Penelope Wilton
Encyclopedia
Penelope Alice Wilton, OBE
(born 3 June 1946) is an English actress.
, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers
and Linden Travers
and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant
. She and her sisters, Rosemary and Linda, attended the convent school in Newcastle upon Tyne
at which their mother had previously taught. Penelope had a successful stage career before breaking into television, and her West End debut was opposite Sir Ralph Richardson
.
Her television career began in 1972, playing Vivie Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession
opposite Robert Powell
. She then had several major TV roles, including two of the BBC Television Shakespeare
productions (as Desdemona in Othello
and Regan in King Lear
).
Wilton's film career includes roles in The French Lieutenant's Woman
(1981), Cry Freedom
(1987), Iris (2001), Calendar Girls
(2003) and Shaun of the Dead
(2004), Jane Austen
's Pride and Prejudice (2005), in Woody Allen
's film Match Point
(2005) and in The History Boys
(2006).
However she did not become a household name until she appeared with Richard Briers
in the 1984 BBC situation comedy, Ever Decreasing Circles
which ran for five years. In it she played Ann, long suffering wife of Martin (Briers), an obsessive pedant 'do-gooder'. Throughout the run, Ann seeks a more adventurous lifestyle than that offered as a pillar of the community, and mildly flirts with their considerably more charismatic neighbour Paul (Peter Egan
) but ultimately she remains faithful to Martin.
Between 1975 and 1984 she was married to the actor Daniel Massey
who, following their divorce, married her sister Lindy. Wilton and Massey had a daughter, Alice, born in 1977. Between 1991 and 2001, she was married to Sir Ian Holm
(and in 1998 after he was knighted she became Penelope, Lady Holm) and they appeared together as Pod and Homily in the BBC
's 1993 adaptation of The Borrowers
.
In 2005 Wilton guest starred as Harriet Jones
, MP
for two episodes in the BBC's revival of the popular TV science-fiction
series Doctor Who. This guest role was written especially for her by the programme's chief writer and executive producer Russell T Davies, with whom she had previously worked on Bob and Rose
(ITV
, 2001). The character of Jones returned as Prime Minister in "The Christmas Invasion
", the Doctor Who 2005 Christmas special. In the first part of the 2008 series finale, The Stolen Earth
, she made a final appearance, now as the former Prime Minister who sacrifices herself to the Daleks so that the Doctor
's companions can contact him. She appeared in four episodes overall.
Wilton has also appeared on television as Barbara Poole, the mother of a missing woman, in the BBC television drama series Five Days
in 2005; and in ITV's drama Half Broken Things (October 2007) and the BBC production of The Passion (Easter 2008). In 2010 and 2011, she appeared as Isobel Crawley in the first and second series of the hit period drama Downton Abbey
. She was the castaway on BBC Radio 4
'sDesert Island Discs
in April 2008.
, and in 1993 for The Deep Blue Sea. In 2001 she was nominated for the London Evening Standard
Theatre Award for her performance in The Little Foxes
at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2004 she was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE)
for her services to drama.
, and famously appeared alongside Nicholas Clay
in The Dandy Lion. She was Regan to Michael Hordern
's marvellous King Lear
at Nottingham Playhouse in 1970; Anna Calder-Marshall
played Cordelia, and Thelma Ruby was the elder sister, Goneril.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 3 June 1946) is an English actress.
Life and career
Penelope Alice Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of YorkshireNorth Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...
, to a former actress mother and a businessman father. She is a niece of actors Bill Travers
Bill Travers
William Lindon-Travers was an English actor, screenwriter, director and an animal rights activist, known professionally as Bill Travers.-Life and career:...
and Linden Travers
Linden Travers
-Life and career:Travers was born Florence Lindon-Travers in Houghton-le-Spring, near Sunderland, the daughter of Florence and William Halton Lindon-Travers. She was the elder sister of Bill Travers, and attended La Sagesse. She made her first stage appearance at the Newcastle Playhouse in 1933...
and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant
Richard Morant
Richard Morant was an English actor.Morant was born in Shipston-on-Stour, Warwickshire. He was a nephew of actors Bill and Linden Travers, and a cousin of actress Penelope Wilton...
. She and her sisters, Rosemary and Linda, attended the convent school in Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
at which their mother had previously taught. Penelope had a successful stage career before breaking into television, and her West End debut was opposite Sir Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
.
Her television career began in 1972, playing Vivie Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893. The story centers on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren, a brothel owner, described by the author as "on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman" and her daughter, Vivie...
opposite Robert Powell
Robert Powell
Robert Powell is an English television and film actor, probably most famous for his title role in Jesus of Nazareth and as the fictional secret agent Richard Hannay...
. She then had several major TV roles, including two of the BBC Television Shakespeare
BBC Television Shakespeare
The BBC Television Shakespeare was a set of television adaptations of the plays of William Shakespeare, produced by the BBC between 1978 and 1985.-Origins:...
productions (as Desdemona in Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
and Regan in King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
).
Wilton's film career includes roles in The French Lieutenant's Woman
The French Lieutenant's Woman (film)
The French Lieutenant's Woman is a 1981 film directed by Karel Reisz and adapted by playwright Harold Pinter. It is based on the novel of the same title by John Fowles...
(1981), Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom
Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods...
(1987), Iris (2001), Calendar Girls
Calendar Girls
Calendar Girls is a 2003 comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Buena Vista International and Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi based on a true story of a group of Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia...
(2003) and Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
(2004), Jane Austen
Jane Austen
Jane Austen was an English novelist whose works of romantic fiction, set among the landed gentry, earned her a place as one of the most widely read writers in English literature, her realism and biting social commentary cementing her historical importance among scholars and critics.Austen lived...
's Pride and Prejudice (2005), in Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's film Match Point
Match Point
Match Point is a 2005 dramatic thriller film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox and Penelope Wilton....
(2005) and in 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).
However she did not become a household name until she appeared with Richard Briers
Richard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
in the 1984 BBC situation comedy, Ever Decreasing Circles
Ever Decreasing Circles
Ever Decreasing Circles is a British situation comedy which ran on BBC1 for four series from 1984 to 1989.It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and reunited them with Richard Briers, the star of their previous hit show, The Good Life. It was much less brash than most situation comedies,...
which ran for five years. In it she played Ann, long suffering wife of Martin (Briers), an obsessive pedant 'do-gooder'. Throughout the run, Ann seeks a more adventurous lifestyle than that offered as a pillar of the community, and mildly flirts with their considerably more charismatic neighbour Paul (Peter Egan
Peter Egan
Peter Egan is a British actor known for playing smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in 1980s sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles. He is married to retired actress Myra Frances.-Early life:...
) but ultimately she remains faithful to Martin.
Between 1975 and 1984 she was married to the actor Daniel Massey
Daniel Massey (actor)
Daniel Raymond Massey was an English actor and performer. He is possibly best known for his starring role in the British TV drama The Roads to Freedom, as Daniel, alongside Michael Bryant...
who, following their divorce, married her sister Lindy. Wilton and Massey had a daughter, Alice, born in 1977. Between 1991 and 2001, she was married to Sir Ian Holm
Ian Holm
Sir Ian Holm, CBE is an English actor known for his stage work and for many film roles. He received the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in The Homecoming and the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role of King Lear...
(and in 1998 after he was knighted she became Penelope, Lady Holm) and they appeared together as Pod and Homily in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's 1993 adaptation of The Borrowers
The Borrowers (TV miniseries)
The Borrowers is a BBC TV miniseries first broadcast in 1992 on BBC2 and then later on American television station TNT. The miniseries is adapted from the 1952 Carnegie Medal Award winning first novel and second novel of author Mary Norton's The Borrowers series: The Borrowers and The Borrowers...
.
In 2005 Wilton guest starred as Harriet Jones
Harriet Jones
Harriet Jones MP is a recurring fictional character played by Penelope Wilton in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. With the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Jones was introduced in the two-part story "Aliens of London" and "World War Three" as an MP who aids the...
, MP
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for two episodes in the BBC's revival of the popular TV science-fiction
Science fiction on television
Science fiction first appeared on a television program during the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Special effects and other production techniques allow creators to present a living visual image of an imaginary world not limited by the constraints of reality; this makes television an excellent medium...
series Doctor Who. This guest role was written especially for her by the programme's chief writer and executive producer Russell T Davies, with whom she had previously worked on Bob and Rose
Bob and Rose
Bob & Rose is a British television drama, originally screened in six one-hour episodes on the ITV network in the UK in the autumn of 2001. It was produced for the network by the independent Red Production Company, and was that company's first prime-time drama for the ITV network.Bob & Rose was the...
(ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, 2001). The character of Jones returned as Prime Minister in "The Christmas Invasion
The Christmas Invasion
"The Christmas Invasion" is a 60-minute special episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It is Christmas, but there is little cause for celebration as planet Earth is invaded by aliens known as the Sycorax...
", the Doctor Who 2005 Christmas special. In the first part of the 2008 series finale, The Stolen Earth
The Stolen Earth
"The Stolen Earth" is the twelfth episode of the fourth series and the 750th overall episode of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The episode was written by show runner and head writer Russell T Davies and is the first of a two-part crossover story; the concluding episode is...
, she made a final appearance, now as the former Prime Minister who sacrifices herself to the Daleks so that the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)
The Doctor is the central character in the long-running BBC television science-fiction series Doctor Who, and has also featured in two cinema feature films, a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
's companions can contact him. She appeared in four episodes overall.
Wilton has also appeared on television as Barbara Poole, the mother of a missing woman, in the BBC television drama series Five Days
Five Days
Five Days is a British dramatic television series produced by the BBC in association with Home Box Office . The first series was first broadcast on BBC One from 23 January to 1 February 2007, and repeated on BBC Four from 9 April to 13 April 2007....
in 2005; and in ITV's drama Half Broken Things (October 2007) and the BBC production of The Passion (Easter 2008). In 2010 and 2011, she appeared as Isobel Crawley in the first and second series of the hit period drama Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
. She was the castaway on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
'sDesert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs
Desert Island Discs is a BBC Radio 4 programme first broadcast on 29 January 1942. It is the second longest-running radio programme , and is the longest-running factual programme in the history of radio...
in April 2008.
Awards and recognition
She has twice won the Critics Circle Theatre Award – in 1981 for her performance in Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
, and in 1993 for The Deep Blue Sea. In 2001 she was nominated for the London Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
Theatre Award for her performance in The Little Foxes
The Little Foxes
The Little Foxes is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 in the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes." Set in a small town in Alabama in...
at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2004 she was made an Officer of the British Empire (OBE)
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
for her services to drama.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Thirty-Minute Theatre | TV series (1 episode: "An Affair of Honour") | |
| Country Matters | Rachel Sullens | TV series (1 episode: "The Sullens Sisters") | |
| BBC Play of the Month | Regan/Vivie Warren | TV series (2 episodes: 1972–1975) | |
| 1973 | The Pearcross Girls | Anna Pearcross/Helen Charlesworth/Julia Pearcross/Lottie Merchant | TV series (4 episodes) |
| The Song of Songs | Lilli Czepanek | TV drama | |
| 1976 | Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd | TV drama | |
| 1977 | Joseph Andrews Joseph Andrews (film) Joseph Andrews is a 1977 period comedy film directed by Tony Richardson. It is based on the novel Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding With its rollicking comic plot, period costume and setting, ribald adventures and a dashing young hero who exposes his buttocks, the film was an obvious attempt to... |
Mrs. Wilson | |
| The Norman Conquests: Living Together The Norman Conquests The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. The small scale of the drama is typical of Ayckbourn. There are only six characters, namely Norman, his wife Ruth, her brother Reg and his wife Sarah, Ruth's sister Annie, and Tom, Annie's next-door-neighbour... |
Annie | TV drama | |
| The Norman Conquests: Round and Round the Garden The Norman Conquests The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. The small scale of the drama is typical of Ayckbourn. There are only six characters, namely Norman, his wife Ruth, her brother Reg and his wife Sarah, Ruth's sister Annie, and Tom, Annie's next-door-neighbour... |
Annie | TV drama | |
| The Norman Conquests: Table Manners The Norman Conquests The Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. The small scale of the drama is typical of Ayckbourn. There are only six characters, namely Norman, his wife Ruth, her brother Reg and his wife Sarah, Ruth's sister Annie, and Tom, Annie's next-door-neighbour... |
Annie | TV drama | |
| 1980 | Play for Today Play for Today Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted... |
Helen/Virginia Carlion | TV series (2 episodes: 1980–1981) |
| 1981 | The French Lieutenant's Woman | Sonia | |
| Othello | Desdemona Desdemona Desdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello.Desdemona may also refer to:People* Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini... |
TV drama | |
