[57], Also in 2009, Blethyn played a Benedictine nun in Jan Dunn's film The Calling, also starring Joanna Scanlan and Pauline McLynn. Film roles then came thick and fast following Secrets & Lies (1996). [24] The film became Blethyn's biggest box-office success of the year with a worldwide gross of $5 million only,[25] and earned the actress mixed reviews from professional critics. [24][26] She also did the UK voice of Dr. Florence Mountfitchet in the Bob the Builder special, "The Knights of Can-A-Lot". Her mother, Louisa Kathleen (née Supple; 10 May 1904 – 1992), was a housewife and former maid, who met Blethyn's father, William Charles Bottle (5 March 1894–c. Blethyn, 59, has been a recent regular on the movie world's red carpet, picking up Oscar nominations in 1997 (Secrets and Lies) and 1999 (Little Voice) and winning best actress Bafta in 1997 for Secrets and Lies. The official database for Broadway theatre information. [42], In 2007, she appeared in the independent Australian coming-of-age comedy Clubland. Born. [73][74] Brenda Anne Blethyn OBE (néeBottle; 20 February 1946) is an English actress.She is known for her portrayals of working-class women with eccentric qualities. "[18] The following year, Blethyn received her third Golden Globe nomination for her role in the film, which grossed an unexpected $24 million worldwide. Gender. The shows she participated in during the following three years included Troilus and Cressida, Tamburlaine the Great, The Fruits of Enlightenment opposite Sir Ralph Richardson, Bedroom Farce, The Passion and Strife.[4]. For episode "Persona". Blethyn followed this with roles in Shakespearean adaptations for the BBC, playing Cordelia in King Lear and Joan of Arc in Henry VI, Part 1. [49] Blethyn also appeared as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa in a supporting role in the internationally produced 2007 miniseries War and Peace by RAI, filmed in Russia and Lithuania.[50]. Blethyn's first film of 2000 was the indie comedy Saving Grace with Craig Ferguson. Brenda Blethyn (born 20 February 1946) is a British actress. Brenda Blethyn: bio, photos, awards, nominations and more at Emmys.com. Golden Globes Awards Awards Database. [1] Before WWII, he found work as a mechanic at the Vauxhall car factory in Luton, Bedfordshire. Directed by Mike Leigh, their first collaboration marked the start of a professional relationship which would later earn both of them huge acclaim. "[17] Both Blethyn's performance and the film received rave reviews, and the following year, she was again Oscar nominated, this time for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. Witches received generally positive reviews, as did Blethyn, whom Craig Butler of All Media Guide considered as a "valuable support" for her performance of the mother, Mrs Jenkins. Brenda Blethyn biography and filmography. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and thr She also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her portrayal. "[71] Blethyn received a nomination in the Best Voice Performance category at the British Animation Awards 2018. On her role of a housekeeper in a cast that also features Keira Knightley, Saoirse Ronan and James McAvoy, Blethyn commented: "It's a tiny, tiny part. [35] Afterwards, Blethyn starred in A Way of Life, playing a bossy and censorious mother-in-law of a struggling young woman, played by Stephanie James, and in the television film Belonging, starring as a middle-aged childless woman, who is left to look after the elderly relatives of her husband and to make a new life for herself, after he leaves her for a younger woman. She experienced a major career breakthrough with her leading role in Mike Leigh's 1996 drama Secrets & Lies, for which she received multiple awards, including Best Actress at Cannes, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award nomination. Playing a character that was created specifically with her in mind, Blethyn portrayed a bawdy comedian with a sinking career faced with the romantic life of her young son, played by Khan Chittenden. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. The show stars Blethyn … That it reached a wider audience surprised me." "[31] Blethyn eventually received more acclaim when she accepted the lead role in the dark comedy Plots with a View. "[51] The same year, she appeared in a single season ten episode of the NBC legal drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. "[37] The film became a minor success at the international box-office chart, barely grossing $1 million worldwide,[38] but was awarded a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Film and Screenplay. Between 1990 and 1996, she starred in five different plays, including An Ideal Husband at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, Tales from the Vienna Woods and Wildest Dreams with the Royal Shakespeare Company and her American stage debut Absent Friends, for which eventually received a Theatre World Award for Outstanding New Talent. [33], Blethyn co-starred as Bobby Darin's mother Polly Cassotto in Beyond the Sea, a 2004 biographical film about the singer. 