Siân Phillips
Known for: Acting
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips DBE (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a Welsh actress, author and singer. Phillips was the daughter of Sally (née Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman. She is a Welsh-speaker and in the first volume of her autobiography, "Private Faces", she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio. She attended Pontardawe Grammar School and later read English and Philosophy at University College Cardiff, graduating in 1955. She entered RADA in LOndon, England with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson. She went on to win the prestigious Bancroft Gold Medal for Hedda Gabler and was offered work in Hollywood when she left RADA. While still a student she was offered three film contracts, entailing her to work for an extended period of time in the United States; but she declined, preferring to work on stage instead.
Filmography
Series
Midsomer Murders
Lady Annabel Butler
1997
Series
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Mrs. Laura Upward
1989
Series
Silent Witness
Beattie Elletson
1996
Series
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
1956
Series
Good Omens
Mr. Henderson
2019
Series
Doctor Who
Enid Meadows
2024
Series
Tales of the Unexpected
Hermione
1979
Series
The Chelsea Detective
Grandma Dix
2022
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Anna Voinitseva
1965
Series
BBC Play of the Month
The Duchesse of Berwich
1965
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Hesione Hushabye
1965
Series
Playhouse
Janet Achurch
1974
Series
Playhouse
Alicia Moore
1974
Series
Lewis
Adele Goffe
2007
Series
ITV Playhouse
May Bartram
1967
Series
La Femme Nikita
Adrian
1997
Film
Dune
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
1984
Series
Remembers…
Self
2022
Series
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
Sally Stirling
1969
Series
Playhouse Presents
May
2012
Series
I, Claudius
Livia
1976
Series
McDonald & Dodds
Agnes Gillian
2020
Film
The Longest Day
WRNS Officer (uncredited)
1962
Drama 61-67
Carole Blair
1961
Film
Clash of the Titans
Cassiopeia
1981
Series
Espionage
Anna
1963
Series
Hammer House of Horror
Mrs. Henska
1980
Film
The Age of Innocence
Mrs. Archer
1993
Series
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Ann Smiley
1979
Film
Dream Horse
Maureen
2021
Series
Attila
Grandmother
2001
Series
The Last Detective
Vera Dulciman
2003
City '68
Jo
1967
W. Somerset Maugham
Martha Jones
1969
Series
The Magician's House
Meg Lewis
1999
Series
Half Hour Story
A Girl
1967
Series
The Borrowers
Mrs. Driver
1992
Film
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Charal
1985
Film
Becket
Gwendolen
1964
Film
Valmont
Madame de Volanges
1989
Series
Ivanhoe
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
1997
Film
Murphy's War
Hayden
1971
Series
Perfect Scoundrels
Mother Aloysius
1990
Series
Vanity Fair
Matilda Crawley
1987
The Sherman Plays
Self - Introduction
1993
Arthouse
Self - Commentary
1997
Series
Shadow of the Noose
Lady Scott
1989
Series
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
Clementine Churchill
1981
Series
Heidi
Frau Sesemann
1993
Series
Tonight at 8.30
Clare Wedderburn
1991
Series
Tonight at 8.30
Barbara Faber
1991
Series
Tonight at 8.30
Olive Lloyd-Ransome
1991
Series
How Green Was My Valley
Beth Morgan
1975
Film
Summerland
Margaret Corey
2020
Series
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Lady Lavery
1951
Film
Richard Burton: Wild Genius
Self
2025
Film
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Self
2007
Series
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
Duchess of Windsor
1987
Film
Hochelaga, Land of Souls
Sarah Walker
2017
Film
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Ursula Mossbank
1969
Series
Shoulder to Shoulder
Emmeline Pankhurst
1974
The Return of the Borrowers
Mrs. Driver
1993
Series
A Killing on the Exchange
Isobel Makepeace
1987
Film
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Red Queen
1998
Film
The Doctor and the Devils
Annabella Rock
1985
Red Empire
Narrator (voice)
1990
Series
Armchair Theatre
1956
Series
Warrior Queen
Queen Boudicca
1978
Film
Be Happy!
2019
To Provide All People
Patient
2018
Film
David Macaulay: Pyramid
Mersyankh (voice)
1989
Frank and Percy
Film
Young Cassidy
Ella
1965
Film
Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film
Self - Ru (archive footage)
2003
Film
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill
Mrs. Patrick Campbell
1974
Series
Crime and Punishment
Katerina Ivánovna
1979
Film
Nijinsky
Lady Ripon
1980
Film
Under Milk Wood
Mrs. Pugh
2014
Film
Under Milk Wood
Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard
1972
Film
Cinderella: The ITV Pantomime
Evil Baroness
2000
Series
The Scold's Bridle
Mathilda
1998
Film
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
Self
2022
Film
Dark River
Mrs. Blessington
1990
Thief
Woman
1968
Film
A Christmas Carol
Grandmother / narrator (voice)
2020
Film
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
Self
2002
Aberfan: The Green Hollow
2016
Film
The Vacillations of Poppy Carew
Calypso
1995
Film
Miss Dalí
Anna Maria Dalí
2018
Film
Nureyev
Narrator
2018
Film
Aristocrats
Narrator/Older Lady Emily Lennox
1999
Film
National Theatre Live: Les Blancs
Madame Neilsen
2019
Film
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Self
2022
Film
Time & Again
Eleanor
2019
Film
It’s Dearer After Midnight
Jo
1968
The Sex Game
Louisa
1968
Film
The Murder Room
Marie Strickland
2004
Film
Alec Guinness: A Class Act
self
2024
Film
How Many Miles to Babylon?
Mrs Alicia Moore
1982
Series
Wonders of the Celtic Deep
Self - Narrator
2021
Film
Carpathian Eagle
Mrs. Henska
1980
Film
Laughter in the Dark
Lady Pamela More
1969
Film
The Black Candle
Daisy Barnett
1991
Film
House of America
Mam
1997
Film
The Scold's Bridle
Mathilda Gillespie
1998
Film
The Achurch Letters
Janet Achurch
1977
Film
Apple Cider Vinegar
Voice
2024
Film
Stalin: Inside the Terror
Narrator
2003
Series
Emperor: Rise & Fall of a Dynasty
Narrator
2024
Film
Lovesong
Maggie
2012
Film
Heartbreak House
Hesione Hushabye
1977
Film
National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood
Mrs Utah Watkins / Polly Garter / Mrs Beyon
2021
Don Juan in Hell
Dona Ana
1962
A Picture of London
Narrator
2012
Series
A Year in the Beacons
Narrator
2021
Siân Phillips at 90
Self
2023
Film
The Snow Spider
Nain Griffiths
1988
Platonov
Anna
1971
Film
Voyageuse
Erica
2018
Film
Emlyn's Moon
Nain Griffiths
1990
Still: Here/Now
Self
2003
Come and Go
Ru
2000
Film
Eh, Joe?
Voice
1966
Film
The Mountain That Had To Be Painted
Narrator
2011
Film
The Mousehole Cat
Narrator
1995
Film
The Chestnut Soldier
Nain Griffiths
1991