Imelda Staunton
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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.
Known for
Credits
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
as Dolores Umbridge
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
as Dolores Umbridge
Maleficent (2014)
as Knotgrass
Alice in Wonderland (2010)
as Talking Flowers (voice)
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
as Knotgrass
Paddington (2014)
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
Paddington in Peru (2024)
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
Chicken Run (2000)
as Bunty (voice)
Sense and Sensibility (1995)
as Charlotte Jennings Palmer
Nanny McPhee (2005)
as Mrs. Blatherwick
Paddington 2 (2017)
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
Arthur Christmas (2011)
as Mrs Santa (voice)
Shakespeare in Love (1998)
as Nurse
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget (2023)
as Bunty (voice)
Freedom Writers (2007)
as Margaret Campbell
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists! (2012)
as Queen Victoria (voice)
The Awakening (2011)
as Maud Hill
Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022)
as Maud Bagshaw
Downton Abbey (2019)
as Maud Bagshaw
Pride (2014)
as Hefina
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
as Margaret
Citizen X (1995)
as Mrs. Burakov
Taking Woodstock (2009)
as Sonia Teichberg
The Canterville Ghost (2023)
as Mrs Umney (voice)
Pride: The True Story (2015)
as Herself
Finding Your Feet (2017)
as Sandra Abbott
Vera Drake (2004)
as Vera Drake
Amulet (2020)
as Sister Claire
The Girl (2012)
as Alma Reville Hitchcock
Bright Young Things (2003)
as Lady Brown
Remember Me? (1997)
as Lorna
Shadow Man (2006)
as Ambassador Cochran
Twelfth Night (1996)
as Maria
Another Year (2010)
as Janet
My Family and Other Animals (2005)
as Mother
The Wind in the Willows (2006)
as Barge Lady
Adapting Austen (2009)
as Self
Blackball (2003)
as Bridget
Rat (2000)
as Conchita Flynn
& Sons (2026)
as Isabel
I'll Be There (2003)
as Dr. Bridget
London: The Modern Babylon (2012)
as Spoken Quotations (voice)
Antonia and Jane (1990)
as Jane Hartman
Peter's Friends (1992)
as Mary Charleston
Guilty Hearts (2007)
as Naomi
Testimony (2025)
as Narrator (voice)
Don't Leave Me This Way (1993)
as Bridget Bennet
A Masculine Ending (1992)
as Bridget Bennet
The Adventures of Toad (1996)
as Voice
Three and Out (2008)
as Rosemary Cassidy
The Snow Queen (1995)
as Ivy / Angorra
A Bunch of Amateurs (2008)
as Mary
Another Life (2001)
as Ethel Graydon
How About You... (2007)
as Hazel Nightingale
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic (2017)
as Narrator
The Snow Queen's Revenge (1996)
as Elspeth / Rowena (voice)
Jack and the Beanstalk (1999)
as Dilly (voice)
Deadly Advice (1994)
as Beth Greenwood
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out (2007)
as Self
Ready (2002)
as Naomi
Where Have I Been All Your Life? (2007)
as Angela
Comrades (1987)
as Betsy Loveless
Crush (2002)
as Janine
Victorian Britain on Film (2021)
as Narrator
Roots (1992)
as Jenny Beales
West the Road (—)
Actor
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings (2000)
as Mrs. Cottisloe
Gypsy (2015)
as Rose
The Englishman's Wife (1990)
as Stephanie
The Ugly Duckling (1997)
as Scruffy (voice)
Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me (2016)
as Self
The Virgin of Liverpool (2003)
as Sylvia Conlon
The Adventures of Mole (1995)
as Voice
Mole's Christmas (1994)
as (voices)
The Wind in the Willows (1995)
as Mother Squirrel
Clay (2008)
as Mary Doonan
They Never Slept (1991)
as The Producer
Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made (2014)
as Self
Psychoville Halloween Special (2010)
as Grace Andrews
The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson (2020)
as reader
The Heat of the Day (1989)
as Louie
White Other (2010)
as Lynne McDermott
The Magical World of Julia Donaldson (2020)
as Self - Readings
Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image (2006)
as Herself
The Far Traveller (2020)
as Narrator
National Theatre Live: Follies (2017)
as Sally Durant Plummer
That Day We Sang (2014)
as Enid
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends (2022)
as Self
Easy Money (1982)
as Mary Price
National Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (2017)
as Martha
National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession (2025)
as Mrs Peggy Warren
Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time (2013)
as Shrew (voice)
A Confession As Told By ITV News (2019)
as Imelda Staunton - Self / Karen Edwards
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2012)
as Mrs. Lovett
Sense and Sensibility: 25th Anniversary Reunion (2021)
as Self
The Pen (1995)
Actor
Little Bird (2017)
as First Officer Simpkins
Yellowbacks (1990)
as Cheryl Newman