Imelda Staunton

Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 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.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

7.7

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

7.7

Alice in Wonderland

6.6

Maleficent

7.1

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

7.3

Chicken Run

6.8

Paddington

7.1

Nanny McPhee

6.7

Doctor Who

7.5

Shakespeare in Love

6.9

Paddington 2

7.5

Freedom Writers

7.9

The Crown

8.2

Sense and Sensibility

7.4

Arthur Christmas

6.8

The Awakening

6.4

Pride

7.7

Downton Abbey

7.1

The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!

6.5

Tales from the Crypt

8.0

Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget

7.0

Much Ado About Nothing

6.9

Downton Abbey: A New Era

7.2

Taking Woodstock

6.2

Another Year

7.0

Vera Drake

7.2

Citizen X

7.2

Midsomer Murders

7.5

The Graham Norton Show

7.2

Little Britain

7.1

Brassic

8.5

Peter's Friends

6.5

Finding Your Feet

7.1

Amulet

5.2

A Bit of Fry & Laurie

7.9

The Girl

6.1

Trying

7.7

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson

6.8

Shadow Man

4.4

Harry Potter: A History Of Magic

7.3

Bright Young Things

6.3

Fingersmith

7.3

Twelfth Night

6.9

Psychoville

6.8

The Oscars

7.0

A Confession

6.9

David Copperfield

7.1

Blackball

5.3

Paddington in Peru

7.3

Cranford

8.1

Crush

5.7

The Singing Detective

7.7

How About You...

6.3

Three and Out

5.7

The Canterville Ghost

6.5

I'll Be There

5.5

Rat

6.1

Natural World

7.0

Flesh and Blood

6.3

My Family and Other Animals

6.3

London: The Modern Babylon

6.5

Comrades

6.8

A Bunch of Amateurs

5.4

The Snow Queen

6.4

Cambridge Spies

6.4

Guilty Hearts

5.6

Golden Globe Awards

6.8

Gypsy

7.8

ShakespeaRe-Told

7.5

The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

6.2

The Wind in the Willows

6.4

The Ugly Duckling

6.1

Alan Bennett's Talking Heads

8.1

Another Life

6.2

Antonia and Jane

5.5

National Theatre Live: Follies

8.0

Deadly Advice

4.6

That Day We Sang

6.8

Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

6.6

Screen Two

6.8

Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time

6.0

Mole's Christmas

4.8

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

6.5

Clay

5.2

Jack and the Beanstalk

6.8

Up the Garden Path

6.8

The Virgin of Liverpool

2.3

If You See God, Tell Him

6.7

The Play on One

6.0

Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image

8.8

Little Bird

8.5

Is It Legal?

5.5

Big & Small

8.0

Murder

4.0

The Far Traveller

7.0

Remember Me?

4.0

Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends

8.0

Don't Leave Me This Way

7.0

The Adventures of Mole

6.0

White Other

6.0

The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson

10.0

Performance

6.0

Strange

6.0

Thompson

1.0

Lily's Driftwood Bay

7.0

Ladies in Charge

5.0

Frank Stubbs Promotes

6.0

Roots

0.0

Yellowbacks

0.0

They Never Slept

0.0

The Englishman's Wife

0.0

Psychoville Halloween Special

0.0

A Confession As Told By ITV News

0.0

Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me

0.0

Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out

0.0

A Masculine Ending

0.0

Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made

0.0

Murder

0.0

Easy Money

0.0

The Heat of the Day

0.0

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

0.0

The Adventures of Toad

0.0

Ready

0.0

The Pen

0.0

Live!Girls! present Dogtown

0.0

The Michael Ball Show

0.0

Look at the State We're In!

0.0