Imelda Staunton

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Imelda Staunton
Birth name Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton
Born 9 January 1956 (1956-01-09) (age 51)
London, England
Occupation Actress
Years active 1982 - present
Spouse(s) Jim Carter (1985 - present)

Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton, OBE, (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress best known for her role as Izzy in the British comedy television series Up the Garden Path.

She is known for playing the title role in the Oscar-nominated Vera Drake and Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.

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Staunton was born in Archway, North London to Bridie (née McNicholas), a hairdresser, and Joseph Staunton, a road-worker and labourer.[1] Both of her parents are first-generation Catholic immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland, with her father coming from Ballyvary and her mother from Bohola.[2] She attended La Sainte Union Convent School, an all girls catholic school on the edge of Hampstead Heath, from years 7 to 11.[2] Staunton is married to the English actor Jim Carter and they have a daughter, Bessie, born 1993.

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

She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2006 New Year's Honours List for her services to drama.

One of her first films was an appearance in the 1992 movie Peter's Friends. Other early roles include performances in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) Twelfth Night (1996) , Chicken Run (2000), Another Life (2001) and Bright Young Things (2003).

Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love. In 2004, she received the Best Actress honours at the European Film Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Venice Film Festival for her performance of the title role in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, which also won Best Picture. For the same role, she received Best Actress nominations for the 2005 Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

Staunton portrayed Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). The Guardian described her as the "perfect choice for the part" and "one of the film's greatest pleasures," "coming close to stealing the show."[3] She was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards.[4]

Staunton has stated that her first job was a play by Goldoni.[5] In 2007, she opened on stage in Frank McGuinness's There Came a Gypsy Riding.

She is a three-time recipient of the Olivier Award, Britain's highest theatre honour, for roles in A Chorus of Disapproval (1985), The Corn Is Green (1985), and Into the Woods (1991), and was nominated for her performance as Miss Adelaide in the 1996 revival of Guys and Dolls at The National Theatre.

Postgraduate work in English repertory theatre:

Two seasons at the Northcott Theatre Exeter:

Two seasons at the Nottingham Playhouse (1980-81?):

Touring (1981-82?):

Theatre roles in London::

In 1993 she appeared on the small screen alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him. She has had other television parts in The Singing Detective (1986) and the comedy drama series Is it Legal? (1995-8). She was a voice artist on Mole's Christmas (1994). She had a guest role playing Mrs. Mead in Little Britain in 2005, and in 2007 played the free-thinking gossip, Miss Pole, in the BBC1 five-part drama series based on Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford.

On radio, she has appeared in the title role of detective drama series Julie Enfield Investigates, as the lead, Izzy Comyn, in the comedy Up the Garden Path (which later moved to ITV with Staunton reprising the role), as Mrs. Blatherwick, the vile cook in Nanny McPhee, and in Diary of a Provincial Lady (from 1999) and Acropolis Now.

  1. ^ Lawley, Sue. "This Week's Guest: Imelda Staunton", BBC Radio 4, 2005-05-15. Retrieved on 2007-01-06. 
  2. ^ a b Imelda Staunton Biography. Tiscali Film and TV. Retrieved on 2007-07-16.
  3. ^ McCurry, Justin. "Japan goes wild about Harry", The Guardian, 2007-06-29. Retrieved on 2007-07-01. 
  4. ^ "London critics love 'Control,' 'Atonement'", Variety, 2007-12-13. Retrieved on 2007-12-15. 
  5. ^ The prime of Miss Imelda Staunton

Awards
Preceded by
Scarlett Johansson
for Lost In Translation		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
for Vera Drake
2005		 Succeeded by
Reese Witherspoon
for Walk the Line
Preceded by
Hope Davis
for American Splendor		 NYFCC Award for Best Actress
2004
for Vera Drake		 Succeeded by
Reese Witherspoon
for Walk the Line
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imelda_Staunton"
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