Early life

Margolyes was born in Oxford, England, the only child of Ruth (née Walters; 1905-1974), a property investor and developer, and Joseph Margolyes (1899-1996), a physician from Glasgow. She grew up in a Jewish family; her ancestors migrated to the UK from Poland and Belarus. Her great-grandfather, Symeon Sandmann, was born in the town of Margonin in central-western Poland, which Margolyes visited in 2013.

She attended Oxford High School from 1955 until 1959, and later Newnham College, Cambridge, where she read English. There, in her twenties, she began acting and appeared in productions by the Cambridge Footlights comedy troupe.

Acting career

With her distinctive voice, Margolyes first gained recognition for her work as a voice artist. She recorded a soft-porn audio called Sexy Sonia: Leaves from my Schoolgirl Notebook. She performed most of the supporting female characters in the dubbed Japanese action TV series Monkey. She also worked with the theatre company Gay Sweatshop and provided voiceovers in the Japanese TV series The Water Margin (credited as Mirium Margolyes).

Margolyes' first major role in a film was as Elephant Ethel in Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977). In the 1980s, she made appearances in Blackadder opposite Rowan Atkinson: these roles include the Spanish Infanta in The Black Adder, Lady Whiteadder in Blackadder II and Queen Victoria in Blackadder's Christmas Carol. In 1986 she played a major supporting role in the BBC drama The Life and Loves of a She-Devil. She won the 1989 LA Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Flora Finching in the 1988 film Little Dorrit. On American television, she headlined the short-lived 1992 CBS sitcom Frannie's Turn. In 1994 she won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs Mingott in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993).

Margolyes came to the notice of younger audiences when she starred as Aunt Sponge in James and the Giant Peach (1996); she also provided the voice of the Glowworm in the same film. During the same time she played the Nurse in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996). Around this time, she voiced the rabbit character in the animated commercials for Cadbury's Caramel bars and provided the voice of Fly the dog in the Australian-American family film Babe (1995).

She played Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002.

She was one of the original cast of the London production of the musical Wicked in 2006, playing Madame Morrible opposite Idina Menzel, a role she also played on Broadway in 2008.

In 2009, she appeared in a new production of Endgame by Samuel Beckett at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End.

Margolyes, role the voiced of Mrs. Plithiver, a blind snake in 3D-animated-epic film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole in 2010.

Margolyes reprised her role as Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 in 2011.

In 2014 she voiced Nana in the Disney Junior animated series for preschoolers Nina Needs to Go!

In January 2016 she appears in The Real Marigold Hotel, a travel documentary series which "takes an all-star cast on the journey of a lifetime."

Other work

Margolyes is a supporter of Sense (the National Deafblind and Rubella Association) and was the host at the first Sense Creative Writing Awards, held at the Charles Dickens Museum in London in December 2006, where she read a number of works written by talented deafblind people.

In 2011, Margolyes recorded a narrative for the album The Devil's Brides by klezmer musician-ethnographer Yale Strom.

It was announced in January 2014 that Margolyes was to record the narration for "Magic in the Skies" - the summer season of firework displays held at Land's End.

In January 2016 Margoyles was a guest on The Graham Norton Show where she recounted a stage-door meeting with Laurence Olivier when she "started to cream in knickers". Fellow guests were surprised by the anecdote, although actress Gemma Arterton said she "knew exactly" what Margoyles meant. Actor Matthew Perry said that he thought hearing the story was possibly "the worst moment of my life".

Personal life

Margolyes is a lesbian. For more than forty years she has been with her partner Heather Sutherland, a retired Australian Professor of Indonesian Studies formerly based in Amsterdam. She mentioned her relationships with women on several occasions when she appeared on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs in September 2008.

On becoming an Australian citizen, on Australia Day 2013, Margolyes referred to herself as a "dyke" live on national television and in front of the then prime minister, Julia Gillard.

She is a campaigner for a respite care charity, Crossroads.

