Judith Jacob is a British actress, best known for her role as the health visitor, Carmel Roberts, in the BBC soap opera EastEnders from 1986 – 1989.
Jacob attended London’s Anna Scher Theatre. Two of her classmates were also former actors of EastEnders, Susan Tully (Michelle Fowler) and Phil Daniels (Kevin Wicks). Before landing her role on EastEnders, Jacob was a co-founder of Black Theatre Co-op (BTC), a London theatre group of black actresses.
Jacob’s first appearance on UK television was in the BBC production Play for Today (1976) and before her role in EastEnders she had previously been a regular cast member on the hospital drama Angels (1979 – 1981) and the sitcom No Problem! (1983 – 1985). Other television credits include various roles in the comedy sketch-show The Real McCoy (1991); The Queen’s Nose (1995); Holby City (2003); Doctors (2003) and My Family (2004).
Most recently she starred as a prison guard in the drama Provoked (2006), which told the true story of a Punjabi woman named ‘Kiranjit Ahluwalia’, who leaves India to marry a London-based man, only to be badly abused. She ends up in prison for murdering her abusive husband.