Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress. 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's roles in the 1990s include Antonia and Jane, Peter's Friends, Much Ado About Nothing, Sense and Sensibility, and Shakespeare in Love. She received the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for playing the title role of Vera Drake. She gained a wider audience for her role as Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films The Order of the Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1. She also appeared in the films Nanny McPhee, Another Year, Pride, Finding Your Feet, and Downton Abbey, and provided voice roles for 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 portrays Queen Elizabeth II in the final two seasons of The Crown, gaining nominations for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress.
Early life and education
Staunton was born in Archway, North London, the only child of Bridie (née McNicholas), a hairdresser, and Joseph Staunton, a labourer. They lived over Staunton's mother's salon. Her parents were first-generation Catholic immigrants from County Mayo, Ireland; her father from Ballyvary and her mother from Bohola. Her mother was a musician who could not read music, but could play almost any tune by ear on the accordion or fiddle, and had played in Irish showbands.
As a pupil at La Sainte Union Catholic School, Staunton took drama classes with her elocution teacher and starred in school plays, including the role of Polly Peachum in The Beggar's Opera. Encouraged by her teacher, she auditioned for drama schools and got into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at age 18. She also unsuccessfully auditioned for the Central School of Speech and Drama and Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Acting career
Theatre
Staunton graduated from RADA in 1976, then spent six years in British repertory theatre, including a period at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter, where she had the title role in Shaw's Saint Joan (1979). She then moved on to roles the National Theatre, including Lucy Lockit in The Beggar's Opera (1982), which earned her Olivier Award nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical and Most Promising Newcomer of the Year in Theatre. She also appeared in two revivals of Guys and Dolls at the National Theatre; the first in 1982 in which she met her husband Jim Carter and the second in 1996 in which she played Miss Adelaide and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical.
In 1985, Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for her work in both The Corn Is Green and at The Old Vic and A Chorus of Disapproval at the National Theatre. She also played Dorothy Gale in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1987 revival of The Wizard of Oz at the Barbican Centre, which earned her another Olivier nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Staunton won her first Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for playing the Baker's Wife in the original London production of Into the Woods (1990).