Frances de la Tour
Encyclopedia
Frances de la Tour is an English actress perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the British sitcom Rising Damp
, and as Madame Olympe Maxime in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
, Hertfordshire,
to Moyra (née Fessas) and Charles de la Tour. She was educated at London's Lycée Français and the Drama Centre London, (now a college of the University of the Arts London
).
She is the sister of actor and screenwriter Andy de la Tour
, and was briefly married to playwright Tom Kempinski
. She has a son and a daughter.
(RSC) in 1965 where she studied with Michel Saint-Denis
. Over the next six years, she played many small roles with the RSC in a variety of plays, gradually building up to larger parts such as Hoyden in The Relapse
and culminating in Peter Brook
's acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
in which she played Helena as a comic "tour de force".
In the 1970s, she worked steadily both on the stage and on television. Some of her notable appearances were Rosalind in As You Like It
at the Oxford Playhouse in 1975, Isabella in The White Devil
at the Old Vic
in 1976. She enjoyed a collaboration with Stepney
's Half Moon Theatre
, appearing in the London première of Dario Fo
's We Can't Pay? We Won't Pay (1978), Eleanor Marx
's Landscape of Exile (1979), and in the title role of Hamlet
(1980).
In 1980, she played Stephanie, the violinist with MS
in Duet for One
, a play written for her by Kempinski, for which she won the Olivier
for Best Actress. She played Sonya in Uncle Vanya
opposite Donald Sinden
at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1982. Her performance as Josie in Eugene O'Neill
's A Moon for the Misbegotten
won her another Olivier for Best Actress in 1983. She joined the Royal National Theatre
for the title role in Saint Joan
in 1984 and appeared there in Brighton Beach Memoirs
in 1986. She again won the Olivier for Best Supporting Actress for Martin Sherman
's play about Isadora Duncan, When She Danced with Vanessa Redgrave
at the Globe
(now the Gielgud) Theatre in 1991, Leo in Les Parents terribles
at the Royal National Theatre in 1994.
She co-starred with Maggie Smith
in Edward Albee
's Three Tall Women
at the Wyndham's in 1994 and with Alan Howard
in Albee's The Play About the Baby
at the Almeida
in 1998. In 1999, she returned to the RSC to play Cleopatra opposite Alan Bates
in Antony and Cleopatra
in which she did a nude walk across the stage. In 2004, she played Mrs Lintott in Alan Bennett
's The History Boys
at the National, later on Broadway
and in the film version (2006). In 2007 she appeared in a West End revival of the farce Boeing-Boeing. In 2009 she appeared in Alan Bennett
's new play The Habit of Art
at the National.
, the TV version of Duet for One
, the series A Kind of Living, Tom Jones
, episodes of Poirot
, Marple
and Waking the Dead
. Of all her TV roles, however, she is best known for playing spinster
Ruth Jones in the successful Yorkshire Television
comedy Rising Damp
. De la Tour told Richard Webber, who penned a 2001 book about the series, that Ruth Jones "was an interesting character to play. We laughed a lot on set, but comedy is a serious business and Leonard took it particularly seriously, and rightly so. Comedy, which is so much down to timing, is exhausting work. But it was a happy time."
In the mid-'80s, de la Tour was considered, along with Joanna Lumley and Dawn French, as a replacement for Colin Baker
in Doctor Who
. The idea was scrapped, and the job was given to Sylvester McCoy.
, although her scenes were cut from the film's theatrical release, and appear only on the DVD.
In 2005 she played Olympe Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
, a role she reprised in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (notable in that her character was not present in the novel). In December 2005 she starred in the London production of the highly acclaimed anti-Iraq-war one-woman play Peace Mom by Dario Fo
, based on the writings of Cindy Sheehan
.
She won a Drama Desk Award
and a Tony Award
in 2006 for her work in The History Boys
on Broadway
.
She was nominated for the 2006 BAFTA
Award for Actress in a Supporting Role for her work on the film version of The History Boys.
She appeared in Tim Burton's 2010 Alice in Wonderland
as Aunt Imogene, a delusional aunt of Alice's, opposite Johnny Depp
, Anne Hathaway
, Helena Bonham Carter
and Mia Wasikowska
. Also that year, she had a supporting role in the motion picture The Book of Eli
, directed by the Hughes brothers
.
She is also a patron of the performing arts company Theatretrain
.
Rising Damp
Rising Damp is a television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted for television by Eric Chappell from his well-received 1971 stage play, The Banana Box The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in...
, and as Madame Olympe Maxime in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1.
Early life and family
De la Tour was born in BovingdonBovingdon
Bovingdon is a large village in the Chiltern Hills, in Hertfordshire, England, four miles south-west of Hemel Hempstead and it is a civil parish within the local authority area of Dacorum...
, Hertfordshire,
to Moyra (née Fessas) and Charles de la Tour. She was educated at London's Lycée Français and the Drama Centre London, (now a college of the University of the Arts London
University of the Arts London
The University of the Arts London, formerly known as the London Institute, is a collegiate university comprising six internationally recognised art, design, fashion and media colleges in London, England...
).
She is the sister of actor and screenwriter Andy de la Tour
Andy de la Tour
Andy de la Tour is an English actor and screenwriter. He has appeared in such films as Plenty, Notting Hill and the Roman Polanski version of Oliver Twist. He has also written or appeared in such television series as Boon, The Young Ones, Bottom, Peak Practice and Kavanagh QC...
, and was briefly married to playwright Tom Kempinski
Tom Kempinski
Tom Kempinski is an English playwright and actor. He is best known for his 1980 play Duet for One, which was a major success in London and New York and which has been much revived since. Kempinski also wrote the screenplay for the movie version of Duet for One...
. She has a son and a daughter.
RSC and National companies
On leaving drama school she joined the Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
(RSC) in 1965 where she studied with Michel Saint-Denis
Michel Saint-Denis
Michel Saint-Denis , dit Jacques Duchesne, was a French actor, theater director, and drama theorist whose ideas on actor training have had a profound influence on the development of European theater from the 1930s on.Michel Saint-Denis was born in Beauvais, France, the nephew of Jacques Copeau, who...
. Over the next six years, she played many small roles with the RSC in a variety of plays, gradually building up to larger parts such as Hoyden in The Relapse
The Relapse
The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The play is a sequel to Colley Cibber's Love's Last Shift, or, Virtue Rewarded....
and culminating in Peter Brook
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
's acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream
A Midsummer Night's Dream is a play that was written by William Shakespeare. It is believed to have been written between 1590 and 1596. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of the Duke of Athens, Theseus, and the Queen of the Amazons, Hippolyta...
in which she played Helena as a comic "tour de force".
In the 1970s, she worked steadily both on the stage and on television. Some of her notable appearances were Rosalind in As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
at the Oxford Playhouse in 1975, Isabella in The White Devil
The White Devil
The White Devil is a revenge tragedy from 1612 by English playwright John Webster . A notorious failure when it premiered, Webster complained the play was acted in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience. The play's complexity, sophistication and satire made it a poor fit with the...
at the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
in 1976. She enjoyed a collaboration with Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
's Half Moon Theatre
Half Moon Theatre
The Half Moon Theatre Company was formed in 1972 in a rented synagogue in Alie Street, Aldgate, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Half Moon Passage was the name of a nearby alley...
, appearing in the London première of Dario Fo
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
's We Can't Pay? We Won't Pay (1978), Eleanor Marx
Eleanor Marx
Jenny Julia Eleanor "Tussy" Marx , also known as Eleanor Marx Aveling, was the English-born youngest daughter of Karl Marx. She was herself a socialist activist, who sometimes worked as a literary translator...
's Landscape of Exile (1979), and in the title role of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(1980).
In 1980, she played Stephanie, the violinist with MS
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
in Duet for One
Duet for One
Duet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky...
, a play written for her by Kempinski, for which she won the Olivier
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
for Best Actress. She played Sonya in Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
opposite Donald Sinden
Donald Sinden
Sir Donald Alfred Sinden CBE is an English actor of theatre, film and television.-Personal life:Sinden was born in Plymouth, Devon, England, on 9 October 1923. The son of Alfred Edward Sinden and his wife Mabel Agnes , he grew up in the Sussex village of Ditchling, where their home doubled as the...
at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in 1982. Her performance as Josie in Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten
A Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
won her another Olivier for Best Actress in 1983. She joined the Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
for the title role in Saint Joan
Saint Joan (play)
Saint Joan is a play by George Bernard Shaw, based on the life and trial of Joan of Arc. Published not long after the canonization of Joan of Arc by the Roman Catholic Church, the play dramatises what is known of her life based on the substantial records of her trial. Shaw studied the transcripts...
in 1984 and appeared there in Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound.-Characters:*Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15...
in 1986. She again won the Olivier for Best Supporting Actress for Martin Sherman
Martin Sherman
Martin Sherman is an American dramatist and screenwriter, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-nominated play Bent , which explores the persecution of homosexuals during the Holocaust...
