Early life and career
Sarah Miles was born in the small town of
IngatestoneIngatestone is a small town in Essex, England, with a population of about 4500 people. To the immediate north lies the village of Fryerning, and the two form the civil parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning....
,
EssexEssex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, in
South East EnglandSouth East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
.
She first attended
Roedean-Roedeanians in fiction:* Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward * Dawn Drummond-Clayton * Emily James...
but at the age of 15 she enrolled at
RADARada is the term for "council" or "assembly"borrowed by Polish from the Low Franconian "Rad" and later passed into the Czech, Ukrainian, and Belarusian languages....
, the
Royal Academy of Dramatic ArtThe Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
. Shortly after her completion at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Miles debuted in 1962 as Shirley Taylor in
Term of TrialTerm of Trial is a 1962 British drama film made by Romulus Films Ltd. and distributed by Warner-Pathé. It was written and directed by Peter Glenville and produced by James Woolf with James H. Ware as associate producer from a screenplay based on the novel of the same name by James Barlow...
(1962), co-starring with
Laurence OlivierLaurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, with whom she had a brief affair. The following year, Miles became a well-reputed actress of British New Wave with her roles in
Joseph LoseyJoseph Walton Losey was an American theater and film director. After studying in Germany with Bertolt Brecht, Losey returned to the United States, eventually making his way to Hollywood...
's
The Servant (1963) and in
Michelangelo AntonioniMichelangelo Antonioni, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian modernist film director, screenwriter, editor and short story writer.- Personal life :...
's
BlowupBlowup is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film.It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" , translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life...
(1966).
After acting in a variety of plays from 1966 to 1969, Miles was cast as Rosy Ryan, the daughter of Tom Ryan in
David LeanSir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
's 1970 film,
Ryan's DaughterRyan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
. Her performance earned a nomination for the
Academy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
Although she has denied it, Miles is known for her frequent use of
profanityProfanity is a show of disrespect, or a desecration or debasement of someone or something. Profanity can take the form of words, expressions, gestures, or other social behaviors that are socially constructed or interpreted as insulting, rude, vulgar, obscene, desecrating, or other forms.The...
. A November 1971
CosmopolitanCosmopolitan is an international magazine for women. It was first published in 1886 in the United States as a family magazine, was later transformed into a literary magazine and eventually became a women's magazine in the late 1960s...
profile was subtitled "She uses words that would make a construction worker blush, but from her they sound refined". A profile in
Women's Wear was titled "The Lady with the Truckdriver's Mouth".
Miles is a practitioner of
urine therapyIn alternative medicine, the term urine therapy refers to various applications of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one's own urine and massaging one's skin with one's own urine...
. Citing Gandhi, who was an adherent of it, she has followed the tradition for thirty years, maintaining that it has kept her healthy and vigorous.
In 1973, while filming
The Man Who Loved Cat DancingThe Man Who Loved Cat Dancing is a novel written by Marilyn Durham first published in 1972.-Plot:The novel is set in the American West in the 1880s, but is not written in a genre style. It is the story of Jay, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine, a woman from the East who...
, her manager and associate David Whiting died under mysterious circumstances. During that same time, Miles was reported to be having an affair with
Burt ReynoldsBurton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
, with whom she co-starred in the film.
Since 1973, Miles has gone through periods of semi-retirement, only to appear in a film or a TV program. She most recently appeared in
WellWell is a play about illness written by and starring Lisa Kron. Well made its world premier at the Joseph Papp Public Theater in New York City in 2004. The play was directed by Leigh Silverman and also starred Jayne Houdyshell as Lisa's mother, Ann Kron. The Public Theater production garnered...
at the
Trafalgar StudiosTrafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
and the
Apollo TheatreThe Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
opposite
Natalie CaseyNatalie Casey is an English actress, television presenter and singer. She is best known for her long running roles playing Carol Groves in the TV series Hollyoaks from 1995 to 2000 and playing Donna Henshaw in Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps from 2001 to 2011...
.
Family
Miles was married twice to the
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
playwright
Robert BoltRobert Oxton Bolt, CBE was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar winning screenwriter.-Career:He was born in Sale, Cheshire. At Manchester Grammar School his affinity for Sir Thomas More first developed. He attended the University of Manchester, and, after war service, the University of...
, 1967–1975 and 1988–1995. He wrote and directed the film
Lady Caroline LambLady Caroline Lamb is a 1972 film based on the life of the notorious Lady Caroline Lamb, lover of Lord Byron and wife of Prime MinisterViscount Melbourne...
, in which Miles played the eponymous heroine.
Her brother is
film directorA film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
,
producerA film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
and
screenwriterScreenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
Christopher MilesChristopher Miles was born in London, England, the eldest of four children to ‘Wren’, a councilor, and John Miles, a consulting engineer, whose family had been in the steel industry for several generations...
.
From her mother Clarice Remnant's father, Francis Remnant, Sarah Miles claims to be the great-granddaughter of
Prince Francis of TeckPrince Francis of Teck, GCVO, DSO , was a member of the British Royal Family, the brother of Queen Mary....
and thus a second cousin once removed of Elizabeth II of Great Britain. She is mistaken in this.
Francis Remnant died unmarried in1910. The parents of Sarah Miles were John Miles and Clarice Vera Remnant, who married in Holborn in 1942. The marriage is also registered in the name of Clarice Vera Miles - so the couple may have lived together previously and Clarice Vera changed her name to Miles by Deed Poll.
The parents of Clarice Vera Remnant, born 1916, were Frank Remnant and Doris H Taylor, who married in Edmonton, at the end of 1915. Frank Remnant was born in Richmond, Surrey, in 1894 - perhaps some research was carried out and it was thought that Frank was a diminutive of Francis and it was wrongly assumed that he was Prince Francis of Teck. This is clearly impossible because Clarice Vera Remnamt was definitely the mother of Sarah Miles and she was born over five years after the death of Prince Francis.
Filmography
| Year |
Film |
Role |
Notes |
| 1962 |
Term of Trial Term of Trial is a 1962 British drama film made by Romulus Films Ltd. and distributed by Warner-Pathé. It was written and directed by Peter Glenville and produced by James Woolf with James H. Ware as associate producer from a screenplay based on the novel of the same name by James Barlow...
|
Shirley Taylor |
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer -Best British Director, Producer or Writer in the First Film:*2006 - Red Road - Andrea Arnold**Black Sun – Gary Tarn**Pierrepoint – Christine Langan**London to Brighton – Paul Andrew Williams...
|
| 1963 |
The Servant |
Vera |
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best British Actress Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
|
| The Ceremony is a 1971 film from Japanese director Nagisa Oshima. The film takes place in postwar Japan, following a Japanese clan through their wedding and funeral ceremonies, and the lengths the family goes to preserve their traditions in spite of the damage it causes to the younger generations.- Plot summary...
|
Catherine |
|
| 1965 |
Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying MachinesThose Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Or How I Flew from London to Paris in 25 Hours 11 Minutes is a 1965 British comedy film starring Stuart Whitman and directed and co-written by Ken Annakin...
|
Patricia Rawnsley |
|
| Time Lost and Time Remembered |
Cass Langdon |
Also known as I Was Happy Here |
| 1966 |
BlowupBlowup is a 1966 film directed by Michelangelo Antonioni, his first English-language film.It tells of a British photographer's accidental involvement with a murder, inspired by Julio Cortázar's short story, "Las babas del diablo" or "The Devil's Drool" , translated also as Blow-Up, and by the life...
|
Patricia |
|
| 1970 |
Ryan's DaughterRyan's Daughter is a 1970 film directed by David Lean. The film, set in 1916, tells the story of a married Irish woman who has an affair with a British officer during World War I, despite opposition from her nationalist neighbours...
|
Rosy Ryan |
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading RoleBest Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1972 |
Lady Caroline Lamb Lady Caroline Lamb is a 1972 film based on the life of the notorious Lady Caroline Lamb, lover of Lord Byron and wife of Prime MinisterViscount Melbourne...
|
Lady Caroline Lamb The Lady Caroline Lamb was a British aristocrat and novelist, best known for her affair with Lord Byron in 1812. Her husband was the 2nd Viscount Melbourne, the Prime Minister...
|
|
| 1973 |
The Hireling The Hireling is a 1973 British drama film directed by Alan Bridges, based on a 1957 novel by LP Hartley, which starred Robert Shaw and Sarah Miles...
|
Lady Franklin |
|
| The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing is a novel written by Marilyn Durham first published in 1972.-Plot:The novel is set in the American West in the 1880s, but is not written in a genre style. It is the story of Jay, a man of the West, and his offbeat relationship with Catherine, a woman from the East who...
|
Catherine Crocker |
|
| 1975 |
Bride to Be |
Pepita Jiménez |
|
| 1976 |
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the SeaThe Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea , is a novel written by Yukio Mishima, published in Japanese in 1963 and translated into English by John Nathan in 1965.- Plot summary :...
