Sadie Frost
Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person Sadie Liza Frost (née Vaughan; born 19 June 1965) is an English actress, producer and fashion designer. Her credits as an actress include Empire State (1987), Diamond Skulls, also known as Dark Obsession (1989), Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), The Krays (1990), Magic Hunter (1994), Shopping (1994), A Pyromaniac's Love Story (1995), Flypaper (1997), Final Cut (1998), Captain Jack (1999), Love, Honour and Obey (2000), Beyond the Rave (2008), Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism (2015), and A Bird Flew In (2021).
She later turned to directing with Quant (2021), and Twiggy (2025).
Early life
Frost was born in Islington, North London, in 1965 to actress Mary Davidson, who was sixteen at the time of Sadie's birth, and psychedelic artist David Vaughan, in his second marriage,<ref name=telegraph-20031213/> who worked for the Beatles.<ref name="theguardian/sadie-2021-mother"/><ref name="Times1">Template:Cite news</ref> Frost's sister, daughter of Davidson and Vaughan, named Sunshine Purple Tara Velvet, is one year younger.<ref name=telegraph-20031213>Template:Cite news</ref>
She has described her childhood as a "chaotic but positive experience".<ref name="Times1"/> She spent much of her youth in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, after her parents separated. She has ten siblings, including fellow actresses Holly Davidson and Jade Davidson; primary school teacher Jessi Frost; brothers called Gabriel Jupiter Vaughan and Tobias Vaughan.<ref name="bite">Template:Cite web</ref>
We lived on a bus which we drove from Belsize Park to Morocco. We'd pitch up everywhere from Formentera, in a house with no electricity, to the Mull of Kintyre.<ref name="theguardian/sadie-2021-mother"/>
Frost attained a scholarship<ref name="married"/> to attend the Italia Conti Academy.<ref name="conti">Template:Cite web</ref>
By the time I was 11, I’d got a scholarship to the Italia Conti stage school. I went from singing musicals in front of the mirror to cutting all my hair off, quitting stage school and going to the local comprehensive because I fancied the boy next door who was a punk.<ref name="theguardian/sadie-2021-mother"/>
In 2019, she furthered her education, by taking a master’s degree in film production.<ref name="married"/>
Career
In 1968, Frost's debut acting role was for Jelly Tots.<ref name="theguardian/sadie-2021-mother">Template:Cite news</ref> Frost's debut film role was in Empire State (1987), in a cast which included Martin Landau.<ref name="bug">Template:Cite web</ref> She played the part of Rebecca in the 1989 film Diamond Skulls (also known as Dark Obsession), alongside Amanda Donohoe and Gabriel Byrne.<ref name="bite"/> She later said that this role paved the way for her film appearance as the ill-fated Lucy Westenra in Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992).<ref name="bite"/>
In the early '90s, she appeared in music videos, including for Pulp's song "Common People",<ref name="pulp">Template:Cite web</ref> Planet Perfecto featuring Grace's "Not Over Yet '99",<ref name="planet">Template:Cite web</ref> various productions for Spandau Ballet,<ref name="married"/> where she met first husband Gary Kemp.<ref name="bite"/> During their marriage, they appeared together in two films, The Krays (1990),<ref name="krays">Template:Cite web</ref> and Magic Hunter (1994).<ref name="magic">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1994, Frost met her future husband Jude Law when she took a role opposite him in Paul W. S. Anderson's directorial film debut Shopping.<ref name="married"/> Frost and Law appeared together again in the British gangster comedy Love, Honour and Obey (2000), alongside Ray Winstone, Jonny Lee Miller, Kathy Burke, Sean Pertwee, Denise Van Outen, and Rhys Ifans.<ref name="bfi">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1997, Frost and Law co-founded the production company Natural Nylon, along with others including Jonny Lee Miller, Ewan McGregor, and Sean Pertwee.<ref name="nylon">Template:Cite news</ref> After six years, the company closed down.<ref name="nylon"/> In 1999, Frost co-founded the fashion label Frost French with her friend Jemima French.<ref name="ff">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2004, she wrote, presented and produced a short-lived series What Sadie did next... for E4,<ref name="e4">Template:Cite news</ref> and in 2006 appeared in Eating with... Sadie Frost on BBC2, to talk about her switch to vegetarianism.<ref name="eat">Template:Cite news</ref>
Frost has been a member of the jury at the British Independent Film Awards, on two occasions, in 1999 and 2022.<ref name="jury">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="bifa">Template:Cite news</ref>
Frost directed the film Twiggy (2025), about the life of fashion icon, television presenter and actress Twiggy.<ref name="twiggy">Template:Cite web</ref>
Personal life
Frost had an eating disorder in her youth.<ref>Sadie Frost Admits To Eating Disorder Template:Webarchive Tatler/Femaleifrst.co.uk – 7 April 2006</ref> In 1981, when 16 and dancing in a music video, Frost met Spandau Ballet's Gary Kemp. They married on 7 May 1988.<ref name="married">Template:Cite news</ref> Their son Finlay was born in 1990. Frost and Kemp were married for seven years and divorced on 19 August 1995.<ref name="bite"/>
Frost met Jude Law during the work on the 1994 film Shopping.<ref name="married"/> They married in September 1997<ref name="married"/><ref name="Irish Examiner">Template:Cite news</ref> and have three children, including Rafferty and Iris.<ref name=People-divorce /> Frost and Law divorced on 29 October 2003 after separating that January.<ref name=People-divorce>Template:Cite web</ref> Kate Moss is godparent to one child and Nick Grimshaw to another.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Frost maintains she has never been a party animal, having been too busy being a mother, and she has maintained a healthy lifestyle of exercise, yoga, and a vegetarian diet.<ref name="married"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Frost was a victim of the News International phone hacking scandal, after it was found that they intruded on her private life, damaged her reputation as a successful businesswoman, and caused embarrassment and humiliation on issues that would have been kept private.<ref name="hack">Template:Cite news</ref> She received an apology from Mirror Group Newspapers,<ref name="hack"/> and was awarded damages.<ref name="married"/>
Filmography
Film
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Press Gang | Jenny Eliot | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | A Ghost in Monte Carlo | Alice 20 Yrs | Television film |
| 2001 | Uprising | Zivia Lubetkin | Television film |
| 2024 | Geek Girl | The Director | 1 episode |
References
External links
- 1965 births
- Actors from the London Borough of Islington
- Actresses from Ashton-under-Lyne
- Actresses from London
- Alumni of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts
- English film actresses
- English television actresses
- English stage actresses
- English film producers
- English theatre managers and producers
- Living people
- People associated with the News International phone hacking scandal
- People from Islington (district)
- British women theatre managers and producers