RADA
Students and faculty of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England.
List activity
23K views
• 17 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
450 people
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough of Richmond-upon-Thames, was born in Cambridge, England, the son of Mary (née Clegg), a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council, and Frederick Levi Attenborough, a scholar and academic administrator who was a don at Emmanuel College and wrote a standard text on Anglo-Saxon law. The family later moved to Leicester where his father was appointed Principal of the university while Richard was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys in Leicester and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
His film career began with a role as a deserting sailor in In Which We Serve (1942), a part that contributed to his being typecast for many years as a coward in films like Dulcimer Street (1948), Operation Disaster (1950) and his breakthrough role as a psychopathic young gangster in the film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel, Brighton Rock (1948). During World War II, Attenborough served in the Royal Air Force.
He worked prolifically in British films for the next 30 years, and in the 1950s appeared in several successful comedies for John Boulting and Roy Boulting, including Private's Progress (1956) and I'm All Right Jack (1959). Early in his stage career, Attenborough starred in the London West End production of Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap", which went on to become one of the world's longest-running stage productions. Both he and his wife were among the original cast members of the production, which opened in 1952 and (as of 2007) is still running.
In the 1960s, he expanded his range of character roles in films such as Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964) and Guns at Batasi (1964), for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the regimental Sergeant Major. He appeared in the ensemble cast of The Great Escape (1963), as Squadron Leader "Roger Bartlett" ("Big X"), the head of the escape committee.
In 1967 and 1968, he won back-to-back Golden Globe Awards in the category of Best Supporting Actor, the first time for The Sand Pebbles (1966), starring Steve McQueen, and the second time for Doctor Dolittle (1967), starring Rex Harrison. He would win another Golden Globe for Best Director, for Gandhi (1982), in 1983. Six years prior to "Gandhi", he played the ruthless "Gen. Outram" in Indian director Satyajit Ray's period piece, The Chess Players (1977). He has never been nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category.
He took no acting roles following his appearance in Otto Preminger's The Human Factor (1979), until his appearance as the eccentric developer "John Hammond" in Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993). The following year, he starred as "Kris Kringle" in Miracle on 34th Street (1994), a remake of the 1947 classic. Since then, he has made occasional appearances in supporting roles, including the historical drama, Elizabeth (1998), as "Sir William Cecil".
In the late 1950s, Attenborough formed a production company, "Beaver Films", with Bryan Forbes and began to build a profile as a producer on projects, including The League of Gentlemen (1960), The Angry Silence (1960) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961), also appearing in the first two of these as an actor.
His feature film directorial debut was the all-star screen version of the hit musical, Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), and his acting appearances became more sporadic - the most notable being his portrayal of serial killer "John Christie" in 10 Rillington Place (1971). He later directed two epic period films: Young Winston (1972), based on the early life of Winston Churchill, and A Bridge Too Far (1977), an all-star account of Operation Market Garden in World War II. He won the 1982 Academy Award for Directing for his historical epic, Gandhi (1982), a project he had been attempting to get made for many years. As the film's producer, he also won the Academy Award for Best Picture. His most recent films, as director and producer, include Chaplin (1992), starring Robert Downey Jr. as Charles Chaplin, and Shadowlands (1993), based on the relationship between C.S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. Both films starred Anthony Hopkins, who also appeared in three other films for Attenborough: "Young Winston", "A Bridge Too Far" and the thriller, Magic (1978).
Attenborough also directed the screen version of the hit Broadway musical, "A Chorus Line" (A Chorus Line (1985)), and the apartheid drama, Cry Freedom (1987), based on the experiences of Donald Woods. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director for both films. His most recent film as director was another biographical film, Grey Owl (1999), starring Pierce Brosnan.
Attenborough is the President of RADA, Chairman of Capital Radio, President of BAFTA, President of the Gandhi Foundation, and President of the British National Film and Television School. He is also a vice patron of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund.
