Early life

Walters was born in St. Chad's Hospital, Edgbaston, Birmingham, which was then the main maternity hospital for Smethwick. Her parents, Mary Bridget (née O'Brien), an Irish Catholic postal clerk born in County Mayo, Ireland, and Thomas Walters, an English builder and decorator, lived at 69 Bishopton Road, near Lightwoods Park, in the Bearwood area of Smethwick. The youngest of five children and the third to survive birth, Walters had an early education at a convent school and later at Holly Lodge Grammar School for Girls on Holly Lane in Smethwick. "It was heaven when I went to an ordinary grammar school," she said in 2014, though she was asked to leave at the end of her lower sixth because of her "high jinks". In an interview with Alison Oddey, Walters said about her early schooling: "I was never going to be academic, so suggested that I try teaching or nursing I'd been asked to leave school, so I thought I'd better do it."

Her first job was in insurance at the age of 15. At 18 she trained as a nurse at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, and worked on the ophthalmic, casualty and coronary care wards during the 18 months she spent there. Walters decided to leave nursing, and studied English and drama at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University). She worked for the Everyman Theatre Company in Liverpool in the mid-1970s, alongside several other notable performers: Bill Nighy, Pete Postlethwaite, Jonathan Pryce, Willy Russell and Alan Bleasdale.

Career

1970s

Walters first received notice as the occasional partner of comedian Victoria Wood, whom she had briefly met in Manchester. The two first worked together in the 1978 theatre revue In at the Death, followed by the television adaptation of Wood's play Talent. They went on to appear in their own Granada Television series, Wood and Walters, in 1982. They continued to perform together frequently over the years. The BAFTA-winning BBC follow-up, Victoria Wood As Seen on TV, featured one of Walters's best-known roles, Mrs Overall, in Wood's parodic soap opera, Acorn Antiques (she later appeared in the musical version, and received an Olivier Award nomination for her efforts).

1980s

Before making her London stage debut in Educating Rita, Walters had worked in regional theatre, stand-up comedy and cabaret. Her first serious acting role on TV was in the classic Boys from the Blackstuff in 1982, and she broke into films with her Academy-Award-nominated, BAFTA Best Actress award-winning and Golden Globe Award Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy award-winning performance opposite Michael Caine in Educating Rita (1983), a role she had created on the West End stage.

In 1985, she played Adrian Mole's mother Pauline in the TV adaptation of The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Walters appeared in the lead role of Cynthia Payne in the 1987 film Personal Services - a dramatic comedy about a British brothel owner. Then she played the lead character's wife, June, in the film Buster, released in 1988. She also appeared as Mrs. Peachum in the 1989 film version of The Threepenny Opera, which was renamed Mack the Knife for the screen.

1990s

In 1991, Walters starred opposite Liza Minnelli in Stepping Out and had a one-off television special, Julie Walters and Friends, which featured writing contributions from Victoria Wood and Alan Bennett. In 1998 she starred as the Fairy Godmother in the ITV pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk, alongside actors Neil Morrissey, Adrian Edmondson, Paul Merton, Denise van Outen and Julian Clary. The show was first broadcast 25 December 1998 on ITV1 and continues to be shown every year around Christmas on ITV2.

2000s

Walters has won numerous other acting awards, and was appointed officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1999 and raised to commander level (CBE) in the 2008 New Year Honours for her services to drama. In 2001 she won a Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in Arthur Miller's All My Sons. She received her second Oscar nomination and won a BAFTA for her supporting role as the ballet teacher in Billy Elliot (2000). In 2002 she again won a BAFTA for her performance as Paul Reiser's mother in My Beautiful Son.

Walters also played Molly Weasley in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 (2010) and Part 2 (2011) and got international success with it. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the only Harry Potter film to have not starred Walters.

In 2003 Walters starred as a widow (Annie Clark) determined to make some good come out of her husband's death from cancer in Calendar Girls, which also starred Helen Mirren and Ciarán Hinds. In 2005 Walters again starred as an inspirational real-life figure, Marie Stubbs in the ITV1 drama Ahead of the Class.

