Brenda Blethyn

Born: 1946-02-20 in Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK

Known For: Acting

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.

Filmography

2026

A Woman of Substance as Older Emma Harle

2025

Dragonfly as Elsie
Vera, Farewell Pet as Herself / Vera

2022

Charlotte as Grossmama (voice)

2020

Kate & Koji as Kate

2018

Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen as Narrator

2016

Ethel & Ernest as Ethel Briggs (voice)

2014

Two Men in Town as Emily Smith

2007

The Graham Norton Show as Self
Atonement as Grace Turner
War and Peace as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa
Clubland as Jean

2006

The One Show as Self - Guest
The New Adventures of Old Christine as Angela Kimble
Mysterious Creatures as Wendy Ainscow

2005

Pride & Prejudice as Mrs. Bennet
Pooh's Heffalump Movie as Mama Heffalump (voice)
On a Clear Day as Joan

2004

Beyond the Sea as Polly Cassotto
Piccadilly Jim as Nesta Pett
Belonging as Jess Copplestone
A Way of Life as Annette

2003

The Sleeping Dictionary as Aggie
Between The Sheets as Hazel Delany
Blizzard as Aunt Millie
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot as Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)

2002

V Graham Norton as Self
The Wild Thornberrys Movie as Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
Sonny as Jewel
Pumpkin as Judy Romanoff
Lovely & Amazing as Jane Marks
Undertaking Betty as Betty Rhys-Jones
The Yellow Bird as Mrs. Louise Tutwiler

2001

Anne Frank: The Whole Story as Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
Daddy and Them as Julia Montgomery
On the Nose as Mrs. Delaney

2000

Saving Grace as Grace Trevethyn

1999

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Linnie Malcolm
RKO 281 as Louella Parsons

1998

So Graham Norton as Self - Guest
Little Voice as Mari Hoff
Music from Another Room as Grace Swan
Inside the Golden Statue as Self
Girls' Night as Dawn Wilkinson
Night Train as Alice Mooney
In the Winter Dark as Ida Stubbs

1997

Remember Me? as Shirley

1996

Secrets & Lies as Cynthia Rose Purley

1995

The Frank Skinner Show as Self

1994

Outside Edge as Miriam Dervish

1993

GMTV as Self
The Buddha of Suburbia as Margaret Amir
The Bullion Boys as Gwen

1992

HBO First Look as self
A River Runs Through It as Mrs. Maclean
Maigret

1991

All Good Things as Shirley Frame

1990

The Witches as Mrs Jenkins

1989

Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story as Ticki Tocquet
The Labours of Erica
The Shawl as Miss A

1988

The Storyteller as Storyteller's Wife
The Play on One as Miss A
This Morning as Self
The Storyteller: A Story Short as The Storyteller's Wife

1987

Claws as Sylvia

1985

The Mysteries as Mary Magdalene / Mary

1984

Chance in a Million as Alison Little
Who Dares Wins as Various

1983

Dalgliesh as Angela Foley
Henry VI Part 1 as Joan La Pucelle
Floating Off as Janice

1982

King Lear as Cordelia
Mike Leigh: Making Plays as Self

1981

Say No to Strangers as Policewoman

1980

1979

Tales of the Unexpected as Carol Hutchins

1975

Rumpole of the Bailey as Pauline

1974

Playhouse as Gloria

1953

The Oscars as Self

1944

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee