Louise Lombard

Louise Lombard made her move into Hollywood when she starred opposite Viggo Mortensen in the horse riding epic, Hidalgo.

From an early age, Lombard attended dance and drama classes and by the time she was 14, she was performing in TV commercials.

She made an AIDS awareness short called Wax Doll, which was directed by John Amiel, and appeared in episodes of Casualty and Bergerac on TV.

She became a household name in the UK when she appeared in the BBC drama The House Of Eliott.

She recently starred in the US TV movies Second Nature and War Stories - opposite Jeff Goldblum.

She has also made a number of stage appearances, most notably in The Brothers Karamazov.

She was born Louise Maria Perkins, in Redbridge, Essex as the fifth child to Sean and Maura. She left Catholic school at 16 with 9 O-Levels and studied English literature at Cambridge.