ALISON STEADMAN

'Alison Steadman' OBE (born on July 26 1945) is an
award-winning English stage, television and film actress.

Contents

Personal life

Career

Stage work

Film

Television

Awards and recognition

Footnotes

External links

Personal life

Alison was born in Liverpool, Lancashire, England. She trained as a secretary and worked in a probation office, then in her 20s she enrolled in the East 15 Acting School, where she met Mike Leigh. They married in 1973 and had two sons, Toby in 1979 and Leo in 1981. They separated in 1995 and divorced in 2001. Her present partner is Michael Elwyn ^[1] and she currently lives in Highgate, London.^[2]

Career

Stage work

She has acted to much acclaim in productions of ''Abigail's Party'' (later filmed for television), ''The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'', ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'', ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'', ''Entertaining Mr Sloane'', ''Hotel Paradiso'', and others in locations as diverse as the Royal Court, the Theatre Royal, the Old Vic, the Hampstead Theatre, the Nottingham Playhouse, the Everyman Liverpool and the National Theatre.

Film

She has acted in many films, including ''Shirley Valentine'', ''Clockwise'' and ''A Private Function'', although she is perhaps most noted for her work in films directed by Leigh such as ''Life Is Sweet'', ''Secrets and Lies'' and ''Topsy Turvy''.

Television

Her television work include ''Fat Friends'' as Betty, ''Selling Hitler'', ''The Singing Detective'', ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'', and ''Pride and Prejudice'' as Mrs. Bennet. She also provides a voice over in the children's TV show ''Bob the Builder''. Television productions directed by Leigh in which she has acted include ''Nuts in May'', and famously in ''Abigail's Party'' as Beverly. She also appeared in the BBC comedy The Worst Week of My Life. She can currently be seen in the "BBC Three" comedy "Gavin and Stacey" as Gavin's proud mother Pamela. Steadman will next be see in ''Fanny Hill''.

Awards and recognition

★ Invested as Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1999

★ Nominated for Best Actress by BAFTA for ''Fat Friends'' in 2001

★ Nominated for Best Actress by BAFTA for ''The Singing Detective'' in 1987

★ Awarded Best Actress by the US National Society of Film Critics for ''Life Is Sweet'' in 1992

★ Awarded the Olivier for Best Actress for ''The Rise and Fall of Little Voice'' in 1993

★ Nominated for the Olivier for Best Actress for ''The Memory of Water'' in 1998

Footnotes

1. The Alison Steadman Page accessed 21 Mar 2007
2. MyVillage.com accessed 21 Mar 2007

External links

★

★ East15 Acting School (part of the University of Essex)

★ Agent's website