Early life

Duncan was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in a working class family; her father had served in the army for 21 years before becoming a civil servant. Her parents moved to Leeds, then Birmingham when she was still a child. Duncan attended King Edward VI High School for Girls in Birmingham through a scholarship. Despite her origins, she speaks with a received pronunciation accent. As of 2011, her only role with a Scottish accent is AfterLife (2003).

Duncan's father died in a car accident when she was 15. Her mother was affected by Alzheimer's disease and died in 1994; she inspired Sharman Macdonald to write the play The Winter Guest (1995), which was later adapted as a film by Alan Rickman.

Career

Duncan's first contact with theatre was through school productions. She became friends with the future playwright Kevin Elyot, who attended the neighbouring King Edward's School for boys, and followed him to Bristol, where he read Drama at University. She did a number of odd jobs while staging her own production of Joe Orton's Funeral Games.

Duncan joined London's Central School of Speech and Drama at the age of 21. After her training she started out in summer weekly rep in Southwold to gain her Equity card. She appeared in two small roles in Molière's Don Juan at the Hampstead Theatre in 1976, and she joined the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester when it opened. In 1978 she returned to London in Plenty by David Hare at the National. She appeared on the television in small roles in a special episode of Up Pompeii! and in The New Avengers, and a commercial for Head & Shoulders shampoo. She made her breakthrough on Top Girls by Caryl Churchill, created at the Royal Court in London and later transferred to The Public Theater in New York: her performance as Lady Nijo, a 13th-century Japanese concubine, won her an Obie, her first award. The next year she took her first major role on film in Richard Eyre's Loose Connections with Stephen Rea. At the same time her television work included a filmed version of Frederick Lonsdale's On Approval (1982), Reilly, Ace of Spies (1983) and Dead Head (1985).

In 1985 she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for the production of Troilus and Cressida, in which she played Helen of Troy. In September she created the role of the Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, the play by Christopher Hampton after the French novel by Choderlos de Laclos. The play opened at The Other Place in Stratford-upon-Avon. On 8 January 1986 the production transferred to the 200-seat theatre The Pit in London's Barbican Centre, with its original cast intact. In October of the same year the production moved to the Ambassadors in the West End. In April 1987 the cast, including Duncan, took the play to Broadway, with the London production completely recast. For her performance she was nominated for a Tony and won the Olivier Award for Best Actress and a Theatre World Award. She was however replaced by Glenn Close for Dangerous Liaisons — Stephen Frears's film of the play; similarly John Malkovich was selected for the role of Valmont instead of Duncan's co-star Alan Rickman.

In 1988 Duncan won an Evening Standard Award for her role of Maggie in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof by Tennessee Williams. At the same time she became a regular in the plays of Harold Pinter and the television work of Alan Bleasdale and Stephen Poliakoff. She performed for a second season with the RSC in 1994-1995, in A Midsummer Night's Dream in which she played the double role of Hippolyta and Titania. She went on tour in the United States with the rest of the cast, but back and neck pains forced her to be replaced by Emily Button from January to March 1997. Impressed by her performance in David Mamet's The Cryptogram (1994), Al Pacino asked Duncan to play the role of his wife in City Hall (1996) by Harold Becker.

To please her young son, a Star Wars fan, Duncan applied for the role of Anakin Skywalker's mother in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999), but was not cast; she finally accepted to voice an android TC-14. She reunited with Alan Rickman in a revival of Noël Coward's Private Lives (2001-2002), and won a Tony Award for Best Actress and a second Olivier Award for her performance as Amanda Prynne — she was also nominated the same year for her role in Mouth To Mouth by Kevin Elyot.

Duncan played Servilia Caepionis in the 2005 HBO-BBC series Rome and she starred as Rose Harbinson in Starter for 10. Aged by make-up, she played Lord Longford's wife, Elizabeth, in the TV film Longford. In February 2009, she played British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Margaret. In November 2009, Duncan played Adelaide Brooke, companion to the Doctor, in the second of the 2009 Doctor Who specials. Duncan played Alice's mother in Tim Burton's 2010 film Alice in Wonderland, alongside Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. She also starred in the original London run of Polly Stenham's play That Face at the Royal Court co-starring Matt Smith and directed by Jeremy Herrin. She did the narration for the Matt Lucas and David Walliams 2010/2011 fly-on-the-wall mockumentary series Come Fly with Me on the BBC. In October-November 2010, Duncan starred in a new version by Frank McGuinness of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin alongside her Liaisons dangereuses co-stars Alan Rickman and Fiona Shaw. The production transferred in January-February 2011 to the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Alan Bleasdale asked for Duncan to feature in his first work for television after ten years of absence, The Sinking of the Laconia, aired on January 2011; she plays an upper-class passenger in the two-part drama based on a true story of World War II. She also played the mother of Matt Smith in the telefilm Christopher and His Kind written by Kevin Elyot after Christopher Isherwood's autobiography of the same title. In October-November 2011, Duncan read extracts of the King James Bible at the National Theatre, London as part of the 400th anniversary celebrations of the translation. She played Queen Annis, ruler of Caerleon and antagonist of Merlin, in the 5th episode of the fourth series of BBC1's Merlin. She also appeared as Home Secretary Alex Cairns to Rory Kinnear's Prime Minister in "The National Anthem", the first episode of Charlie Brooker's Black Mirror.

