 She appeared in the Cambridge Footlights with John Cleese and Graham Chapman
in 1962, was taught English by F.R. Leavis, is famously vulgar and outspoken,
considers herself one of Britain's best character actresses, and describes
herself as "short, fat and curly". Miriam Margolyes has enjoyed over 30 years of
success as a comedy actress and voice artist, winning numerous awards, including
an Oscar nomination and BAFTA award for her vast Mrs Mingott in The Age of
Innocence (US, 1993), a Los Angeles Critics Circle award for her
Flora Finching in Little Dorrit (d. Christine Edzard, 1987), memorably falling
completely head over heels backwards from a sofa, and an Olivier award for her
acclaimed solo theatre show Dickens' Women.
She was born into a Jewish family in Oxford on 18 May 1941, but studied at
Newnham College, Cambridge. She didn't go to drama school, but auditioned for
the BBC drama department and began her career in radio roles. She now has one of
the most famous voices in radio and television, having performed countless
voiceovers for commercials. Most of her work has been on screen, beginning with
'Enter Solly Gold' (Theatre 625, BBC, tx. 17/10/1965). Ten years later she had her first
real success as one of The Girls of Slender Means (BBC, tx. 3/5/1975), in an adaptation
of Muriel Spark's novel.
Although her work can range from children's shows to the classics, via the
melodrama of The Life and Loves of a She-Devil (BBC, 1986) and The History Man
(BBC, 1981), she is most famous for comedy, appearing in several series of
Blackadder (BBC, 1983-89), most notably as the Spanish Infanta; in
quasi-alternative comedy sketch show A Kick Up the Eighties (BBC, 1981-84); and as
a comic nurse in William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (US/Canada, 1996).
Popular with her peers, she is perhaps even more famous in America, where she has made nearly all of her films and appears regularly on talk shows. She was awarded an an OBE in 2002.
Janet Moat
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FILM & TV CREDITS