|
Anne Osborne |
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1978 |
The Big Sleep The Big Sleep was the second film version of Raymond Chandler's 1939 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Michael Winner and stars Robert Mitchum in his second feature film portrayal of the detective Philip Marlowe. The cast includes Sarah Miles, Candy Clark, Joan Collins, and...
|
Charlotte Sternwood |
|
| 1981 |
Priest of Love Priest of Love is a 1981 British biographical film about D. H. Lawrence, released by Filmways Pictures. It was produced and directed by Christopher Miles and co-produced by Andrew Donally. The screenplay was by Alan Plater from the biography A Priest of Love by Harry T. Moore...
|
Film Star |
|
| Venom Venom is a 1981 horror film directed by Piers Haggard and starring Klaus Kinski, Oliver Reed, Nicol Williamson and Sarah Miles.-Plot:A maid , a psychotic chauffer and an international terrorist attempt to kidnap a wealthy ten-year-old boy from his elegant London townhouse...
|
Dr. Marion Stowe |
|
| 1984 |
Ordeal by InnocenceOrdeal by Innocence is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on November 3 1958 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at twelve shillings and sixpence and the US edition at $2.95...
|
Mary Durant |
|
| 1985 |
Steaming Steaming is the 1985 release of the final film directed by Joseph Losey. It was adapted from Nell Dunn's play by Patricia Losey and Nell Dunn. It was the last film of actress Diana Dors, who died in 1984. The film was screened out of competition at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.The story centred...
|
Sarah |
|
| 1987 |
Hope and Glory |
Grace Rowan |
Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :...
|
| White Mischief White Mischief is a 1987 film dramatising the events of the Happy Valley murder case in Kenya in 1941, when Sir Henry "Jock" Delves Broughton was tried for the murder of Josslyn Hay, Earl of Erroll....
|
Alice de Janzé Alice de Janzé, née Silverthorne , also known as Alice de Trafford and holder of the noble title Comtesse de Janzé for a few years, was an American heiress who spent years in Kenya, as a member of the Happy Valley set of colonials...
|
|
| 1992 |
The Silent Touch |
Helena |
|
| 2001 |
Days of Grace |
Sissi, La Madre |
|
| Jurij |
Martina, directrice clinica |
|
| 2003 |
The Accidental Detective |
Smeralda Mazzi Tinghi |
|
Television
| Year |
Title |
Role |
Notes |
| 1974 |
Great Expectations Great Expectations is a 1974 film made for television based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same name. It was directed by Joseph Hardy, with screenwriter Sherman Yellen and music by Maurice Jarre, starring Michael York as Pip and Sarah Miles as Estella...
|
Estella |
|
| 1976 |
DynastyDynasty is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on ABC from January 12, 1981 to May 11, 1989. It was created by Richard & Esther Shapiro and produced by Aaron Spelling, and revolved around the Carringtons, a wealthy oil family living in Denver, Colorado...
|
Jennifer Blackwood |
|
| 1987 |
Queenie -Background:In April 1985 Korda published Queenie, a roman à clef about his aunt, actress Merle Oberon, who had married his uncle Alexander Korda. Queenie Kelley is an extremely beautiful girl of Indian and Irish descent, fair enough to pass for white...
|
Lady Sybil |
|
| 1990 |
A Ghost in Monte Carlo A Ghost in Monte Carlo is a 1951 novel by Barbara Cartland, later adapted as a 1990 film starring Sarah Miles and Lysette Anthony....
|
Emilie/Mme. Bluet |
|
| 1994 |
Dandelion Dead Dandelion Dead is the title of a British TV mini-series produced in 1994, telling the true story of Herbert Rowse Armstrong, a practising solicitor in the provincial town of Hay-on-Wye, Wales, who was convicted and hanged in May 1922 for the murder of his wife and the attempted murder of a fellow...
|
Catherine Armstrong |
TV mini-series |
| 2004 |
PoirotAgatha 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...
: The HollowThe Hollow is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1946 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in November of the same year. The US edition retailed at $2.50 and the UK edition at eight shillings and sixpence...
|
Lady Angkatell |
|
Books
Sarah Miles has written the following books:
- A Right Royal Bastard, ISBN 0-330-33142-6
- Beautiful Mourning, ISBN 0-7528-0140-6
- Bolt from the Blue, ISBN 0-7538-0229-5
- Serves Me Right, ISBN 0-333-60141-6
External links