Imelda Staunton

Imelda Staunton

Birth name: Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton
Born: January 9, 1956
Age: 68
Birthplace: Archway, London, England
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Biography

Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, CBE (born 9 January 1956) is an English stage and screen actress. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in the 1970s before appearing in seasons at various theatres in the UK.

Staunton has since performed in a variety of plays and musicals in London, winning four Olivier Awards; three for Best Actress in a Musical for her roles as the Baker's Wife in Into the Woods (1991), Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (2013) and Mama Rose in Gypsy (2016), and one for Best Supporting Performance for her work in both A Chorus of Disapproval (1985) and The Corn is Green (1985). Her appearances on stage in The Beggar's Opera (1982), The Wizard of Oz (1987), Uncle Vanya (1988), Guys and Dolls (1996), Entertaining Mr Sloane (2009) and Good People (2014) also earned her Olivier nominations. Staunton has been nominated for a total of 11 Olivier Awards.

Staunton drew critical acclaim for the title role in the 2004 film Vera Drake, for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actress in addition to being nominated for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. Her other film roles include Mrs. Blatherwick in Nanny McPhee (2005), Dolores Jane Umbridge in two of the Harry Potter films (2007-2010) and Hefina Headon in Pride (2014), for which she received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

On television, she starred in the sitcoms Up the Garden Path (1990-1993) and Is it Legal? (1995-1998). Her performance in My Family and Other Animals (2005) earned her a nomination for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress, while her roles in Return to Cranford (2009) and The Girl (2012) earned her BAFTA TV Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. For the latter, she was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie.

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Early life

Staunton was born in Archway, North London, the only child of Bridie (née McNicholas), a hairdresser, and Joseph Staunton, a road-worker and labourer. The family lived over Staunton's mother's hair dressing salon. Her parents were first-generation Catholic immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland; her father from Ballyvary and her mother from Bohola. Staunton's mother was a musician who could not read music, but could master almost any tune by ear on the accordion or fiddle and had played in Irish showbands.

She took drama classes with her elocution teacher and starred in school productions of plays, including playing role of Polly Peachum in a school production of The Beggar's Opera. Encouraged by an elocution teacher at her school, Staunton auditioned for drama schools and got into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at the age of 18. At the school, she trained alongside actors Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall and Juliet Stevenson.She also auditioned for the Central School of Speech and Drama and Guildhall School of Music and Drama, but was rejected by both schools.

Career

Theatre

Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976, then spent six years in English repertory theatre, including a period at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, where she had the title role in Shaw's Saint Joan (1979). She then moved on to roles the National Theatre, including Lucy Lockit in The Beggar's Opera (1982), which earned her Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Musical and Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre. She also appeared in two revivals of Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre; the first in 1982 in which she met her husband Jim Carter and the second in 1996 in which she played Miss Adelaide and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical. In 1985, Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her work in both The Corn Is Green and at The Old Vic and A Chorus of Disapproval at the National Theatre. She also played Dorothy in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1987 revival of The Wizard of Oz at the Barbican Centre, which earned her another Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Baker's Wife in the original London production of Into the Woods (1990). In the ensuing twenty years, Staunton mainly had roles in plays, including Sonya in Uncle Vanya (1988), Kath in Entertaining Mr Sloane (2009) and Good People (2014), for which she received Olivier nominations for Best Actress in a Play. She also appeared in two productions at the Almeida Theatre, firstly in the premiere of Frank McGuinness's There Came a Gypsy Riding in 2007 and secondly in a revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance in 2011.

Most recently, Staunton has appeared in two Chichester Festival Theatre productions, taking on the role of Mrs Lovett in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd between 2011 and 2012, starring opposite Michael Ball, before starring as Rose in a revival of Gypsy between 2014 and 2015. Both productions transferred to London for critically and commercially acclaimed runs. Staunton won her second and third Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for the two productions in 2013 and 2016 respectively.

Film

Staunton's first big-screen role came in a 1986 film Comrades. She then appeared in the 1992 film Peter's Friends. Other film roles include performances in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Deadly Advice (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) Twelfth Night (1996), Chicken Run (2000), Another Life (2001), Bright Young Things (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), Freedom Writers (2007) and How About You (2007).

Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love. In 2004, she received the Best Actress honours at the European Film Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Venice Film Festival for her performance of the title role in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, which also won Best Picture. For the same role, she received her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

Staunton portrayed Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), a performance described as "coming close to stealing the show." She was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in 2010.

Recent film roles include the 2008 movie A Bunch of Amateurs, in which she starred alongside Burt Reynolds, Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond, and the character of Sonia Teichberg in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (2009). Staunton provided the voice of the Talking Flowers in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), and played one of the lead roles in the ghost film The Awakening in 2011. In 2014, she co-starred in Maleficent as well as the British comedy-drama Pride.

In late 2014, she had a voice role in Paddington, a film based on the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. Staunton and her Harry Potter co-star Michael Gambon voiced Paddington's Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo, respectively.

Television

In 1993, she appeared on television alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him. Staunton also played the wife of Detective Burakov in the 1995 HBO movie, Citizen X, which recounted the pursuit and capture of Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. She has had other television parts in The Singing Detective (1986), Midsomer Murders, and the comedy drama series Is It Legal? (1995-98), as well as A Bit of Fry and Laurie. She was a voice artist on Mole's Christmas (1994). She had a guest role playing Mrs. Mead in Little Britain in 2005, and in 2007 played the free-thinking gossip, Miss Pole, in Cranford, the five-part BBC series based on Mrs Gaskell's novels. In 2011, she played Grace Andrews in the second series of Psychoville. In 2011, she was the Voice of the Interface in the highly acclaimed and nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) episode of Doctor Who - "The Girl Who Waited". In 2012, she portrayed Alma Reville, the wife of Alfred Hitchcock, in the HBO television movie The Girl, which also starred Toby Jones and Sienna Miller. Her performance saw her nominated for a BAFTA Television Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Radio

On radio, she has appeared in the title role of detective drama series Julie Enfield Investigates, as the lead, Izzy Comyn, in the comedy Up the Garden Path (which later moved to ITV with Staunton reprising the role), in Diary of a Provincial Lady (from 1999) and Acropolis Now.

She starred opposite Anna Massey in the post-World War II mystery series Daunt and Dervish, and opposite Patrick Barlow in The Patrick and Maureen Maybe Music Experience. She played the role of a schoolboy as the lead character in the five part (15 minutes each): "The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth" for BBC Radio 4.

Other work

Staunton has narrated The Gruffalo for an unabridged audio book of Julia Donaldson's children's book. In 2014 she collaborated with her husband, Jim Carter, and Show of Hands on Centenary: Words and Music of the Great War, an album of songs and poetry from and inspired by World War One.

Staunton is also a patron for the Milton Rooms, a new arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire along with Bill Nighy, Jools Holland and Kathy Burke.

Personal life

Staunton met her husband, English actor Jim Carter, in Richard Eyre's landmark early 1980s production of Guys And Dolls at the National Theatre. They have a daughter, Bessie, born in 1993. In 2007, the couple, together with Bessie, appeared in the BBC series Cranford (Carter was Captain Brown and Bessie a maid).

Staunton was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours, both for services to drama.

Staunton owns a dog (Molly) who appeared in Gypsy at the Chichester Festival Theatre from 6 October 8 November as "Chowsie" the dog. Staunton played the leading role, "Momma Rose".

Theatre work

Repertory theatre:

  • Waiting for Godot (Lucky, 1976), Birmingham Rep
  • Hay Fever, Watermill, Newbury
  • Grease, York Theatre Royal
  • Henry V, Leeds Playhouse
  • The Gingerbread Man, Leeds Playhouse

Two seasons at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter:

  • Travesties (1978) Northcott Exeter
  • A Man for All Seasons (1978) Northcott Exeter
  • Elektra (Elektra, 1978) Northcott Exeter
  • Dear Daddy (1978) Northcott Exeter
  • Cinderella (1978) Northcott Exeter
  • 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1978) Northcott Exeter:
  • Macbeth (1978) Northcott Exeter
  • Cabaret (1978) Northcott Exeter
  • As You Like It (1978) Northcott Exeter
  • Saint Joan (Saint Joan, 1979) Northcott Exeter
  • The Beggar's Opera (1979) Northcott Exeter
  • Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (1979) Northcott Exeter
  • Side by Side by Sondheim (1979) Northcott Exeter