3 Nominations. Most known for her movie appearances in The Witches, A River Runs Through It, and Little Hope; and TV shows like Death of an Expert Witness, Kate & Koji, and Vera. She made her big-screen debut with a small role in Nicolas Roeg's 1990 film adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Witches. Brenda Blethyn - Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE (born 20 February 1946) is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has since appeared in a range of big-budget and independent features, including Girls' Night, Music from Another Room, Night Train (all 1998), Saving Grace (2000), Lovely and Amazing (2001), Pumpkin, Sonny, Plots with a View (all 2002), Beyond the Sea, A Way of Life (both 2004), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Clubland, and Atonement (both 2007). The veteran has been an on-screen presence since 1980, and a stage presence for longer than that. [52] Blethyn again provided the voice of Mama Heffalump in the animated Disney direct-to-video animated sequel Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009). The announcement was made by star Brenda Blethyn at the Winter TCA Press Tour.. The film is based on the graphic memoir of the same name written by Raymond Briggs, and follows Briggs' parents, Ethel and Ernest, through their period of marriage from the 1920s to their deaths in the 1970s. Brenda Blethyn interview: a new series of Vera sees TV's number one lady detective back in the mac How a sense of humour and a complete lack of … [53][54] In the film, for which Blethyn had to learn French, she portrays a mother waiting for news of her missing child after the London bombings of July 2005, striking up a friendship with a Muslim man, whose child has also disappeared. Born in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn was the youngest of nine children in a Roman Catholic, working-class family. For her improvised performance, Blethyn was praised with a variety of awards, including the Best Actress Award at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival,[8] the British Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. After winning the London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress (for Steaming) in 1980, Blethyn made her screen debut, starring in the play Grown Ups as part of the BBC's Playhouse strand. Primetime Emmy. [11] Forging another collaboration with the director, the actress was cast alongside Julie Walters for Hurran's next project, 1998's Girls' Night, a drama film about two sisters-in-law, one dying of cancer, who fulfil a lifelong dream of going to Las Vegas, Nevada after an unexpected jackpot win on the bingo. An incredible, Oscar worthy scene from Brenda Blethyn. "[64] In January 2015, Blethyn was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 19th Capri Hollywood International Film Festival. She also had roles in comedies such as Yes Minister (1981), Who Dares Wins and a variety of roles in the BBC Radio 4 comedy Delve Special alongside Stephen Fry and a role in the school comedy/drama King Street Junior. In Billy Bob Thornton's Daddy and Them, she portrayed an English neurotic psychologist, who feels excluded by the American clan she married into due to her nationality. [61] Blethyn who received the 2017 RTS North East & Border Television Award for her performance, has continued to portray Vera and as of 2020[update] has starred in ten series of the show. "[61] Averaging 7.8 million people per episode in the United Kingdom, Vera became one of the best-selling British dramas of the 2010s. Loosely based upon the real experiences by writer Kay Mellor, the production was originally destined for television until Granada Productions found backing from Showtime. [1] Her parents were the first to introduce Blethyn to the cinema, taking her to the cinema weekly. Blethyn followed this with roles in Shakespearean adaptations for the BBC, playing Cordelia in King Lear and Joan of Arc She earned her second Academy Award nomination two years later, for her performance in Little Voice (1998). Award: 2005: London Film Critics Association Best British Supporting Actress - … Blethyn's breakthrough came with Mike Leigh's 1996 drama Secrets & Lies. [28] Her performance as the overprotective wine-soaked mother of a disabled teenage boy generated Blethyn mostly critical reviews. [40] Starring alongside Keira Knightley and Donald Sutherland, Blethyn played Mrs. Bennet, a fluttery mother of five sisters who desperately schemes to marry her daughters off to men of means. [43] The film was released in Australia in June 2007, and selected for screening at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival where it was picked up by Warner Independent Pictures for a $4 million deal and gained glowing reviews. Brenda Blethyn is a British actress who has worked in theatre, television and film. "[46] The film garnered generally positive reviews from film critics and received a Best Picture nomination at the 2008 Academy Awards. [62], Blethyn's only film of 2011 was the Christmas drama My Angel, written, directed and produced by Stephen Cookson. 