He is also the patron of the UWC movement (United World Colleges), whereby he continually contributes greatly to the colleges that are part of the organization. He has frequented the United World College of Southern Africa(UWCSA) Waterford Kamhlaba. His wife and he founded the "Richard and Sheila Attenborough Visual Arts Center". He also founded the "Jane Holland Creative Center for Learning" at Waterford Kamhlaba in Swaziland in memory of his daughter, who died in the Tsunami on Boxing Day, 2004. He passionately believes in education, primarily education that does not judge upon color, race, creed or religion. His attachment to Waterford is his passion for non-racial education, which were the grounds on which Waterford Kamhlaba was founded. Waterford was one of his inspirations for directing Cry Freedom (1987), based on the life of Steve Biko.
He was elected to the post of Chancellor of the University of Sussex on 20 March 1998, replacing the Duke of Richmond and Gordon. A lifelong supporter of Chelsea Football Club, Attenborough served as a director of the club from 1969-1982 and, since 1993, has held the honorary position of Life Vice President. He is also the head of the consortium, "Dragon International", which is constructing a film and television studio complex in Llanilid, Wales, often referred to as "Valleywood".
In 1967, he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). He was knighted in 1976 and, in 1993, he was made a life peer as Baron Attenborough, of Richmond-upon-Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
On 13 July 2006, Attenborough and his brother, David Attenborough, were awarded the titles of Distinguished Honorary Fellows of the University of Leicester "in recognition of a record of continuing distinguished service to the University". Lord Attenborough is also listed as an Honorary Fellow of Bangor University for his continued efforts to film making.
Attenborough has been married to English actress Sheila Sim, since 1945. They had three children. In December 2004, his elder daughter, Jane Holland, as well as her daughter Lucy and her mother-in-law, also named Jane, were killed in the tsunami caused by the Indian Ocean earthquake. A memorial service was held on 8 March 2005, and Attenborough read a lesson at the national memorial service on 11 May 2005. His grandson, Samuel Holland, and granddaughter, Alice Holland, also read in the service.
Attenborough's father was principal of University College, Leicester, now the city's university. This has resulted in a long association with the university, with Lord Attenborough a patron. A commemorative plaque was placed on the floor of Richmond Parish Church. The university's "Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts", which opened in 1997, is named in his Honor.
His son, Michael Attenborough, is also a director. He has two younger brothers, the famous naturalist Sir David Attenborough and John Attenborough, who has made a career in the motor trade.
He has collected Pablo Picasso ceramics since the 1950s. More than 100 items went on display at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery in Leicester in 2007; the exhibition is dedicated to his family members lost in the tsunami.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Ronald Allen was born on 16 December 1930 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for A Night to Remember (1958), The Projected Man (1966) and Doctor Who (1963). He was married to Sue Lloyd. He died on 18 June 1991 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK.- Actress
- Director
- Writer
Hannah Arterton was born in Gravesend, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress and director, known for The Peripheral (2022), Safe (2018) and The Five (2016). She has been married to Chris Hyson since 23 September 2022.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Born in York, on leaving school he started work as a stage hand at York's Theatre Royal and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art .from 1982 to 1984 after which he joined such companies as Hull Truck Theatre and The Royal National Theatre. He achieved international fame in his film debut in ''The Full Monty' in 1997 and went on to play Fred Flintstone in the 2000 film 'The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas' In 2019 he was honoured by York University who awarded an honorary doctorate. He's married to Kelly Briggs and they have three children- Actor
- Director
- Soundtrack
An English actor active in the theater since 1961, having made few theatrical movies, none of which particularly outstanding, with the exception of John Boorman's Zardoz (1974) and Nigel Cole's popular Calendar Girls (2003), John Alderton has become famous thanks to British television. Appearing in approximately two hundred TV series episodes, TV movies or specials, he is best remembered as the teacher facing the rowdy students in the series Please Sir! (1968), from 1968 to 1972, Thomas, the chauffeur, in Upstairs, Downstairs (1971), between 1971 and 1975, and the narrator and sole voice artist for the English dub of Fireman Sam (1987) from 1987 to 1994.- Actress
- Music Department
- Soundtrack
Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946) is an English actress, author and entrepreneur, who achieved early fame as a child actress, and has worked extensively in film and TV throughout her career.
