British Actresses You Should Know: Imelda Staunton

Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer of tremendous talent and versatility. Her mother, Bridie, was a hairdresser, and her father, Joseph, a laborer. She grew up in a London apartment above her mother’s hairdressing salon. Both parents came to London from County Mayo, Ireland, neither from a theatrical or affluent background, although Bridie was a natural performer who played fiddle and concertina. 

But Staunton shone in school drama productions, for which Bridie did the hairstyling, and her teachers and parents encouraged her to apply to RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts). There, she met Timothy Spall, a lifelong friend with whom she has appeared in various projects before beginning a career in repertory theater in 1976. Staunton has performed in multiple plays and musicals throughout her career, as well as in film, TV, and voiceover work.

She has been nominated for 13 Olivier Awards, winning the Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Gypsy. Her other stage appearances include The Beggar's Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Uncle Vanya, Guys and Dolls, Entertaining Mr Sloane, and Good People. She married Jim Carter (Mr. Carson in Downton Abbey) in 1983, and they both appeared in Guys and Dolls. Their daughter Bessie Carter follows in the family's footsteps, currently playing Prudence Featherington (the tallest sister) in Bridgerton, and having appeared as Violet Woodhouse in Beecham House.

In Peter's Friends, it's the ten-year reunion for a group of college friends, once the stars of a prestigious Oxbridge drama group. They get together to celebrate Christmas at the house of Peter Morton (Stephen Fry). The future for Peter and his inherited stately mansion is uncertain, and this may be the last reunion. 

Staunton is Mary Anderson, married to Roger (Hugh Laurie), a TV commercial writing team who have recently experienced a great tragedy with the loss of a child. The 1992 film also stars Kenneth Branagh, who also directed, and Emma Thompson. Peter’s Friends is available on Prime Video.

As nurse to heroine Viola de Lesseps (Gwyneth Paltrow) in Tom Stoppard’s Shakespearean romp Shakespeare in Love, Staunton once again transforms a minor role into something much more vital and entertaining. She’s the one who conspires to make possible the forbidden love affair between Viola and the struggling William Shakespeare (Joseph Fiennes). 

In this clever, witty take on Shakespeare and the business of theater, the superb cast includes Judi Dench as Queen Elizabeth I and Colin Firth as Wessex, Viola’s intended husband. Shakespeare In Love is available on Apple TV, Google Play Movies, and Vudu.

We most recently saw Staunton in the final two seasons of Netflix’s The Crown, where she had not only two tough acts to follow (Claire Foy and Olivia Colman) but also the tricky honor of portraying the monarch in some of her least sympathetic moments. Staunton was on set for the final season when the death of Elizabeth II was announced, and she and the other actors chose to finish the day’s filming. 

The final season, with its gloomy dark interiors of Royal palaces, the anticipation of what was to come in the real world, and some remarkably stilted writing, did few of its cast any favors. Staunton was to receive negative criticism from Dickie Arbiter, the Queen’s former press secretary, who complained of Staunton’s performance as “gloomy ... glum and boring.” Arbiter made things worse by claiming the late Queen was a jolly soul whose sorrow was reserved for such occasions as the deaths of dogs or people. All six seasons are streaming on Netflix.

Hugh Laurie and Staunton again portray a husband and wife team as Mr. and Mrs. Palmer in this 1995 adaptation of Sense & Sensibility. Written by Ang Lee and with a screenplay by Emma Thompson, who also played Elinor. 

The Palmers are an odd couple – he’s a perpetually grumpy politician with a deeply hidden heart of gold, and she’s a cheery ray of sunshine who laughs at him. Once again, it’s a great example of ensemble acting and a pair of skilled actors making the most of comparatively small roles.

Staunton won the 2004 BAFTA for her performance in the title role of Mike Leigh’s film Vera Drake, set in 1950s London. A kind and generous woman, Vera is beloved for her dedication to her family and her generosity toward others, including, in this era when abortion was illegal, helping women deal with pregnancies they cannot carry to term. 

She sees her services as a necessary kindness to her neighbors, but the law sees it as a disgrace. When word gets out, her family are horrified and ashamed, while she believes she did nothing wrong: “I help young girls out.” The cast includes Jim Broadbent, Heather Craney, Philip Davis, and Daniel Mays.

Written by the late, talented Victoria Wood as part of the 2000 Christmas special, With All The Trimmings, Plots & Proposals is probably one of the best Jane Austen spoofs in existence. Once again, it’s an ensemble act with Staunton as Mrs. Cottisloe, wife of Dr. Cottisloe (Bill Paterson), along with a cast of talented actors. 

The piece included Honeysuckle Weeks, Alan Rickman, Geraldine McEwan, Anne Reid, Peter Postlethwaite, and Richard E. Grant. British TV garden star Alan Titmarsh makes a brief appearance (as a gardener, natch!), and Wood herself cameos is the conniving Miss Tweed.

Set in the 1840s, these chronicles of the inhabitants of a small northern town are based on three short works by Elizabeth Gaskell, Cranford, Mr. Harrison's Confessions, and My Lady Ludlow, adapted by Sue Birtwhistle and Susie Conklin. Staunton is Miss Pole, a dedicated gossip in a community of gossips. A bit of Jane Austen, a bit of Middlemarch, and according to Telly Visions’ review, a costume version of The Avengers, Cranford is a treat that, dealing with the sheltered lives of gossipy female inhabitants of a small town, isn’t always as cozy as you might expect. 

