Miranda Richardson Biography
Summary
"Miranda Jane Richardson" (born 3 March 1958) is a pre-eminent English stage, film and television actress.
Early life
Richardson was born and raised in Southport, Lancashire, England to Marian Georgina (née Townsend), a housewife, and William Alan Richardson, a marketing executive. The second daughter in a middle-class family, she revealed a talent for acting from an early age. She had originally intended to study veterinary medicine, but her squeamishness made this impractical.
Career
Theatre
Richardson enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where she studied alongside Daniel Day-Lewis. In 1981, she made her stage debut in "Moving" at the Queen's Theatre in London. Before making a name for herself as a screen star, she enjoyed a hugely successful and extensive theatre career. Starting out with juvenile performances in "Cinderella" (the title role) and "Lord Arthur Saville's Crime" (as Sybil Merton) at the Southport Dramatic Club, the young thespian enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, making her stage debut in "Moving" at the Queen's Theatre, London. Soon afterwards, she appeared in repertory theatre, until she found recognition in the West End for a series of highly praised stage performances, ultimately receiving an Olivier Award nomination for her performance in "A Lie of the Mind", and in 1996 being cited as 'the greatest actress of our time in any medium' by one critic after she appeared in "Orlando" at the Edinburgh Festival.
Richardson will return to the London stage for the first time in ten years, to play the lead in Wallace Shawn's new play, "Grasses of a Thousand Colours" at the Royal Court Theatre in May 2009.
Film and television
In 1985, Richardson made her film debut as platinum blonde nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom in Mike Newell's critically acclaimed biographical drama, "Dance With A Stranger". Her performance won her much praise, and within a year she had been cast by Steven Spielberg to appear in his World War II drama, "Empire of the Sun" (1987).
Richardson is well-known for her role as an infantile Queen Elizabeth I, aka Queenie, in the British television comedy "Blackadder II" (1986). She returned to that role for a Christmas special ("Blackadder's Christmas Carol" 1988) and a special edition for the millennium ("Blackadder: Back and Forth", 2000).
Her portrayal of a troubled theatre-goer in "Secret Friends" (BBC 2 TV, 1990) was described as 'a miniature tour de force... Miranda Richardson's finest hour, all in ten minutes' ("The Sunday Times"). Other television roles include the bitchy Pamela Flitton in "A Dance to the Music of Time" (1997), Miss Gilchrist in "St. Ives" (1998), Bettina the obsessive-compulsive interior decorator in "Absolutely Fabulous", the sadistic Queen Elspeth in Hallmark's "Snow White: The Fairest Of Them All" (2001), and the emotionally repressed Queen Mary in "The Lost Prince" (2003).
Richardson has appeared in a number of high-profile supporting roles in the cinema, including Vanessa Bell in "The Hours", Lady Van Tassel in "Sleepy Hollow" and Patsy Carpenter in "The Evening Star". She also won acclaim for her performances in "The Crying Game" and "Enchanted April", for which she won a Golden Globe, beating a quartet of Hollywood heavyweights: Geena Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep. She received Academy Award nominations for her performances in "Damage" and "Tom & Viv".
Her extensive film credits include stints in a number of critically acclaimed independent features, among them Robert Altman's "Kansas City" (1996), Robert Duvall's "The Apostle" (1997) and Richard E. Grant's "Wah-Wah" (2005). In 2002, she performed a triple-role stint alongside Ralph Fiennes in David Cronenberg's acclaimed thriller "Spider", a film that won her several international critics awards.
Richardson also appeared as Queen Rosalind of Denmark in the Julia Stiles vehicle "The Prince and Me" and as the ballet mistress Madame Giry in the long-awaited film version of "The Phantom Of The Opera", starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. In 2005 she appeared in the high-profile role of Rita Skeeter, the toxic Daily Prophet journalist in "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" and has since appeared in a number of critically acclaimed but low-profile feature films. In 2006 she appeared alongside Bill Nighy in Stephen Poliakoff's multi-Golden Globe winning BBC drama, "Gideon's Daughter". She played the role of Mrs. Claus in the film "Fred Claus" (2007), co-starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti.
