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IMDbPro

Brenda Blethyn

  • Actress
  • Writer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000201
Brenda Blethyn at an event for Pride & Prejudice (2005)
An account of German-Jewish artist Charlotte Salomon living in the south of France between 1941 and 1943.
Play trailer2:14
Charlotte (2021)
47 Videos
99+ Photos
After forty years of hard work on stage and both television and film, there are not many other actresses who deserved the success, recognition and stardom which Brenda Blethyn has now achieved.

Born in 1946 in Ramsgate, Kent, England, she started her career at British Rail in the 1960s. Saving money during her time there, she took a risk and enrolled herself at the at The Guildford School of Acting in Guildford, Surrey, England and then left her British Rail years behind. Her risk had paid off, by the mid-1970s she was working on stage, eventually joining the National Theatre Company in 1975.

It was the 1980s, however that saw Brenda move onto the small screen when she appeared in a BBC2 Playhouse presentation called Grown-Ups (1980), playing the character Gloria. Other work in television quickly followed and this kept her working throughout the 1980s.

She still remained relatively unknown with the viewing public during the 1980s, despite her consistent work and superb acting abilities. It was not until the dawn of the 90s that her career took off. In 1990, she played the supporting cast member role of Mrs Jenkins in film based on the Roald Dahl novel The Witches (1990), with Anjelica Huston, Jane Horrocks and Mai Zetterling. Film work now became the order of the day in the early 90s, appearing in both A River Runs Through It (1992) and the television film The Bullion Boys (1993). It was then back to a TV series in 1994, with Outside Edge (1994), working on this production for its two-year run.

It is without a doubt that 1997 will be remembered as her biggest year to date. She was cast by her old friend Mike Leigh in the film Secrets & Lies (1996) as Cynthia Rose Purley, opposite highly talented Marianne Jean-Baptiste. The film received storming reviews and Blethyn won a BAFTA Film Award and subsequently received an Academy Award nomination for her role, along with Jean-Baptiste.

Although Brenda came home from the Oscars empty handed, her profile in Hollywood and Britain soared as a result of the nomination and her appearance on The 69th Annual Academy Awards (1997).

Film roles then came thick and fast following Secrets & Lies (1996). Brenda was nothing short of superb in Little Voice (1998). A second Academy Award nomination followed but once again she was the bridesmaid rather than the bride at the Oscars. Since 1996, she has found a new home in film and she has worked consistently in the medium.
BornFebruary 20, 1946
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornFebruary 20, 1946
IMDbProStarmeterTop 5,000201
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 2 Oscars
    • 20 wins & 41 nominations total

Photos120

Brenda Blethyn and Timothy Spall in My Angel (2011)
Brenda Blethyn and Kenny Doughty in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn and Kenny Doughty in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn and Simon Callow in Chance in a Million (1984)
Brenda Blethyn in A River Runs Through It (1992)
Brenda Blethyn and David Leon in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn, David Calder, and Kenny Doughty in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn, Kenny Doughty, and Riley Jones in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn in Vera (2011)
Brenda Blethyn and Kenny Doughty in Vera (2011)

Known for:

Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen in Pride & Prejudice (2005)
Pride & Prejudice
7.8
  • Mrs. Bennet
  • 2005
Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Secrets & Lies (1996)
Secrets & Lies
8.0
  • Cynthia
  • 1996
Little Voice (1998)
Little Voice
7.0
  • Mari Hoff
  • 1998
Brenda Blethyn and Craig Ferguson in Saving Grace (2000)
Saving Grace
6.9
  • Grace
  • 2000

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Vera
    • DCI Vera Stanhope
    • Released
    • TV Series
    • 2011
  • Vera (2011)
    Vera
    • DCI Vera Stanhope
    • TV Series
    • 2011–2023
  • Brenda Blethyn, Jimmy Akingbola, and Blake Harrison in Kate & Koji (2020)
    Kate & Koji
    • Kate
    • TV Series
    • 2020–2022
  • Charlotte (2021)
    Charlotte
    • Grossmama (voice)
    • 2021
  • Strawberry Fields Forever (2020)
    Strawberry Fields Forever
    • Gran
    • Short
    • 2020
  • Ethel & Ernest (2016)
    Ethel & Ernest
    • Ethel Briggs (voice)
    • 2016
  • Lori Alan, Grey Griffin, Lara Jill Miller, Tom Kenny, Hynden Walch, Chiara Zanni, and Kari Wahlgren in Henry Hugglemonster (2013)
    Henry Hugglemonster
    • Ernestine Enormomonster
    • TV Series
    • 2013–2015
  • Harvey Keitel and Forest Whitaker in Two Men in Town (2014)
    Two Men in Town
    • Emily Smith
    • 2014
  • Mary and Martha (2013)
    Mary and Martha
    • Martha
    • TV Movie
    • 2013
  • Playhouse Presents (2012)
    Playhouse Presents
    • Nina
    • TV Series
    • 2012
  • My Angel (2011)
    My Angel
    • Headmistress
    • 2011
  • Super Duper Super Sleuths (2010)
    Super Duper Super Sleuths
    • Mama Heffalump (voice)
    • Video
    • 2010
  • Dead Man Running (2009)
    Dead Man Running
    • Mother
    • 2009
  • The Calling (2009)
    The Calling
    • Sister Ignatious
    • 2009
  • Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009)
    Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
    • Ma Heffalump (voice)
    • Video
    • 2009
  • Brenda Blethyn and Sotigui Kouyaté in London River (2009)
    London River
    • Elisabeth Sommers
    • 2009

Writer

  • Introducing the Dwights (2007)
    Introducing the Dwights
    • writer: additional stand-up comedy material
    • 2007

Soundtrack

  • Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too (2009)
    Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
    • performer: "One Big Happy Family", "Just a Few Simple Rules", "One Big Happy Family (Reprise)"
    • Video
    • 2009
  • Introducing the Dwights (2007)
    Introducing the Dwights
    • performer: "Nutbush City Limits"
    • 2007
  • Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen in Pride & Prejudice (2005)
    Pride & Prejudice
    • performer: "Greensleeves" (uncredited)
    • 2005
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos48

Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Clip 0:55
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Clip 0:53
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Clip 1:27
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Pride & Prejudice
Clip 0:40
Pride & Prejudice
Pride & Prejudice
Clip 0:55
Pride & Prejudice
Atonement
Clip 1:00
Atonement
Atonement
Clip 1:00
Atonement
Atonement
Clip 0:46
Atonement
Atonement
Clip 0:44
Atonement
Atonement
Clip 1:07
Atonement
Atonement
Interview 0:53
Atonement
Atonement
Interview 0:42
Atonement

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 5′ 2″ (1.57 m)
  • Born
    • February 20, 1946
    • Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
  • Spouses
      Michael MayhewJune 2010 - present
  • Parents
      William Charles Bottle
  • Relatives
      Pam Bottle(Sibling)
  • Other works
    TV commercial for British Gas (2005)
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Interviews
    • 5 Articles
    • 7 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Married Michael Mayhew after a 35-year engagement in a small, private ceremony held in a Peckham registry office.
  • Quotes
    I was a novice as far as film was concerned. I'd been working for 20 years at the time, then all that happened. [In reference to Secrets & Lies (1996) and her Academy Award nomination.]

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