Imelda Staunton

Early life and education

Staunton was born in Archway, north London, the only child of Bridie (née McNicholas), a hairdresser, and Joseph Staunton, a labourer. They lived over Staunton's mother's salon. Her parents were immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland; her father from Ballyvary and her mother from Bohola. Her mother, a musician, had played in Irish showbands; while she could not read music, she could play almost any tune by ear on the accordion or fiddle. When Staunton was in her teens, her parents separated, both later meeting new partners.

As a pupil at La Sainte Union Catholic School, Staunton took drama classes with her elocution teacher and had starring roles in school plays, including that of Polly Peachum in The Beggar's Opera. Encouraged by her teacher, she auditioned for drama schools: while the Central School of Speech and Drama and Guildhall School of Music and Drama did not extend offers to her,

Acting career

1976–1999: Career beginnings and early roles

Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976, then spent six years in British repertory theatre, including a period at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, where she had the title role in Shaw's Saint Joan (1979). She then moved on to roles the National Theatre, including Lucy Lockit in The Beggar's Opera (1982), which earned her Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre. She also appeared in two revivals of Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre; the first in 1982 in which she met her husband Jim Carter and the second in 1996 in which she played Miss Adelaide and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

In 1985, Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her work in both The Corn Is Green at The Old Vic and A Chorus of Disapproval at the National Theatre. She also played Dorothy Gale in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1987 revival of The Wizard of Oz at the Barbican Centre, which earned her another Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Baker's Wife in the original London production of Into the Woods (1990).

Staunton's first big-screen role came in a 1986 film Comrades. She then appeared in the 1991 film Antonia and Jane, and in the 1992 film Peter's Friends. Other film roles include performances in Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Deadly Advice (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Twelfth Night (1996). In 1993, she appeared on television alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him. Staunton also played the wife of Detective Burakov in the 1995 HBO movie, Citizen X, which recounted the pursuit and capture of Russian serial killer Andrei Chikatilo. She has had other television parts in The Singing Detective (1986), Midsomer Murders, and the sitcom Is It Legal? (1995–98), as well as A Bit of Fry and Laurie. She was a voice artist on Mole's Christmas (1994). Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love.

On radio, she has appeared in the title role of the detective drama series Julie Enfield Investigates, as the lead "Izzy Comyn" in the comedy Up the Garden Path (which later moved to ITV with Staunton reprising the role), in Diary of a Provincial Lady (from 1999), as "Courageous Kate" in Series 1 of Elephants to Catch Eels and as "Xanthippe" in Series 2 of Acropolis Now. She starred opposite Anna Massey in the post-World War II mystery series Daunt and Dervish, and opposite Patrick Barlow in The Patrick and Maureen Maybe Music Experience. She played the role of a schoolboy as the lead character in the five part (15 minutes each): "The Skool Days of Nigel Molesworth" for BBC Radio 4.

2000–2011: ''Vera Drake'' and ''Harry Potter'' films

During this period she acted in Chicken Run (2000), Another Life (2001), Bright Young Things (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), Freedom Writers (2007) and How About You (2007). In 2004, she received the Best Actress honours at the European Film Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Venice Film Festival for her performance of the title role in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, which also won Best Picture. For the same role, she received her first nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.

She had a guest role playing Mrs. Mead in Little Britain in 2005, and in 2007 played the free-thinking gossip, Miss Pole, in Cranford, the five-part BBC series based on Mrs Gaskell's novels.

Staunton portrayed Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), for which she received widespread acclaim. She was nominated in the "British Actress in a Supporting Role" category at the London Film Critics Circle Awards. Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 in 2010. In 2011, she played Grace Andrews in the second series of Psychoville.

Other film roles include the 2008 movie A Bunch of Amateurs, in which she starred alongside Burt Reynolds, Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond, and the character of Sonia Teichberg in Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock (2009). Staunton provided the voice of the Talking Flowers in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), and played one of the lead roles in the ghost film The Awakening in 2011. In the ensuing 20 years, Staunton mainly had roles in plays, including Sonya in Uncle Vanya (1988), Kath in Entertaining Mr Sloane (2009) and Good People (2014), for which she received Olivier nominations for Best Actress in a Play. She also appeared in two productions at the Almeida Theatre, firstly in the premiere of Frank McGuinness's There Came a Gypsy Riding in 2007 and secondly in a revival of Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance in 2011. In 2011, she was the Voice of the Interface in the highly acclaimed and nominee for the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (Short Form) episode of Doctor Who – "The Girl Who Waited". In 2012, she portrayed Alma Reville, the wife of Alfred Hitchcock, in the HBO television movie The Girl, which also starred Toby Jones and Sienna Miller. Her performance saw her nominated for a BAFTA Television Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

