Brenda Blethyn
Acting
Born: February 20, 1946 (age 80) · Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
Highest Rated
Biography
Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work. Born into a working class home in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming. In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups; then, after a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-living sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made her real cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews. Blethyn has since appeared in an eclectic range of films, including independent comedies such as Saving Grace (2000), Plots with a View (2002) and Clubland (2007), music-themed films like Little Voice (1998) and Beyond the Sea (2004) and big-budget dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). In addition, Blethyn has appeared in television productions including The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), Belonging (2004) and War and Peace (2007). Her most recent leading role in TV drama is the title role in Vera (2011), playing Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. Description above from the Wikipedia article Brenda Blethyn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known for
Pride & Prejudice
2005
Atonement
2007
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
The Witches
1990
A River Runs Through It
1992
Secrets & Lies
1996
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
2005
Saving Grace
2000
The Wild Thornberrys Movie
2002
The Storyteller
1988
Little Voice
1998
The Sleeping Dictionary
2003
Photos (3)
Movies (53)
Pride & Prejudice
Mrs. Bennet
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Mama Heffalump (voice)
Atonement
Grace Turner
A River Runs Through It
Mrs. Maclean
Secrets & Lies
Cynthia Rose Purley
The Witches
Mrs Jenkins
The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
Undertaking Betty
Betty Rhys-Jones
The Sleeping Dictionary
Aggie
Saving Grace
Grace Trevethyn
Sonny
Jewel
Beyond the Sea
Polly Cassotto
Little Voice
Mari Hoff
Charlotte
Grossmama (voice)
Daddy and Them
Julia Montgomery
Girls' Night
Dawn Wilkinson
Blizzard
Aunt Millie
Mary and Martha
Martha
Ethel & Ernest
Ethel Briggs (voice)
Lovely & Amazing
Jane Marks
Music from Another Room
Grace Swan
Pumpkin
Judy Romanoff
RKO 281
Louella Parsons
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot
Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
Mama Heffalump (voice)
Two Men in Town
Emily Smith
Dead Man Running
Mother
On a Clear Day
Joan
Remember Me?
Shirley
London River
Elisabeth
Henry VI Part 1
Joan La Pucelle
Piccadilly Jim
Nesta Pett
In the Winter Dark
Ida Stubbs
My Angel
Headmistress
Mysterious Creatures
Wendy Ainscow
Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
Narrator
Dragonfly
Elsie
Clubland
Jean
Grown-Ups
Gloria
The Calling
Sister Ignatious
Belonging
Jess Copplestone
The Storyteller: A Story Short
The Storyteller's Wife
Claws
Sylvia
King Lear
Cordelia
The Imitation Game
1980
Floating Off
Janice
A Way of Life
Annette
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths
Mama Heffalump (voice)
On the Nose
Mrs. Delaney
The Yellow Bird
Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
Night Train
Alice Mooney
The Bullion Boys
Gwen
The Shawl
Miss A
TV Shows (25)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Linnie Malcolm · 1 eps
Vera
DCI Vera Stanhope · 56 eps
Tales of the Unexpected
Carol Hutchins · 1 eps
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Angela Kimble · 1 eps
Playhouse
Gloria · 1 eps
Rumpole of the Bailey
Pauline · 1 eps
Yes Minister
1 eps
Playhouse Presents
Nina · 1 eps
A Woman of Substance
Older Emma Harte · 8 eps
The Play on One
Miss A · 1 eps
The Storyteller
Storyteller's Wife · 1 eps
Screen One
Gwen · 1 eps
Dalgliesh
Angela Foley · 6 eps
Outside Edge
Miriam Dervish · 22 eps
Maigret
1 eps
War and Peace
Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa · 4 eps
The Buddha of Suburbia
Margaret Amir · 4 eps
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
Ticki Tocquet · 6 eps
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
Auguste Rottgen-van Pels · 2 eps
Kate & Koji
Kate Abbott · 12 eps
Chance in a Million
Alison Little · 18 eps
Between The Sheets
Hazel Delany · 6 eps
All Good Things
Shirley Frame · 6 eps
Death of an Expert Witness
Angela Foley · 6 eps
The Mysteries
Mary Magdalene / Mary · 3 eps
Self / Appearances (16)
The Graham Norton Show
Self · 1 eps
The One Show
Self - Guest · 1 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · 1 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter · 1 eps
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Winner · 1 eps
GMTV
Self · 1 eps
The Oscars
Self · 2 eps
V Graham Norton
Self · 1 eps
The Frank Skinner Show
Self · 2 eps
So Graham Norton
Self - Guest · 1 eps
HBO First Look
self · 1 eps
This Morning
Self · 1 eps
The Best of So Graham Norton
Self (archive footage)
Inside the Golden Statue
Self
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Self
Vera, Farewell Pet
Herself / Vera