| 1982 | The Tale of Beatrix Potter | Beatrix Potter Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter was an English author, illustrator, natural scientist and conservationist best known for her imaginative children’s books featuring animals such as those in The Tale of Peter Rabbit which celebrated the British landscape and country life.Born into a privileged Unitarian... |
TV drama |
| King Lear King Lear King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological... |
Regan Regan (King Lear) -Role in play:She is the middle child of King Lear's daughters and is married to the Duke of Cornwall. Similarly to her older sister, Goneril, Regan is attracted to Edmund. Both sisters are eager for power and even convince their father with false flattery to hand over his kingdom."Sir, I am madeOf... |
TV drama | |
| 1984 | Laughterhouse | Alice Singleton | |
| Ever Decreasing Circles Ever Decreasing Circles Ever Decreasing Circles is a British situation comedy which ran on BBC1 for four series from 1984 to 1989.It was written by John Esmonde and Bob Larbey, and reunited them with Richard Briers, the star of their previous hit show, The Good Life. It was much less brash than most situation comedies,... |
Ann Bryce | TV series (27 episodes: 1984–1989) | |
| 1986 | Clockwise Clockwise (film) Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese. It was directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The film was co-produced by Moment Films and Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment... |
Pat | |
| C.A.T.S. Eyes C.A.T.S. Eyes C.A.T.S. Eyes is a British television series made by TVS for ITV between 1985 and 1987.-Premise:The series was a spin-off from The Gentle Touch and saw Jill Gascoine reprise her role as Det. Insp. Maggie Forbes, having left the police force to join a private detective agency called "Eyes" that is... |
Angela Lane | TV series (1 episode: "Good as New") | |
| The Monocled Mutineer The Monocled Mutineer The Monocled Mutineer is a British television series made by the BBC in 1986, and shown on BBC1, the first episode being transmitted on 31 August 1986, intended to head BBC1's autumn season of drama... |
Lady Angela Forbes | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 1987 | Cry Freedom Cry Freedom Cry Freedom is a 1987 British drama film directed by Richard Attenborough, set in the late 1970s, during the apartheid era of South Africa. It was written from a screenplay by John Briley based on a pair of books by journalist Donald Woods... |
Wendy Woods | |
| 1990 | 4 Play | Julia | TV series (1 episode: "Madly in Love") |
| 1992 | Blame It on the Bellboy Blame It on the Bellboy Blame It on the Bellboy is a 1992 film comedy written and directed by Mark Herman, revolving around a case of mistaken identity of three individuals with similar sounding surnames staying at the same hotel... |
Patricia Fulford | |
| Screaming | Beatrice | TV series | |
| The Borrowers The Borrowers (TV miniseries) The Borrowers is a BBC TV miniseries first broadcast in 1992 on BBC2 and then later on American television station TNT. The miniseries is adapted from the 1952 Carnegie Medal Award winning first novel and second novel of author Mary Norton's The Borrowers series: The Borrowers and The Borrowers... |
Homily | TV series | |
| 1993 | The Secret Rapture | Marion French | |
| The Return of the Borrowers The Return of the Borrowers The Return of the Borrowers is a BBC TV miniseries first broadcast in 1993 on BBC2 and then later on American television station TNT. The miniseries is adapted from the third and fourth novels of author Mary Norton's The Borrowers series: The Borrowers Afloat and The Borrowers Aloft,... |
Homily | TV series | |
| 1994 | Performance: The Deep Blue Sea | Hester Collyer | TV series (2 episodes: 1994–1995) |
| 1995 | Carrington Carrington (film) Carrington is a biographical film written and directed by Christopher Hampton about the life of the English painter Dora Carrington , who was known simply as "Carrington"... |
Lady Ottoline Morrell Lady Ottoline Morrell The Lady Ottoline Violet Anne Morrell was an English aristocrat and society hostess. Her patronage was influential in artistic and intellectual circles, where she befriended writers such as Aldous Huxley, Siegfried Sassoon, T. S. Eliot and D. H... |
|
| 1998 | This Could Be the Last Time | Marjorie | TV movie |
| Talking Heads 2 | Rosemary | TV mini-series (1 episode: "Nights in the Gardens of Spain") | |
| Alice Through the Looking Glass | White Queen | TV movie | |
| 1999 | Gooseberries Don't Dance | short | |
| Kavanagh QC Kavanagh QC Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs.... |
Barbara Watkins | TV series (1 episode: "Time of Need") | |
| Tom's Midnight Garden | Aunt Melbourne | ||
| Wives and Daughters Wives and Daughters (1999 miniseries) Wives and Daughters is a 1999 four part BBC serial adapted from the novel Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story by Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell... |
Mrs. Hamley | TV mini-series (2 episodes) | |
| 2000 | Rockaby | TV short | |
| 2001 | The Whistle-Blower | Heather Graham | TV movie |
| Victoria & Albert | Princess Victoria, Duchess of Kent Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.-Early life:... |
TV movie | |
