Acting · Archway, London, England, UK · Born January 9, 1956
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born January 9, 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre productions in the United Kingdom. Staunton has performed in a variety of plays and musicals in London throughout her career, winning four Laurence Olivier Awards; three for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her roles in the musicals Into the Woods, Sweeney Todd, and Gypsy, and one for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Play for her work in both A Chorus of Disapproval and The Corn is Green. Her other stage appearances include The Beggar's Opera, The Wizard of Oz, Uncle Vanya, Guys and Dolls, Entertaining Mr Sloane, and Good People. She has been nominated for 13 Olivier Awards. On film, Staunton starred in Antonia and Jane; in several supporting roles in Kenneth Branagh's comedy Peter's Friends, his adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing; Ang Lee's adaptation of Sense and Sensibility; and the costume romantic comedy Shakespeare in Love. She drew critical acclaim for her performance in the title role in Mike Leigh's Vera Drake, for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the Venice Film Festival Volpi Cup for Best Actress, in addition to being nominated for Best Actress by the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. She later gained a wider audience for her portrayal as Dolores Umbridge in the Harry Potter films The Order of the Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows - Part 1. She continued supporting roles in Nanny McPhee, reunited with Leigh in Another Year, and the film continuation of Downton Abbey. She portrayed human rights activist Hefina Headon in the historical film Pride, and starred in the British comedy Finding Your Feet. She also provided voice acting roles for the films Chicken Run, Arthur Christmas, and Paddington. On television, Staunton starred in the sitcoms Up the Garden Path and Is it Legal?. Her performance in My Family and Other Animals earned her a nomination for the International Emmy Award for Best Actress, while her roles in Return to Cranford and The Girl earned her BAFTA TV Award nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. For the latter, she was also nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie. She portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in the final two seasons of The Crown.
Tommy & Tuppence
2026
as Aunt Ada
Movie& Sons
2026
as Isabel
MovieTestimony
2025
as Narrator (voice)
MovieNational Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession
2025
as Mrs Peggy Warren
MoviePaddington in Peru
2024
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
MovieChicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
2023
as Bunty (voice)
MovieThe Canterville Ghost
2023
as Mrs Umney (voice)
TVSunday with Laura Kuenssberg
2022
as Self
MovieStephen Sondheim's Old Friends
2022
as Self
MovieDownton Abbey: A New Era
2022
as Maud Bagshaw
MovieVictorian Britain on Film
2021
as Narrator
Sense and Sensibility: 25th Anniversary Reunion
2021
as Self
TVThirties in Colour: Countdown to War
2021
as Self - Narrator
The Gruffalo and Me: The Remarkable Julia Donaldson
2020
as reader
The Magical World of Julia Donaldson
2020
as Self - Readings
MovieAmulet
2020
as Sister Claire
TVAlan Bennett's Talking Heads
2020
as Irene Ruddock
TVTrying
2020
as Penny
MovieThe Far Traveller
2020
as Narrator
TVFlesh and Blood
2020
as Mary Bennett
MovieMaleficent: Mistress of Evil
2019
as Knotgrass
A Confession As Told By ITV News
2019
as Imelda Staunton - Self / Karen Edwards
MovieDownton Abbey
2019
as Maud Bagshaw
TVA Confession
2019
as Karen Edwards
MovieFinding Your Feet
2017
as Sandra Abbott
MovieNational Theatre Live: Follies
2017
as Sally Durant Plummer
MoviePaddington 2
2017
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
MovieHarry Potter: A History Of Magic
2017
as Narrator
MovieNational Theatre Live: Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2017
as Martha
MovieLittle Bird
2017
as First Officer Simpkins
TVThe Crown
2016
as Queen Elizabeth II
MovieJim Carter: Lonnie Donegan and Me
2016
as Self
MovieGypsy
2015
as Rose
Pride: The True Story
2015
as Herself
MovieThat Day We Sang
2014
as Enid
Victoria Wood - That Musical We Made
2014
as Self
MoviePaddington
2014
as Aunt Lucy (voice)
MoviePride
2014
as Hefina
MovieMaleficent
2014
as Knotgrass
TVLily's Driftwood Bay
2014
as Rowena Rabbit (voice)
MovieMouse and Mole at Christmas Time
2013
as Shrew (voice)
MovieThe Girl
2012
as Alma Reville Hitchcock
MovieLondon: The Modern Babylon
2012
as Spoken Quotations (voice)
MovieThe Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
2012
as Queen Victoria (voice)
MovieSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2012
as Mrs. Lovett
TVThe Story of Musicals
2012
as Self – Narrator (voice)
MovieArthur Christmas
2011
as Mrs Santa (voice)
MovieThe Awakening
2011
as Maud Hill
MovieHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
2010
as Dolores Umbridge
MovieWhite Other
2010
as Lynne McDermott
MovieAnother Year
2010
as Janet
MoviePsychoville Halloween Special
2010
as Grace Andrews
The Michael Ball Show
2010
as Self
MovieAlice in Wonderland
2010
as Talking Flowers (voice)
MovieTaking Woodstock
2009
as Sonia Teichberg
TVPsychoville
2009
as Grace Andrews
Adapting Austen
2009
as Self
MovieA Bunch of Amateurs
2008
as Mary
TVBig & Small
2008
as Twiba / Ruby (voice)
MovieThree and Out
2008
as Rosemary Cassidy
MovieClay
2008
as Mary Doonan
TVCranford
2007
as Miss Pole
MovieHow About You...
