Imelda Staunton
Acting
- Born:
- 1956-01-09
- Place of birth:
- Archway, London, England, UK
Biography
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born January 9, 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre productions in the United Kingdom. Staunton has performed in a variety of plays and musicals in London throughout her career, winning four Laurence Olivier Awards; three for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her roles in the musicals Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Gypsy, and one for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Play for her work in both A Chorus of Disapproval and The Corn is Green. Her other stage appearances include The Beggar's Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Uncle Vanya, Guys and Dolls, Entertaining Mr Sloane, and Good People. She has been nominated for 13 Olivier Awards. On film, Staunton starred in Antonia and Jane; in several supporting roles in Kenneth Branagh's comedy Peter's Friends, his adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing; Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility; and the costume romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love. She drew critical acclaim for her performance in the title role in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actress, in addition to being nominated for Best Actress by the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She later gained a wider audience for her portrayal as Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films The Order of the Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1. She continued supporting roles in Nanny McPhee, reunited with Leigh in Another Year, and the film continuation of Downton Abbey. She portrayed human rights activist Hefina Headon in the historical film Pride, and starred in the British comedy Finding Your Feet. She also provided voice acting roles for the films Chicken Run, Arthur Christmas, and Paddington. On television, Staunton starred in the sitcoms Up the Garden Path and Is it Legal?. Her performance in My Family and Other Animals earned her a nomination for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress, while her roles in Return to Cranford and The Girl earned her BAFTA TV Award nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. For the latter, she was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. She portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in the final two seasons of The Crown.
Known For
Filmography
Tommy & Tuppence
& Sons
Testimony
National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession
Paddington in Peru
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
The Canterville Ghost
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
Downton Abbey: A New Era
Victorian Britain on Film
Sense and Sensibility: 25th Anniversary Reunion
Thirties in Colour: Countdown to War
The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson
The Magical World of Julia Donaldson
Amulet
Alan Bennett's Talking Heads
Trying
The Far Traveller
Flesh and Blood
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
A Confession As Told By ITV News
Downton Abbey
A Confession
Finding Your Feet
National Theatre Live: Follies
Paddington 2
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
National Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Little Bird
The Crown
Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me
Gypsy
Pride: The True Story
That Day We Sang
Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made
Paddington
Pride
Maleficent
Lily's Driftwood Bay
Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time
The Girl
London: The Modern Babylon
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Story of Musicals
Arthur Christmas
The Awakening
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
White Other
Another Year
Psychoville Halloween Special
The Michael Ball Show
Alice in Wonderland
Return to Cranford
Taking Woodstock
Psychoville
Adapting Austen
A Bunch of Amateurs
Big & Small
Three and Out
Clay
Cranford
How About You...
Where Have I Been All Your Life?
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Guilty Hearts
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Graham Norton Show
Freedom Writers
The Wind in the Willows
Live! Girls! Present Dogtown
Shadow Man
The One Show
Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image
My Family and Other Animals
ShakespeaRe-Told
Nanny McPhee
Fingersmith
Doctor Who
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Vera Drake
Bright Young Things
Little Britain
Coming Up
I'll Be There
Strange
Blackball
Cambridge Spies
The Virgin of Liverpool
Crush
Murder
Ready
Another Life
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
Rat
Chicken Run
David Copperfield
Jack and the Beanstalk
Shakespeare in Love
The Ugly Duckling
Midsomer Murders
Remember Me?
Twelfth Night
The Adventures of Toad
The Snow Queen's Revenge
The Wind in the Willows
The Adventures of Mole
Sense and Sensibility
Is It Legal?
The Pen
Look at the State We're In!
Citizen X
The Snow Queen
Mole's Christmas
Deadly Advice
If You See God, Tell Him
Frank Stubbs Promotes
Don't Leave Me This Way
Much Ado About Nothing
Roots
Peter's Friends
A Masculine Ending
Performance
They Never Slept
Yellowbacks
Antonia and Jane
Up the Garden Path
The Englishman's Wife
Tales from the Crypt
The Heat of the Day
A Bit of Fry & Laurie
Thompson
The Play on One
Comrades
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
The Singing Detective
ScreenPlay
Ladies in Charge
Screen Two
Natural World
Easy Money
Playhouse
The Oscars
Golden Globe Awards
West the Road
Untitled Roald Dahl Series