1 Wins. menu . Saving Grace. [67], In 2014, Blethyn reteamed with filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb to film the French-American drama film Two Men in Town (2014), a remake of the 1973 film. Blethyn's last film of 1998 was Little Voice opposite Jane Horrocks and Michael Caine. 1997 Winner. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) For playing "Linnie Malcolm/Caroline Cantwell". Blethyn pursued an administrative career before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting in her late 20s. Initially broadcast to mixed reviews, it has since received favourable reviews, with Chitra Ramaswamy from The Guardian writing in 2016: "Blethyn is the best thing about Vera [...] She has the loveliest voice, at once girlish and gruff. Nominee. Shows; People; Theatres; Awards; search. Besides critical acclaim Secrets & Lies also became a financial success; budgeted at an estimated $4.5 million, the film grossed an unexpected $13.5 million in its limited theatrical run in North America. The film scored a generally positive reception but was financially unsuccessful, leading to a direct-to-TV release stateside. Brenda Blethyn is an English screen and stage actress. Feb 20, 1946 ... Award. 1997 Winner. Vera is a British crime drama series based on novels of the same name, written by crime writer Ann Cleeves. [27] The film opened to little notice and grossed less than $300,000 during its North American theatrical run. 1984) in approximately 1922 while working for the same household in Broadstairs, Kent. She was nominated for an Olivier Award for her performance as Sheila in Benefactors. [9] Upon its success, Blethyn later stated: "I knew it was a great film, but I didn't expect it to get the attention it did because none of his other films had and I thought they were just as good. She later won leading roles on the short-run sitcoms Chance in a Million (1984–1986) and The Labours of Erica (1989–1990). [60], In May 2011, Blethyn began playing the title role in ITV's crime drama series, Vera as the North of England character Vera Stanhope, a nearly retired police employee who is obsessive about her work and driven by her own demons, based on the novels of Ann Cleeves. ITV and BritBox’s long-running detective drama Vera is returning for an 11 th season.. Her face is kind but means business. [58] Blethyn however, earned positive reviews for her performance; The Guardian writer Catherine Shoard wrote that "only she, really, manages to ride the rollercoaster jumps in plot and tone. In 2001, Blethyn signed on to star in her own CBS sitcom, The Seven Roses, in which she was to play the role of a widowed innkeeper and matriarch of an eccentric family. [14] The film received a mixed reception from critics. Not many actors can pull off shambolic but effective but Blethyn can do it with a single, penetrating glance from beneath that hat. [55] Upon release, the film received favourable reviews, particularly for its "dynamite acting". The marriage ended in 1973. Brenda Blethyn: … In 2008, Blethyn made her American small screen debut with a guest role on CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine, playing the neurotic mother to Julia Louis-Dreyfus' character in the fourth season episode "Guess Who's Not Coming to Dinner. "[30], A year after, Blethyn co-starred with Bob Hoskins and Jessica Alba in historical direct-to-video drama The Sleeping Dictionary. Blethyn's early stage experience included stints in the stock companies of the Bubble Theatre and the Belgrade Theatre of Coventry. The film was nominated for a Crystal Star at the Brussels International Film Festival. [20] Afterwards, Blethyn accepted a supporting role as Auguste van Pels in the ABC mini series Anne Frank: The Whole Story based on the book by Melissa Müller, for which she garnered her first Emmy Award nomination.[21]. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. The film received universally negative reviews from film critics, who deemed it to be full of "poor performances, stiff dialogue, [and] flat characters". Blethyn also performed in a variety of episodes of Alas Smith & Jones and Maigret. Timothy Spall is excellent and real in his role as a photographer. The film earned her a DVDX Award but received mixed critics, as did Blizzard, a Christmas movie in which Blethyn played the eccentric character of Aunt Millie, the narrator of the film's story. She is a desperate woman, but she also has an optimistic take on life which I find enviable. Of course, I didn't know what it was about until I saw it in the cinema because of the way that he works—but I knew it was good. After studying at the Guildford School of Acting, she went onto the London stage in 1976, performing several seasons at the Royal National Theatre. [54] Blethyn, who had initially felt sceptical and reticent about the film due to its background, was originally not available for filming but Bouchareb decided to delay filming to work with her. 1999 Nominee. [19] That same year, she also had a smaller role in the short comedy Yes You Can. He's known for Atonement (2007), Pride and … She believes there should be more women on TV like Vera who she believes is … Secrets & Lies. Directed by Mike Leigh, their first collaboration marked the start of a professional relationship which would later earn both of them huge acclaim. Blethyn's first film in two years, Rachid Bouchareb's London River opened at the 59th Berlin International Film Festival in 2009 where it won a Special Mention by the Ecumenical Jury. Best Actress - Motion Picture – Musical/Comedy. "[29] Her following film, limitedly-released Nicolas Cage's Sonny, saw similar success. [16] Cast against type, she played a domineering yet needy fish factory worker who has nothing but contempt for her shy daughter and lusts after a local showbiz agent. [3], Blethyn originally trained at technical college and worked as a stenographer and bookkeeper for a bank. [47][48] A box office success around the globe, it went on to gross a total of $129 million worldwide. With Brenda Blethyn, Julie Walters, Sue Cleaver, Meera Syal. For episode "Persona". The film, based on the same-titled book by Roald Dahl, co-starred actresses Anjelica Huston and Jane Horrocks. … [63] In 2012, Blethyn starred opposite singer Tom Jones and actress Alison Steadman in the short film King of the Teds, directed by Jim Cartwright, as part of Sky Arts Playhouse Presents series. Golden Globe Award-winning actress who appeared in Pride & Prejudice and Little Voice. "[59] Her last film of 2009 was Alex De Rakoff's crime film Dead Man Running alongside Tamer Hassan, Danny Dyer, and 50 Cent, in which she portrayed the wheelchair-using mother of a criminal who is taken hostage. Finding her teenage diary and discovering a list of twelve tasks and ambitions which she had set for herself, Erica sets out to complete them before reaching the milestone. In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's Grown-Ups. "[41] With both a worldwide gross of over US$121 million and several Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations,[42] the film became a critical and commercial success,[40] spawning Blethyn another BAFTA Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Starring alongside Alfred Molina, the pair was praised for their "genuine chemistry. [56] Mike Scott from The Times-Picayune commented "that Blethyn's performance is nuanced [...] it's that performance—at turns sweet, funny and heartbreaking—that ultimately draws viewers in and defies them to stop watching". A second Academy Award nomination followed but once … This year she is in the running for her first Bafta TV award. 2001. brendablethyn @ 11 months ago 22 th She was born and raised … Portraying a second generation immigrant of Scottish heritage, Redford required Blethyn to adopt a Western American accent for her performance, prompting her to live in Livingston, Montana in preparation of her role. She's pushy with a reason. Directed by Nick Hurran. [39], A major hit for Blethyn came with Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice, a 2005 adaptation of the same-titled novel by Jane Austen. [70] The film earned favorable reviews from critics who called it "gentle, poignant, and vividly animated" as well as "a warm character study with an evocative sense of time and place. [23] Blethyn depicted an affluent but desperate and distracted matriarch of three daughters in Nicole Holofcener's independent drama Lovely & Amazing, featuring Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer and Jake Gyllenhaal. At the end of a marriage, she opted to turn her hobby of amateur dramatics to her professional advantage. [72], Blethyn married Alan James Blethyn, a graphic designer she met while working for British Rail, in 1964. Entertainment Weekly writer Lisa Schwarzbaum called her "challenged, unsure [... and] miscast. Blethyn played Erica Parsons, a single mother approaching her fortieth birthday who realises that life is passing her by. Starring alongside Marianne Jean-Baptiste, she portrayed a lower-class box factory worker, who after years once again comes in contact with her illegitimate grown-up black daughter, whom she gave up for adoption 30 years earlier.