Imelda Staunton
Acting
Born January 9, 1956, Archway, London, England, UK
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.
Filmography
- 2026& Sons — Isabel
- Tommy & Tuppence — Aunt Ada
- 2025National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession — Mrs Peggy Warren
- 2025Testimony — Narrator (voice)
- 2024Paddington in Peru — Aunt Lucy (voice)
- 2023Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget — Bunty (voice)
- 2023The Canterville Ghost — Mrs Umney (voice)
- 2022Downton Abbey: A New Era — Maud Bagshaw
- 2021Victorian Britain on Film — Narrator
- Alan Bennett's Talking Heads — Irene Ruddock
- 2020Amulet — Sister Claire
- Flesh and Blood — Mary Bennett
- 2020The Far Traveller — Narrator
- 2020The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson — reader
- Trying — Penny
- A Confession — Karen Edwards
- 2019A Confession As Told By ITV News — Imelda Staunton - Self / Karen Edwards
- 2019Downton Abbey — Maud Bagshaw
- 2019Maleficent: Mistress of Evil — Knotgrass
- 2017Finding Your Feet — Sandra Abbott
- 2017Harry Potter: A History Of Magic — Narrator
- 2017Little Bird — First Officer Simpkins
- 2017National Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? — Martha
- 2017National Theatre Live: Follies — Sally Durant Plummer
- 2017Paddington 2 — Aunt Lucy (voice)
- The Crown — Queen Elizabeth II
- 2015Gypsy — Rose
- Lily's Driftwood Bay — Rowena Rabbit (voice)
- 2014Maleficent — Knotgrass
- 2014Paddington — Aunt Lucy (voice)
- 2014Pride — Hefina
- 2014That Day We Sang — Enid
- 2013Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time — Shrew (voice)
- 2012London: The Modern Babylon — Spoken Quotations (voice)
- 2012Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street — Mrs. Lovett
- 2012The Girl — Alma Reville Hitchcock
- 2012The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! — Queen Victoria (voice)
- 2011Arthur Christmas — Mrs Santa (voice)
- 2011The Awakening — Maud Hill
- 2010Alice in Wonderland — Talking Flowers (voice)
- 2010Another Year — Janet
- 2010Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 — Dolores Umbridge
- 2010Psychoville Halloween Special — Grace Andrews
- 2010White Other — Lynne McDermott
- Psychoville — Grace Andrews
- 2009Taking Woodstock — Sonia Teichberg
- 2008A Bunch of Amateurs — Mary
- Big & Small — Twiba / Ruby (voice), Twiba (voice)
- 2008Clay — Mary Doonan
- 2008Three and Out — Rosemary Cassidy
- Cranford — Miss Pole
- 2007Freedom Writers — Margaret Campbell
- 2007Guilty Hearts — Naomi
- 2007Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix — Dolores Umbridge
- 2007How About You... — Hazel Nightingale
- 2007Where Have I Been All Your Life? — Angela
- Live! Girls! Present Dogtown
- 2006Shadow Man — Ambassador Cochran
- 2006The Wind in the Willows — Barge Lady
- Doctor Who — Interface (voice)
- Fingersmith — Mrs. Sucksby
- 2005My Family and Other Animals — Mother
- 2005Nanny McPhee — Mrs. Blatherwick
- ShakespeaRe-Told
- 2004Vera Drake — Vera Drake
- 2003Blackball — Bridget
- 2003Bright Young Things — Lady Brown
- Cambridge Spies — The Queen
- 2003I'll Be There — Dr. Bridget
- Little Britain — Mrs. Mead
- Strange — Reverend Mary Truegood
- 2003The Virgin of Liverpool — Sylvia Conlon
- 2002Crush — Janine
- Murder — DCI Billie Dory
- 2002Ready — Naomi
- 2001Another Life — Ethel Graydon
- 2000Chicken Run — Bunty (voice)
- 2000Rat — Conchita Flynn
- 2000Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings — Mrs. Cottisloe
- David Copperfield — Mrs. Micawber
- 1999Jack and the Beanstalk — Dilly (voice)
- 1998Shakespeare in Love — Nurse
- Midsomer Murders — Christine Cooper
- 1997Remember Me? — Lorna
- 1997The Ugly Duckling — Scruffy (voice)
- 1996The Adventures of Toad — Voice
- 1996The Snow Queen's Revenge — Elspeth / Rowena (voice)
- 1996Twelfth Night — Maria
- 1995Citizen X — Mrs. Burakov
- Is It Legal?
- Look at the State We're In! — Councillor Johnson
- 1995Sense and Sensibility — Charlotte Jennings Palmer
- 1995The Adventures of Mole — Voice
- 1995The Pen
- 1995The Snow Queen — Ivy / Angorra
- 1995The Wind in the Willows — Mother Squirrel
- 1994Deadly Advice — Beth Greenwood
- 1994Mole's Christmas — (voices)
- 1993Don't Leave Me This Way — Bridget Bennet
- Frank Stubbs Promotes — Susan
- If You See God, Tell Him — Muriel Spry
- 1993Much Ado About Nothing — Margaret
- 1992A Masculine Ending — Bridget Bennet
- 1992Peter's Friends — Mary Charleston
- 1992Roots — Jenny Beales
- Performance — Jenny Beales
- 1991They Never Slept — The Producer
- 1990Antonia and Jane — Jane Hartman
- 1990The Englishman's Wife — Stephanie
- Up the Garden Path
- 1990Yellowbacks — Cheryl Newman
- A Bit of Fry & Laurie
- Tales from the Crypt — Sarah
- 1989The Heat of the Day — Louie
- The Play on One — Cheryl Newman
- 1987Comrades — Betsy Loveless
- The Ruth Rendell Mysteries — Polly Flinders
- Ladies in Charge — Edith
- ScreenPlay — Jane Hartman, Stephanie
- The Singing Detective — Staff Nurse White
- Screen Two — The Producer
- Natural World — Narrator
- 1982Easy Money — Mary Price
- Playhouse — Mary Price
- Untitled Roald Dahl Series
- West the Road
Appearances as themselves (19)
- 2022Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends — Self
- Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg — Self
- 2021Sense and Sensibility: 25th Anniversary Reunion — Self
- Thirties in Colour: Countdown to War — Self - Narrator
- 2020The Magical World of Julia Donaldson — Self - Readings
- 2016Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me — Self
- 2015Pride: The True Story — Herself
- 2014Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made — Self
- The Story of Musicals — Self – Narrator (voice)
- The Michael Ball Show — Self
- 2009Adapting Austen — Self
- 2007Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out — Self
- The Graham Norton Show — Self
- 2006Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image — Herself
- The One Show — Self
- The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson — Self
- Thompson — Self
- The Oscars — Self
- Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee