Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work. Born into a working class home in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming. In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups; then, after a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-living sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made her real cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews. Blethyn has since appeared in an eclectic range of films, including independent comedies such as Saving Grace (2000), Plots with a View (2002) and Clubland (2007), music-themed films like Little Voice (1998) and Beyond the Sea (2004) and big-budget dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). In addition, Blethyn has appeared in television productions including The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), Belonging (2004) and War and Peace (2007). Her most recent leading role in TV drama is the title role in Vera (2011), playing Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. Description above from the Wikipedia article Brenda Blethyn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2021 · Charlotte as Grossmama (voice)
- 2020 · Kate & Koji as Kate
- 2018 · Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen as Narrator
- 2016 · Ethel & Ernest as Ethel Briggs (voice)
- 2014 · Two Men in Town as Emily Smith
- 2013 · Mary and Martha as Martha
- 2011 · My Angel as Headmistress
- 2011 · The Many Faces of... Michael Caine as
- 2011 · Vera as DCI Vera Stanhope
- 2010 · Downton Abbey as Vera
- 2010 · The Calling as Sister Ignatious
- 2009 · Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too as Mama Heffalump (voice)
- 2009 · London River as Elisabeth
- 2009 · Dead Man Running as Mother
- 2007 · War and Peace as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa
- 2007 · Clubland as Jean
- 2007 · Atonement as Grace Turner
- 2007 · The Graham Norton Show as Self
- 2006 · Mysterious Creatures as Wendy Ainscow
- 2006 · The One Show as Self - Guest
- 2006 · The New Adventures of Old Christine as Angela Kimble
- 2005 · VM Show Vol. 2 as Mari Hoff (archive footage)
- 2005 · Pride & Prejudice as Mrs. Bennet
- 2005 · On a Clear Day as Joan
- 2005 · Pooh's Heffalump Movie as Mama Heffalump (voice)
- 2004 · Beyond the Sea as Polly Cassotto
- 2004 · A Way of Life as Annette
- 2004 · Piccadilly Jim as Nesta Pett
- 2004 · Belonging as Jess Copplestone
- 2003 · Between The Sheets as Hazel Delany
- 2003 · Blizzard as Aunt Millie
- 2003 · The Sleeping Dictionary as Aggie
- 2002 · Undertaking Betty as Betty Rhys-Jones
- 2002 · Sonny as Jewel
- 2002 · Pumpkin as Judy Romanoff
- 2002 · The Yellow Bird as Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
- 2002 · V Graham Norton as Self
- 2001 · Daddy and Them as Julia Montgomery
- 2001 · On the Nose as Mrs. Delaney
- 2001 · Lovely & Amazing as Jane Marks
- 2001 · Anne Frank: The Whole Story as Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
- 2000 · RKO 281 as Louella Parsons
- 2000 · Saving Grace as Grace Trevethyn
- 1999 · Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Linnie Malcolm
- 1998 · Little Voice as Mari Hoff
- 1998 · In the Winter Dark as Ida Stubbs
- 1998 · So Graham Norton as Self - Guest
- 1998 · Girls' Night as Dawn Wilkinson
- 1998 · Music from Another Room as Grace Swan
- 1998 · Inside the Golden Statue as Self
- 1998 · Night Train as Alice Mooney
- 1997 · Remember Me? as
- 1996 · Secrets & Lies as Cynthia Rose Purley
- 1995 · The Frank Skinner Show as Self
- 1994 · Outside Edge as
- 1993 · The Buddha of Suburbia as Margaret Amir
- 1993 · The Bullion Boys as Gwen
- 1993 · GMTV as Self
- 1992 · A River Runs Through It as Mrs. Maclean
- 1992 · Maigret as
- 1991 · All Good Things as Shirley Frame
- 1990 · The Witches as Mrs Jenkins
- 1989 · Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story as Ticki Tocquet
- 1989 · The Shawl as Miss A
- 1989 · The Labours of Erica as
- 1988 · The Storyteller as Storyteller's Wife
- 1988 · The Play on One as Miss A
- 1987 · Claws as Sylvia
- 1985 · The Mysteries as Mary Magdalene / Mary
- 1984 · Chance in a Million as Alison Little
- 1983 · Floating Off as Janice
- 1983 · Dalgliesh as Angela Foley
- 1983 · Henry VI Part 1 as Joan La Pucelle
- 1982 · King Lear as Cordelia
- 1982 · Mike Leigh: Making Plays as Self
- 1981 · Say No to Strangers as
- 1980 · Grown-Ups as Gloria
- 1980 · Bedroom Farce as Kate
- 1980 · The Imitation Game as
- 1980 · Yes Minister as
- 1979 · Tales of the Unexpected as Carol Hutchins
- 1978 · BBC Television Shakespeare as
- 1975 · Rumpole of the Bailey as
- 1953 · The Oscars as Self
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee
- 1944 · Golden Globe Awards as Self - Presenter
- Future · Fools as
- Future · Strawberry Fields Forever as Grannie Nellie
- Future · King of the Teds as Nina