She appeared on the British television quiz University Challenge in 1963, whilst at Cambridge University. As part of a BBC documentary, University Challenge: The Story so Far, she claimed that during her appearance she swore after getting a question wrong, although the actual word was bleeped out of the recording.

Margolyes is a lifelong admirer of the works of Charles Dickens and has performed all over the world a one-woman show, Dickens' Women, in which she plays 23 characters from Dickens' novels.

Margolyes is a Palestinian human rights activist, having been a member of the British-based ENOUGH! coalition that seeks to end the "Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank." She is also a signatory of Jews for Justice for Palestinians.

Margolyes divides her time between homes in London, Tuscany and Robertson, New South Wales.

Author and comedian David Walliams says he used Margolyes as a model for the title character in his children's book Awful Auntie after a rude exchange with the actress during a stage production. He stresses however that he has nothing against Margolyes and is a fan of her work.

Margolyes caused controversy in 2016 at Edinburgh Waverley railway station when she asked a man to give up a seat only for him to refuse, pointing out there was another one nearby. By her own admission, she then swore at the man and poured a bottle of water over him.

TV and filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Theatre 625	Rita	1 episode
1967	Boy Meets Girl	Maria	1 episode
1968	Jackanory	Storyteller	5 episodes
1968	Dixon of Dock Green	Anna	1 episode
1973	Doctor in Charge	Doris	1 episode
1974	World of Laughter	Various parts	TV series
1974	Fall of Eagles	Anna Vyrubova	TV miniseries
1975	Rime of the Ancient Mariner	Dorothy Wordsworth
1975	The Girls of Slender Means	Jane Wright	TV
1976	Christmas Box		TV
1976	Angels	June Morris	2 episodes
1976	Kizzy	Mrs. Doe	2 episodes
1976	The Glittering Prizes	Olive Wise	TV miniseries
1976	The Battle of Billy's Pond	Tour Guide
1976-1982	Crown Court	Marilyn Munro / ...	2 episodes
1977	Play for Today	Veronica	1 episode
1977	Spasms	Rose Finn	TV
1977	Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers	Elephant Ethel	Notes
1978	Saiyûki		TV series
1978	On a Paving Stone Mounted		Notes
1980	The Apple	Landlady
1980	The Lost Tribe	Queenie	TV miniseries
1980	The Awakening	Dr. Kadira
1980	Tales of the Unexpected	Mary Burge	1 episode
1981	Reds	Woman writing in notebook	uncredited
1981	Take a Letter, Mr. Jones	Maria	6 episodes
1981	A Kick Up the Eighties	Various roles	TV series
1981	The History Man	Melissa Tordoroff	TV
1982	Crystal Gazing	Newsreader
1983	Yentl	Sarah	Notes
1983	The Black Adder	Infanta Maria Escalosa of Spain	1 episode
1983	Scrubbers	Jones
1984	Freud	Baroness	TV mini-series
1984	Electric Dreams	Ticket Girl
1985	The Good Father	Jane Powell
1985	Oliver Twist	Mrs. Corney	TV miniseries
1985	Morons from Outer Space	Doctor Wallace
1986	Little Shop of Horrors	Dental Nurse
1986	The Life and Loves of a She-Devil	Nurse Hopkins	1 episode
1986	Blackadder II	Lady Whiteadder	1 episode
1986	A Little Princess	Miss Amelia	TV
1986	Scotch & Wry	Various	TV
1987	Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story	Elsa Maxwell	TV
1987	Body Contact	Tony's Mother
1988	Little Dorrit	Flora Finching
1988	Blackadder's Christmas Carol	Queen Victoria	TV
1988	Mr Majeika	Wilhelmina Worlock	TV series, Seasons 1 and 2
