Geraldine James

Geraldine James, OBE (born 6 July 1950) is an English actress. She tied with Peggy Ashcroft for Best Actress at the 1989 Venice Film Festival for She's Been Away and was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2003.

After graduating from Drama Centre London in 1973, James began her career in repertory theatre. For her role as Portia in the 1989 Broadway production ofThe Merchant of Venice she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play.

She has been nominated four times for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, for Dummy (1977), The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Band of Gold (1995) andThe Sins (2000). She is also known as Mrs. Pincher, the breastfeeding mother in Little Britain (2004) and a disgraced agent in Utopia (2013 - 2014). Her film credits include Gandhi (1982), The Tall Guy(1989), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011).

Theatre director Peter Hall says Geraldine James ranks amongst the great English classical actresses.



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life and family  ==Early life and family[ edit] == James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father.[2]  She was educated at Downe House, a girls' independent school in Newbury, Berkshire, and at the Drama Centre London. ==Television appearances[ edit] == ==Theatre appearances[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Radio appearances<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Film appearances<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ==Awards<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ==
 * 2 Television appearances
 * 3 Theatre appearances
 * 4 Radio appearances
 * 5 Film appearances
 * 6 Awards
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links
 * Shirley Glass in The Sweeney: Pay Off (1976) – TV debut
 * Sandra X in Dummy (1977)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[3]
 * Barbara Kirk in The History Man (1980)
 * Emma Hamilton in I Remember Nelson (1981)
 * Sarah Layton in The Jewel in the Crown (1984)
 * Lady Maud Lynchwood in Blott on the Landscape (1985)
 * Helen Field in Inspector Morse: Who Killed Harry Field (1991)
 * Kristine Linde in A Doll's House (1992)
 * Rose Garrety in Band of Gold (1995-1997)
 * Eleanor Harker QC in Kavanagh QC (1995-1999)
 * Beatrice in Rebecca (1997)
 * Has a cameo role in Little Britain as the mother of Harvey Pincher
 * Gloria in Sins (2000)<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4]
 * Yvonne Shaps in State of Play (2003)
 * Recurring role as Lillith Hughes in Hex (2004)
 * Lady Rowley in He Knew He Was Right (2004)
 * Agatha Christie's Poirot - After the Funeral, (2005) as Helen Abernethie
 * Hilary Rees-Benson: Former Liberal Democrat turned "Purple Alliance" Home Secretary in The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006)
 * A Harlot's Progress (2006)
 * Barbara Turney in The Last Enemy (2008)
 * Joanna the Concubine in Heist (2008)
 * Gwendolen in the 2012 ITV adaptation of the Ruth Rendell thriller Thirteen Steps Down
 * Milner: An MI5 spy in Utopia Channel 4 (2013 drama)
 * Portia opposite Dustin Hoffman in the London and Broadway productions of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="line-height:1;white-space:nowrap;">[citation needed]
 * Gandhi (1982) as Mirabehn
 * The Tall Guy (1989) as Carmen
 * Prince of Shadows (1991)
 * If Looks Could Kill – Teen Agent, (1991) as Vendetta Galante
 * The Bridge (1992) as Mrs Todd
 * Words Upon the Window Pane (1994) as Mrs. Henderson
 * Moll Flanders (1996) as Edna
 * An Angel for May (2002)
 * Calendar Girls (2003) as Marie
 * Northanger Abbey (2007) as the narrator
 * Sherlock Holmes (2009) as Mrs Hudson
 * Alice in Wonderland (2010) as Lady Ascot
 * Made in Dagenham (2010) as Connie
 * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) as Cecilia Vanger
 * Arthur (2011) as Vivienne Bach
 * Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) as Mrs Hudson
 * James was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours.