Samantha Bond

Early life

Bond is the daughter of actor Philip Bond and television producer Pat Sandys, and is the sister of the actress Abigail Bond and the journalist Matthew Bond. Bond's paternal grandparents were Welsh. She was brought up in London and Richmond-upon-Thames, in homes in Barnes and St Margarets. She attended the Godolphin and Latymer School, and studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Career

Early career

Bond's first acting role came as a student at age 21, in the original stage production of Daisy Pulls It Off, Denise Deegan's play about a girls school, which opened at Southampton's Nuffield Theatre in 1983. Her earliest television roles took place the same year: she played Maria Rushworth (née Bertram) in the BBC mini-series adaptation of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, and Rumpole's pupil in chambers "Miz Liz" Probert in the fourth series of Rumpole of the Bailey. In 1985, she appeared as Julia Simmons in the BBC's televised adaptation of Agatha Christie's crime novel A Murder Is Announced, part of the Miss Marple series.

Theatre

Bond's work with the Royal Shakespeare Company (the RSC) began in 1987, when she performed in three of the company's stage productions: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Hero and Leander, and Lorca's Women. In 1992, the RSC cast her as Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It, which she performed in their Stratford-upon-Avon and London theatres, and as Hermione in The Winter's Tale, also at the company's two theatres. She then toured with the RSC as Hermione in 1993.

Bond starred as the titular Amy in the Royal National Theatre's West End production of David Hare's play Amy's View, opposite Judi Dench, in 1997 and into early 1998. Later in 1998, she co-starred in playwright Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water, also in the West End.

In 1999, Bond and Dench reprised their roles in Amy's View on Broadway for a limited run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Their performances garnered Bond a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play, and Dench the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play. Hare received a special citation from the New York Drama Critics' Circle.

Bond revisited The Memory of Water, making her directorial debut on a short touring production of the play in 2000, the same year it won an Olivier award for Best New Comedy. She also performed in numerous stage productions during the 2000s, among them: Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2001, as Hippolyta and Titania, again for the RSC; as Karen, opposite her Downton Abbey co-star Elizabeth McGovern and directed by McGovern's husband Simon Curtis, in 2001; The Vagina Monologues in 2002; and in Shakespeare's Macbeth, as Lady Macbeth opposite Sean Bean in the title role, on tour in 2002 and 2003.

Other stage performances include Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance in 2003; The Rubenstein Kiss in 2005; Michael Frayn's Donkey's Years at London's Comedy Theatre in 2006; and David Leveaux's West End revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre, in 2009 as Hannah, alongside another Downton Abbey co-star, Dan Stevens.

The next decade brought Bond onstage in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, as Mrs. Cheveley opposite her real-life actor husband Alexander Hanson as Mr. Cheveley, in 2010–2011, and as Nell in Passion Play by Peter Nichols in 2013. In 2014, Bond acted and sang in the West End musical production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, playing the role of Muriel Eubanks. Bond stated in an interview that she had not sung on stage in over 30 years and was nervous at the prospect. In a Radio Times review of the play, the critic described Bond as "stage royalty" and "hilarious." In October and November 2017, Bond appeared in the English language premiere of Florian Zeller's modern French farce, The Lie, once again alongside her husband, Alexander Hanson, at an Off-West End theatre called the Menier Chocolate Factory.

Television and film

In 1989, Bond starred as Mary MacKenzie, a young Scottish woman, in the television adaptation of Oswald Wynd's novel The Ginger Tree, and alongside Tim Robbins in an independent fantasy film, Erik the Viking.

She appeared in a 1990 adaptation of Agatha Christie's short story The Adventure of the Cheap Flat for the series Agatha Christie's Poirot on ITV, starring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot. Bond was also seen on ITV in an episode of the "Inspector Morse" detective drama series based on novels by Colin Dexter, in 1992, and in a 1995 episode of Ghosts, an anthology series of ghost stories on the BBC. In 1996, she portrayed Mrs. Weston in the television movie Jane Austen's Emma, starring Kate Beckinsale as Emma, a Meridian-ITV/A&E production that has been described as grittier and "more authentic" to Austen's story than the theatrical film starring Gwyneth Paltrow that was released the same year.

From 1995 to 2002, Bond played Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary at MI6, opposite Dench as M and Pierce Brosnan as Agent 007: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day. The role of Miss Moneypenny is the smallest role she ever played,

Bond co-starred in 2004 with Peter Davison, as a married couple who uproot themselves to a remote island to save their marriage, in the ITV drama-comedy Distant Shores. In 2007, she played the villain Mrs. Wormwood in the pilot episode of the BBC children's drama series The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off of Doctor Who. She later came back to play the same character in the two-part finale of the show's second series, Enemy of the Bane.

