miriam

Miriam Margolyes has appeared in several motion pictures, working with some of Hollywood's top directors including Lawrence Kasdan in "I Love You To Death," John Schlesinger in "Pacific Heights" and "Cold Comfort Farm," Kenneth Branagh in "Dead Again" and Martin Scorsese in "The Age of Innocence." Her performance in the latter film earned her a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also "appeared," albeit in voice only, in the Oscar-nominated hit film, "Babe," as Babe's mother, as well as in the animated feature "James and The Giant Peach." Other film credits include "Immortal Beloved," "The Good Father," "Little Shop of Horrors," "Yentl" and "Reds." Her portrayal of Flora Finching in the Sands films production of "Little Dorrit" earned her the L.A. Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress and it was this role that brought the Britain-born actress to America. Recently, she starred opposite Rupert Graves in Richard Spence's "Different for Girls," which was awarded Best Picture at the Montreal Film Festival.
Her success with "Little Dorrit" ultimately led to her own series, "Frannie's Turn," on CBS. Other television credits include the HBO telefilms "Stalin" and "Wiesenthal," as well as TNT's "Orpheus Descending," which she had originated at the Haymarket Theatre, directed by Sir Peter Hall, opposite Vanessa Redgrave.

She has also appeared in several BBC productions, including the popular "Blackadder" shows, "The History of Man," "Oliver Twist," "The Life and Loves of a She-Devil," "Freud," and "Old Flames." She portrayed Queen Victoria in the Channel Four production "Without Walls."

On the stage, Margolyes has appeared in such West End productions as "The Killing of Sister George," in the title role at the Ambassador Theatre; "Dickens' Women," at the Duke of York Theatre, for which she earned an Olivier nomination for Best Actress in an Entertainment; and the original production of "Cloud Nine," at the Royal Court Theatre. She reunited with Sir Peter Hall in his production of "She Stoops to Conquer," at the Queens Theatre, in London. In 1984, Margolyes produced and starred in "Gertrude Stein and a Companion," which won a Fringe First at the Edinburgh Festival before moving to the Bush Theatre and Hamstead Theatre in London. Her production ultimately toured in America and Australia, earning awards from the Los Angeles Critics Association and a Best Actress nomination from the Melbourne "Age" newspaper in Australia.

Margolyes has also brought her many talents to radio. Her virtuoso reading of Sue Townsend's "The Queen & I" on the BBC Radio 4, in which she played the entire British Royal Family, won her the Sony Best Radio Actress Award in 1993. The audio cassette of her performance became a best-seller, earning her a Silver Disc when the recording sold over 72,000 copies -- a world record for a solo reading. She recently recorded the complete "Oliver Twist," again playing every character.