Imelda Staunton

Dame 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 stage productions in the West End and across the UK. Throughout her career, she has received numerous accolades including a British Academy Film Award, and five Laurence Olivier Awards as well as nominations for an Academy Award, three British Academy Television Awards, three Golden Globes, and three Primetime Emmy Awards.

On London stage, she has received fourteen Laurence Olivier Award nominations, winning the Best Supporting Role in a Play for her work in both A Chorus of Disapproval / The Corn Is Green (1985) followed by four wins for Best Actress in a Musical for Into the Woods (1991), Sweeney Todd (2013), Gypsy (2016), and Hello, Dolly! (2024). She was Olivier-nominated for The Beggar's Opera (1982), The Wizard of Oz (1988), Uncle Vanya (1988), Guys and Dolls (1997), Entertaining Mr Sloane (2010), Good People (2015), and Follies (2018).

On film, Staunton took early roles in films such as Peter's Friends (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Sense and Sensibility (1995), and Shakespeare in Love (1998). Staunton won a BAFTA Award for playing the title role of a working-class woman in Vera Drake (2004). She later gained notoriety for playing Dolores Umbridge in two of the Harry Potter films in 2007 and 2010. She also acted in Nanny McPhee (2005), Another Year (2010), Pride (2014), and Downton Abbey (2019), and voiced roles in Chicken Run (2000), Arthur Christmas (2011), and the Paddington film series since 2014.

On television, Staunton starred in the sitcoms Up the Garden Path from (1990–1993) and Is it Legal? (1995–1998). She received Primetime Emmy Award and British Academy Television Award nominations for her portrayals of Alma Hitchcock in the HBO television film The Girl (2012) and Queen Elizabeth II in the Netflix historical series The Crown (2022–2023). Staunton also took roles in Antonia and Jane (1990), Citizen X (1995), David Copperfield (1999), My Family and Other Animals (2005), Cranford (2007), and Flesh and Blood (2020).