1989	Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story	Mrs. Rajzman	TV
1990	Pacific Heights	Realtor
1990	Orpheus Descending	Vee Talbot	TV
1990	The Finding	Poll	TV
1990	I Love You to Death	Joey's Mother	Notes
1990	Old Flames	Nellie	TV
1990	The Fool	Mrs. Bowring	Notes
1991	Tonight at 8.30	Mrs. Wadhurst	2 episodes
1991	The Butcher's Wife	Gina	Notes
1991	Dead Again	Lady	Uncredited
1992	Stalin	Krupskaya	TV
1992	As You Like It	Audrey
1992	Frannie's Turn	Frannie Escobar	TV series
1993	The Age of Innocence	Mrs. Mingott
1993	The Comic Strip Presents...	Mother	1 episode
1993	Ed and His Dead Mother	Mabel Chilton
1994	Just William	Miss Polliter	1 episode
1994	Immortal Beloved	Nanette Streicherová	Notes
1994	Moonacre	Old Elspeth	TV series
1995	Balto	Grandma Rosy/Extra Voices
1995	Babe	Fly the Female Sheepdog	Voice
1995	Cold Comfort Farm	Mrs. Beetle	TV
1996	Different for Girls	Pamela
1996	Romeo + Juliet	The Nurse
1996	James and the Giant Peach	Aunt Sponge/The Glowworm	Voice
1997	The IMAX Nutcracker	Sugar Plum
1997	Castle Ghosts of Wales	Hag ghost
1997	The Phoenix and the Carpet	Cook	TV miniseries
1997	The Place of Lions	Miss Cole	TV
1998	Babe: Pig in the City	Fly the Female Sheepdog	voice
1998	Vanity Fair	Miss Crawley	TV miniseries
1998	Rugrats	Shirley Finster	1 episode
1998	Mulan	The Matchmaker	voice
1998	Left Luggage	Mrs. Goldman
1998	The First Snow of Winter	Sean Seamus Aloysius Dermot Duck
1998	Candy	Gisella
1998	Supply & Demand	Edna	TV miniseries
1999	Magnolia	Faye Barringer	uncredited
1999	End of Days	Mabel
1999	Dreaming of Joseph Lees	Signora Caldoni
1999	Sunshine	Rose Sonnenschein
2000	Dharma & Greg	Chloe	1 episode
2000	House!	Beth
2001	Cats & Dogs	Sophie the Castle Maid
2001	Not Afraid, Not Afraid
2002	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Professor Pomona Sprout
2002	Plots with a View	Thelma & Selma
2002	Alone	Caseworker
2004	Agatha Christie's Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage	Mrs. Price-Ridley	TV
2004	Being Julia	Dolly de Vries
2004	Ladies in Lavender	Dorcas
2004	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	Peg Sellers
2004	Modigliani	Gertrude Stein
2004	End of the Line	Bag Lady
2004	Chasing Liberty	Maria
2005	Wallis and Edward	Aunt Bessie	TV
2005	Dickens in America	Herself	10 episodes
2005	Inconceivable	Malva	1 episode
2006	Jam & Jerusalem	Mrs. Midge	1 episode
2006	Happy Feet	Mrs. Astrakhan	Voice
2006	Flushed Away	Rita's Grandma	Voice
2006	Sir Billi the Vet	Baroness Chantal McToff	Voice
2007	The Dukes	Aunt Vee
2008	How To Lose Friends and Alienate People	Mrs. Kowalski	Film
2008	Kingdom	Henny	1 episode
2009	The Sarah Jane Adventures	Leef Blathereen	2 episodes: The Gift parts 1 and 2, Voice only
2010	Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole	Mrs. Plithiver	Voice only
2010	Tinga Tinga Tales	Giraffe and Squirrel	Voice only
2010	Merlin	Grunhilda	in episode "The Changeling"
2011	Doc Martin	Shirley	Guest appearance
2011	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2	Professor Pomona Sprout
2012	The Wedding Video	Patricia
2012	The Guilt Trip	Anita
2012-present	Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries	Aunt Prudence
2013	Hebburn	Millie	Christmas special
2014	Maya the Bee	The Queen	Voice
2014	The Legend of Longwood	Lady Thyrza
2014	Nina Needs to Go!	Nana Sheila	Voice
2014	Trollied	Rose	Series 4
2016	Plebs	Iona
2016	Rake	TBC
2016	The Real Marigold Hotel	Self	BBC2 TV Documentary Series