She has appeared in TV shows and films such as The Masque of the Red Death (1964), Alfie (1966), Deep End (1970), The Mistress (1985-1987), Crossroads (2001-2003), Death at a Funeral (2007) and The Old Guys (2009-). She is also known for supplying specialist cakes and kitchenware, as well as publishing three bestselling novels.
Asher was the middle of three children born to Richard Alan John and Margaret Asher, née Eliot, in Willesden, North West London. Her father was a consultant in blood and mental diseases at the Central Middlesex Hospital, as well as being a broadcaster and the author of notable medical articles. Asher's mother was a professor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Asher attended Queen's College in Harley Street, London and is the elder sister of Clare Asher, a radio actress and school inspector. Asher's elder brother is record producer Peter Asher, of Peter and Gordon.
She was a key figure of 1960s show-business society as the fiancée of Paul McCartney. Asher met the illustrator Gerald Scarfe in 1971, and they married ten years later. They have three children, daughter actress Katie Scarfe (born April 17, 1974), and sons Alex Scarfe (born December 1981) and Rory (born 1984).- Actor
- Stunts
- Writer
Stage Name Luing Andrews. Published Author with Pegasus Publishers.
Born in Ham Richmond Surrey, Birth name Ian Andrew Luing Mason. British actor Luing Andrews began his career as a probational stunt man in the UK and directly after training was offered his first feature film 'Called Home', daring Luing not only acted in this exciting film but also performed his own stunts including a cliff fall and car crash! Luing mainly acts nowadays but does participate in some stunts including in acting roles he achieves.
After being offered a place at the prestigious LAMDA and training at The ATS theatre school London 1989 & Passed a RADA summer pass with flying colours 1990 his love for acting grew and on graduation in 1993 Luing played roles such as Ash Williams alongside Amanda Burton in Silent Witness for UK television. He soon became a regular on British Television with prime-time shows like Whitechapel, Wings of Love, Afterlife, Footballers Wives, Green Green Grass, My Family and Worst Christmas of My Life. Luing enjoyed playing a gangster Lieutenant with Scott Maslen in the TV version of Lock Stock and Raz in the UK's number one soap Eastenders alongside the talented late great actor John Bardon. In one of his most heartfelt roles yet, Luing played biker with a heart Henry Swindell in the nations much loved hospital drama Casualty starring with the main cast.
Films soon came calling and Luing was offered a role in The Heavy as a villain. Thomas Black in Flugel DE lie be'(Wings of Love). As well as Bronson, Football Factory, The Oxford Murders, The Pimp, and The Sculptress with Pauline Quirk.
Filmed The Royal Bodyguard alongside the much-loved David Jason, playing a character who this time on the right side of the law PC Clive Roberts. Showing his comedic side in the upcoming British comedy Him and Her Luing plays the feisty father Colin and in contrast to his usual bad boy roles, was the guardian angel and face of Motor Cycle News for 2010 - 2013. Luing now regularly Acts both sides of the pond and recently filmed the 4 part sitcom Rick and Rat in Thailand. Luing is now a published author and has just had his first Novel '8ish' published by mainstream top publishing company Pegasus publishing company, the novel which is about a London Gangland Crime family with IRA connections. Luing currently spends most of his time in the UK. (updated 2021)- Born and raised in Zimbabwe, Miles grew up in a military family: his father, Jock, was a general and his mother, Daphne, a homemaker and latterly an author (The Toerags, 1989). Deciding to quit school in the middle of a Shakespeare class, Miles arrived home and announced he was going to England to become an actor. After graduating with the prestigious Ronson Award from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he soon found himself working at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Despite his schoolboy wrangling with the Bard, he later spent ten years with the RSC.