Duncan started 2012 as a guest in the New Year special of Absolutely Fabulous, playing the part of Saffy's favourite film actress, 'Jeanne Durand'. In February she returned to the West End in Noël Coward's Hay Fever with Kevin McNally, Jeremy Northam and Olivia Colman, once again under the direction of Howard Davies. Later in 2012, Duncan featured in BBC2's productions of Shakespeare's history plays. She is to play the Duchess of York in the first film, Richard II, with David Suchet as the Duke of York and Patrick Stewart as John of Gaunt.

In October 2014, Duncan appeared as Claire in the revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance on Broadway. That same year, she also featured in the film Birdman, or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Personal life

Duncan is married to fellow Scottish actor Hilton McRae, whom she met in 1985 at the Royal Shakespeare Company. They live in north London. They have one son, Cal McRae, born September 1991.

Duncan was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to drama in the 2009 Birthday Honours.

Filmography

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Dom Juan	Charlotte/Violetta	Hampstead Theatre, London
1976	Script, TheThe Script		Hampstead Theatre, London
1976	Zack	Sally Teale	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
1976	Rivals, TheThe Rivals	Lucy	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
1976	Prince of Homburg, TheThe Prince of Homburg	Natalie	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. British premiere of the play.
1977	Deep Blue Sea, TheThe Deep Blue Sea	Anne	Cambridge Arts Theatre
1977	Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold, TheThe Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold	Margaret	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. After a novel by Evelyn Waugh.
1977	What the Butler Saw	Geraldine Barclay	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
1977	Skin of Our Teeth, TheThe Skin of Our Teeth	Gladys	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
1977	Present Laughter	Daphne	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
1977	Twelfth Night	Viola	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester
1978	Plenty	Dorcas	National Theatre, London
1978	Comings and Goings	Hilary	Hampstead Theatre, London
1979	Recruiting Officer, TheThe Recruiting Officer	Sylvia	Bristol Old Vic/Edinburgh Festival
1980	Julius Caesar	Portia	Riverside Studios, London
1980	Provoked Wife, TheThe Provoked Wife	Belinda	National Theatre, London
1981	Incident at Tulse Hill	Rosemary	Hampstead Theatre, London. Directed by Harold Pinter.
1982	Top Girls	Lady Nijo/Win	Royal Court Theatre, London then Joe Papp's Public Theater, New York Won - Obie Award.
1984	Progress	Ronnie	Bush Theatre, London
1985-1986	Troilus and Cressida	Helen	Royal Shakespeare Company: Stratford-upon-Avon/Barbican Theatre
1985-1986	Les Liaisons dangereuses	Marquise de Merteuil	Royal Shakespeare Company: Ambassadors Theatre, Londres then Music Box Theatre, New York. Won - Olivier Award for Best Actress and a Theatre World Award; nominated - Tony Award for Best Actress.
1985-1986	Merry Wives of Windsor, TheThe Merry Wives of Windsor	Mistress Ford	Royal Shakespeare Company: Stratford-upon-Avon/Barbican Theatre
1988	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof	Maggie	National Theatre, London Won - Evening Standard Theatre Award
1988	Hedda Gabler	Hedda Gabler	Hampstead Theatre, London
1990	Bérénice	Bérénice	National Theatre, London
1993	Three Hotels	Barbara Boyle	Tricycle Theatre, London
1994	Cryptogram, TheThe Cryptogram	Donny	Ambassadors Theatre, London
1995	Midsummer Night's Dream, AA Midsummer Night's Dream	Titania/Hippolyta	Royal Shakespeare Company: Barbican Theatre, London then The Lunt Fontanne, New York, afterwards adapted to film
1996	Ashes to Ashes	Rebecca	Gramercy Theater, New York
1997	Homecoming, TheThe Homecoming	Ruth	National Theatre, London
2000	Celebration/The Room	Prue/Rose (double bill)	Almeida Theatre, London, then the Pinter Festival New York
2001	Mouth to Mouth	Laura	Albery Theatre, London Won - Critics' Circle Theatre Award; nominated - Olivier Award, Evening Standard Award
2001	Private Lives	Amanda Prynne	Albery Theatre, London, then Broadway Won - Olivier Award for Best Actress, Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, Critics' Circle Theatre Award, Drama Desk Award and Variety Club Showbusiness Award; nominated - Evening Standard Award
2007	That Face	Martha	Royal Court Theatre/Duke of York's Theatre Nominated - Oliver Award for Best Actress
2010	John Gabriel Borkman	Ella Rentheim	Abbey Theatre, Dublin, then Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
2012	Hay Fever	Judith Bliss	Noël Coward Theatre, London
2014	A Delicate Balance	Claire	John Golden Theatre, Broadway