Bond guest-starred in three episodes of the murder mystery series Midsomer Murders: Destroying Angel in 2001, Shot at Dawn in 2008, both starring fellow RSC member John Nettles in the lead role of DCI Tom Barnaby, as well as the first episode in 2011's series 14, Death in the Slow Lane.

From 2007 to 2014, Bond had a recurring role as Auntie Angela in the BBC's semi-improvised comedy series Outnumbered, alongside Hugh Dennis, Claire Skinner and David Ryall.

From 2010 through 2015, Bond appeared as Lady Rosamund Painswick in the ensemble cast of ITV's drama series Downton Abbey, written and produced by Julian Fellowes. Each series was shown in the US on PBS's Masterpiece program one year after its broadcast in the UK; according to PBS, Downton Abbey became the most watched drama ever shown on the station, and the most watched series in the history of Masterpiece. Lady Rosamund is the widowed, wealthy sister of Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. Bond's first appearance was in the last episode of the first series; she appeared in 18 episodes in total.

The ITV show Home Fires, featured Bond as Frances Barden, a woman working to strengthen connections among the women in her small English village by keeping the local Women's Institute operating during the early days of World War II. The show premiered in the UK in 2015 and was cancelled in 2016; fans petitioned ITV to reinstate it, to no avail. It played in the US on PBS's Masterpiece in 2016 and 2017, where viewers were similarly disappointed to learn of the show's demise. The series creator, Simon Block, has stated he intends to continue the story in written form, as novels. In 2020 Bond played Joanne Henderson in Death in Paradise (S9:E5). In September 2023, Bond starred in the Channel 5 drama series The Inheritance, appearing alongside Rob James-Collier, Jemima Rooper, Gaynor Faye and Adil Ray.

Audiobooks

Bond has narrated a number of audiobooks including Mary Norton's The Borrowers, Joanna Trollope's An Unsuitable Match, Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders and Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries' 'Goldeneye. She has most recently released S J Bennett's novel, The Windsor Knot. She received an Earphones Award for Magpie Murders.

Personal life

Bond lives in St Margarets, London, and has been married since 1989 to Alexander Hanson, with whom she has two children. She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Northampton in 2014.

Filmography

Film

Television

Narrator

Video games

Stage

• Daisy Pulls It Off (Denise Deegan) at the Nuffield Theatre, 1983
• Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Christopher Hampton) (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Ambassadors Theatre, 1987
• Hero and Leander (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Barbican Theatre, 1987
• Lorca's Women (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Barbican Theatre, 1987
• Man of the Moment (Alan Ayckbourn) at the Globe Theatre, 1990
• Rosalind in As You Like It (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 1992
• Hermione in The Winter's Tale (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, 1992
• Rosalind in As You Like It (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Barbican Theatre, 1993
• Hermione in The Winter's Tale (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Barbican Theatre, 1993
• Infanta in Le Cid (Pierre Corneille) at the Cottesloe Theatre, 1994. Nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
• Amy in Amy's View (David Hare), 1997 and 1998
• The Memory of Water (Shelagh Stephenson), 1998
• Amy in Amy's View (David Hare) at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 1999. Nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Nominated for Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play.
• Hippolyta and Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Royal Shakespeare Company) at the Barbican Hall, 2001
• Dinner with Friends (Donald Margulies) at the Hampstead Theatre, 2001
• The Vagina Monologues, 2002
• Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, 2002 and 2003
• Mrs Arbuthnot in A Woman of No Importance (Oscar Wilde) at the Haymarket Theatre, 2003
• The Rubenstein Kiss (James Phillips) at the Hampstead Theatre, 2005
• Donkey's Years (Michael Frayn) at London's Comedy Theatre, 2006. Nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
• Hannah in David Leveaux's West End revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre, 2009
• Mrs. Cheveley in An Ideal Husband (Oscar Wilde), 2010-2011
• Mrs Prentice in What The Butler Saw (Joe Orton) at the Vaudeville Theatre, 2012
• Nell in Passion Play (Peter Nichols), 2013
• Muriel Eubanks in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 2014. Nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical category. Nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical category at the WhatsOnStage Awards.
• Appeared in English language premiere of Florian Zeller's modern French farce, The Lie, 2017

Awards and nominations

Television

Theatre

References

References

1. Roberts, Genevieve. (21 April 2012). "Samantha Bond: From sex symbol to sozzled wife". The Independent.
2. Brocklehurst, Philip. (Winter 2011). "Mr Brocklehurst meets...". Mystmargarets.com.
3. "Samantha Bond".
4. (2007). "Bond, Samantha, (born 27 Nov. 1961), actress".
5. Gore-Langton, Robert. (25 Apr 2002). "Hurrah! Daisy blooms again". The Telegraph.
6. (2000). "The Complete Christie: an Agatha Christie encyclopedia". Pocket Books.
7. Pitts, Michael R.. (2004). "Famous Movie Detectives III". Scarecrow Press.
8. "Royal Shakespeare Company archives search results, Shakespeare.org Collections: Samantha Bond".
9. "Amy's View Production Information – 1999, Broadway World". Wisdom Digital Media.
10. Pogrebin, Robin. (7 June 1999). "A Revival of 'Salesman' Takes 4 Tony Awards; 'Side Man,' 'Fosse,' Judi Dench and Brian Dennehy Win Top Honors". NY Times.
11. "New York Drama Critics Circle: Past Awards".
12. "Olivier Awards: Winners 2000".
13. (10 Apr 2000). "Dinner with Friends Wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama". Playbill Inc..
14. Billington, Michael. (4 Jul 2001). "Dinner with Friends, Hampstead Theatre, London – Review". The Guardian.
15. "Tour archive for The Vagina Monologues (play). 26 February 2002–22nd June 2002 [TOUR]". UK Theatre Web.
16. (15 May 2002). "Vagina Monologues New Cast 20th May 02". LondonTheatre.co.uk, London Theatre Guide (online newsletter).
17. "Tour archive for Macbeth (play). 17th October 2002–1st March 2003 [TOUR]". UK Theatre Web.
18. Billington, Michael. (15 Nov 2002). "Macbeth, Albery Theatre, London". The Guardian.
19. Billington, Michael. (17 Sep 2003). "A Woman of No Importance, Haymarket Theatre, London – Review". The Guardian.
20. Wolf, Matt. (25 Sep 2003). "Review: A Woman of No Importance". Variety.
21. Billington, Michael. (24 Nov 2005). "Review: The Rubenstein Kiss, Hampstead Theatre, London". The Guardian.
22. Benedict, David. (16 May 2006). "Review: Donkey's Years". Variety.
23. "Tour Archive for Arcadia (play). 27th May 2009–12th September 2009 [TOUR]". UK Theatre Web.
24. (3 Oct 2010). "Samantha Bond in An Ideal Husband". The West End Theatre.
25. Cadwalladr, Carole. (13 Nov 2010). "Samantha Bond: Don't call me Miss Moneypenny". The Guardian.
26. Tucker, Matthew. (12 Jun 2013). "Passion Play (REVIEW): Zoë Wanamaker And Samantha Bond Are Sisters Of The Stage". Huffington Post UK.
27. Wolf, Matt. (9 Apr 2014). "Samantha Bond on Visiting Downton & Her Disastrous Audition for London's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Q&A". Broadway.com.
28. Lazarus, Susanna. (3 April 2014). "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Review – Robert Lindsay's triumphant return to the West End stage".
29. Billington, Michael. (9 Oct 2017). "The Lie review – Florian Zeller tells the uncomfortable truth about a marriage". The Guardian.
30. (2024-09-26). "Samantha Bond Credits". tvguide.com.
31. (2000). "The Complete Christie: an Agatha Christie encyclopedia". Pocket Books.
32. Boyle, Laura. (5 Jan 2001). "Emma (3): 1996". Jane Austen Centre.
33. (7 May 2006). "Bond on Bond". BBC News.
34. PBS. (8 Mar 2016). "Press Release: PBS Stations Draw 9.6 Million Viewers to Bid Farewell to "Downton Abbey" on MASTERPIECE".
35. Powell, Emma. (12 May 2016). "Home Fires fans launch petition and slam ITV for cancelling show but keeping The X Factor". The Evening Standard.
36. Pennington, Gail. (8 May 2017). "Finale cliffhangers frustrate 'Home Fires' fans". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
37. Weston, Christopher. (6 February 2020). "DEATH IN PARADISE SEASON 9 EPISODE 5 CAST: GUEST STARS SAMANTHA BOND, CHANEL CRESSWELL AND NICOLA MILLBANK!".
38. Robinson, Abby. (4 September 2023). "The Inheritance cast: Meet the characters in Channel 5 drama".
39. "Solve: Audie Award Nominees for Mysteries and Thrillers".
40. Buchanan, Clare. (15 January 2014). "St Margarets resident Samantha Bond misses out on star baker". Richmond and Twickenham Times.
41. "Samantha Bond awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Northampton".
42. "Red Riding Hood: After Ever After".
43. (5 June 2023). "UKTV's Drama channel joins with US broadcaster MASTERPIECE PBS to co-commission TV adaptation of The Marlow Murder Club".
44. (27 October 2020). "Secrets of the Royal Palaces".
45. (2 March 2021). "Evil Genius 2: World Domination – Emma Gameplay Trailer (Feat. Samantha Bond)".
46. "SAG Awards Nominations 2017: See the Full List".
47. "The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards {{!}} Screen Actors Guild Awards".
48. "Olivier Winners 1995".
49. "The Tony Award Nominations".
50. (28 May 1999). "Outer Critics Circle Awards Held at Sardi's, May 28".
51. "Olivier Winners 2007".
52. "Olivier Winners 2015".