For over fifty years, Miles has been acting on stage and screen. In the UK, he is perhaps best known for his television appearances as Colonel Aidan Dempsey in ITV's Ultimate Force, Roger O'Neill in the original House of Cards, Terry Fox in BBC's Holby City and Colonel Dan Fortune in Soldier, Soldier. His stage appearances in the West End and for the RSC garnered successes including The Witch of Edmonton, The Twin Rivals, the title role in Macbeth, Conor McPherson's The Weir, and the West End musical Oliver! directed by Sam Mendes. He was awarded three London Critics Awards In the 1981 season at Stratford and an Olivier Nomination for Sigismund in Life's A Dream, and he has the distinction of being the first adult male to play Peter Pan in Trevor Nunn's production at The Barbican in 1983. In the US, Miles's recent television roles include Hunters, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Criminal Minds, Baskets, Battle Creek, and films including Damien Chazelle's s LaLaLand, and the independent thrillers The Wind and Radioflash. Curiously Shakespeare is never far away, with Miles's recent role of Lennox in Joel Coen's 'The Tragedy Of Macbeth' with Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington (with whom he had also worked over thirty years previously in Cry Freedom). Miles has also starred in three Shakespeare seasons at the Old Globe San Diego under the directorship of RSC veteran Adrian Noble and for his performance as King George in The Madness of George III in 2010, he was awarded the Craig Noel San Diego Critics' Circle Award for Best Actor in a Lead. His 2011 performance as Salieri in Amadeus garnered critical superlatives and his Prospero in The Tempest again secured him the nomination for Best Actor by the San Diego Critics' Circle. In 2013 he again won the San Diego Critics Circle Award for his Outstanding Performance of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Equally happy in television comedy as classical dramas, Miles has also enjoyed roles such as the magician Merlin in Escape the Night.
Miles lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Bella Merlin, with whom he wrote Colonels, Cads and Charmers: Memories, about his early life in (then) Rhodesia and the journey from Africa to actor. He has two sons: Joe, an actor and Max, an executive chef, and a rescue dog, Dempsey. - Actor
- Producer
- Writer
- Michael Attenborough was born on 13 February 1950 in England, UK. He is a director and producer, known for Jakko M Jakszyk: The Road to Ballina (2022), Great Performances (1971) and Seance on a Wet Afternoon. He has been married to Karen Lewis-Attenborough since 14 April 1984. They have two children. He was previously married to Jane Seymour.
- John Edwin Arnatt was born in Petrograd on the eve of the Russian Revolution, the son of a manager for Vauxhall Motors. Forced to leave Russia during the turmoil, his family returned to England where John was schooled at Epworth College and later trained for acting at RADA. On stage from 1936, he made his debut at the London West End in 1938 (in the revue "Happy Returns"). He resumed his theatrical career following wartime army service, even enjoying a brief stint as a stand-up comic at the Windmill Theatre. During the 1950's, he appeared in plays by Shakespeare and Chekhov at the Arts Theatre Club and at the Old Vic (both in London and in Bristol), as well as doubling up reporting sports on commercial television under the nom de plume 'Howard Peters'.
A tall man with urbane manners, a no-nonsense attitude, often sporting a pencil moustache, Arnatt is best remembered for his many impersonations on screen of thoughtful, pipe-smoking authority figures: Scotland Yard inspectors, commissioners, diplomats, aristocrats and army officers. In Doctor Who (1963) ("The Invasion of Time"), he played the Time Lord Borusa, one-time Lord Chancellor of Gallifrey. He was, perhaps, most effectively employed as deputy sheriff (temporarily replacing Alan Wheatley) or as the high sheriff of Nottingham in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955), a worthy antagonist to Richard Greene. - Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Gemma Christina Arterton was born in Gravesend, Kent, England, where she was raised. She is the daughter of Sally-Anne (Heap), a cleaner, and Barry J. Arterton, a welder. Her mother's cousin is singer-songwriter Eric Goulden.
