Imelda Staunton - Americola, the celebrity encyclopedia 
Imelda Staunton
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Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton OBE (born on January 9, 1956) is an Academy Award nominated English actress. She is known for her roles in 2004's Vera Drake and 2007's Freedom Writers. She also plays Dolores Umbridge in the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Contents
- 1 Biography
- 1.1 Personal life
- 1.2 Career
- 2 Footnotes
- 3 External links
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Biography
Personal life
Staunton was born in London to Bridie McNicholas, a hairdresser, and Joe Staunton, a road-worker and laborer.[1] Both of her parents are first-generation immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland, with her father coming from Ballyvary and her mother from Bohola.[2] Staunton is married to the English actor Jim Carter and they have a daughter, Bessie. Staunton was educated at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, then spending six years in English Repertory, including a period at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter where she had the title role in Shaw's Saint Joan (1979), before moving back to London.
Career
Staunton is a three-time recipient of Britain's highest
theatre honour, the
Olivier Award, for roles in
A Chorus of Disapproval (
1985),
The Corn Is Green (1985), and
Into the Woods (
1991), and was nominated for her performance as Miss Adelaide in the
1996 revival of
Guys and Dolls at
The National Theatre. She began to receive international attention in
1993 for her performance as Margaret in the
Kenneth Branagh production of
William Shakespeare's
Much Ado About Nothing. Other film appearances include
Peter's Friends (
1992),
Twelfth Night (
1996) (playing Maria),
Chicken Run (
2000) (as the voice of Bunty) and
Bright Young Things (
2003).
In 1993 she appeared on the small screen alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him. She has had other television parts in The Singing Detective (1986) and the comedy drama series Is it Legal? (1995-8). She was a voice artist on Mole's Christmas (1994).
On radio, she has appeared in the title role of 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), as Mrs. Blatherwick, the vile cook in Nanny McPhee, and in Diary of a Provincial Lady (from 1999) and Acropolis Now.
Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love. In 2004, she received the Best Actress honors at the European Film Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Venice Film Festival for her performance in the title role of Vera Drake, which also won Best Picture. For the same role, she received Best Actress nominations for the 2005 Golden Globes and Academy Awards.
She had a guest role, playing Mrs. Mead in
Little Britain in 2005. Staunton portrays power-hungry
Dolores Umbridge in 2007's
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In 2007 she also opened on stage in
Frank McGuinness's
There Came a Gypsy Riding.
Footnotes
