother of Lee Posner, the man that raped Victoria Sugden.
Outside Emmerdale, she played as Maggie Coldwell on the BBC’s Casualty from 2005 to 2009 and Kath Wylie for three episodes in Doctors during 2009.
Susan also played Marion Logan in Coronation Street between 2015 and 2016, who was the mum of Callum Logan.
However, when the character returned to Weatherfield, Marion was played by a different actress.
It was reported that in late December 2024 that she would be leaving Emmerdale after five years.
“Susan was devastated at the decision. She loves the show and loves being part of it,” a source told The Sun’
“She’s really well liked in the cast but unfortunately budget cuts mean hard decisions need to be made and that resulted in Susan being one of a number of cast leaving.
“ITV is going through a cash crisis with the soaps and the money just isn’t there to pay for everyone any more. Ultimately if the character isn’t inspiring a lot of story from producers then there’s no space for them in the show anymore.”
Marriage
Susan was married to fellow actor Malcolm Scates. The couple tied the knot in 1993 and welcomed two children together - sons Ruari, aged 27 and Dan, aged 21.
He sadly passed away in September 2016.
Malcolm starred in several popular British television shows, such as Shameless, Holby City, Waterloo Road, The Bill, Shameless and Doctors.
He also starred in Coronation Street with five different roles between 1986 and 2010, including Philip Newton, the brewery owner.
His wife wasn’t the only person in their family to act on Emmerdale, as he played PC Mitchum in 1993.
Susan nearly stepped away from acting altogether in order to become a nurse after caring for Malcolm towards the end of his life.
She was actually on her way to chat with a nursing manager about retraining when she got a call offering her the role of nurse Wendy in Emmerdale.
The actress told The Mirror in 2023: “I was at a bit of a crossroads in my life through one thing and another and I decided that I wanted a more regular job.
“I started to think about changing careers and going into nursing. My husband, who is sadly no longer with us, had been very poorly and I’d nursed him.'
“And I’d played a lot of doctors and nurses over the years, so it was a career I knew a bit about.'
“I was in my car, about 10 minutes away from this meeting, when my phone went. It was Emmerdale producer Jane Hudson. I worked with her many moons ago on Casualty, but I’d not spoken to her for years.”
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