Acting · Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK · Born February 20, 1946
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.
TVA Woman of Substance
2026
as Older Emma Harle
MovieDragonfly
2025
as Elsie
MovieVera, Farewell Pet
2025
as Herself / Vera
MovieCharlotte
2022
as Grossmama (voice)
TVKate & Koji
2020
as Kate Abbott
MovieRaymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
2018
as Narrator
MovieEthel & Ernest
2016
as Ethel Briggs (voice)
MovieTwo Men in Town
2014
as Emily Smith
MovieMary and Martha
2013
as Martha
TVPlayhouse Presents
2012
as Nina
MovieMy Angel
2011
as Headmistress
The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
2011
TVVera
2011
as DCI Vera Stanhope
MovieThe Calling
2010
as Sister Ignatious
MovieMy Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths
2010
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
MovieTigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
2009
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
MovieLondon River
2009
as Elisabeth
MovieDead Man Running
2009
as Mother
TVWar and Peace
2007
as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa
MovieClubland
2007
as Jean
MovieAtonement
2007
as Grace Turner
TVThe Graham Norton Show
2007
as Self
MovieMysterious Creatures
2006
as Wendy Ainscow
TVThe One Show
2006
as Self - Guest
TVThe New Adventures of Old Christine
2006
as Angela Kimble
MoviePride & Prejudice
2005
as Mrs. Bennet
MovieOn a Clear Day
2005
as Joan
MoviePooh's Heffalump Movie
2005
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
MovieBeyond the Sea
2004
as Polly Cassotto
MovieA Way of Life
2004
as Annette
MoviePiccadilly Jim
2004
as Nesta Pett
MovieBelonging
2004
as Jess Copplestone
TVBetween The Sheets
2003
as Hazel Delany
MovieBlizzard
2003
as Aunt Millie
MovieBob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot
2003
as Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
MovieThe Sleeping Dictionary
2003
as Aggie
MovieThe Wild Thornberrys Movie
2002
as Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
MovieUndertaking Betty
2002
as Betty Rhys-Jones
MovieSonny
2002
as Jewel
MovieLovely & Amazing
2002
as Jane Marks
MoviePumpkin
2002
as Judy Romanoff
MovieThe Yellow Bird
2002
as Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
TVV Graham Norton
2002
as Self
MovieDaddy and Them
2001
as Julia Montgomery
MovieOn the Nose
2001
as Mrs. Delaney
TVAnne Frank: The Whole Story
2001
as Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
MovieSaving Grace
2000
as Grace Trevethyn
MovieRKO 281
1999
as Louella Parsons
TVLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999
as Linnie Malcolm
MovieLittle Voice
1998
as Mari Hoff
MovieIn the Winter Dark
1998
as Ida Stubbs
TVSo Graham Norton
1998
as Self - Guest
MovieGirls' Night
1998
as Dawn Wilkinson
MovieMusic from Another Room
1998
as Grace Swan
MovieInside the Golden Statue
1998
as Self
MovieNight Train
1998
as Alice Mooney
MovieRemember Me?
1997
as Shirley
MovieSecrets & Lies
1996
as Cynthia Rose Purley
TVThe Frank Skinner Show
1995
as Self
TVOutside Edge
1994
as Miriam Dervish
TVThe Buddha of Suburbia
1993
as Margaret Amir
MovieThe Bullion Boys
1993
as Gwen
TVGMTV
1993
as Self
MovieA River Runs Through It
1992
as Mrs. Maclean
TVHBO First Look
1992
as self
TVMaigret
1992
TVAll Good Things
1991
as Shirley Frame
MovieThe Witches
1990
as Mrs Jenkins
TVScreen One
1989
as Gwen
TVPoor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
1989
as Ticki Tocquet
MovieThe Shawl
1989
as Miss A
The Labours of Erica
1989
TVThis Morning
1988
as Self
MovieThe Storyteller: A Story Short
1988
as The Storyteller's Wife
TVThe Storyteller
1988
as Storyteller's Wife
TVThe Play on One
1988
as Miss A
MovieClaws
1987
as Sylvia
Sunday Premiere
1986
as Sylvia
TVThe Mysteries
1985
as Mary Magdalene / Mary
TVChance in a Million
1984
as Alison Little
Weekend Playhouse
1984
as Jean Saunders
Who Dares Wins
1984
as Various
MovieFloating Off
1983
as Janice
TVDalgliesh
1983
as Angela Foley
TVDeath of an Expert Witness
1983
as Angela Foley
MovieHenry VI Part 1
1983
as Joan La Pucelle
MovieKing Lear
1982
as Cordelia
MovieMike Leigh: Making Plays
1982
as Self
Say No to Strangers
1981
as Policewoman
MovieGrown-Ups
1980
as Gloria
Bedroom Farce
1980
as Kate
Sheppey
1980
as Miss Grange
MovieThe Imitation Game
1980
TVYes Minister
1980
TVTales of the Unexpected
1979
as Carol Hutchins
TVRumpole of the Bailey
1975
as Pauline
TVPlayhouse
1974
as Gloria
TVThe Oscars
1953
as Self
TVGolden Globe Awards
1944
as Self - Nominee
Fools
MovieStrawberry Fields Forever
as Grannie Nellie
MovieKing of the Teds
as Nina