| Bob & Rose Bob and Rose Bob & Rose is a British television drama, originally screened in six one-hour episodes on the ITV network in the UK in the autumn of 2001. It was produced for the network by the independent Red Production Company, and was that company's first prime-time drama for the ITV network.Bob & Rose was the... |
Monica Gossage | TV series (3 episodes) | |
| Iris | Janet Stone | ||
| 2003 | Lucky Jim | Celia Welch | TV movie |
| Calendar Girls Calendar Girls Calendar Girls is a 2003 comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Buena Vista International and Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi based on a true story of a group of Yorkshire women who produced a nude calendar to raise money for Leukaemia... |
Ruth | ||
| 2004 | Shaun of the Dead Shaun of the Dead Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather... |
Barbara | |
| 2005 | Falling | Daisy Langrish | TV movie |
| Match Point | Eleanor Hewett | ||
| Pride & Prejudice | Mrs. Gardiner | ||
| 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... |
Harriet Jones Harriet Jones Harriet Jones MP is a recurring fictional character played by Penelope Wilton in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. With the revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Jones was introduced in the two-part story "Aliens of London" and "World War Three" as an MP who aids the... |
TV series (4 episodes: 2005–2008) | |
| 2006 | Celebration | Julie | TV movie |
| 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... |
Mrs. Bibby | ||
| 2007 | Five Days Five Days Five Days is a British dramatic television series produced by the BBC in association with Home Box Office . The first series was first broadcast on BBC One from 23 January to 1 February 2007, and repeated on BBC Four from 9 April to 13 April 2007.... |
Barbara Poole | TV series (4 episodes) Nominated – RTS Award – Best Actor |
| Half Broken Things | Jean | TV movie | |
| 2008 | The Passion The Passion (TV serial) The Passion is a television drama serial produced by the BBC and HBO Films in association with Deep Indigo Productions. It tells the story of the last week in the life of Jesus. The serial was first proposed by Peter Fincham in 2006, on the success of the contemporary-set Manchester Passion... |
Mary Mary (mother of Jesus) Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee... |
TV mini-series |
| 2009 | Marple: They Do It with Mirrors 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... |
Carrie Louise Serrocold | TV movie |
| Margot | B.Q. | TV movie | |
| 2010 | My Family | Rosemary Matthews | TV series (1 episode: "Wheelie Ben") |
| Downton Abbey Downton Abbey Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an... (1st Series) |
Isobel Crawley | TV series (7 episodes) | |
| 2011 | South Riding South Riding (2011 miniseries) South Riding is a BBC serial in three parts from 2011, based on the 1936 novel South Riding by Winifred Holtby. It is directed by Diarmuid Lawrence and written by Andrew Davies... |
Mrs. Beddows | TV series (3 episodes) |
| Downton Abbey Downton Abbey Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an... (2nd Series) |
Isobel Crawley | TV series (8 episodes) | |
| 2012 | The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is an upcoming British comedy-drama film directed by John Madden and written by Ol Parker. The film stars Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel, Tom Wilkinson and Maggie Smith. The plot follows the life of a group of British retirees staying in an elderly home in... |
Jean | filming |
Stage
Penelope Wilton commenced her professional career at the Nottingham PlayhouseNottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
, and famously appeared alongside Nicholas Clay
Nicholas Clay
Nicholas Anthony Phillip Clay was an English actor.-Early life:Born in Streatham London, to Bill and Rose Clay, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began his acting career in the early 1970s with small parts in film and television.-Career:Clay also appeared in several West End...
in The Dandy Lion. She was Regan to Michael Hordern
Michael Hordern
Sir Michael Murray Hordern was an English actor, knighted in 1983 for his services to the theatre, which stretched back to before the Second World War.-Personal life:...
's marvellous King Lear
King Lear
King Lear is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The title character descends into madness after foolishly disposing of his estate between two of his three daughters based on their flattery, bringing tragic consequences for all. The play is based on the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological...
at Nottingham Playhouse in 1970; Anna Calder-Marshall
Anna Calder-Marshall
Anna Calder-Marshall is a British actress.Her husband is actor David Burke and her son is actor Tom Burke.-Filmography:-External links:...
played Cordelia, and Thelma Ruby was the elder sister, Goneril.
- Mary, West of Suez, Royal Court TheatreRoyal Court TheatreThe Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, London, 1971 - Araminta, The Philanthropist, Royal Court Theatre, then Ethel Barrymore TheatreEthel Barrymore TheatreThe Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan, named for actress Ethel Barrymore....
