Imelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 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
Credits
- 2024 · Paddington in Peru as Aunt Lucy (voice)
- 2023 · Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget as Bunty (voice)
- 2023 · The Canterville Ghost as Mrs Umney (voice)
- 2022 · Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends as Self
- 2022 · Downton Abbey: A New Era as Maud Bagshaw
- 2020 · The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson as reader
- 2020 · Amulet as Sister Claire
- 2020 · Alan Bennett's Talking Heads as Irene Ruddock
- 2020 · Trying as Penny
- 2020 · The Far Traveller as Narrator
- 2020 · Flesh and Blood as Mary Bennett
- 2019 · Maleficent: Mistress of Evil as Knotgrass
- 2019 · A Confession As Told By ITV News as Imelda Staunton - Self / Karen Edwards
- 2019 · Downton Abbey as Maud Bagshaw
- 2019 · A Confession as Karen Edwards
- 2019 · Brassic as Edie
- 2017 · Finding Your Feet as Sandra Abbott
- 2017 · National Theatre Live: Follies as Sally Durant Plummer
- 2017 · Paddington 2 as Aunt Lucy (voice)
- 2017 · Harry Potter: A History Of Magic as Narrator
- 2017 · National Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as Martha
- 2017 · Little Bird as First Officer Simpkins
- 2016 · The Crown as Queen Elizabeth II
- 2016 · Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me as Self
- 2015 · Gypsy as Rose
- 2014 · Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made as
- 2014 · That Day We Sang as Enid
- 2014 · Paddington as Aunt Lucy (voice)
- 2014 · Pride as Hefina
- 2014 · Maleficent as Knotgrass
- 2014 · Lily's Driftwood Bay as Rowena Rabbit (voice)
- 2013 · Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time as Shrew (voice)
- 2012 · The Girl as Alma Reville Hitchcock
- 2012 · London: The Modern Babylon as Spoken Quotations (voice)
- 2012 · The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! as Queen Victoria (voice)
- 2012 · Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as Mrs. Lovett
- 2011 · Arthur Christmas as Mrs Santa (voice)
- 2011 · The Awakening as Maud Hill
- 2010 · Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 as Dolores Umbridge
- 2010 · White Other as Lynne McDermott
- 2010 · Another Year as Janet
- 2010 · Psychoville Halloween Special as Grace Andrews
- 2010 · The Michael Ball Show as Self
- 2010 · Alice in Wonderland as Tall Flower Faces (voice)
- 2009 · Taking Woodstock as Sonia Teichberg
- 2009 · Psychoville as
- 2008 · A Bunch of Amateurs as Mary
- 2008 · Three and Out as Rosemary Cassidy
- 2008 · Big & Small as
- 2008 · Clay as Mary Doonan
- 2007 · Cranford as Miss Pole
- 2007 · Cranford as Self/Miss Octavia Pole
- 2007 · How About You... as Hazel Nightingale
- 2007 · Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out as Self
- 2007 · Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as Dolores Umbridge
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2007 · Freedom Writers as Margaret Campbell
- 2006 · The Wind in the Willows as Barge Lady
- 2006 · Live!Girls! present Dogtown as
- 2006 · Shadow Man as Ambassador Cochran
- 2006 · Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image as Herself
- 2006 · Guilty Hearts as Naomi
- 2005 · My Family and Other Animals as Mother
- 2005 · ShakespeaRe-Told as
- 2005 · Nanny McPhee as Mrs. Blatherwick
- 2005 · Fingersmith as Mrs. Sucksby
- 2005 · Doctor Who as Interface (voice)
- 2005 · The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson as Self
- 2004 · Vera Drake as Vera Drake
- 2003 · Bright Young Things as Lady Brown
- 2003 · Little Britain as
- 2003 · Little Britain as Mrs. Mead
- 2003 · I'll Be There as Dr. Bridget
- 2003 · Strange as
- 2003 · Blackball as Bridget
- 2003 · Cambridge Spies as The Queen
- 2003 · The Virgin of Liverpool as Sylvia Conlon
- 2002 · Crush as Janine
- 2002 · Murder as DCI Billie Dory
- 2002 · Murder as DCI Billie Dory
- 2001 · Another Life as Ethel Graydon
- 2001 · Rat as Conchita Flynn
- 2000 · Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings as Mrs. Cottisloe
- 2000 · Chicken Run as Bunty (voice)
- 1999 · David Copperfield as Mrs. Micawber
- 1999 · Jack and the Beanstalk as Dilly
- 1998 · Shakespeare in Love as Nurse
- 1997 · The Ugly Duckling as Scruffy (voice)
- 1997 · Midsomer Murders as Christine Cooper
- 1997 · Remember Me? as
- 1996 · Twelfth Night as Maria
- 1996 · The Adventures of Toad as Voice
- 1995 · The Adventures of Mole as Voice
- 1995 · Sense and Sensibility as Charlotte Jennings Palmer
- 1995 · Is It Legal? as
- 1995 · Look at the State We're In! as Councillor Johnson
- 1995 · Citizen X as Mrs. Burakov
- 1995 · The Snow Queen as Ivy / Angorra
- 1994 · Mole's Christmas as (voices)
- 1994 · Deadly Advice as Beth Greenwood
- 1993 · If You See God, Tell Him as Muriel Spry
- 1993 · Frank Stubbs Promotes as Susan
- 1993 · Don't Leave Me This Way as Bridget Bennet
- 1993 · Much Ado About Nothing as Margaret
- 1992 · Roots as Jenny Beales
- 1992 · Peter's Friends as Mary Charleston
- 1992 · A Masculine Ending as Bridget Bennet
- 1991 · Performance as Jenny Beales
- 1991 · They Never Slept as The Producer
- 1990 · Yellowbacks as Cheryl Newman
- 1990 · Up the Garden Path as
- 1990 · The Englishman's Wife as Stephanie
- 1990 · Antonia and Jane as Jane Hartman
- 1989 · Tales from the Crypt as Sarah
- 1989 · The Heat of the Day as Louie
- 1989 · A Bit of Fry & Laurie as
- 1988 · Thompson as Self
- 1988 · The Play on One as Cheryl Newman
- 1987 · Comrades as Betsy Loveless
- 1987 · The Ruth Rendell Mysteries as Polly Flinders
- 1986 · The Singing Detective as Staff Nurse White
- 1986 · Ladies in Charge as
- 1986 · Ladies in Charge as Edith
- 1985 · Screen Two as The Producer
- 1983 · Natural World as Narrator
- 1982 · Easy Money as Mary Price
- 1982 · Easy Money as Mary Price
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self