Brenda Blethyn
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 20, 1946 (age 80)
- Birthplace
- Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
Biography
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.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Fools
Movie
Strawberry Fields Forever
Movie · as Grannie Nellie
King of the Teds
Movie · as Nina
A Woman of Substance
TV · as Older Emma Harte · 8 eps
Dragonfly
Movie · as Elsie
Vera, Farewell Pet
Movie · as Herself / Vera
Charlotte
Movie · as Grossmama (voice)
Kate & Koji
TV · as Kate Abbott · 12 eps
Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
Movie · as Narrator
Ethel & Ernest
Movie · as Ethel Briggs (voice)
Two Men in Town
Movie · as Emily Smith
Mary and Martha
Movie · as Martha
Playhouse Presents
TV · as Nina · 1 ep
The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
Movie
My Angel
Movie · as Headmistress
Vera
TV · as DCI Vera Stanhope · 56 eps
The Calling
Movie · as Sister Ignatious
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths
Movie · as Mama Heffalump (voice)
Dead Man Running
Movie · as Mother
London River
Movie · as Elisabeth
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
Movie · as Mama Heffalump (voice)
Atonement
Movie · as Grace Turner
Clubland
Movie · as Jean
War and Peace
TV · as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa · 4 eps
The Graham Norton Show
TV · as Self · 1 ep
Mysterious Creatures
Movie · as Wendy Ainscow
The One Show
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
The New Adventures of Old Christine
TV · as Angela Kimble · 1 ep
Pride & Prejudice
Movie · as Mrs. Bennet
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Movie · as Mama Heffalump (voice)
On a Clear Day
Movie · as Joan
Beyond the Sea
Movie · as Polly Cassotto
Belonging
Movie · as Jess Copplestone
Piccadilly Jim
Movie · as Nesta Pett
A Way of Life
Movie · as Annette
The Best of So Graham Norton
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Sleeping Dictionary
Movie · as Aggie
Blizzard
Movie · as Aunt Millie
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot
Movie · as Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
Between The Sheets
TV · as Hazel Delany · 6 eps
Undertaking Betty
Movie · as Betty Rhys-Jones
Pumpkin
Movie · as Judy Romanoff
Sonny
Movie · as Jewel
Lovely & Amazing
Movie · as Jane Marks
The Yellow Bird
Movie · as Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Movie · as Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
V Graham Norton
TV · as Self · 1 ep
On the Nose
Movie · as Mrs. Delaney
Daddy and Them
Movie · as Julia Montgomery
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
TV · as Auguste Rottgen-van Pels · 2 eps
Saving Grace
Movie · as Grace Trevethyn
RKO 281
Movie · as Louella Parsons
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
TV · as Linnie Malcolm · 1 ep
Girls' Night
Movie · as Dawn Wilkinson
Little Voice
Movie · as Mari Hoff
Music from Another Room
Movie · as Grace Swan
In the Winter Dark
Movie · as Ida Stubbs
Inside the Golden Statue
Movie · as Self
Night Train
Movie · as Alice Mooney
So Graham Norton
TV · as Self - Guest · 1 ep
Remember Me?
Movie · as Shirley
Secrets & Lies
Movie · as Cynthia Rose Purley
The Frank Skinner Show
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Outside Edge
TV · as Miriam Dervish · 22 eps
The Bullion Boys
Movie · as Gwen
The Buddha of Suburbia
TV · as Margaret Amir · 4 eps
GMTV
TV · as Self · 1 ep
A River Runs Through It
Movie · as Mrs. Maclean
Maigret
TV · 1 ep
HBO First Look
TV · as self · 1 ep
All Good Things
TV · as Shirley Frame · 6 eps
The Witches
Movie · as Mrs Jenkins
The Shawl
Movie · as Miss A
The Labours of Erica
TV · 12 eps
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
TV · as Ticki Tocquet · 6 eps
Screen One
TV · as Gwen · 1 ep
The Storyteller: A Story Short
Movie · as The Storyteller's Wife
The Storyteller
TV · as Storyteller's Wife · 1 ep
This Morning
TV · as Self · 1 ep
The Play on One
TV · as Miss A · 1 ep
Claws
Movie · as Sylvia
Sunday Premiere
TV · as Sylvia · 1 ep
The Mysteries
TV · as Mary Magdalene / Mary · 3 eps
Chance in a Million
TV · as Alison Little · 18 eps
Who Dares Wins
TV · as Various · 8 eps
Weekend Playhouse
TV · as Jean Saunders · 1 ep
Henry VI Part 1
Movie · as Joan La Pucelle
Floating Off
Movie · as Janice
Dalgliesh
TV · as Angela Foley · 6 eps
Death of an Expert Witness
TV · as Angela Foley · 6 eps
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Movie · as Self
King Lear
Movie · as Cordelia
Say No to Strangers
Movie · as Policewoman
Grown-Ups
Movie · as Gloria
Bedroom Farce
Movie · as Kate
The Imitation Game
Movie
Sheppey
Movie · as Miss Grange
Yes Minister
TV · 1 ep
Tales of the Unexpected
TV · as Carol Hutchins · 1 ep
Rumpole of the Bailey
TV · as Pauline · 1 ep
Playhouse
TV · as Gloria · 1 ep
The Oscars
TV · as Self · 2 eps
Golden Globe Awards
TV · as Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter, Self - Winner · 1 ep