Miranda Richardson

Miranda Richardson (Born 3 March 1958, in Southport, Lancashire) is a British actress, commonly regarded as one of the finest acting talents of her generation, and noted for her distinctive ability to deeply delve into the minds of the characters she plays.

Mini Biography

The second daughter of middle-class parents, she had a talent for acting from an early age.

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Richardson had originally intended to study veterinary medicine, but her squeamishness made this impossible. She enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where she studied alongside Daniel Day-Lewis. In 1981, she made her stage debut in Moving at the Queen's Theatre in London.

Related Topics:
Veterinary - Bristol Old Vic Theatre School - Daniel Day-Lewis - 1981 - Queen's Theatre - London

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Three years later, she made her big screen debut as platinum blonde nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom in Mike Newell's critically acclaimed biographical drama, Dance with a Stranger. Her performance in that film won her much praise, and within a year, she had been cast by Steven Spielberg to appear in his World War II drama Empire of the Sun (1987).

Related Topics:
Ruth Ellis - Mike Newell - Dance with a Stranger - Steven Spielberg - World War II - Empire of the Sun - 1987

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Richardson is perhaps best known for her role as infantile Queen Elizabeth I, aka Queenie, in the cult British comedy Blackadder. Other television roles include the bitchy Pamela Flitton in A Dance to the Music of Time (1997), Miss Gilchrist in St. Ives (1998), Bettina (the obsessive compulsive interior decorator) in Absolutely Fabulous, The Wicked Stepmother Hallmark's "Snow White: The Fairest of Them All", along with Kristin Kreuk (2001) and the emotionally repressed Queen Mary in The Lost Prince (2003).

Related Topics:
Queen Elizabeth I - Queenie - Blackadder - A Dance to the Music of Time - 1997 - St. Ives - 1998 - Absolutely Fabulous - Hallmark's - Kristin Kreuk - 2001 - Queen Mary - The Lost Prince - 2003

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As well as a number of high profile supporting roles in the cinema, including Vanessa Bell in The Hours, Lady Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow and Patsy Carpenter in The Evening Star, she has also won acclaim for her performances in The Crying Game and Enchanted April, for which she won a Golden Globe, beating a quartet of Hollywood heavyweights: Geena Davis, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep.

Related Topics:
Vanessa Bell - The Hours - Lady Van Tassel - Sleepy Hollow - The Evening Star - The Crying Game - Enchanted April - Golden Globe - Geena Davis - Whoopi Goldberg - Shirley MacLaine - Meryl Streep

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Two Academy Award nominations (for Damage and Tom & Viv) have not altered the actress's modesty. She refuses to discuss her private life in interviews, and takes both leading and supporting roles in a variety of different genres.

Related Topics:
Academy Award - Damage - Tom & Viv

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Her extensive film credits have included worthy stints in a number of critically acclaimed indie features, among them Robert Altman's Kansas City (1996), Robert Duvall's The Apostle (1997) and Richard E. Grant's Wah-Wah (2005).

Related Topics:
Robert Altman - Kansas City - Robert Duvall - The Apostle - Richard E. Grant - Wah-Wah

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More recently, Richardson appeared as Queen Rosalind of Denmark in the Julia Stiles vehicle The Prince and Me, and the ballet mistress Madame Giry in the long-awaited film version of The Phantom of the Opera, starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. She has since signed on to appear as Rita Skeeter, the toxic Daily Prophet journalist in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, to be released in November 2005.

Related Topics:
Julia Stiles - The Prince and Me - Ballet - The Phantom of the Opera - Gerard Butler - Emmy Rossum - Rita Skeeter - Daily Prophet - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - November - 2005

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Miranda often collaberates with the directors Mike Newell (Dance with a Stranger, Enchanted April and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire) and Stephen Poliakoff (Century, The Lost Prince, Gideon's Daughter), and she has co-starred with actors Michael Gambon (Mountain Language, Sleepy Hollow, The Lost Prince, The Actors, Harry Potter) and Robbie Coltrane (Blackadder, The Comic Strip Presents, Eat the Rich, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Provoked) on numerous occassions.

Related Topics:
Stephen Poliakoff - Michael Gambon - Robbie Coltrane

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She currently resides in her London home, and also has a Wiltshire retreat, with her two cats, two dogs and an axolotl.

Related Topics:
London - Wiltshire - Cats - Dogs - Axolotl

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