Her parents divorced when she was age five, and Gemma subsequently lived with her younger sister and her mother. Her parents encouraged their children to explore their creative abilities. Gemma's sister, Hannah, liked to sing, whereas Gemma chose acting. During her teenage years, she was part of the Masquerade and Miskin theater companies, appearing in productions of The Massacre of Civitella and Guiding Star. In 2004, she won an award for Best Supporting Actress, which helped her to win a grant to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).
Whilst studying at RADA, she landed her first professional role in Capturing Mary (2007), directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Maggie Smith. Gemma graduated from RADA in 2007 and won her first film role in St. Trinian's (2007). Her breakthrough role came in 2008, when she appeared in the James Bond film Quantum of Solace (2008). In 2009, she was the winner of Empire's Best Newcomer Award.- Having left Marlborough College early, Robert went to London to follow up his ambition of becoming an actor by auditioning for and joining the National Youth Theatre. He then moved into film and television work. He went to R.A.D.A. for a year. His hobbies were polo and gardening.
- Actress
- Director
- Writer
A true polymath and polyglot, fluent in several languages, Ana-Sofia Mastroianna is known for an astonishing facility with a variety of accents as well as being an accomplished concert violinist, singer, dancer (American Ballet Theatre) and award-winning writer.
A Wooley/Fulbright Scholar, she studied in Paris and Moscow at their prestigious conservatories (CNSMP & Tchaikovsky) and in London at RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She returned to the US, acting in acclaimed theatrical productions On and Off Broadway: in the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, "Titanic" and Off-Broadway, in the American premiere of the hugely successful New Group Theatre production of "Goose-Pimples" by Mike Leigh, directed by Scott Elliott. She garnered unanimous critical praise and earned nominations as Best Featured Performance in both the Drama Desk Awards as well as the Outer Critics' Circle Awards. As a result, she was invited by director Frank Oz, producer Brian Grazer and Steve Martin to co-star in the Universal Pictures/Imagine Entertainment feature, Bowfinger, written by and starring Steve Martin with Eddie Murphy.
In addition to her on-camera work, she is a highly sought-after voice actor having done award-winning turns as a narrator and voice talent for audio books as well as for film and in television series and commercials.- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Jane Arden was born in Wales in 1927 and left for London in her teens.
She trained at RADA and quickly began working as an actress and playwright. It was there that she met her future husband, Philip Saville, who is now perhaps most known for his work Boys from the Blackstuff (1982) and The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (1986). They had 2 children, Sebastian Saville and Dominic Saville and one step- child, Elizabeth Saville.
Jane Arden's plays include The Thug (1959) which starred Alan Bates, The Party (1958) which was directed by Charles Laughton and gave Albert Finney his first role in the theatre, Post Mortem (1999), _The New Communion For Freaks, Prophets and Witches (1999)_, The Illusionist (1983) and Vagina Rex and the Gas Oven (1969).
Jane Arden began tracing female oppression in 1966 when she wrote a script for the film The Logic Game (1965). It was described as a "surrealist puzzle" attempting to locate the isolation of women in the context of bourgeois marriage.
Arden's film career includes her original script and her performance in Separation (1968), which featured the song "Salad Days" by Procol Harum and was directed by Jane Arden's collaborator Jack Bond. In this film, women's' exploitation was exposed as their personal dilemma began to take on a political context.
Arden formed the feminist theatre group "Holocaust" and then wrote a play with the same name. In 1972, she adapted and directed this for the cinema as The Other Side of Underneath (1972).
Before her involvement with the Women's Liberation Movement, she appeared on TV talk programmes like Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life (1964) as a speaker on women and politics. As an actress, she was best known for her performance as "Inez" in a BBC-TV production of Jean-Paul Sartre Huis clos (1965), opposite Harold Pinter as "Garcia".