Two seasons at the Nottingham Playhouse (1980-81?):

  • Pam Gems' Piaf (Piaf) Nottingham Playhouse
  • Mack and Mabel (Mabel) Nottingham Playhouse
  • Mrs Warren's Profession, Nottingham Playhouse
  • A Little Night Music, Nottingham Playhouse

Touring (1981-82?):

  • She Stoops to Conquer (Kate Hardcastle) Oxford Stage Company UK tour

Theatre roles in London:

  • Guys and Dolls (Mimi, Hotbox Girl, 1982), Royal National Theatre Olivier
  • The Beggar's Opera (Lucy Lockit, 1982), Royal National Theatre Cottesloe
  • Schweyk in the Second World War (Anna, 1982) National Olivier
  • Guys and Dolls (Miss Adelaide, 1983) National Olivier
  • A Mad World, My Masters (Janet Cloughton, 1984) Theatre Royal Stratford East
  • Us Good Girls (Paulette, 1984) Soho Poly
  • The Corn Is Green (Bessie Watty, 1985), Old Vic - Olivier Award
  • A Chorus of Disapproval (Hannah Llewellyn, 1985) National Olivier - Olivier Award
  • The Fair Maid of the West (Bess Bridges, 1987) RSC Mermaid Theatre
  • They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (Gloria Beatty, 1987) RSC Mermaid
  • The Wizard of Oz (Dorothy, 1987) RSC Barbican Theatre
  • Uncle Vanya (Sonya, 1988) Vaudeville Theatre
  • The Lady and the Clarinet (Luba, 1989) The King's Head Theatre, Islington
  • Into the Woods (Baker's Wife, 1990) Phoenix Theatre - Olivier Award
  • Rona Munro's Bold Girls (Cassie, 1991) Hampstead Theatre
  • Tony Kushner's Slavs! (Bonfila, 1994) Hampstead Theatre
  • Habeas Corpus (play) (Mrs Swabb, 1996) Donmar Warehouse
  • Guys and Dolls (Miss Adelaide, 1996) National Olivier - Olivier Nomination
  • Divas at the Donmar
  • Yasmina Reza's Life X Three (Ines, 2000) National Cottesloe, then transferring to the Old Vic (2001)
  • Michael Hastings' Calico (Nora Barnacle, 2004) Duke of York's Theatre
  • Frank McGuinness's There Came a Gypsy Riding (Margaret, 2007) Almeida
  • Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr Sloane (Kath, 2009) Trafalgar Studios
  • Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (Claire, 2011) Almeida Theatre
  • Sweeney Todd (Mrs Lovett, 2011), Chichester Festival Theatre
  • Sweeney Todd (Mrs Lovett, 2012), Adelphi Theatre - Olivier Award
  • Circle Mirror Transformation (Marty, 2013), Royal Court Theatre
  • Good People (Margie, 2014), Hampstead Theatre and Noël Coward Theatre - Olivier Nomination
  • Gypsy (Rose, 2014), Chichester Festival Theatre
  • Gypsy (Rose, 2015), Savoy Theatre - Olivier Award

