Penelope Wilton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Penelope Wilton | |
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| Born | Penelope Wilton 3 June 1946 Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England |
| Other name(s) | Penelope Wilton OBE Penelope Winton |
| Occupation | Actress, Comedienne |
| Years active | 1972-present |
| Spouse(s) | Ian Holm (1991-2001) Daniel Massey (1975-1984) |
Penelope Wilton OBE (born 3 June 1946) is an English actress.
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[edit] Biography
Wilton was born in Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire to a former actress mother and a businessman father.[1] She is a niece of actors Bill Travers and Linden Travers[2] and a cousin of the actor Richard Morant. She and her sisters, Rosemary and Linda, all attended the same convent school in Newcastle which their mother had previously taught at. She had a successful stage career before breaking into television and her West End debut was opposite Sir Ralph Richardson.
Her television career began in 1972, playing Vivie Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession opposite Robert Powell. Despite several major TV roles, including two of the BBC Television Shakespeare productions (as Desdemona in Othello and Regan in King Lear), she did not become a household name until she appeared with Richard Briers in the 1984 situation comedy, Ever Decreasing Circles.
Between 1975-1984, she was married to the actor, Daniel Massey, who, following their divorce, married her sister Lindy; between 1991-2001 she was married to Sir Ian Holm, and they appeared together as Pod and Homily in the BBC's 1993 adaptation of The Borrowers. Her film appearances include Cry Freedom (1987), Iris (2001), Calendar Girls (2003) and Shaun of the Dead (2004).
In 2005, Wilton guest starred as Harriet Jones, MP for two episodes in the BBC's revival of the popular science-fiction series Doctor Who. This guest role was written especially for her by the programme's chief writer and executive producer Russell T. Davies, with whom she had previously worked on Bob and Rose (ITV, 2001). The character of Jones returned as Prime Minister in "The Christmas Invasion", the Doctor Who 2005 Christmas special.
In 2005 she also appeared in a new film adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and in Woody Allen's film Match Point. She most recently appeared as Barbara Poole, the mother of a missing woman, in the BBC television drama series Five Days. Her most recent television appearances were in ITV's drama Half Broken Things (October 2007) and the BBC production of The Passion (Easter 2008). She appeared on Desert Island Discs in April 2008.
[edit] Awards and recognition
She has twice won the Critics Circle Theatre Award, in 1981 for her performance in Much Ado About Nothing, and in 1993 for The Deep Blue Sea. In 2001 she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for her performance in The Little Foxes at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2004 she was given the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to drama.
[edit] Filmography
[edit] Cinema
- Joseph Andrews (1977) — Mrs. Wilson
- The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981) — Sonia
- Clockwise (1986) — Pat Garden
- Cry Freedom (1987) — Wendy Woods
- Blame It on the Bellboy (1992) — Patricia Fulford
- The Secret Rapture (1993) — Marion French
- Carrington (1995) — Lady Ottoline Morrell
- This Could Be the Last Time (1998) — Marjorie
- Gooseberries Don't Dance (1999)
- Tom's Midnight Garden (1999) — Aunt Melbourne
- Iris (2001) — Janet Stone
- Calendar Girls (2003) — Ruth Reynoldson
- Shaun of the Dead (2004) — Barbara
- Pride and Prejudice (2005) — Mrs. Gardiner
- Match Point (2005) — Eleanor Hewett
- The History Boys (2006) — Mrs Bibby
[edit] Television
- An Affair of Honour (1972)
- Mrs. Warren's Profession (1972) — Vivie
- The Song of Songs (1973) — Lilli Czepanek
- King Lear (1975) — Regan
- Widowing of Mrs. Holroyd (1976)
- The Norman Conquests: Table Manners (1978) — Annie
- The Norman Conquests: Living Together (1978) — Annie
- The Norman Conquests: Round and Round the Garden (1978) — Annie
- Othello (1981) — Desdemona
- Country (1981) — Virginia Carlion
- The Tale of Beatrix Potter (1982) — Beatrix Potter
- King Lear (1982) — Regan
- Laughterhouse (1984) — Alice Singleton
- Ever Decreasing Circles (1984) — Anne Bryce
- The Monocled Mutineer (1986) — Lady Angela
- Screaming (1992) — Beatrice
- The Borrowers (1992) — Homily
- The Return of the Borrowers (1993) — Homily
- The Deep Blue Sea (1994) — Hester Collyer
- Talking Heads 2 (1998) — Rosemary
- Alice Through the Looking Glass (1998) — White Queen
- Wives and Daughters (1999) — Mrs. Hamley
- Rockaby (2000)
- Victoria & Albert (2001) — Princess Mary Louise Victoria
- The Whistle-Blower (2001) — Heather Graham
- Bob and Rose (2001) — Monica Gossage
- Lucky Jim (2003) — Celia Welch
- Falling (2005) — Daisy Langrish
- Doctor Who (2005, 2008) — Harriet Jones
- Five Days (2007) — Barbara Poole
- Celebration (2007)
- Half Broken Things (2007) — Jean
- The Passion (2008) — Mary
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Penelope Wilton at the Internet Movie Database
- Gareth McLean, Unspoken worlds, October 25, 2007, The Guardian
