Dolly Wells

Wells was born Dorothy Gatacre, in Merton, London, on 5 December 1971, the youngest of six children.^{[citation needed]} She is the daughter of comic actor John Wells and Teresa Chancellor, daughter of Sir Christopher Chancellor, general manager of Reuters from 1944 to 1959. Wells grew up thinking her father was her stepfather, and did not find out he was her biological father until she was eighteen. She later changed her name from Gatacre—her mother's first husband was Edward Gatacre—to Wells. Her first cousin is the actress Anna Chancellor.^[1][2]

She was educated in a Catholic convent school, after failing the entrance exam for St Paul's. While trying to build an acting career, she worked as a journalist at the Evening Standard and as a book reviewer.^[3]

Wells married photographer Mischa Richter in 2000. They have a daughter, Elsie (b. 2002) and a son, Ezra (b. 2005). Both appeared with their mother in Doll & Em.^[2] In 2020, Wells and Richter divorced.^[4]