In 2006, she came fourth in ITV's poll of the public's 50 Greatest Stars, coming four places above frequent co-star Victoria Wood. Also in 2006, she starred in the film Driving Lessons alongside Rupert Grint (who played her son Ron in the Harry Potter series), and later had a leading role in the BBC's adaptation of Philip Pullman's novel The Ruby in the Smoke.

In the summer of 2006, Walters published her first novel, Maggie's Tree. The novel, concerning a group of English actors in Manhattan and published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, was described as "a disturbing and thought-provoking novel about mental torment and the often blackly comic, mixed-up ways we view ourselves and misread each other." Another reviewer described the novel as "the work of a writer who knows what she's doing. There's nothing tentative about the writing, and Walters brings her experiences as an actress to bear on the page. ... you do have the sensation of entering someone else's mind and of looking through someone else's eyes."

Walters starred in Asda's Christmas 2007 TV advertising campaign. She also appeared alongside Patrick Stewart in UK Nintendo DS Brain Training television advertisements, and in a public information film about smoke alarms. In summer 2008, Walters appeared in the film version of Mamma Mia!, playing Rosie Mulligan, marking her second high profile musical, after Acorn Antiques.

Walters played Mary Whitehouse in the BBC Drama Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story, an adaptation of the real-life story of Mrs. Whitehouse who campaigned for "taste and decency on television". Walters commented, "I am very excited to be playing Mary Whitehouse, and to be looking at the time when she attacked the BBC and started to make her name." Filth won Best Motion Picture Made for Television, and Walters was nominated for Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made For Television, at the 2008 13th Annual Satellite Awards.

In 2009 Walters received a star in the Birmingham Walk of Stars on Birmingham's Golden Mile, Broad Street. She said: "I am very honoured and happy that the people of Birmingham and the West Midlands want to include me in their Walk of Stars and I look forward to receiving my star. Birmingham and the West Midlands is where I'm from; these are my roots and in essence it has played a big part in making me the person I am today". Her other awards include an International Emmy with Ben Whishaw for A Short Stay in Switzerland. She also appeared as Petula Gordino in Wood's sitcom dinnerladies.

2010s

Walters played the late MP and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam in a drama for Channel 4 broadcast in early 2010. She had misgivings about taking on the role because of the differences in their physical appearance, but the result was highly praised by critics.

In July 2012 Walters appeared in the BBC Two production The Hollow Crown as Mistress Quickly in Shakespeare's Henry IV, Parts I and II. In the summer of 2012, she voiced the Witch in Pixar's Brave (2012).

In 2012 she worked with LV= to promote one of their life insurance products targeted at people over 50. Walters was seen in television advertisements, at the lv.com website and in other marketing material helping to raise awareness for life insurance.

Walters appeared in The Last of the Haussmans at the Royal National Theatre in June 2012. The production was broadcast to cinemas around the world through the National Theatre Live programme.

Walters also played the part of Cynthia Coffin in the ten-part British drama serial Indian Summers aired on Channel 4 in 2015. In 2015, she also appeared in the romantic drama film Brooklyn, a film that was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Walters' performance in the film earned her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

Personal life

Walters' relationship with Grant Roffey, an Automobile Association patrol man, began after a whirlwind romance. The couple have a daughter, Maisie Mae Roffey (born 26 April 1988, City of Westminster, London), but did not marry until 1997, 11 years into their relationship, when they went to New York City. The couple live on an organic farm run by Roffey near Plaistow, West Sussex.

In August 2014 she featured in the first episode in the eleventh series of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?. The programme revealed that her maternal ancestors played an active part in the struggle for more rights for Irish tenant farmers, known as the 'Irish Land War', which started in 1879. Although not included in the programme, Walters' paternal grandfather, Thomas Walters, was a veteran of the Second Boer War. He was killed in action in World War I in June 1915, serving with the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and is commemorated at the Le Touret Memorial, France.