Two more films, both co-directed with Jack Bond, followed in the later 1970s, the experimental Vibration (1974), made in the USA in 1974, and Anti-Clock (1979) which opened the 1979 London Film Festival. It was the fist film to use video techniques in an experimental way. Her poetry books include "You Don't Know What You Want, Do You?". Jane Arden committed suicide on Dec. 20, 1982 in North Yorkshire and is buried in Darlington West Cemetary. She was 55 years old.- Actor
- Producer
French and English actor, Mark Antoine was born in France and studied at RADA, after an intensive and profound work with his Bulgarian mentor Radka Riaskova - think Le Chiffre in Casino Royale in a lady version and much nicer... sometimes. Mark Antoine is the host of the kid's TV show Artzooka : a half hour series blending live action and animation to show kids that art is everywhere, everything can be used to create art and that there is an artist in each one of them. Mark Antoine created his theatre and production company called Eprouve! and successfully performed The Diary of a Madman by Nikolai Gogol (1835) at the Drill Hall Theatre, a one man play qualified as a virtuoso and tour de force performance. It then transferred to Mayfield for its Music Festival in East Sussex. In Le Recyclage de Luxe Show and Le CO2eux Soiree, Mark Antoine is Alain du Monde, chicest TV star of the 60's. Introducing some of his friends like Florence and the Machine, Marina and the Diamonds and the MysteryJets to help save Mother Nature.- Charles was born in England, but raised and educated in the United States. At the age of ten, he made his professional acting debut in a production of 'Oliver!' starring Davy Jones of The Monkees. In 2001, he earned his Bachelors degree in History at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. That autumn, Charles returned to England to study drama at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 2004. During his attendance at RADA, he performed in more than twelve theatrical productions including Richard III, Ulysses and Speaking in Tongues.
Within a year he was playing Claude, the male lead, in a revival of 'Hair' at The Gate theatre in Notting Hill. In 2006 he received critical praise for his roles as the Son of God in Oxford Playhouse's touring version of 'Paradise Lost' and as Joe Buck in a stage adaptation of 'Midnight Cowboy' at the Edinburgh Festival. British television viewers were to see lots more of him in February 2007 when he made his TV debut in the fantasy-comedy serial 'Bonkers', playing a sex-obsessed teenager unable to stop himself from bedding every woman he meets. In 2008 he was nominated for the prestigious Ian Charleson Award for his portrayal of Iago in Frantic Assembly's production of 'Othello', which led to his joining the Royal Shakespeare Company for almost 3 years where he played lead roles in 'As You Like It' and 'King Lear'. The company was invited to New York in 2011 as part of the Lincoln Center Festival, where his portrayal of Edgar in 'King Lear' caught people's attention. This would lead to appearances in a number of American television shows including 'Madam Secretary', 'Sleepy Hollow', 'Frontier', and most notably, 'The Knick', directed by Steven Soderbergh, in which Charles played yet another sex obsessed young man. In 2017, he returned to London to rejoin the Royal Shakespeare Company in their production of 'Coriolanus' and cinema audiences got to know Charles as the arrogant lothario Dr Gregory Butler in the hit feature film, 'Happy Death Day'. - Jonas Armstrong was born on 1 January 1981 in Dublin, Ireland. He is an actor, known for Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Book of Blood (2009) and Walking with the Enemy (2013).
- Age has not taken the flower off this Bloom. The well-known and highly respected stage, screen and television actress Claire Bloom continues to be in demand as an octogenarian actress and looks as beautiful as ever.
