Imelda Staunton

Infobox actor


imagesize = 150px
name = Imelda Staunton
birthname = Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton
birthdate = birth date and age|1956|1|9|df=no
birthplace = flagicon|England London, England
deathdate =
deathplace =
restingplace =
restingplacecoordinates =
othername =
occupation = Actress
yearsactive = 1976 - present
spouse = Jim Carter (1985 - present)
notableroles = Vera Drake in "Vera Drake"Features in Nanny McPhee"Dolores Umbridge" Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
baftaawards = Best Actress in a Leading Role
2005 "Vera Drake"
sagawards = Outstanding Performance by a Cast
1999 "Shakespeare in Love"
awards = British Independent Film Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
European Film Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
New York Film Critics Circle Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
San Diego Film Critics Society Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Seattle Film Critics Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Toronto Film Critics Association Awards
Best Performance, Female
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Venice Film Festival
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards
Best Actress
2004 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Chlotrudia Awards
Best Actress
2005 "Vera Drake"
Evening Standard British Film Awards
Best Actress
2005 "Vera Drake" (2004)
London Critics Circle Film Awards
Actress of the Year
2005 "Vera Drake" (2004)
National Society of Film Critics Awards
Best Actress
2005 "Vera Drake" (2004)
Vancouver Film Critics Circle
Best Actress
2005 "Vera Drake" (2004)

Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE, (born January 9 1956) is an English actress best known for her performances in the British comedy television series "Up the Garden Path" and the films "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and "Vera Drake". For the latter, in which she played the title character, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Personal life

Staunton was born in Archway, North London to Bridie (née McNicholas), a hairdresser, and Joseph Staunton, a road-worker and labourer.cite news|last=Lawley|first=Sue|title=This Week's Guest: Imelda Staunton|publisher=BBC Radio 4|date=2005-05-15|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20050515.shtml|accessdate=2007-01-06] Both of her parents are first-generation Catholic immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland, with her father coming from Ballyvary and her mother from Bohola.cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | title =Imelda Staunton Biography | work = | publisher =Tiscali Film and TV | date = | url =http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/film/biographies/imelda_staunton_biog.html | format = | doi = | accessdate =2007-07-16 ] She attended La Sainte Union Convent School, an all girls catholic school on the edge of Hampstead Heath, from years 7 to 11. [ [http://www.irishabroad.com/news/irishpost/news/abaftaforimelda.asp Irish News UK - News from the Irish Community in Britain ] ] Staunton is married to the English actor Jim Carter and they have a daughter, Bessie, born 1993.

Career

Theatre

Staunton trained for the stage at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, then spent six years in English repertory, including a period at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter where she had the title role in Shaw's "Saint Joan" (1979), before moving back to London.

Staunton has stated that her first job was a play by Goldoni. [ [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2007/07/15/st_imeldastaunton.xml The prime of Miss Imelda Staunton] ] Her most recent stage appearance was in the premiere of Frank McGuinness's "There Came a Gypsy Riding" at the Almeida in 2007.

She has twice received an Olivier Award, Britain's highest theatre honour, for roles in two 1985 productions: "A Chorus of Disapproval" and "The Corn Is Green" and for the 1991 "Into the Woods." She was nominated for her performance as Miss Adelaide in the 1996 revival of "Guys and Dolls" at the National Theatre. [Olivier Awards winners [http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/olivier_awards/past_winners/] ] She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 New Year's Honours List for her services to drama.

Film

One of her first films was an appearance in the 1992 movie "Peter's Friends". Other early 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), and "Freedom Writers" (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 Best Actress nominations for the 2005 Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

Staunton portrayed Dolores Umbridge in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" (2007), a performance described as "coming close to stealing the show." [cite news |first=Justin |last=McCurry |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Japan goes wild about Harry |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jun/29/film.business |work= |publisher="The Guardian" |date= 2007-06-29|accessdate=2008-05-17 ] She was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. [cite news|url=http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117977651.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1|title=London critics love 'Control,' 'Atonement'|date=2007-12-13|accessdate=2007-12-15|publisher=Variety] She will most likely reprise the role for the final films of the series.

Her latest role was the lead in the British comedy, Three and Out, released on 25th April 2008.

Other work

In 1993 she appeared on the small screen alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in "If You See God, Tell Him". She has had other television parts in "The Singing Detective" (1986) and the comedy drama series "Is it Legal?" (1995-8). 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 the BBC1 five-part drama series based on Mrs Gaskell's Cranford novels.

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), as Mrs Blatherwick, the vile cook in "Nanny McPhee", and in "Diary of a Provincial Lady" (from 1999) and "Acropolis Now".

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 PlayhouseTwo 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 ExeterTwo 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 PlayhouseTouring (1981-82?):
*"She Stoops to Conquer" (Kate Hardcastle) Oxford Playhouse UK tourTheatre roles in London::
*"Guys and Dolls" (Mimi, Hotbox Girl, 1982), National Theatre Olivier
*"The Beggar’s Opera" (Lucy Lockit, 1982), 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: [http://www.albemarle-london.com/Archive/ArchiveShow.php?Show_Name=Divas%20at%20the%20Donmar "Imelda Staunton and Her Big Band" ] (1st-5th September, 1998} Donmar Warehouse
*Yasmina Reza's "Life X Three" (Ines, 2000) National Cottesloe, then transferring to the Old Vic (2001)
*Michael Hasting's "Calico" (Nora Barnacle, 2004) Duke of York's Theatre
*Frank McGuinness's "There Came a Gypsy Riding" (Margaret, 2007) Almeida

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0001767|name=Imelda Staunton
*"The Prime of Miss Imelda Staunton" [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2007/07/15/st_imeldastaunton.xml] , Sunday Telegraph interview 15th July, 2007
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2004/12/27/bfstaunt27.xml The Telegraph: Imelda Staunton interview]

succession box
title = NYFCC Award for Best Actress
years = 2004
for" Vera Drake"
before= Hope Davis
for "American Splendor
after = Reese Witherspoon
for "Walk the Line"