Who did Leah Bracknell play in Emmerdale?
LEAH Bracknell has passed away aged 55 after losing her fight against lung cancer.
Find out about the big storylines she had during her time on Emmerdale.
Who did Leah Bracknell play in Emmerdale?
Leah‘s character Zoe Tate first arrived in the village in 1989.
Zoe soon became the local vet, teaming up with Paddy Kirk.
Leah left Emmerdale in September 2005.
After leaving the show she taught yoga and mediation.
What were Leah Bracknell’s biggest storylines?
Leah’s character Zoe was involved in many major storylines during her time on the show.
This included the deaths of her father and brother Frank (Norman Bowler) and Chris (Peter Amory), the betrayal and departure of her stepmother Kim (Claire King), coming out as gay and a battle with schizophrenia.
Zoe was the first lesbian character in a British soap when she came out in 1993.
Leah was also very proud of how she portrayed Zoe when she was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2002.
She said at the time: “Because it dealt with a particular area of mental health and we did it over a relatively long period of time – about ten months – so there was a lot of research involved and the story was ongoing and changing.
“We had to get the nuts and bolts right and also it wasn’t just about how it affected her [Zoe] but also the effect on her family.”
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When did Leah die?
Leah Bracknell passed away in September 2019, three years after battling lung cancer.
After she was diagnosed, fans helped her raise more than £50,000 to undergo groundbreaking treatment in Germany.
She started taking new medication, but later revealed that it had failed.