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Loose Connections	Sally
1985	Samson and Delilah	Alice Nankervis	Short
1987	Prick Up Your Ears	Anthea Lahr
1988	Manifesto	Lily Sachor
1989	Child Eater, TheThe Child Eater	Eirwen	Short
1990	Reflecting Skin, TheThe Reflecting Skin	Dolphin Blue	Catalonian International Film Festival Award for Best Actress
1991	Body Parts	Dr Agatha-Webb
1996	City Hall	Sydney Pappas
1996	Midsummer's Night Dream, AA Midsummer's Night Dream	Hippolyta/Titania	From the 1994-1995 Royal Shakespeare Company stage production
1999	Ideal Husband, AnAn Ideal Husband	Lady Markby
1999	Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace	TC-14	Voice
1999	Expelling the Demon	Woman	Voice, short.
1999	Mansfield Park	Mrs. Price/Lady Bertram
2003	Under the Tuscan Sun	Katherine
2003	AfterLife	May Brogan	Bratislava International Film Festival Award for Best Actress Bowmore Scottish Screen Award
2004	Queen of Sheba's Pearls, TheThe Queen of Sheba's Pearls	Audrey Pretty
2006	Starter for Ten	Rose Harbinson
2007	The Rector's Wife	Anna Bouverie
2010	Burlesque Fairytales	Ice Queen
2010	Alice in Wonderland	Helen Kingsleigh
2012	Last Passenger	Elaine Middleton
2013	About Time	Mary Lake
2013	Le Week-End	Meg Burrows
2014	Birdman	Tabitha Dickinson	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2016	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Helen Kingsleigh
2016	Gifted	Evelyn Adler	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Up Pompeii!	Scrubba	Series (BBC), special episode ‘Further Up Pompeii!’
1976	One-Upmanship		Series (BBC), episode ‘Woomanship’
1977	New Avengers, TheThe New Avengers	Jane	Series, episode ‘The Angels of Death’
1979	The Winkler	Diane	ITV Playhouse
1980	Dick Turpin	Catherine Langford	Series, episode ‘Deadlier Than the Male’
1980	Grown-Ups	Christine Butcher	BBC2 Playhouse, directed by Mike Leigh
1982	Muck and Brass	Jean Torrode	Series, episodes ‘Public Relations’ and ‘Our Green and Pleasant Land’
1982	On Approval	Helen Hayle	Filmed production of Frederick Lonsdale's On Approval, BBC Play of the Month
1983	Reilly, Ace of Spies	The Plugger	Mini series, episode ‘After Moscow’
1984	Rainy Day Women	Karen Miller	BBC Play for Today
1984	Travelling Man	Andrea	Series, episodes ‘First Leg’, ‘The Collector’, ‘The Watcher’, ‘Grasser’, ‘Moving On’, ‘Sudden Death’
1986	Dead Head	Dana	Series, episodes 'Why me?', 'Anything for England', 'The Patriot'
1986	Kit Curran	Pamela Scott	Series, all episodes
1989	These Foolish Things	Gutrune Day	BBC The Play on One
1989	Traffik	Helen Rosshalde	Mini-series, written by Simon Moore, all episodes
1988-1990	Colin's Sandwich	Rosemary	Series, episodes ‘Enough’ (1988) and ‘Zanzibar’ (1990)
1990	TECX	Laura Pellin	Series, épisode ‘Getting Personnel’
1991	Storyteller: Greek Myths, TheThe Storyteller: Greek Myths	Medea	Series, episode ‘Theseus & the Minotaur’
1991	Screenplay	Kath Peachey	Series, episode ‘Redemption’
1991	G.B.H.	Barbara Douglas	Mini-series, witten by Alan Bleasdale, episodes ‘Only Here on a Message’, ‘Send a Message to Michael’, ‘Message Sent’, ‘Message received’, ‘Message Understood’, ‘Over and Out’ Nominated - TV BAFTA for Best Actress
1993	Year in Provence, AA Year in Provence	Annie Mayle	Miniseries, all episodes. After Peter Mayle's book.
1994	Rector's Wife, TheThe Rector's Wife	Anne Bouverie	Series, all episodes. After the novel by Joanna Trollope.
1995	Just William	Lady Walton	Series, episode ‘William Clears the Slums’
1995	Jake's Progress	Monica	Miniseries, episodes 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.6
1999	History of Tom Jones, A Foundling, TheThe History of Tom Jones, A Foundling	Lady Bellaston	Miniseries, episodes 1, 3, 4, 5. After the novel by Henry Fielding.
1998	Get Real	Louise	Series, all episodes
1999	Shooting the Past	Marilyn Truman	Telefilm (BBC), written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff Nominated - TV BAFTA for Best Actress
1999	Oliver Twist	Elizabeth Leeford	Miniseries, all episodes. Adapted by Alan Bleasdale after Charles Dickens' novel.
2000	Dirty Tricks	Alison	Telefilm
2000	Victoria Wood with All The Trimmings	Pam	Christmas special, segment ‘Women Institute’
2001	Perfect Strangers	Alice	Series, all episodes. Written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff Nominated — TV BAFTA for Best Actress
2001	Witness of Truth: The Railway Murders	Narrator's Voice	Telefilm
2005	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Lady Tamplin	Series, episode ‘The Mystery of the Blue Train’
2005-2006	Spooks	Angela Wells	Episodes ‘Diana’ and ‘Gas and Oil, Part One’
2005-2007	Rome	Servilia of the Junii	Series, 18 episodes
2006	Longford	Lady Longford	Telefilm
2007	Frankenstein	Professor Jane Pretorius	Telefilm
2008	Criminal Justice	Alison Slaughter	Miniseries, episodes 3-5
2008	Lost in Austen	Lady Catherine de Bourgh	Miniseries, episodes 3 and 4
2009	Margaret	Margaret Thatcher	Nominated - Scottish BAFTA Award for Best Actress
2009	Doctor Who	Adelaide Brooke	Special episode: ‘The Waters of Mars’
2009	Margot	Ninette de Valois	Telefilm (BBC)
2010	Agatha Christie's Marple	Marina Gregg	Episode: ‘The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side’
2010	Mission: 2110	Cybele	Children game show
2010-2011	Come Fly with Me	Narrator (voice)	Series, all episodes
2011	Sinking of the Laconia, TheThe Sinking of the Laconia	Elisabeth Fullwood	Miniseries (BBC), all episodes. Written by Alan Bleasdale.
2011	Christopher and His Kind	Kathleen Isherwood	Telefilm, written by Kevin Elyot after Christopher Isherwood's autobiography
2011-2012	Merlin	Queen Annis	Series (BBC1), 4th season, 5th season
2011	Black Mirror	Home Secretary Alex Cairns	Miniseries, first episode: ‘The National Anthem’ (Channel 4). Written by Charlie Brooker.
2011	Against the Wall	Faith Kowalski	Police-crime drama television series, episode ‘We Have a Cop in Trouble Here‘
2012	Absolutely Fabulous	Jeanne Durand	New Year's Day 'Special' (BBC1)
2012	White Heat	Lilly	Series (BBC2), written by Paula Milne
2012	Richard II	Duchess of York	Telefilm (BBC2) - filmed production of Shakespeare's play
2012	Spy	The Director	Episodes ‘Codename: Citizen Lame’ and ‘Codename - Show Stopper’
2012	Wallander	Monika Westin	Episode ‘Before the Frost’
2013	You, Me and Them	Lydia Walker	Series Regular
2013	Count Arthur Strong	Dame Agnes
2014	Sherlock	Lady Smallwood	Episode: "His Last Vow"
2014	The Honourable Woman	Anjelica Hayden-Hoyle
2015	Toast of London	Herself	Episode: "Global Warming"
2016	Churchill's Secret	Clementine Churchill
2016	Close to the Enemy	Frau Bellinghausen

[ Source: Wikipedia ]