Brenda Blethyn
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Linnie Malcolm
1999
Series
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944
Series
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Winner
1944
Series
The One Show
Self - Guest
2006
Series
Vera
DCI Vera Stanhope
2011
Series
Playhouse
Gloria
1974
Series
Tales of the Unexpected
Carol Hutchins
1979
Film
Pride & Prejudice
Mrs. Bennet
2005
Series
GMTV
Self
1993
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Angela Kimble
2006
Series
V Graham Norton
Self
2002
Series
Rumpole of the Bailey
Pauline
1975
Film
Atonement
Grace Turner
2007
Series
Playhouse Presents
Nina
2012
Series
The Play on One
Miss A
1988
Series
HBO First Look
self
1992
Series
The Storyteller
Storyteller's Wife
1988
Series
A Woman of Substance
Older Emma Harle
2026
Series
Yes Minister
1980
Series
The Frank Skinner Show
Self
1995
Series
Dalgliesh
Angela Foley
1983
Series
So Graham Norton
Self - Guest
1998
Film
A River Runs Through It
Mrs. Maclean
1992
Film
The Witches
Mrs Jenkins
1990
Series
Screen One
Gwen
1989
Film
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Mama Heffalump (voice)
2005
Series
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
Ticki Tocquet
1989
Series
Maigret
1992
Film
The Sleeping Dictionary
Aggie
2003
Series
War and Peace
Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa
2007
Film
Secrets & Lies
Cynthia Rose Purley
1996
Film
The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
2002
Series
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
2001
Series
Chance in a Million
Alison Little
1984
Film
Saving Grace
Grace Trevethyn
2000
Film
Lovely & Amazing
Jane Marks
2002
Film
Undertaking Betty
Betty Rhys-Jones
2002
Series
Outside Edge
Miriam Dervish
1994
Series
The Buddha of Suburbia
Margaret Amir
1993
Film
Little Voice
Mari Hoff
1998
Film
The Best of So Graham Norton
Self (archive footage)
2004
Film
Dragonfly
Elsie
2025
Series
Death of an Expert Witness
Angela Foley
1983
Series
This Morning
Self
1988
Film
Music from Another Room
Grace Swan
1998
Film
Remember Me?
Shirley
1997
Film
Beyond the Sea
Polly Cassotto
2004
Film
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
Mama Heffalump (voice)
2009
Series
Between The Sheets
Hazel Delany
2003
Sunday Premiere
Sylvia
1986
Film
RKO 281
Louella Parsons
1999
Film
Daddy and Them
Julia Montgomery
2001
Film
Inside the Golden Statue
Self
1998
Film
Ethel & Ernest
Ethel Briggs (voice)
2016
Film
Blizzard
Aunt Millie
2003
Film
Pumpkin
Judy Romanoff
2002
Film
Sonny
Jewel
2002
Series
Kate & Koji
Kate Abbott
2020
Film
Mysterious Creatures
Wendy Ainscow
2006
Film
Two Men in Town
Emily Smith
2014
Who Dares Wins
Various
1984
Series
All Good Things
Shirley Frame
1991
Film
Charlotte
Grossmama (voice)
2022
Film
My Angel
Headmistress
2011
Film
London River
Elisabeth
2009
Series
The Mysteries
Mary Magdalene / Mary
1985
Film
Mary and Martha
Martha
2013
Bedroom Farce
Kate
1980
Film
Piccadilly Jim
Nesta Pett
2004
Film
Dead Man Running
Mother
2009
Weekend Playhouse
Jean Saunders
1984
Film
Girls' Night
Dawn Wilkinson
1998
Film
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths
Mama Heffalump (voice)
2010
Film
On the Nose
Mrs. Delaney
2001
Film
The Imitation Game
1980
Film
On a Clear Day
Joan
2005
Film
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot
Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
2003
Film
King Lear
Cordelia
1982
The Labours of Erica
1989
Film
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Self
1982
Film
The Yellow Bird
Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
2002
Film
The Storyteller: A Story Short
The Storyteller's Wife
1988
Film
Belonging
Jess Copplestone
2004
Film
In the Winter Dark
Ida Stubbs
1998
The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
2011
Sheppey
Miss Grange
1980
Film
Strawberry Fields Forever
Grannie Nellie
Film
Henry VI Part 1
Joan La Pucelle
1983
Film
Grown-Ups
Gloria
1980
Film
Claws
Sylvia
1987
Film
The Calling
Sister Ignatious
2010
Film
The Bullion Boys
Gwen
1993
Film
Clubland
Jean
2007
Say No to Strangers
Policewoman
1981
Film
Floating Off
Janice
1983
Film
Night Train
Alice Mooney
1998
Film
King of the Teds
Nina
Film
A Way of Life
Annette
2004
Film
Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
Narrator
2018
Fools
Film
Vera, Farewell Pet
Herself / Vera
2025
Film
The Shawl
Miss A
1989