Bernadette Therese Nolan was an Irish actress, singer and television personality, formerly lead vocalist of the girl group the Nolans.
Bernie Nolan was the second youngest of sisters Anne, Denise, Maureen, Linda and Coleen.
The Nolans began in 1974 and went on to have seven UK Top 20 hits, including “I’m in the Mood for Dancing” (1979), “Gotta Pull Myself Together” (1980) and “Attention to Me” (1981).
They won the 1981 Tokyo Music Festival with “Sexy Music”.
However, despite their success as a group, Bernie Nolan left the group in 1995 to become an actress.
On television, Bernie Nolan had roles in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside from 2000 to 2002 and the ITV police drama The Bill from 2002 to 2005, while her numerous roles in stage musicals included Mrs. Johnstone in Blood Brothers (1998–2000), Hannah Owens in Flashdance: The Musical (2008–2009) and Mama Morton in Chicago (2012).
Bernie Nolan was also a member of the Nolans line-up that reformed for a successful tour of the UK and Ireland in 2009.
Bernie Nolan died from breast cancer in July 2013.
Bernie Nolan was first diagnosed in 2010, and had chemotherapy and a mastectomy, receiving an all-clear in 2012.
However, months later the disease returned and spread to her brain, bones, lungs and liver, which resulted in her death at her home in Surrey, on 4 July 2013, aged 52.