Maria Friedman

Maria Friedman is a British actress and director of stage and screen, best known for her work in musical theatre. She is a seventime Olivier Award nominee, winning three. Her first win was for her 1994 onewoman show, By Special Arrangement. She has also twice won Best Actress in a Musical for the original London productions of Passion and Ragtime. She is more recently known for her role as Elaine Peacock in Eastenders.

Friedman was born in the Bernese Oberland, Switzerland, the daughter of Clair , a concert pianist, and Leonard Friedman, a violinist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Her father is from a Russian Jewish immigrant family and her mother is English. She began her education in Germany, and by the age of five moved with her family to England after the divorce of her parents.

Source: Wikipedia