Biography for
Zoë Wanamaker More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

13 May 1949, New York, USA

Height

5' 3½" (1.61 m)

Spouse

Gawn Grainger

(November 1994 - present)

Trade Mark

She has a unique buttoned nose

Trivia

Daughter of Sam Wanamaker and Charlotte Holland

Zoë became a British Citizen in 2000 so she could receive a CBE at Buckingham Palace rather than, as a US citizen, receive her decoration from the foreign secretary.

She was awarded the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress of the 1997 season for her performance in "Electra", at the Donmar Warehouse.

She was nominated for a 2002 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress of 2001 for her performance in "Boston Marriage", performed at the Donmar Warehouse and at the New Ambassador's Theatres, London.

She was born in New York but grew up in England after her father was blacklisted during the McCarthy HUAC hearings.

She was awarded the 1984 London Critics Circle Award (Drama Theatre Award) for best supporting actress in Mother Courage.

Has dyslexia.

Has been nominated for Tony Awards three times: as best actress (featured role - play), in 1981 for Piaf, and in 1986 for a revival of Joe Orton's Loot; and as best actress (play) in 1999 for portraying the title character in Electra.

She was awarded the 2006 New York City Drama Desk Award for outstanding ensemble performance for the Belasco Theatre production of Awake and Sing!.

She was nominated for a 1999 New York City Drama Desk Award for outstanding actress for her performance in Electra.

She was nominated for a 1981 New York City Drama Desk Award for featured actress for her performance in Piaf.

She was nominated for a 1986 New York City Drama Desk Award for featured actress for her performance in a revival of Joe Orton's Loot.

Received a Tony Award nomination in 2006 for best performance by a featured actress in a play for Awake and Sing!.

She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2001 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama. She was honorary because she was still an American citizen.

She was awarded 'Best Actress' in 2010 for 'All My Sons' from WhatsOnStage.com.

Personal Quotes

I don't have the confidence to be a personality.

Although actually American - "When in America I feel British, and proud of it!"

On not having children: "And children? 'I don't have any regrets about not having had children. What's the point? It's just something else to beat yourself up over."

I did a "Who Do You Think You Are?" (2004) last year and I was taken to see the FBI files in Washington. Daddy's file, full of bits blanked out, is that thick! I discovered that he must have been tipped off in 1951 that he was going to be subpoenaed by McCarthy's committee, so he took a film job in England, and we came over, Mummy and my elder sister and I, on the Queen Mary.

One thing we did discuss, before he [father Sam Wanamaker] died, was whether I should take over the Globe. And we agreed 190 per cent that it was not my thing. I don't want to be a director, or to have responsibility for hundreds of people. So that was a relief.

[Arthur Miller's "All My Sons"] starts quietly, and then just builds. It's just genius writing. You can turn this play on a sixpence! There's so much guilt in it, it's quite Greek - Man or god makes a mistake and it keeps coming back to haunt us.

It's wonderful that a show that's so normal could go on for so long. It's not cutting-edge, but it has still struck a chord, because everyone can sit down and watch it without being offended. It's gentle, warm and loving. (On "My Family" (2000))

Learning the scripts is agony. Robert Lindsay is very fast. He seems to have a genuinely photographic memory, which is very irritating!