2012–2019: Return to musical theatre

Most recently, Staunton has appeared in two Chichester Festival Theatre productions, taking on the role of Mrs. Lovett in a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd between 2011 and 2012, starring opposite Michael Ball, before starring as Rose in a revival of Gypsy between 2014 and 2015. Both productions transferred to London for critically and commercially acclaimed runs. Staunton won her second and third Olivier Awards for Best Actress in a Musical for the two productions in 2013 and 2016 respectively. In 2012, she voiced Queen Victoria in the Aardman film The Pirates! Band of Misfits, where she serves as the main antagonist. In 2014, she co-starred in Maleficent as well as the British comedy-drama Pride. In late 2014, she had a voice role in Paddington, a film based on the Paddington Bear books by Michael Bond. Staunton and her Harry Potter co-star Michael Gambon voiced Paddington's Aunt Lucy and Uncle Pastuzo, respectively.

Staunton returned to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End in 2017 as Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring alongside Conleth Hill, Luke Treadaway and Imogen Poots at the Harold Pinter Theatre. This play was broadcast in National Theatre Live on 18 May 2017. Staunton performed the role of Sally in the 2017 National Theatre revival of Stephen Sondheim's Follies, alongside Janie Dee as Phyllis, and Philip Quast as Ben. The show was broadcast through the National Theatre Live initiative on 16 November 2017. An August 2018 announcement revealed that Staunton would be among the new cast to join the original actors in Downton Abbey which started principal photography at about the same time.

2020–present: ''The Crown'' and theatre roles

Since May 2020, Staunton stars in the Apple TV+ comedy series Trying. The first season premiered on 1 May 2020 and the second-season premieres on 14 May 2021, with the show already renewed for a third season. On 31 January 2020, it was announced that she would be portraying Queen Elizabeth II in the fifth season of the critically acclaimed Netflix series The Crown. On 9 July 2020, it was announced that the series had been extended to a sixth and final season, with Staunton again to reprise her role of the Queen. Staunton's performance in the fifth season earned her nominations for a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Television Award. Her performance in the sixth season earned her nominations for another Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award. In summer 2024, Staunton played the role of Dolly Gallagher Levi in a revival of the musical Hello, Dolly! at the London Palladium. Staunton's performance won her another Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.

Staunton has narrated unabridged audio-book versions of many of Julia Donaldson's children's books, including The Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child, Monkey Puzzle, The Snail and the Whale, Stick Man and Zog, as well as other children's books. In 2014 she collaborated with her husband, Jim Carter, and Show of Hands on Centenary: Words and Music of the Great War, an album of songs and poetry from and inspired by World War I. Staunton reprised her role as Dolores Umbridge for the Harry Potter and the Battle at the Ministry attraction opening at Universal Epic Universe in 2025.

Personal life

Staunton and her husband, actor Jim Carter, have a daughter, Bessie, born in 1993. In 2007, they appeared in the BBC series Cranford, with Carter as Captain Brown and Bessie as a maid. They live in West Hampstead. In 2025 Staunton and her daughter Bessie Carter co-starred in a production of Mrs. Warren's Profession in London.

In 2014, Staunton's dog, Molly, appeared as Chowsie the dog in Gypsy at the Chichester Festival Theatre from 6 October to 8 November. Staunton played the leading role of Mama Rose.

Political views

Staunton endorsed the Labour Party in the 2024 United Kingdom general election. Staunton is also a patron for the Milton Rooms, a new arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire along with Bill Nighy, Jools Holland and Kathy Burke and is also patron at Swan Theatre, Worcester where she made her acting debut as well as leading creative health charity Breathe Arts Health Research

Performances and works

Film

Television

Theatre

Theme park

Discography

• 1990: Into the Woods – Original London Cast; as baker's wife.
• 2010: Julia Donaldson Audio Collection; as the narrator of the Gruffalo, The Gruffalo's Child, Highway Rat, Zog, and Charlie Cook's Favourite Book.
• 2012: Sweeney Todd – Revival Cast Recording; as Mrs. Lovett.
• 2015: Gypsy – London Cast Recording; as Momma Rose.
• 2019: Follies – London Cast Recording; as Sally.

Awards and honours

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Imelda Staunton

Staunton has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, five Olivier Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. Staunton was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2024 Birthday Honours, all for services to drama, and the last additionally for charity.

Notes

References

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