She was born Patricia Claire Blume on February 15, 1931, in Finchley, North London, to Elizabeth (Grew) and Edward Max Blume, who worked in sales. Her parents were from Jewish families from Belarus. Educated at Badminton School in Bristol and Fern Hill Manor in New Milton, Claire expressed early interest in the arts and was stage trained as an adolescent at the Guildhall School, under the guidance of Eileen Thorndike, and then at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Marking her professional debut on BBC radio, she subsequently took her first curtain call with the Oxford Repertory Theatre in 1946 in the production of "It Depends What You Mean". She then received early critical accolades for her Shakespearean ingénues in "King John", "The Winter's Tale" and, notably, her Ophelia in "Hamlet" at age 17 at Stratford-on-Avon opposite alternating Hamlets Paul Scofield and Robert Helpmann. By 1949 Claire was making her West End debut with "The Lady's Not For Burning" with the up-and-coming stage actor Richard Burton.
A most becoming and beguiling dark-haired actress whose photogenic, slightly pinched beauty was accented by an effortless elegance and poise, Claire's inauspicious film debut came with a prime role in the British courtroom film drama The Blind Goddess (1948). It was her second film, when Charles Chaplin himself selected her specifically to be his young leading lady in the classic sentimental drama Limelight (1952), that propelled her to stardom. Her bravura turn as a young suicide-bent ballerina saved from despair by an aging music hall clown (Chaplin) was exquisitely touching and sparked an enviable but surprisingly sporadic career in films.
Despite the sudden film attention, Claire continued her formidable presence on the Shakespearean stage. Joining the Old Vic Company for the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons, she appeared as Helena, Viola, Juliet, Jessica, Miranda, Virgilia, Cordelia and (again) Ophelia in a highly successful tenure. Touring Canada and the United States as Juliet, she made her Broadway bow in the star-crossed-lover role in 1956, also playing the Queen in "Richard II". A strong presence on both the London and New York stages over the years, she gave other powerful performances with "The Trojan Women", "Vivat! Vivat! Regina!", "Hedda Gabler", "A Doll's House" and "A Streetcar Named Desire". Much later in life she performed in a superb one-woman show entitled "These Are Women: A Portrait of Shakespeare's Heroines" that included monologues from several of her acclaimed stage performances.
Claire's stylish and regal presence was simply ideal for mature period films, and she appeared opposite a roster of Hollywood's most talented leading men, including Laurence Olivier in the title role of Richard III (1955), Richard Burton and Fredric March in Alexander the Great (1956), Yul Brynner in The Brothers Karamazov (1958), and Brynner and Charlton Heston in the DeMille epic The Buccaneer (1958), in which she had a rare dressed-down role as a spirited pirate girl. On the more contemporary scene, she appeared with Burton in two classic film dramas: the stark "kitchen sink" British stage piece Look Back in Anger (1959) and the Cold War espionage thriller The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965). In addition she courted tinges of controversy, playing a housewife gone bonkers in the offbeat sudser The Chapman Report (1962) and a lesbian in the supernatural chiller The Haunting (1963).
Claire met first husband Rod Steiger while performing with him on stage in 1959's "Rashomon". They married that year and in 1960 had a daughter, Anna, who grew up to become a well-regarded opera singer. Claire and Rod appeared in two lesser films together, The Illustrated Man (1969) and Three Into Two Won't Go (1969), in 1969. That same year, they divorced after 10 tumultuous years.
As with other maturing actresses during the 1970s, Claire looked toward classy film roles in TV movies for sustenance, appearing in Backstairs at the White House (1979) as First Lady Edith Wilson and in Brideshead Revisited (1981), for which she was nominated for an Emmy. Also lauded were the epic miniseries Ellis Island (1984); a remake of Terence Rattigan's Separate Tables (1983); The Ghost Writer (1984), an acclaimed adaption of Philip Roth's novel ; and Shadowlands (1986), the latter earning her a British Television Award. Claire married Roth the writer (her third marriage) in 1990 after a brief second marriage to producer Hillard Elkins (1969-1972). The union with Roth lasted five years.