Richardson teamed up alongside "Absolutely Fabulous" star Jennifer Saunders in the BBC sitcom, "The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle". She appeared as a guest on Nigel Slater's "A Taste of my Life" in which she cooked dishes including lamb tagine and huevos rancheros.
It was announced in December 2008 that Richardson was cast in a leading role in original AMC pilot, "Rubicon". She will reportedly play a New York socialite who finds herself drawn into the central intrigue of a think tank, after the death of her husband.
Additionally, the actress will play Labour politician Barbara Castle in the upcoming British film "Dagenham Girls".
Personal life
Currently, Richardson lives in West London with her two cats, Otis and Waldo, and her dogs Liv and Ivo. Her hobbies include drawing, walking, gardening, fashion, falconry, and music.
Theatre roles
"Savage Amusement" (Hazel) - Derby Playhouse, Lancaster
"Stags and Hens" (Linda) - Derby Playhouse, Lancaster
"All My Sons" (Ann) - Derby Playhouse, Lancaster
"Sisterly Feelings" (Brenda) - Derby Playhouse, Lancaster
"Ten Times Table" (Phillipa) - Library Theatre, Manchester
"Whose Life Is It Anyway?" (Kay Sadler) - Library Theatre, Manchester
"Play It Again, Sam" (Linda Christie) - Library Theatre, Manchester
"Tom Jones" (Sophie Western) - Library Theatre, Manchester
"Educating Rita" (Rita)
"Moving" (Jane Gladwin) - Queen's Theatre (1980/1)
"The Table of the Two Horseman" (Katie Wyld) - Bristol Theatre Royal (9 March 1983/2 April 1983)
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (Honey) - Bristol Theatre Royal (6 April 1983/30 April 1983)
"The Maids" (Madame) - Bristol New Vic (27 September 1983/22 October 1983)
"Insignificance" (The Actress) - Bristol New Vic (25 October 1983/19 December 1983)
"Life of Einstein" - Dukes Playhouse, Lancaster (1984)
"Edmond" (Glenna) - Newcastle (1985)
"A Lie of the Mind" (Beth) - Royal Court Theatre, West End (1987)
"The Changeling" (Beatrice-Joanna) - (Lyttleton) National Theatre, West End (1988)
"Mountain Language" (Young Woman) - (Lyttleton) National Theatre, West End (1988)
"Etta Jenks" (Etta Jenks) - Royal Court Theatre, West End (1990)
"The Designated Mourner" (Judy) - Royal National Theatre, West End (1996)
"Orlando" (Orlando) - 50th Edinburgh International Festival (11/21 August 1996)
"Aunt Dan and Lemon" (Aunt Dan) - Almeida Theatre, Islington, London (5 May/5 June 1999)
"The Play What I Wrote" (Herself) - Wyndham's Theatre, West End (30 Jan 2002, 5 May 2002, 2 Jan 2003)
"Comic Aid 2005" - (Herself - Asia Tsunami Aid) - Carling Apollo, West End (22 Feb 2005)
"One Knight Only" - (Herself - Asia Tsunami Aid) - Theatre Royal, Haymarket, West End (20 March 2005)
"Grasses of a thousand colours" - Royal Court Theatre (May 2009)
Awards and nominations
Academy Award
Nominated: Best Supporting Actress, "Damage" (1992)
Nominated: Best Actress, "Tom & Viv" (1994)
BAFTA Award
Nominated: Best Actress, "After Pilkington" (1988) (TV)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actress, "The Crying Game" (1993)
"Won: Best Supporting Actress, "Damage" (1993)
Nominated: Best Actress, "Tom & Viv" (1994)
Nominated: Best Actress, "A Dance to the Music of Time" (1998) (TV)
Nominated: Best Actress, "The Lost Prince" (2004) (TV)
Golden Globe Award
Nominated: Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture, "Damage" (1993)
"Won: Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, "Enchanted April" (1993)"
Nominated: Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, "Tom & Viv" (1995)
"Won: Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, "Fatherland" (1995)"
Nominated: Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, "Merlin" (1999)
Nominated: Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, "The Big Brass Ring" (2000)
Nominated: Best Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television, "The Lost Prince" (2005)
Laurence Olivier Award
Nominated: Best Actress, "A Lie of the Mind" (1988)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Miranda Richardson.