's play about Isadora Duncan, When She Danced with Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave
Vanessa Redgrave, CBE is an English actress of stage, screen and television, as well as a political activist.She rose to prominence in 1961 playing Rosalind in As You Like It with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since made more than 35 appearances on London's West End and Broadway, winning...
at the Globe
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
(now the Gielgud) Theatre in 1991, Leo in Les Parents terribles
Les parents terribles
Les Parents terribles is a 1938 French play written by Jean Cocteau. Despite initial problems with censorship, it was revived on the French stage several times after its original production, and in 1948 a film adaptation directed by Cocteau himself was released...
at the Royal National Theatre in 1994.
She co-starred with Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
in Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
's Three Tall Women
Three Tall Women
Three Tall Women is a play by Edward Albee, which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Albee's third.-Characters:* A: She is a very old woman in her 90s. She is thin, autocratic, proud, and wealthy. She also has a mild case of Alzheimer's disease. * B: B is A's 52 year-old version, to whom she...
at the Wyndham's in 1994 and with Alan Howard
Alan Howard
Alan MacKenzie Howard, CBE, is an English actor known for his roles on stage, television and film.He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1983, and played leading roles at the Royal National Theatre between 1992 and 2000.-Personal life:Howard is the only son of the actor...
in Albee's The Play About the Baby
The Play About the Baby
The Play About the Baby is a play by Edward Albee. It was first performed in 1998 by the Almeida Theatre Company in Malvern, Worcestershire, directed by Howard Davies. The American premiere was off-Broadway in 2001, by Alley Theatre at the Century Center for the Performing Arts, directed by David...
at the Almeida
Almeida Theatre
The Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
in 1998. In 1999, she returned to the RSC to play Cleopatra opposite Alan Bates
Alan Bates
Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE was an English actor, who came to prominence in the 1960s, a time of high creativity in British cinema, when he demonstrated his versatility in films ranging from the popular children’s story Whistle Down the Wind to the "kitchen sink" drama A Kind of Loving...
in Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
in which she did a nude walk across the stage. In 2004, she played Mrs Lintott in Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
's The History Boys
The History Boys
The History Boys is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Lyttelton Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where there were 185 performances staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.The play won multiple...
at the National, later on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and in the film version (2006). In 2007 she appeared in a West End revival of the farce Boeing-Boeing. In 2009 she appeared in Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett
Alan Bennett is a British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author. Born in Leeds, he attended Oxford University where he studied history and performed with The Oxford Revue. He stayed to teach and research mediaeval history at the university for several years...
's new play The Habit of Art
The Habit of Art
The Habit of Art is a 2009 play by English playwright Alan Bennett, centred on a fictional meeting between WH Auden and Benjamin Britten while Britten is composing the opera Death in Venice...
at the National.
Television roles
Her many television appearances include the 1980 miniseries Flickers alongside Bob HoskinsBob Hoskins
Robert William "Bob" Hoskins, Jr. is an English actor known for playing Cockney rough diamonds, psychopaths and gangsters, in films such as The Long Good Friday , and Mona Lisa , and lighter roles in family films such as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Hook .- Early life :Hoskins was born in Bury St...
, the TV version of Duet for One
Duet for One
Duet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky...
, the series A Kind of Living, Tom Jones
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a comic novel by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. First published on 28 February 1749, Tom Jones is among the earliest English prose works describable as a novel...
, episodes of Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
, Marple
Marple (TV series)
Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...
and Waking the Dead
Waking the Dead (TV series)
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
. Of all her TV roles, however, she is best known for playing spinster
Spinster
A spinster, or old maid, is an older, childless woman who has never been married.For a woman to be identified as a spinster, age is critical...
Ruth Jones in the successful Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television
Yorkshire Television, now officially known as ITV Yorkshire and sometimes unofficially abbreviated to YTV, is a British television broadcaster and the contractor for the Yorkshire franchise area on the ITV network...
comedy Rising Damp
Rising Damp
Rising Damp is a television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted for television by Eric Chappell from his well-received 1971 stage play, The Banana Box The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in...
. De la Tour told Richard Webber, who penned a 2001 book about the series, that Ruth Jones "was an interesting character to play. We laughed a lot on set, but comedy is a serious business and Leonard took it particularly seriously, and rightly so. Comedy, which is so much down to timing, is exhausting work. But it was a happy time."
In the mid-'80s, de la Tour was considered, along with Joanna Lumley and Dawn French, as a replacement for Colin Baker
Colin Baker
Colin Baker is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.- Background:Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to...
in Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. The idea was scrapped, and the job was given to Sylvester McCoy.
Recent activity
In 2003, de la Tour played a terminally ill woman in the film, Love ActuallyLove Actually
Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
, although her scenes were cut from the film's theatrical release, and appear only on the DVD.
In 2005 she played Olympe Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons Academy, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
, a role she reprised in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (notable in that her character was not present in the novel). In December 2005 she starred in the London production of the highly acclaimed anti-Iraq-war one-woman play Peace Mom by Dario Fo
Dario Fo
Dario Fo is an Italian satirist, playwright, theater director, actor and composer. His dramatic work employs comedic methods of the ancient Italian commedia dell'arte, a theatrical style popular with the working classes. He currently owns and operates a theatre company with his wife, actress...
, based on the writings of Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Sheehan
Cindy Lee Miller Sheehan is an American anti-war activist whose son, U.S. Army Specialist Casey Sheehan, was killed by enemy action during the Iraq War. She attracted national and international media attention in August 2005 for her extended anti-war protest at a makeshift camp outside President...
.
She won a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
and a Tony Award
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
This is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...
in 2006 for her work in The History Boys
The History Boys
The History Boys is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Lyttelton Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where there were 185 performances staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.The play won multiple...
on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
She was nominated for the 2006 BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
Award for Actress in a Supporting Role for her work on the film version of The History Boys.
She appeared in Tim Burton's 2010 Alice in Wonderland
Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)
Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
as Aunt Imogene, a delusional aunt of Alice's, opposite Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...
, Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway (actress)
Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
, Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress of film, stage, and television. She made her acting debut in a television adaptation of K. M. Peyton's A Pattern of Roses before winning her first film role as the titular character in Lady Jane...
and Mia Wasikowska
Mia Wasikowska
Mia Wasikowska is an Australian actress. After starting her career in Australian television and film, she first became known to a wider audience following her critically acclaimed work on the HBO television series In Treatment...
. Also that year, she had a supporting role in the motion picture The Book of Eli
The Book of Eli
The Book of Eli is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by the Hughes brothers, written by Gary Whitta, and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson and Jennifer Beals....
, directed by the Hughes brothers
Hughes Brothers
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes , known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors, producers and screenwriters...
.
She is also a patron of the performing arts company Theatretrain
Theatretrain
Theatretrain is a Performing Arts organisation founded by teacher/director Kevin Dowsett in 1992. It gives part time training in drama, dance and singing to children and young people aged between 6 and 18 years of age. Since 1993 it has grown into one of the largest professional performing arts...
.
Theatre Awards
- 1980: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a New Play – Duet for OneDuet for OneDuet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky...
- 1983: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival – A Moon for the MisbegottenA Moon for the MisbegottenA Moon for the Misbegotten is a play by Eugene O'Neill. The play can be thought of as a sequel to the autobiographical Long Day's Journey into Night...
- 1992: Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role – When She Danced
- 2006: Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Featured Actress in a Play – The History BoysThe History BoysThe History Boys is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Lyttelton Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where there were 185 performances staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.The play won multiple... - 2006: Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play – The History BoysThe History BoysThe History Boys is a play by British playwright Alan Bennett. The play premiered at the Lyttelton Theatre in London on 18 May 2004. Its Broadway debut was on 23 April 2006 at the Broadhurst Theatre where there were 185 performances staged before it closed on 1 October 2006.The play won multiple...
