
Imelda Staunton
Biography
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born January 9, 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre productions in the United Kingdom.
Staunton has performed in a variety of plays and musicals in London throughout her career, winning four Laurence Olivier Awards; three for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her roles in the musicals Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Gypsy, and one for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Play for her work in both A Chorus of Disapproval and The Corn is Green. Her other stage appearances include The Beggar's Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Uncle Vanya, Guys and Dolls, Entertaining Mr Sloane, and Good People. She has been nominated for 13 Olivier Awards.
On film, Staunton starred in Antonia and Jane; in several supporting roles in Kenneth Branagh's comedy Peter's Friends, his adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing; Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility; and the costume romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love. She drew critical acclaim for her performance in the title role in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actress, in addition to being nominated for Best Actress by the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She later gained a wider audience for her portrayal as Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films The Order of the Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1. She continued supporting roles in Nanny McPhee, reunited with Leigh in Another Year, and the film continuation of Downton Abbey. She portrayed human rights activist Hefina Headon in the historical film Pride, and starred in the British comedy Finding Your Feet. She also provided voice acting roles for the films Chicken Run, Arthur Christmas, and Paddington.
On television, Staunton starred in the sitcoms Up the Garden Path and Is it Legal?. Her performance in My Family and Other Animals earned her a nomination for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress, while her roles in Return to Cranford and The Girl earned her BAFTA TV Award nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. For the latter, she was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. She portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in the final two seasons of The Crown.
Acting (86 movies)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007

Freedom Writers
2007

Shakespeare in Love
1998

Sense and Sensibility
1995

Vera Drake
2004

Nanny McPhee
2005

Chicken Run
2000

Peter's Friends
1992

Much Ado About Nothing
1993

Alice in Wonderland
2010

Taking Woodstock
2009

The Far Traveller
2020

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010

Shadow Man
2006

How About You...
2007

The Wind in the Willows
2006

Three and Out
2008

Blackball
2003

Another Year
2010

Twelfth Night
1996

My Family and Other Animals
2005

Roots
1992

Crush
2002

I'll Be There
2003

A Bunch of Amateurs
2008

Yellowbacks
1990

Guilty Hearts
2007

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
2023

Arthur Christmas
2011

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
2012

Another Life
2001

Antonia and Jane
1990

Paddington in Peru
2024

The Awakening
2011

Maleficent
2014

Downton Abbey: A New Era
2022

Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image
2006

The Girl
2012

Rat
2000

Deadly Advice
1994

Pride
2014

They Never Slept
1991

The Englishman's Wife
1990

Remember Me?
1997

Psychoville Halloween Special
2010

The Canterville Ghost
2023

Paddington
2014

That Day We Sang
2014

Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me
2016

Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
2007

Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
2022

Bright Young Things
2003

Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time
2013

Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
2000

Gypsy
2015

The Virgin of Liverpool
2003

Don't Leave Me This Way
1993

Mole's Christmas
1994

Citizen X
1995

A Masculine Ending
1992

London: The Modern Babylon
2012

Finding Your Feet
2017

The Ugly Duckling
1997

Comrades
1987

Paddington 2
2017

National Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2017

Clay
2008

Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
2017

National Theatre Live: Follies
2017

Downton Abbey
2019

The Adventures of Mole
1995

Easy Money
1982

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
2019

Little Bird
2017

White Other
2010

The Heat of the Day
1989

Amulet
2020

The Snow Queen
1995

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2012

The Adventures of Toad
1996

& Sons
2025

Victorian Britain on Film
2021

The Snow Queen's Revenge
1996

The Wind in the Willows
1995

Jack and the Beanstalk
1999

National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession
2025
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