, New York City, 1971 - Maud, The Great Exhibition, Hampstead Theatre Club, London, 1972
- Sophia, The Director of the Opera, Chichester Festival, Chichester, England, 1973
- Masha, The SeagullThe SeagullThe Seagull is the first of what are generally considered to be the four major plays by the Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov. The Seagull was written in 1895 and first produced in 1896...
, Chichester Festival, 1973 - Dikson, Something's Burning, Mermaid TheatreMermaid TheatreThe Mermaid Theatre was a theatre at Puddle Dock, in Blackfriars, in the City of London and the first built there since the time of Shakespeare...
, London, 1974 - Ruth, The Norman Conquests, Greenwich TheatreGreenwich TheatreThe Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.-Building history:The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was...
, London, 1974 - Dora Carrington, Bloomsbury, Phoenix TheatrePhoenix Theatre (London)The Phoenix Theatre is a West End theatre in the London Borough of Camden, located on Charing Cross Road . The entrance is in Phoenix Street....
, London, 1974 - Isabella, Measure For Measure, Greenwich TheatreGreenwich TheatreThe Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.-Building history:The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was...
, London, 1975 - Second woman, "Play," Play and Others, Royal Court Theatre, 1976
- Prudence Malone, Plunder, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, London, 1978
- Julia Craven, The Philanderer, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, 1978
- Emma, Betrayal, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, 1978
- Barbara, Tishoo, Wyndham's TheatreWyndham's TheatreWyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
, London, 1979 - Ann Whitefield and Dona Ana, Man and Superman, National Theatre Company, Olivier Theatre, London, 1981
- Beatrice, Much Ado about NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
, National Theatre Company, Olivier Theatre, 1981 - Barbara Undershaft, Major Barbara, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, 1982
- Marion French, The Secret Rapture, National Theatre Company, Lyttelton Theatre, 1988
- Hermione, AndromacheAndromache (play)Andromache is an Athenian tragedy by Euripides. It dramatises Andromache's life as a slave, years after the events of the Trojan War, and her conflict with her master's new wife, Hermione. The date of its first performance is unknown, although scholars place it sometime between 428 and 425 BC...
, Old Vic Theatre, London, 1988 - Piano, National Theatre Company, Cottesloe Theatre, London, 1990
- Deborah, A Kind of Alaska, The Collection, and The Lover, Donmar WarehouseDonmar WarehouseDonmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical...
, London, 1999 - Arkadina, The Seagull, Barbican Theatre, London, 2000
- Regina, Lillian Hellman's Little Foxes, Donmar Warehouse, October 2001
- Sonya, Afterplay play by Brian FrielBrian FrielBrian Friel is an Irish dramatist, author and director of the Field Day Theatre Company. He is considered to be the greatest living English-language dramatist, hailed by the English-speaking world as an "Irish Chekhov" and "the universally accented voice of Ireland"...
, Gielgud TheatreGielgud TheatreThe 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:...
, London, England, UK/ Gate TheatreGate TheatreThe Gate Theatre, in Dublin, was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál Mac Liammóir, initially using the Abbey Theatre's Peacock studio theatre space to stage important works by European and American dramatists...
, Dublin, September 2002 - Bernada, Federico Garcia LorcaFederico García LorcaFederico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
's The House of Bernarda Alba, National Theatre Lyttelton, March 2005 - Female voice, Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
's Eh Joe at the Gate Theatre, Dublin and the Duke of York'sDuke of York's TheatreThe Duke of York's Theatre is a West End Theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre, until her death in 1935. It opened on 10 September 1892 as the Trafalgar Square Theatre, with Wedding...
in the West End. 2006 - Livia, Thomas Middleton's Women Beware Women at the Swan TheatreSwan Theatre (Stratford)The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is built on to the side of the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre, occupying the Victorian Gothic structure that formerly housed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre that preceded the RST but was...
, Stratford, for the RSCRoyal Shakespeare CompanyThe 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...
. February 2006 - Ella Rentheim, Ibsen's John Gabriel BorkmanJohn Gabriel BorkmanJohn Gabriel Borkman is the penultimate composition of the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, written in 1896.-Plot:The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to illegally speculate with his investors' money...
at the Donmar Warehouse, February 2007 - Agatha, The Family Reunion, Donmar Warehouse, London, 2008
- Gertude, HamletHamletThe 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...
, Donmar Warehouse's West End season – Wyndham's TheatreWyndham's TheatreWyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
, London, 2009
External links
- Gareth McLean, Unspoken worlds, 25 October 2007, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...