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Comrades Betsy Loveless
1989 A Sleeping Life Polly Flinders
1990 Yellowbacks Cheryl Newman
1990 They Never Slept The Producer
1992 Peter's Friends Mary Charleston
1993 Much Ado About Nothing Margaret
1993 Deadly Advice Beth Greenwood
1994 Mole's Christmas Village Mother (voice) Short film
1995 A Bit of Fry And Laurie Herself
1995 Sense and Sensibility Charlotte Jennings Palmer Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1996 Twelfth Night: Or What You Will Maria
1996 The Snow Queen's Revenge (voice)
1997 Remember Me? Lorna
1997 The Ugly Duckling Scruffy
1998 Shakespeare in Love Nurse Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2000 Chicken Run Bunty (voice)
2000 Rat Conchita
2000 Jack and the Beanstalk Dilly (voice)
2000 Victoria Wood With All The Trimmings Mrs. Cottisloe
2001 Another Life Ethel Graydon
2001 Crush Janine
2002 Ready Naomi
2003 The Virgin of Liverpool Sylvia, Conlon
2003 Bright Young Things Lady Brown
2003 I'll Be There Dr. Bridget
2004 Vera Drake Vera Drake BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
European Film Award for Best Actress
Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress
Iowa Film Critics Award for Best Actress
London Film Critics Circle Award for Actress of the Year
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Actress
San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actress
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Empire Award for Best British Actress
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Nominated—Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
Nominated—Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
2005 Nanny McPhee Mrs. Blatherwick
2005 A Midsummer Night's Dream Polly
2006 My Family And Other Animals Mother Nominated—International Emmy Award for Best Actress
2006 Shadow Man Ambassador Cochran
2007 Freedom Writers Margaret Campbell
2007 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Dolores Jane Umbridge Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2007 How About You Hazel Nightingale
2008 Three and Out Rosemary Cassidy
2008 A Bunch of Amateurs Mary
2009 Taking Woodstock Sonia Teichberg
2009 Blackball Bridget
2010 White Other Lynne McDermott
2010 Alice in Wonderland Tall Flower Faces (voice)
2010 Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows: Part 1
Dolores Jane Umbridge
2010 Another Year Janet Nominated—San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2011 The Awakening Maud Hill
2011 Arthur Christmas Margaret Claus (voice)
2012 The Pirates! Band of Misfits Queen Victoria Nominated—Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
2014 Maleficent Knotgrass
2014 Pride Hefina Headon BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated- BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
2014 Paddington Aunt Lucy (voice)
2014 That Day We Sang Enid Television film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1986 The Singing Detective Staff Nurse White 5 episodes
1986 Ladies in Charge Edith Episode: "Double Act"
1988 Thompson Various roles 6 episodes
1990-1993 Up the Garden Path Izzy 18 episodes
1990 Screenplay Stephanie Episode: "The Englishman's Wife"
1991 Screenplay Jane Hartman Episode: "Antonia and Jane"
1992 A Masculine Ending Bridget Bennet Television film
1993 Don't Leave Me This Way Bridget Bennet Television film
1993 If You See God, Tell Him Muriel Spry 4 episodes
1994 Frank Stubbs Promotes Susan Episode: "Charity"
1994 Woodcock Edna Television film
1995-1998 Is It Legal? Stella Phelps 21 episodes
1995 Citizen X Mrs Burakova Television film
1995 Look at the State We're In! Councillor Johnson Television film
1995 The Adventures of Mole (voice) Television film
1996 Tales From The Crypt Sarah Episode: "About Face"
1998-2000 The Canterbury Tales The Prioress 2 episodes
1999 David Copperfield Mrs. Micawber Television film
1999 Midsomer Murders Christine Cooper Episode: "Dead Man's Eleven"
2002 Murder DCI Billie Dory Television film
2003 Cambridge Spies The Queen 2 episodes
2003 Strange Reverend Mary Truegood Episode: "Incubus"
2003 Let's Write A Story Mrs. Twit Television film
2005 Fingersmith Mrs Sucksby 3 episodes
2005 Little Britain Mrs. Mead 6 episodes
2006 Dog Town Gwen Gregson Episode: "1.4"
2006 The Wind in the Willows Barge Lady Television film
2007 Cranford Miss Octavia Pole 5 episodes
Nominated—BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress
2008 Big & Small Ruby/Twiba 14 episodes
2008 Clay Mary Doonan Television film
2009 Return to Cranford Miss Octavia Pole 2 episodes
2010-2011 Psychoville Grace Andrews 7 episodes
2011 Doctor Who The Interface (voice) Episode: "The Girl Who Waited"
2012 The Girl Alma Hitchcock Television film
Nominated—BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress
Nominated—Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Movie/Miniseries Supporting Actress
Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie

Discography

  • 2012 Sweeney Todd Revival Cast Recording as Mrs. Lovett
  • 2015 Gypsy - 2015 London Cast Recording as Momma Rose

[ Source: Wikipedia ]


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