Filmography
| Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Rising Damp Rising Damp Rising Damp is a television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted for television by Eric Chappell from his well-received 1971 stage play, The Banana Box The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in... (TV) (1974–1978) |
Miss Ruth Jones | |
| Maggie: It's Me Maggie: It's Me Maggie: It's Me is a BBC television series pilot written by Bernard Taylor and produced by Graeme Muir. In Maggie: It's Me!, Allie leaves her boyfriend in order to 'teach him a lesson', and seeks solace with her friend Maggie. The pilot was aired on 3 May 1977, but BBC passed on the series.... (1977) |
Maggie | |
| Rising Damp Rising Damp Rising Damp is a television sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV, first broadcast from 1974 to 1978. It was adapted for television by Eric Chappell from his well-received 1971 stage play, The Banana Box The series was the highest-ranking ITV sitcom on the 100 Best Sitcoms poll run in... (1980) |
Miss Ruth Jones | Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress |
| Flickers (1980) | Maud Cole | |
| Duet for One Duet for One Duet for One is a film adapted from an award-winning British play, a two-hander by Tom Kempinski, about a world-famous concert violinist named Stephanie Anderson who is suddenly struck with multiple sclerosis. It is set in London and directed by Andrei Konchalovsky... (TV) (1981) |
Stephanie Anderson | |
| Cold Lazarus Cold Lazarus Cold Lazarus is a four-part British television drama written by Dennis Potter with the knowledge that he was dying of cancer of the pancreas.... (1996) |
Emma Porlock | Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actress British Academy Television Award for Best Actress - 1950s :*1955 Googie Withers*1956 Virginia McKenna*1957 Rosalie Crutchley*1958 Gwen Watford*1959 Catherine Lacey- 1960s :*1960 Catherine Lacey*1961 Billie Whitelaw*1962 Ruth Dunning*1963 Brenda Bruce*1964 Vivien Merchant*1965 Katherine Blake... |
| The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a comic novel by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. First published on 28 February 1749, Tom Jones is among the earliest English prose works describable as a novel... (1997) |
Aunt Western | |
| The Cherry Orchard The Cherry Orchard The Cherry Orchard is Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play. It premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre 17 January 1904 in a production directed by Constantin Stanislavski. Chekhov intended this play as a comedy and it does contain some elements of farce; however, Stanislavski insisted on... (1999) |
Charlotte Ivanova | |
| Agatha Christie's Poirot Agatha Christie's Poirot Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios... (2004) |
Salome Otterbourne | Episode Death on the Nile Death on the Nile Death on the Nile is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 1, 1937 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at seven shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.00.The book... |
| Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman... (2005) |
Madame Olympe Maxime | |
| Agatha Christie's Marple (2006) | Mrs. Maud Dane Calthrop | Episode The Moving Finger The Moving Finger The Moving Finger is detective fiction novel by Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in July 1942 and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in June 1943. The US edition retailed at $2.00 and the UK edition at seven shillings and sixpence... |
| The History Boys The History Boys (film) The History Boys is a 2006 British comedy-drama film adapted by Alan Bennett from his play of the same name, which won the 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play... (2006) |
Dorothy Lintott | Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film... Nominated – British Independent Film Awards British Independent Film Awards The Moët British Independent Film Awards is an annual award ceremony celebrating achievement in independently funded British film and cinema. Nominations and jury are announced at the beginning of November with the award ceremony taking place in late November or early December.-History:The British... |
| The Book of Eli The Book of Eli The Book of Eli is a 2010 American post-apocalyptic action film directed by the Hughes brothers, written by Gary Whitta, and starring Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis, Ray Stevenson and Jennifer Beals.... (2010) |
Martha | The wife of George (Michael Gambon). |
| Alice in Wonderland Alice in Wonderland (2010 film) Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American computer-animated/live action fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton, written by Linda Woolverton, and released by Walt Disney Pictures... (2010) |
Aunt Imogene | |
| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010) | Madame Olympe Maxime | |
| The Nutcracker in 3D The Nutcracker in 3D The Nutcracker in 3D is a 2010 3D fantasy film adaption of the ballet The Nutcracker, directed by Andrei Konchalovsky. The film met with universally negative reviews from critics upon its release, and became a failure at the box office.-Plot:... (2010) |
The Rat Queen | |
| Hugo (2011) | Madame Emile |