2007
as Hazel Nightingale
MovieWhere Have I Been All Your Life?
2007
as Angela
MovieStephen Fry: 50 Not Out
2007
as Self
MovieGuilty Hearts
2007
as Naomi
MovieHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007
as Dolores Umbridge
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieFreedom Writers
2007
as Margaret Campbell
MovieThe Wind in the Willows
2006
as Barge Lady
Live! Girls! Present Dogtown
2006
MovieShadow Man
2006
as Ambassador Cochran
TVThe One Show
2006
as Self
MovieBill Douglas: Intent on Getting the Image
2006
as Herself
MovieMy Family and Other Animals
2005
as Mother
TVShakespeaRe-Told
2005
MovieNanny McPhee
2005
as Mrs. Blatherwick
TVFingersmith
2005
as Mrs. Sucksby
TVDoctor Who
2005
as Interface (voice)
TVThe Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
2005
as Self
MovieVera Drake
2004
as Vera Drake
MovieBright Young Things
2003
as Lady Brown
TVLittle Britain
2003
as Mrs. Mead
MovieI'll Be There
2003
as Dr. Bridget
TVStrange
2003
as Reverend Mary Truegood
MovieBlackball
2003
as Bridget
TVCambridge Spies
2003
as The Queen
MovieThe Virgin of Liverpool
2003
as Sylvia Conlon
MovieCrush
2002
as Janine
TVMurder
2002
as DCI Billie Dory
Ready
2002
as Naomi
MovieAnother Life
2001
as Ethel Graydon
MovieVictoria Wood with All the Trimmings
2000
as Mrs. Cottisloe
MovieRat
2000
as Conchita Flynn
MovieChicken Run
2000
as Bunty (voice)
TVDavid Copperfield
1999
as Mrs. Micawber
MovieJack and the Beanstalk
1999
as Dilly (voice)
MovieShakespeare in Love
1998
as Nurse
MovieThe Ugly Duckling
1997
as Scruffy (voice)
TVMidsomer Murders
1997
as Christine Cooper
MovieRemember Me?
1997
as Lorna
MovieTwelfth Night
1996
as Maria
MovieThe Adventures of Toad
1996
as Voice
MovieThe Snow Queen's Revenge
1996
as Elspeth / Rowena (voice)
MovieThe Wind in the Willows
1995
as Mother Squirrel
MovieThe Adventures of Mole
1995
as Voice
MovieSense and Sensibility
1995
as Charlotte Jennings Palmer
TVIs It Legal?
1995
The Pen
1995
Look at the State We're In!
1995
as Councillor Johnson
MovieCitizen X
1995
as Mrs. Burakov
MovieThe Snow Queen
1995
as Ivy / Angorra
MovieMole's Christmas
1994
as (voices)
MovieDeadly Advice
1994
as Beth Greenwood
TVIf You See God, Tell Him
1993
as Muriel Spry
TVFrank Stubbs Promotes
1993
as Susan
MovieDon't Leave Me This Way
1993
as Bridget Bennet
MovieMuch Ado About Nothing
1993
as Margaret
MovieRoots
1992
as Jenny Beales
MoviePeter's Friends
1992
as Mary Charleston
MovieA Masculine Ending
1992
as Bridget Bennet
TVPerformance
1991
as Jenny Beales
MovieThey Never Slept
1991
as The Producer
MovieYellowbacks
1990
as Cheryl Newman
MovieAntonia and Jane
1990
as Jane Hartman
Up the Garden Path
1990
MovieThe Englishman's Wife
1990
as Stephanie
TVTales from the Crypt
1989
as Sarah
MovieThe Heat of the Day
1989
as Louie
TVA Bit of Fry & Laurie
1989
Thompson
1988
as Self
TVThe Play on One
1988
as Cheryl Newman
MovieComrades
1987
as Betsy Loveless
TVThe Ruth Rendell Mysteries
1987
as Polly Flinders
TVThe Singing Detective
1986
as Staff Nurse White
TVScreenPlay
1986
as Jane Hartman
TVLadies in Charge
1986
as Edith
TVScreen Two
1985
as The Producer
TVNatural World
1983
as Narrator
MovieEasy Money
1982
as Mary Price
TVPlayhouse
1974
as Mary Price
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Nominee
West the Road
