Imelda Staunton
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.
142 acting credits
Acting · 142
Midsomer Murders
1997
Doctor Who
2005
The Graham Norton Show
2007
The Crown
2016
Golden Globe Awards
1944
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
The One Show
2006
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
Tales from the Crypt
1989
Playhouse
1974
Natural World
1983
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
Screen Two
1985
The Oscars
1953
Alice in Wonderland
2010
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
1987
Maleficent
2014
Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg
2022
Performance
1991
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
2019
Little Britain
2003
Paddington in Peru
2024
Chicken Run
2000
ScreenPlay
1986
Trying
2020
Sense and Sensibility
1995
Lily's Driftwood Bay
2014
Cranford
2007
Paddington
2014
Paddington 2
2017
Nanny McPhee
2005
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
2023
A Bit of Fry & Laurie
1989
Psychoville
2009
Arthur Christmas
2011
ShakespeaRe-Told
2005
Fingersmith
2005
The Michael Ball Show
2010
David Copperfield
1999
Downton Abbey
2019
Big & Small
2008
Downton Abbey: A New Era
2022
Freedom Writers
2007
Cambridge Spies
2003
Shakespeare in Love
1998
A Confession
2019
Strange
2003
The Singing Detective
1986
The Awakening
2011
Much Ado About Nothing
1993
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
2012
Pride
2014
Look at the State We're In!
1995
Frank Stubbs Promotes
1993
Alan Bennett's Talking Heads
2020
Murder
2002
Flesh and Blood
2020
If You See God, Tell Him
1993
Ladies in Charge
1986
The Canterville Ghost
2023
Twelfth Night
1996
Another Year
2010
Bright Young Things
2003
Taking Woodstock
2009
Citizen X
1995
Vera Drake
2004
Thompson
1988
The Story of Musicals
2012
Shadow Man
2006
& Sons
2025
Peter's Friends
1992
Is It Legal?
1995
Finding Your Feet
2017
Another Life
2001
Crush
2002
Up the Garden Path
1990
Rat
2000
Amulet
2020
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
2017
The Wind in the Willows
2006
Blackball
2003
Testimony
2025
Guilty Hearts
2007
My Family and Other Animals
2005
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
2000
Comrades
1987
National Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2017
The Snow Queen's Revenge
1996
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
2007
National Theatre Live: Follies
2017
Three and Out
2008
Don't Leave Me This Way
1993
The Girl
2012
A Bunch of Amateurs
2008
Ready
2002
A Masculine Ending
1992
I'll Be There
2003
The Snow Queen
1995
Live! Girls! Present Dogtown
2006
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
2022
The Ugly Duckling
1997
The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson
2020
Remember Me?
1997
Psychoville Halloween Special
2010
How About You...
2007
The Virgin of Liverpool
2003
Thirties in Colour: Countdown to War
2021
Yellowbacks
1990
They Never Slept
1991
Antonia and Jane
1990
Deadly Advice
1994
London: The Modern Babylon
2012
Roots
1992
Clay
2008
Tommy & Tuppence
2026
The Magical World of Julia Donaldson
2020
Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me
2016
That Day We Sang
2014
Jack and the Beanstalk
1999
Little Bird
2017
Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made
2014
Sense and Sensibility: 25th Anniversary Reunion
2021
Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image
2006
Victorian Britain on Film
2021
The Adventures of Toad
1996
The Adventures of Mole
1995
The Heat of the Day
1989
White Other
2010
Where Have I Been All Your Life?
2007
The Englishman's Wife
1990
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2012
Mole's Christmas
1994
Gypsy
2015
Easy Money
1982
The Pen
1995
The Wind in the Willows
1995
Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time
2013
Adapting Austen
2009
National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession
2025
The Far Traveller
2020
A Confession As Told By ITV News
2019
West the Road
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