
Imelda Staunton
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1956-01-09 (69 years old)
Place of Birth
Archway, London, England, UK
Imelda Staunton
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
(2024)
Paddington in Peru
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
(2023)
The Canterville Ghost
as Mrs Umney (voice)
(2023)
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
as Bunty (voice)
(2022)
Downton Abbey: A New Era
as Maud Bagshaw
(2022)
(2021)
Victorian Britain on Film
as Narrator
(2020)
Amulet
as Sister Claire
(2020)
The Magical World of Julia Donaldson
as Self - Readings
(2020)
(2020)
The Far Traveller
as Narrator
(2019)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
as Knotgrass
(2019)
Downton Abbey
as Maud Bagshaw
(2019)
A Confession As Told By ITV News
as Imelda Staunton - Self / Karen Edwards
(2017)
Paddington 2
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
(2017)
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
as Narrator
(2017)
Finding Your Feet
as Sandra Abbott
(2017)
National Theatre Live: Follies
as Sally Durant Plummer
(2017)
Little Bird
as First Officer Simpkins
(2017)
(2016)
(2015)
Gypsy
as Rose
(2014)
Maleficent
as Knotgrass
(2014)
Paddington
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
(2014)
Pride
as Hefina
(2014)
That Day We Sang
as Enid
(2014)
(2013)
Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time
as Shrew (voice)
(2012)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
as Queen Victoria (voice)
(2012)
The Girl
as Alma Reville Hitchcock
(2012)
London: The Modern Babylon
as Spoken Quotations (voice)
(2012)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
as Mrs. Lovett
(2011)
The Awakening
as Maud Hill
(2011)
Arthur Christmas
as Mrs Santa (voice)
(2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
as Dolores Umbridge
(2010)
Alice in Wonderland
as Talking Flowers (voice)
(2010)
Another Year
as Janet
(2010)
White Other
as Lynne McDermott
(2010)
Psychoville Halloween Special
as Grace Andrews
(2009)
Taking Woodstock
as Sonia Teichberg
(2008)
Clay
as Mary Doonan
(2008)
Three and Out
as Rosemary Cassidy
(2008)
A Bunch of Amateurs
as Mary
(2007)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
as Dolores Umbridge
(2007)
Freedom Writers
as Margaret Campbell
(2007)
How About You...
as Hazel Nightingale
(2007)
Guilty Hearts
as Naomi
(2007)
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
as Self
(2006)
Shadow Man
as Ambassador Cochran
(2006)
The Wind in the Willows
as Barge Lady
(2006)
(2005)
Nanny McPhee
as Mrs. Blatherwick
(2005)
My Family and Other Animals
as Mother
(2004)
Vera Drake
as Vera Drake
(2003)
Bright Young Things
as Lady Brown
(2003)
Blackball
as Bridget
(2003)
I'll Be There
as Dr. Bridget
(2003)
The Virgin of Liverpool
as Sylvia Conlon
(2002)
Crush
as Janine
(2002)
Ready
as Naomi
(2001)
Another Life
as Ethel Graydon
(2000)
Chicken Run
as Bunty (voice)
(2000)
Rat
as Conchita Flynn
(2000)
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
as Mrs. Cottisloe
(1999)
Jack and the Beanstalk
as Dilly
(1998)
Shakespeare in Love
as Nurse
(1997)
The Ugly Duckling
as Scruffy (voice)
(1997)
(1996)
Twelfth Night
as Maria
(1996)
The Snow Queen's Revenge
as Elspeth / Rowena (voice)
(1996)
The Adventures of Toad
as Voice
(1995)
Sense and Sensibility
as Charlotte Jennings Palmer
(1995)
Citizen X
as Mrs. Burakov
(1995)
The Snow Queen
as Ivy / Angorra
(1995)
The Wind in the Willows
as Mother Squirrel
(1995)
(1995)
The Adventures of Mole
as Voice
(1994)
Deadly Advice
as Beth Greenwood
(1994)
Mole's Christmas
as (voices)
(1993)
Much Ado About Nothing
as Margaret
(1993)
Don't Leave Me This Way
as Bridget Bennet
(1992)
Peter's Friends
as Mary Charleston
(1992)
A Masculine Ending
as Bridget Bennet
(1992)
Roots
as Jenny Beales
(1991)
They Never Slept
as The Producer
(1990)
Antonia and Jane
as Jane Hartman
(1990)
Yellowbacks
as Cheryl Newman
(1990)
The Englishman's Wife
as Stephanie
(1989)
The Heat of the Day
as Louie
(1987)
Comrades
as Betsy Loveless
(1982)
Easy Money
as Mary Price