There is excitement and dismay as a new, young doctor arrives in town, and the railway (considered a dangerous innovation) moves ever closer. Meanwhile, there are romances, marriages, gentle humor, and darker aspects of life, such as poverty and disease. Eileen Atkins appears as Deborah Jenkyns, the self-styled moralist of the community, and Judi Dench plays her younger sister, Mattie. 

Both Cranford and Return to Cranford are available on BritBox.

In a final collaboration with Victoria Wood, who wrote and directed a piece for theater, The Day We Sang is a feel-good movie set in Manchester and tells the story of two people who met when the city organized a choir for children in 1929. Forty years later, Enid (Staunton) and Jimmy ‘Tubby’ Baker (Michael Ball) are invited to a televised reunion. 

Tubby is attracted to Enid, but she’s involved with her married boss, who she believes will leave his wife for her. Tubby remembers defying his family to join the choir all those years ago and draws on that strength to persuade Enid that they are meant to be together, singing and dancing all the way. Victoria Wood described her work as “Moulin Rouge with slippers.”

"When they entered the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom, they found Professor Umbridge seated at the teacher's desk, wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the previous night and the black velvet bow on top of her head. Harry was again reminded forcibly of a large fly perched unwisely on top of an even larger toad." - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Played with her usual gusto and energy, Staunton makes a villainous Dolores Umbridge, a half-blood witch dedicated to the destruction of the Ministry of Magic and Hogwood itself. Spreading fear and dislike, she is appointed as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts, then Hogwarts High Inquisitor, and finally Headmistress after Professor Albus Dumbledore is fired. She ends up in Azkaban, and of course, she’s a member of Slytherin. (What did you expect?)

Directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft, Finding Your Feet is a 2017 charmer more than the fun senior-bait it appears to be at first sight. Its characters are middle-aged, middle-class, sometimes quirky people for the most part, and heroine Sandra (Staunton) leads an enviable, posh life until her husband’s infidelity is revealed at his retirement party (an affair with her best friend, no less!). 

She takes refuge with her estranged sister Bif (Celia Imrie), who leads a bohemian lifestyle in a working-class, funky bit of London. Bif introduces her to hunky barge-dwelling handyman Charlie (Spall) and the local community dance center, giving Sandra a fresh outlook on life. To the film’s credit, it shows us the downside of senior life – too many funerals, illness, loneliness – and then allows us to indulge in a bit of fantasy, concluding in a flashmob scene in Rome.

Finding Your Feet is available on Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play Movies, and Vudu.

Loosely based on the memoirs of world-renowned striptease artist Gypsy Rose Lee, Gypsy is the story of the irrepressible Rose (Staunton), the ultimate stage mother battling heartbreak and difficulties for her talented daughter. Critic Michael Billington wrote in The Guardian: 

Imelda Staunton catches every facet of the character, who gives one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen in musical theatre. At first, she seems the kind of pushy, plucky, determined showbiz mum we’ve all met. But Staunton, as the evening goes on, introduces infinite shades into the character....Staunton’s tremendous performance reminded me more of Brecht’s Mother Courage: another woman who, through her single-minded devotion to her children, inevitably loses them. 

You can watch more excerpts from Jonathan Kent’s award-winning production of Gypsy from Season 44 (2016) of Great Performances. 

A gorgeous house on the English coast, murderous goings on, and dysfunctional family relationships have been a winning combination for so many British dramas, and so too is the case with Flesh & Blood. Glamorous Vivien (Francesca Annis) has started a love affair with Mark (Stephen Rea) and moving things along too fast, according to Vivien’s adult children Helen (Claudie Blakley), Jake (Russell Tovey) and Natalie (Lydia Leonard). 

They distrust Mark and his intentions, but the family should look at Vivien’s oh-so-nice but nosey neighbor, Mary (Staunton), who, we discover, has her own agenda. The series is available via PBS Passport and the PBS Masterpiece Channel on Amazon.

Last but certainly not least, after six seasons of starring her husband, Downton Abbey found a way to include his wife upon transferring to the big screen. Julian Fellowes’ 2019 film based on the TV series is set in 1927, with many of the original cast, including retired butler Jim Carter (Carson), called back into service. He’s recalled to handle any delicate problems that may arise from a visit by the royal family (it was the first time in many years that Staunton and her husband were acting in the same production, although their time on set overlapped only a short while). 

As you can imagine, a heap of skulduggery and intrigue is going on (spies! A broken boiler!) but without much resolution. But it doesn’t matter; if you liked the series, you’ll like this. Staunton plays Lady Maud Bagshaw, lady-in-waiting to Queen Mary and a cousin of the Crawley family who reveals a Big Secret. Her maid, Lucy Smith (Tuppence Middleton), is her daughter, resulting from a ten-year-long secret affair with her husband's army servant, Jack Smith. She hasn’t yet found a good way of telling Lucy who she is or that she’s an heiress, which may threaten Downton Abbey's survival.

The Downton Abbey movies are streaming on Peacock.