Imelda Staunton
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 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.
Acted in
Paddington in Peru
2024
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
A Very Brassic Christmas
2023
as Aunt Edie
Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
2023
as Bunty (voice)
The Canterville Ghost
2023
as Mrs Umney (voice)
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
2022
as Self
Downton Abbey: A New Era
2022
as Maud Bagshaw
The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson
2020
as reader
Amulet
2020
as Sister Claire
Alan Bennett's Talking Heads
2020
as Irene Ruddock
Trying
2020
as Penny
The Far Traveller
2020
as Narrator
Flesh and Blood
2020
as Mary Bennett
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
2019
as Knotgrass
A Confession As Told By ITV News
2019
as Imelda Staunton - Self / Karen Edwards
Downton Abbey
2019
as Maud Bagshaw
A Confession
2019
as Karen Edwards
Brassic
2019
as Edie
Finding Your Feet
2017
as Sandra Abbott
National Theatre Live: Follies
2017
as Sally Durant Plummer
Paddington 2
2017
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
Harry Potter: A History Of Magic
2017
as Narrator
National Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2017
as Martha
Little Bird
2017
as First Officer Simpkins
The Crown
2016
as Queen Elizabeth II
Jim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me
2016
as Self
Gypsy
2015
as Rose
That Day We Sang
2014
as Enid
Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made
2014
Paddington
2014
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
Pride
2014
as Hefina
Maleficent
2014
as Knotgrass
Lily's Driftwood Bay
2014
as Rowena Rabbit (voice)
Mouse and Mole at Christmas Time
2013
as Shrew (voice)
The Girl
2012
as Alma Reville Hitchcock
London: The Modern Babylon
2012
as Spoken Quotations (voice)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
2012
as Queen Victoria (voice)
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2012
as Mrs. Lovett
Arthur Christmas
2011
as Mrs Santa (voice)
The Awakening
2011
as Maud Hill
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
as Dolores Umbridge
White Other
2010
as Lynne McDermott
Another Year
2010
as Janet
Psychoville Halloween Special
2010
as Grace Andrews
The Michael Ball Show
2010
as Self
Alice in Wonderland
2010
as Tall Flower Faces (voice)
Taking Woodstock
2009
as Sonia Teichberg
Psychoville
2009
A Bunch of Amateurs
2008
as Mary
Three and Out
2008
as Rosemary Cassidy
Big & Small
2008
Clay
2008
as Mary Doonan
Cranford
2007
as Miss Pole
Cranford
2007
as Self/Miss Octavia Pole
How About You...
2007
as Hazel Nightingale
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
2007
as Self
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
as Dolores Umbridge
Freedom Writers
2007
as Margaret Campbell
The Wind in the Willows
2006
as Barge Lady
Live!Girls! present Dogtown
2006
Shadow Man
2006
as Ambassador Cochran
Bill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image
2006
as Herself
Guilty Hearts
2006
as Naomi
My Family and Other Animals
2005
as Mother
ShakespeaRe-Told
2005
Nanny McPhee
2005
as Mrs. Blatherwick
Fingersmith
2005
as Mrs. Sucksby
Doctor Who
2005
as Interface (voice)
Vera Drake
2004
as Vera Drake
Bright Young Things
2003
as Lady Brown
Little Britain
2003
as Mrs. Mead
I'll Be There
2003
as Dr. Bridget
Strange
2003
Blackball
2003
as Bridget
Cambridge Spies
2003
as The Queen
The Virgin of Liverpool
2003
as Sylvia Conlon
Crush
2002
as Janine
Murder
2002
as DCI Billie Dory
Murder
2002
as DCI Billie Dory
Ready
2002
as Naomi
Another Life
2001
as Ethel Graydon
Rat
2001
as Conchita Flynn
Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings
2000
as Mrs. Cottisloe
Chicken Run
2000
as Bunty (voice)
David Copperfield
1999
as Mrs. Micawber
Jack and the Beanstalk
1999
as Dilly
Shakespeare in Love
1998
as Nurse
The Ugly Duckling
1997
as Scruffy (voice)
Midsomer Murders
1997
as Christine Cooper
Remember Me?
1997
Twelfth Night
1996
as Maria
The Adventures of Toad
1996
as Voice
The Adventures of Mole
1995
as Voice
Sense and Sensibility
1995
as Charlotte Jennings Palmer
Is It Legal?
1995
The Pen
1995
Look at the State We're In!
1995
as Councillor Johnson
Citizen X
1995
as Mrs. Burakov
The Snow Queen
1995
as Ivy / Angorra
Mole's Christmas
1994
as (voices)
Deadly Advice
1994
as Beth Greenwood
If You See God, Tell Him
1993
as Muriel Spry
Frank Stubbs Promotes
1993
as Susan
Don't Leave Me This Way
1993
as Bridget Bennet
Much Ado About Nothing
1993
as Margaret
Roots
1992
as Jenny Beales
Peter's Friends
1992
as Mary Charleston
A Masculine Ending
1992
as Bridget Bennet
Performance
1991
as Jenny Beales
They Never Slept
1991
as The Producer
Yellowbacks
1990
as Cheryl Newman
Up the Garden Path
1990
The Englishman's Wife
1990
as Stephanie
Antonia and Jane
1990
as Jane Hartman
Tales from the Crypt
1989
as Sarah
The Heat of the Day
1989
as Louie
A Bit of Fry & Laurie
1989
Thompson
1988
as Self
The Play on One
1988
as Cheryl Newman
Comrades
1987
as Betsy Loveless
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries
1987
as Polly Flinders
The Singing Detective
1986
as Staff Nurse White
Ladies in Charge
1986
Ladies in Charge
1986
as Edith
Screen Two
1985
as The Producer
Natural World
1983
as Narrator
Easy Money
1982
as Mary Price
Easy Money
1982
as Mary Price
The Oscars
1953
as Self