Filmography

Year(s)	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Second City Firsts		TV: 1 episode
1977	The Liver Birds	girl in surgery	TV: 1 episode
1978	Me—I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf	woman in waiting room	TV film
1978/1982	Play for Today	Debbie/Valerie	TV: 2 episodes
1979	Empire Road	Jean Watson	TV: 2 episodes
1979	Talent	Julie Stephens	TV
1979-1981	Screenplay	Frances/Julie	TV: 3 episodes
1980	Nearly a Happy Ending	Julie Stephens	TV film
1981	Wood and Walters	various roles	TV
1981	Happy Since I Met You	Frances	TV film
1981	BBC2 Playhouse	Mrs Morgan	TV: 1 episode
1982	Boys from the Blackstuff	Angie Todd	TV: 1 episode
1982	Objects of Affection	June Potter	TV: 1 episode
1983	Educating Rita	Susan "Rita" White
1984	Love and Marriage	Bonnie	TV: 1 episode
1985	She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas	Fran
1985	Dreamchild	Dormouse	Voice
1985	The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾	Pauline Mole	TV: 5 episodes
1985	Car Trouble	Jacqueline Spong
1985-1986	Victoria Wood As Seen on TV	various characters	TV: 13 episodes
1987	Personal Services	Christina Painter
1987	Prick Up Your Ears	Elsie Orton
1987	Theatre Night	Lulu	TV: 1 episode
1986-1987	Acorn Antiques	Overall, Mrs.Mrs. Overall	TV: 6 episodes
1988	Talking Heads	Lesley	TV: 1 episode: "Her Big Chance"
1988	Buster	June Edwards
1988	Mack the Knife	Peachum, MrsMrs Peachum
1989	Victoria Wood	various roles	TV: 3 episodes
1990	Killing Dad or How to Love Your Mother	Judith
1991	Julie Walters and Friends	herself/various roles	TV
1991	G.B.H.	Murray, MrsMrs Murray	TV: 7 episodes
1991	Stepping Out	Vera
1992	Just like a Woman	Monica
1992	Victoria Wood's All Day Breakfast	various roles	TV
1985/1993	Screen Two	Mavis / Monica	TV: 2 episodes
1993	Screen One: Wide-Eyed and Legless (aka The Wedding Gift)	Diana Longden	TV: 1 episode
1994	Bambino Mio	Alice	TV film
1994	Sister My Sister	Madame Danzard
1994	Pat and Margaret	Pat	TV
1994	Requiem Apache	Mrs Capstan	TV film
1995	Jake's Progress	Julie Diadoni	TV: 6 episodes
1995	Little Red Riding Hood	Little Red Riding Hood / Grandma
1996	Intimate Relations	Marjorie Beasley
1996	Brazen Hussies	Maureen Hardcastle	TV film
1997	Bathtime	Miss Gideon
1997	Melissa	Paula Hepburn	TV: 5 episodes
1998	Jack and the Beanstalk	Fairy Godmother	TV film
1998	Girls' Night	Jackie Simpson
1998	Titanic Town	Bernie McPhelimy
1998	Talking Heads 2	Marjory	TV: 1 episode: "The Outside Dog"
1998-2000	Dinnerladies	Petula	TV: 9 episodes
1999	Oliver Twist	Mann, MrsMrs Mann	TV: 4 episodes
2000	Billy Elliot	Wilkinson, MrsMrs Wilkinson
2000	All Forgotten	Zasyekin, PrincessPrincess Zasyekin
2001	My Beautiful Son	Sheila Fitzpatrick	TV
2001	Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone	Mrs. Weasley
2002	Murder	Angela Maurer	TV: 4 episodes
2002	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Mrs. Weasley
2002	Before You Go	Theresa
2003	Calendar Girls	Annie
2003	The Return	Lizzie Hunt	TV
2003	The Canterbury Tales: The Wife of Bath	Beth	TV
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Mrs. Weasley
2004	Mickybo and Me	Mickybo's Ma
2005	Wah-Wah	Gwen Traherne
2005	Ahead of the Class	Marie Stubbs	TV
2006	Driving Lessons	Evie Walton
2006	The Ruby in the Smoke	Holland, MrsMrs Holland	TV
2007	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Mrs. Weasley
2007	Becoming Jane	Austen, MrsMrs Austen
2008	Mamma Mia!	Rosie
2008	Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story	Mary Whitehouse	TV
2009	Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince	Mrs. Weasley
2009	A Short Stay in Switzerland	Anne Turner, DrDr Anne Turner	TV
2009	Victoria Wood's Mid Life Christmas	Bo Beaumont/Mrs. Overall	TV
2010	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1	Mrs. Weasley
2010	Mo	Mo Mowlam	TV
2011	Gnomeo and Juliet	Montague, MissMiss Montague	(voice)
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2	Mrs. Weasley
2011	The Jury	Emma Watts	TV
2012	Brave	Witch	(voice)
2012	Henry IV, Parts I and II, and Henry V	Mistress Quickly	TV films
2012	Thread of Evidence	Betty Beesom
2013	Effie	Margaret Cox Ruskin
2013	Justin and the Knights of Valour	Gran	Voice
2013	One Chance	Yvonne Potts
2013	The Harry Hill Movie	Harry's Nan
2014	Paddington	Mrs. Bird
2015	Indian Summers	Cynthia Coffin	TV: 10 episodes
2015	Brooklyn	Mrs. Kehoe
2015	Very British Problems	Herself/voiceover	TV

Theatre

• (London debut) Irene Tinsley, Funny Peculiar, Mermaid Theatre, then Garrick Theatre, London, 1976
• Vera, Breezeblock Park, Mermaid Theatre, then Whitehall Theatre, London, 1977
• Irene Goodnight, Flaming Bodies, ICA Theatre, London, 1979
• Rita, Educating Rita, Royal Shakespeare Company, London, 1980
• Having a Ball, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London, 1981
• Dotty, Jumpers, Royal Exchange Manchester, 1984
• Fool for Love, Royal National Theatre, London, 1984-85
• Macbeth, Leicester Haymarket Theatre, 1985
• When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout, Whitehall Theatre, 1986
• Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Comedy Theatre, 1989
• Serafina, The Rose Tattoo, Playhouse, London, 1991
• All My Sons, Royal National Theatre, 2000
• Acorn Antiques: The Musical, 2005
• Also appeared in The Taming of the Shrew, produced in Liverpool, England; and in Jumpers, Royal Exchange; performed with *Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and Bristol Old Vic.
• The Last of the Haussmans, Royal National Theatre, London, 2012

Awards

Year	Work	Role	Awards
1984	Educating Rita	Rita Susan White	Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actress
1983	Boys from the Black Stuff	Angie Todd	Nominated - BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress
1987	Personal Services	Christine Painter	Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress
1992	Stepping Out	Vera	Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2001	Billy Elliot	Sandra Wilkinson	BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
	All My Sons	Kate Keller	Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress
2002	My Beautiful Son	Sheila Fitzpatrick	British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
2003	Murder	Angela Maurer	British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
2004	Canterbury Tales	Beth	British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
2006	Driving Lessons	Evie Walton	Silver George for Best Actress (28th Moscow International Film Festival)
2009	A Short Stay in Switzerland	Dr Anne Turner	International Emmy Award for Best Actress
2010	Mo	Mo Mowlam	British Academy Television Award for Best Actress
2011			International Emmy Award for Best Actress
2015	Brooklyn	Madge Kehoe	Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Julie Walters has won eight BAFTAs, six competitive awards plus two honorary awards. The first honorary award was a special BAFTA that she received at a tribute evening in 2003, before receiving the BAFTA Fellowship in 2014.

In 2000, she was awarded the Dilys Powell Award for Excellence in Film by the UK Critics' Circle.

She became an OBE in 1999 and CBE in 2008.

Books

• Maggie's Tree (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2007)
• That's Another Story: The Autobiography (Orion Books, 2009)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]