Claire appeared in several Shakespearean teleplays over the decades while also portraying a choice selection of historical royals, including Czarina Alexandra and Katherine of Aragon. On daytime drama, she delightfully played matriarch and murderess Orlena Grimaldi on the daytime drama As the World Turns (1956) starting in 1993. She left the role in 1995 and was replaced.
Continuing sporadically in films from the 1970s on, Claire graced such films as the stylish British social comedy A Severed Head (1971), the tender coming-of-age drama Red Sky at Morning (1971) as Richard Thomas's mother, and one of that year's versions of Ibsen's A Doll's House (1973) (Jane Fonda starred as Nora in the other). She also movingly played George C. Scott's estranged wife in Islands in the Stream (1977) and had a very brief cameo as Hera in Clash of the Titans (1981), a small part as a manipulative mother in Déjà Vu (1985), and mature parts in the romantic dramedy Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) and classic Woody Allen drama Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989).
In the new millennium, Claire has been seen in such quality films as and The Book of Eve (2002), Imagining Argentina (2003), The King's Speech (2010) (as Queen Mary), And While We Were Here (2012), Max Rose (2013) starring a dramatic Jerry Lewis, and Miss Dalí (2018). She has also made appearances on such TV miniseries as The Ten Commandments (2005) and Summer of Rockets (2019).
Claire wrote two memoirs. The first was the more career-oriented "Limelight and After: The Education of an Actress," released in 1982. Her more controversial second book, "Leaving a Doll's House: A Memoir," published in 1996, focused on her personal life. - Actor
- Soundtrack
David Bamber was born on 19 September 1954 in Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Valkyrie (2008), Miss Potter (2006) and The Bourne Identity (2002). He has been married to Julia Swift since July 1982. They have two children.- Actress
- Director
Attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
She was nominated for the 2008 Tony Award (New York City) for Best Actress in a Drama for "The Homecoming".
She was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award (New York City) for Best Actress in a Drama for "A Moon for the Misbegotten".
She won the 2005 Olivier Award for Best Actress & London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance as the title role in Hedda Gabler.
She was awarded the 2003 London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in Mourning Becomes Electra performed at the Royal National Theatre.
She was awarded the 1999 London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer and the London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Newcomer for her performance in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore performed at the Young Vic Theatre.
She studied English at Oxford University.
Other theatre credits include: Macbeth (Lady Macbeth) Shakespeares Globe, London; As You Like It (Rosalind) RSC Swan Theatre, Stratford Upon Avon & Sheffield Crucible; The Cherry Orchard (Varya) Royal National Theatre, London; Three Sisters (Masha) Royal National Theatre, London; The Coast of Utopia, Royal National Theatre, London; The Heiress, Royal National Theatre, London; and Le Misanthrope, Chichester Festival Theatre
Radio: The Rape of Lucrece, Emma, Brideshead Revisited, Dr Zhivago, Martin Chuzzlewit
TV: Nurse Jackie (Showtime) The Shadow Line (BBC) Dolley Madison (The American Experience, PBS) Prime Suspect VII (BBC) Shackleton (BBC)
Film: The Kings Speech
In 2011, Eve returned to Shakespeare's Globe in London to play Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing.- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Briers was born on 14 January 1934 in Merton, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor, known for Watership Down (1978), Much Ado About Nothing (1993) and Peter Pan (2003). He was married to Ann Davies. He died on 17 February 2013 in London, England, UK.- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Andrew Buchan was born on 19 February 1979 in Stockport, Cheshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for All the Money in the World (2017), Broadchurch (2013) and Garrow's Law (2009). He has been married to Amy Nuttall since 8 September 2012. They have one child.- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Leo Bill was born on 31 August 1980 in Warwickshire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for 28 Days Later (2002), Becoming Jane (2007) and Gosford Park (2001).- Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
James Booth was born on 19 December 1927 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Zulu (1964), American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990) and Airport '77 (1977). He was married to Paula Delaney. He died on 11 August 2005 in Hadleigh, Essex, England, UK.