Suzanne Packer, born Suzanne Jackson, was born on 26th November 1962 in Cardiff, Wales, the daughter of Jamaican immigrant parents who settled in Abergavenny, where her mother Angela worked as a nurse. She is the older sister of the Olympic hurdler Colin Jackson. While a pupil at Llanedeyrn High School in Cardiff, she took leading roles in school productions of 'Oklahoma!' and 'The King and I', which set her on course for a career in acting. She went on to study Theatre and Drama at the University of Warwick, followed by professional training at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She took the stage surname Packer from her maternal grandmother.
Packer is best known for playing senior charge nurse Tess Bateman in the long-running BBC medical drama 'Casualty', a role she held from 2003 to 2015, returning as a guest for the show's 30th-anniversary episodes in 2016. Since leaving 'Casualty' she has appeared in a range of British television dramas, including 'Bang', 'In My Skin' and 'The Pembrokeshire Murders'. She was formerly married to the American actor Jesse Newman, with whom she has a son, Paris.