Brenda Blethyn
Acteur·rice
20 février 1946 · 80 years old
Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
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
As an actor
Fools
Strawberry Fields Forever
Grannie Nellie
King of the Teds
Nina
A Woman of Substance
2026 · Older Emma Harle
Dragonfly
2025 · Elsie
Vera, Farewell Pet
2025 · Herself / Vera
Charlotte
2022 · Grossmama (voice)
Kate & Koji
2020 · Kate Abbott
Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
2018 · Narrator
Ethel & Ernest
2016 · Ethel Briggs (voice)
Two Men in Town
2014 · Emily Smith
Mary and Martha
2013 · Martha
Playhouse Presents
2012 · Nina
The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
2011
My Angel
2011 · Headmistress
Vera
2011 · DCI Vera Stanhope
The Calling
2010 · Sister Ignatious
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths
2010 · Mama Heffalump (voice)
Dead Man Running
2009 · Mother
London River
2009 · Elisabeth
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
2009 · Mama Heffalump (voice)
Atonement
2007 · Grace Turner
Clubland
2007 · Jean
War and Peace
2007 · Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa
The Graham Norton Show
2007 · Self
Mysterious Creatures
2006 · Wendy Ainscow
The One Show
2006 · Self - Guest
The New Adventures of Old Christine
2006 · Angela Kimble
Pride & Prejudice
2005 · Mrs. Bennet
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
2005 · Mama Heffalump (voice)
On a Clear Day
2005 · Joan
Beyond the Sea
2004 · Polly Cassotto
Belonging
2004 · Jess Copplestone
Piccadilly Jim
2004 · Nesta Pett
A Way of Life
2004 · Annette
The Sleeping Dictionary
2003 · Aggie
Blizzard
2003 · Aunt Millie
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot
2003 · Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
Between The Sheets
2003 · Hazel Delany
Undertaking Betty
2002 · Betty Rhys-Jones
Pumpkin
2002 · Judy Romanoff
Sonny
2002 · Jewel
Lovely & Amazing
2002 · Jane Marks
The Yellow Bird
2002 · Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
The Wild Thornberrys Movie
2002 · Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
V Graham Norton
2002 · Self
On the Nose
2001 · Mrs. Delaney
Daddy and Them
2001 · Julia Montgomery
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
2001 · Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
Saving Grace
2000 · Grace Trevethyn
RKO 281
1999 · Louella Parsons
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999 · Linnie Malcolm
Girls' Night
1998 · Dawn Wilkinson
Little Voice
1998 · Mari Hoff
Music from Another Room
1998 · Grace Swan
In the Winter Dark
1998 · Ida Stubbs
Inside the Golden Statue
1998 · Self
Night Train
1998 · Alice Mooney
So Graham Norton
1998 · Self - Guest
Remember Me?
1997 · Shirley
Secrets & Lies
1996 · Cynthia Rose Purley
The Frank Skinner Show
1995 · Self
Outside Edge
1994 · Miriam Dervish
The Bullion Boys
1993 · Gwen
The Buddha of Suburbia
1993 · Margaret Amir
GMTV
1993 · Self
A River Runs Through It
1992 · Mrs. Maclean
Maigret
1992
HBO First Look
1992 · self
All Good Things
1991 · Shirley Frame
The Witches
1990 · Mrs Jenkins
The Shawl
1989 · Miss A
The Labours of Erica
1989
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
1989 · Ticki Tocquet
Screen One
1989 · Gwen
The Storyteller: A Story Short
1988 · The Storyteller's Wife
The Storyteller
1988 · Storyteller's Wife
This Morning
1988 · Self
The Play on One
1988 · Miss A
Claws
1987 · Sylvia
The Mysteries
1985 · Mary Magdalene / Mary
Chance in a Million
1984 · Alison Little
Who Dares Wins
1984 · Various
Weekend Playhouse
1984 · Jean Saunders
Henry VI Part 1
1983 · Joan La Pucelle
Floating Off
1983 · Janice
Dalgliesh
1983 · Angela Foley
Death of an Expert Witness
1983 · Angela Foley
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
1982 · Self
King Lear
1982 · Cordelia
Say No to Strangers
1981 · Policewoman
Grown-Ups
1980 · Gloria
Bedroom Farce
1980 · Kate
The Imitation Game
1980
Sheppey
1980 · Miss Grange
Yes Minister
1980
Tales of the Unexpected
1979 · Carol Hutchins
Rumpole of the Bailey
1975 · Pauline
Playhouse
1974 · Gloria
The Oscars
1953 · Self
Golden Globe Awards
1944 · Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter, Self - Winner