Notes

• The Thief and the Cobbler (1993) - the voice of the Maiden from Mombasa (original version only; the character was not heard at all in the re-edited versions and another actor was never available in all the re-edited versions).
• The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) - Peg Sellers - note this film was shown in cinemas in the UK and Australia - it aired on cable television on the HBO network in the US.

Theatre

• The Importance of Being Miriam - Australian Tour (2015)
• I'll Eat You Last (Sue Mengers) - Melbourne Theatre Company (2014)
• Neighbourhood Watch (Ana) - Adelaide State Theatre (2014)
• Dickens' Women - World Tour (Australia/New Zealand/UK/USA/Canada) (2012)
• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (Grace) - Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow (2011)
• Me and My Girl (The Duchess) - Crucible Theatre, Sheffield (2010)
• Endgame (Nell) - Duchess Theatre, London (2009)
• Realism - Melbourne Theatre Company (2009)
• Wicked (Madame Morrible) - George Gershwin Theater, New York (2008)
• Wicked (Madame Morrible) - Apollo Victoria Theatre, London (2006)
• The Importance of Being Earnest (Miss Prism) - Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles/Harvey Theater (Brooklyn Academy of Music), New York (2006)
• Blithe Spirit (Madame Arcati) - Melbourne Theatre Company (2004)
• The Way of the World (Lady Wishfort) - Sydney Theatre Company (2003)
• The Vagina Monologues - Arts Theatre, London (2001)
• Romeo and Juliet (Nurse) - Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles (2001)
• The Cherry Orchard (Madame Ranevskaya) - Theatre Royal, York (1999)
• The Killing of Sister George (June Buckridge) - Ambassadors' Theatre, London (1995)
• She Stoops to Conquer (Mrs Hardcastle) - Queen's Theatre, London (1993)
• Dickens' Women - Edinburgh Festival (1989)/Hampstead Theatre and Duke of York's Theatre, London (1991)
• Orpheus Descending (Vee Talbot) - Haymarket Theatre, London (1988)
• Man Equals Man (Widow Begbick) - Almeida Theatre, London (1987)
• Gertrude Stein and a Companion (Gertrude Stein) - International Tour (1986)
• 84 Charing Cross Road (Helen Hanff) - Colchester (1984)
• Flaming Bodies (Psychiatrist) - ICA - (1979)
• Cloud Nine - Royal Court/Joint Stock Tour (1978)
• The White Devil - Old Vic Theatre, London (1976)
• Kennedy's Children - Arts Theatre, London (1975)
• Canterbury Tales (Wife of Bath) - Bristol Old Vic (1974)
• Threepenny Opera - Piccadilly Theatre, London (1972)
• Fiddler on the Roof (Matchmaker) - UK Tour (1970)

Documentary

• Dickens in America - writer/presenter

Awards and nominations

• Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for Services to Drama, 2002
• Winner: Theatregoer's Choice Awards 2007 Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for Madam Morrible in Wicked
• Winner: Audiofile's Earphones Award 2001 for A Christmas Carol
• Winner: Prix Jeunesse Best Children's Programme (0-6 fiction) 2000 for The First Snow of Winter
• Winner: The Talkies Performer Of The Year 1997 for Oliver Twist
• Winner: Sony Radio Awards Best Actress On Radio 1993 for The Queen and I
• Winner: BAFTA Best Supporting Actress 1993 for The Age of Innocence
• Nominated: Olivier Award for Best Entertainment 1991 for Dickens' Women
• Winner: LA Critics Circle 1989 Best Supporting Actress for Little Dorrit (shared with Geneviève Bujold)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]