Sarah Parish (born 7 June 1968) is an English actress. She is known for her work on television series including: The Pillars of the Earth, Peak Practice, Hearts and Bones, Cutting It, Doctor Who, Mistresses, Merlin, Atlantis, Monroe, Trollied, and W1A.
Parish was born in Yeovil, Somerset, to Bill and Thelma Parish; she has a sister, Julie, and a brother, musician John Parish. She was educated at the local Preston School and Yeovil College. She began acting at an early age and believes her first stage appearance was aged two in a pantomime in the village of Tintinhull playing the pearl in an oyster. She later attended Yeovil Youth Theatre.
A resident of Islington, Parish married James Murray on 15 December 2007 in Hampshire It was announced in January 2008 that she was pregnant with their first child. and due on Parish's 40th birthday. Their daughter Ella-Jayne was born with Rubinstein–Taybi syndrome and died in 2009. In her memory, Parish and Murray are raising funds for the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Southampton General Hospital. In October 2009,it was announced that she was expecting a baby in the New Year. When asked about her hobbies and interests Parish cites her vegetable garden.