21
Brenda Blethyn
Born · February 20, 1946 (78 years old)
Known For: Acting
Place of Birth: Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
Bio
Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work. Born into a working class home in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming. In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups; then, after a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-living sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made her real cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews. Blethyn has since appeared in an eclectic range of films, including independent comedies such as Saving Grace (2000), Plots with a View (2002) and Clubland (2007), music-themed films like Little Voice (1998) and Beyond the Sea (2004) and big-budget dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). In addition, Blethyn has appeared in television productions including The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), Belonging (2004) and War and Peace (2007). Her most recent leading role in TV drama is the title role in Vera (2011), playing Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. Description above from the Wikipedia article Brenda Blethyn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Ethel & Ernest
Ethel Briggs (voice)
7.4
2016
Two Men in Town
Emily Smith
5.5
2014
Mary and Martha
Martha
6.4
2013
My Angel
Headmistress
4.0
2011
The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
0.0
2011
The Calling
Sister Ignatious
0.0
2010
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
Mama Heffalump (voice)
6.5
2009
London River
Elisabeth
6.7
2009
Dead Man Running
Mother
5.9
2009
Clubland
Jean
5.2
2007
Atonement
Grace Turner
7.6
2007
Mysterious Creatures
Wendy Ainscow
8.0
2006
Pride & Prejudice
Mrs. Bennet
8.1
2005
On a Clear Day
Joan
6.5
2005
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Mama Heffalump (voice)
6.8
2005
Beyond the Sea
Polly Cassotto
6.3
2004
Belonging
Jess Copplestone
5.6
2004
The Sleeping Dictionary
Aggie
6.5
2003
Undertaking Betty
Betty Rhys-Jones
6.1
2002
Sonny
Jewel
5.0
2002
Lovely & Amazing
Jane Marks
6.1
2002
Pumpkin
Judy Romanoff
5.9
2002
The Yellow Bird
Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
0.0
2002
On the Nose
Mrs. Delaney
5.5
2001
RKO 281
Louella Parsons
6.4
2000
Saving Grace
Grace Trevethyn
6.5
2000
Little Voice
Mari Hoff
6.5
1998
In the Winter Dark
Ida Stubbs
5.6
1998
Girls' Night
Dawn Wilkinson
6.8
1998
Music from Another Room
Grace Swan
5.7
1998
Inside the Golden Statue
Self
6.3
1998
Night Train
Alice Mooney
7.0
1998
Remember Me?
4.0
1997
Secrets & Lies
Cynthia Rose Purley
7.6
1996
The Bullion Boys
Gwen
0.0
1993
A River Runs Through It
Mrs. Maclean
7.0
1992
The Witches
Mrs Jenkins
6.9
1990
The Shawl
Miss A
0.0
1989
Henry VI Part 1
Joan La Pucelle
7.5
1983
Say No to Strangers
7.0
1981
Grown-Ups
Gloria
6.7
1980
Bedroom Farce
Kate
6.0
1980
The Imitation Game
7.1
1980
Fools
0.0
Charlotte
Grossmama (voice)
6.6
2021
Kate & Koji
Kate · (12 episodes)
5.6
2020
Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
Narrator
0.0
2018
Vera
DCI Vera Stanhope · (56 episodes)
7.4
2011
Downton Abbey
Vera · (1 episode)
8.1
2010
War and Peace
Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa · (4 episodes)
6.2
2007
The Graham Norton Show
Self · (1 episode)
7.2
2007
The One Show
Self - Guest · (2 episodes)
4.6
2006
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Angela Kimble · (1 episode)
6.8
2006
A Way of Life
Annette
6.8
2004
Piccadilly Jim
Nesta Pett
6.3
2004
Between The Sheets
Hazel Delany · (6 episodes)
5.3
2003
Blizzard
Aunt Millie
5.9
2003
V Graham Norton
Self · (1 episode)
5.0
2002
Daddy and Them
Julia Montgomery
5.5
2001
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
Auguste Rottgen-van Pels · (2 episodes)
7.5
2001
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Linnie Malcolm · (1 episode)
7.9
1999
So Graham Norton
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
6.3
1998
The Frank Skinner Show
Self · (2 episodes)
7.5
1995
Outside Edge
(22 episodes)
8.0
1994
The Buddha of Suburbia
Margaret Amir · (4 episodes)
6.1
1993
GMTV
Self · (1 episode)
5.8
1993
Maigret
(2 episodes)
6.9
1992
All Good Things
Shirley Frame · (6 episodes)
0.0
1991
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
Ticki Tocquet · (6 episodes)
4.5
1989
The Labours of Erica
(12 episodes)
0.0
1989
The Storyteller
Storyteller's Wife · (1 episode)
8.1
1988
The Play on One
Miss A · (1 episode)
6.0
1988
Claws
Sylvia
0.0
1987
The Mysteries
Mary Magdalene / Mary · (3 episodes)
0.0
1985
Chance in a Million
Alison Little · (18 episodes)
6.7
1984
Floating Off
Janice
0.0
1983
Dalgliesh
Angela Foley · (6 episodes)
6.9
1983
King Lear
Cordelia
6.0
1982
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Self
0.0
1982
Strawberry Fields Forever
Grannie Nellie
0.0
King of the Teds
Nina
0.0
Yes Minister
(1 episode)
8.3
1980
Tales of the Unexpected
Carol Hutchins · (1 episode)
6.7
1979
BBC Television Shakespeare
(2 episodes)
5.2
1978
Rumpole of the Bailey
(1 episode)
7.1
1975
The Oscars
Self · (2 episodes)
7.0
1953
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · (1 episode)
6.8
1944
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · (1 episode)
6.8
1944