Harley Bird

Early life and education

Harley Fiona Riley was born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester in Northern England to Gill and Craig Riley, the second eldest of four children, with two sisters and a brother. Bird attended Tring Park School for the Performing Arts in Hertfordshire on their Tring Park Associates programme before enrolling into the main school. She went on to graduate from the Manchester School of Theatre in 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Acting.

Career

At age five, she was signed to Alphabet Kidz Talent Agency. A month later she gained the voice role of Peppa in the children's animated series Peppa Pig. She replaced the previous actors, Lily Snowden-Fine and Cecily Bloom. She first voiced Peppa on the 2007 "Peppa's Christmas" special and continued to voice the character for seasons 3, 4, 5 and the first half of the 6th. She voiced Peppa Pig on "The Official BBC Children in Need Medley" and various other pieces of show merchandise.

Bird's TV appearances and radio broadcasts include a behind-the-scenes feature on CBBC's Newsround and an interview in character as Peppa on BBC Radio One's Chris Moyles Show. She became the youngest British Academy Film Award winner when she won the Performer award at the 2011 BAFTA for her voice-artist work as Peppa Pig.

Bird announced that she was leaving the role of Peppa Pig on 31 January 2020, after 13 years and 185 episodes in the role. She was succeeded in the role by Amelie Bea Smith.

Bird starred as Daisy in Blueberry, a 2009 short film which won the Audience Award at the Cinequest Film Festival, She also starred as Piper alongside Saoirse Ronan in Kevin Macdonald's How I Live Now, released in 2013. She also starred in Goodbye, a radio drama by Morwenna Banks, her Peppa Pig co-star, that aired on BBC Radio 4 alongside Olivia Colman, Natascha McElhone, Darren Boyd, Alison Steadman, and John Simm. In 2017, Bird played the lead role of Sammy in Disney Channel's webisode series, So Sammy. In 2024, Bird starred in the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black as Winehouse's best friend Juliette Ashby.

Filmography

References

References

1. (13 December 2013). "12 today! I love my pressies....!x".
2. (29 December 2017). "Harley Bird, voice of Peppa Pig, talks with Long Island kids". Newsday.
3. "Alphabet Kidz talent agency".
4. (16 February 2012). "Pipers Corner School Pupil wins Children's BAFTA". UK Boarding Schools.
5. Thompson, Melissa. (25 January 2015). "Meet TV's Peppa Pig... the 13-year-old girl from Rochdale". Manchester Evening News.
6. Barns, Sarah. (16 January 2015). "'I'm Peppa Pig' Meet Harley Bird, 13, the voice behind the world's most famous cartoon hog". Express.
7. "Harley Bird".
8. (21 March 2017). "Peppa Pig star Harley Bird on 10 years oinking". BBC News.
9. "Harley Bird: The Voice Behind Peppa Pig".
10. "Chris Moyles Guests 2011".
11. "BAFTA Children's Awards Winners 2011".
12. Woods, Judith. (22 December 2011). "Why middle-class England is potty about Peppa Pig". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
13. (31 January 2020). "Peppa Pig voice actor Harley Bird quits after 13 years". The Guardian.
14. "Blueberry".
15. (27 July 2012). "Saoirse Ronan to star in How I Live Now". Studio Magazine.
16. (25 June 2012). "Press release for "How I Live Now" film".
17. (27 October 2013). "John Simm joins Olivia Coleman, Natascha McElhone & Olivia Poulet for 'Goodbye'".
18. Taylor, Frances. (14 February 2017). "Miranda Hart makes foray into children's TV with new Disney web series So Sammy". Radio Times.