Geraldine James

Geraldine James OBE
Born	6 July 1950 Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, UK
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Joseph Blatchley (1986–present; one child)

Geraldine James, (OBE) (born 6 July 1950) is an English actress. For her role as Portia in the 1989 Broadway revival of The Merchant of Venice, she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. She also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1989 Venice Film Festival for She's Been Away. Theatre director Peter Hall says James ranks amongst the great English classical actresses.^[1]

James has been nominated four times for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress; for Dummy (1977), The Jewel in the Crown (1984), Band of Gold (1995) and The Sins (2000). She is also known as Mrs. Pincher, the breastfeeding mother in Little Britain (2004). Her film credits include Gandhi (1982), The Tall Guy (1989), Sherlock Holmes (2009), Alice in Wonderland (2010), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) and 45 Years (2015).

Early life and family

James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father.^[2] She was educated at Downe House, a girls' independent school in Newbury, Berkshire. After graduating from the Drama Centre London in 1973, she began her career in repertory theatre.

Television appearances

• Shirley Glass in The Sweeney: Pay Off (1976) – TV debut
• Sandra X in Dummy (1977)^[3]
• Barbara Kirk in The History Man (1980)
• Emma Hamilton in I Remember Nelson (1981)
• Sarah Layton in The Jewel in the Crown (1984)
• Lady Maud Lynchwood in Blott on the Landscape (1985)
• Helen Field in Inspector Morse: Who Killed Harry Field (1991)
• Kristine Linde in A Doll's House (1992)
• Rose Garrety in Band of Gold (1995-1997)
• Eleanor Harker QC in Kavanagh QC (1995-1999)
• Beatrice in Rebecca (1997)
• Has a cameo role in Little Britain as the mother of Harvey Pincher
• Gloria Green in The Sins (2000)^[3]
• Yvonne Shaps in State of Play (2003)
• Recurring role as Lillith Hughes in Hex (2004)
• Lady Rowley in He Knew He Was Right (2004)
• Agatha Christie's Poirot - After the Funeral, (2005) as Helen Abernethie
• Hilary Rees-Benson: Former Liberal Democrat turned "Purple Alliance" Home Secretary in The Amazing Mrs Pritchard (2006)
• A Harlot's Progress (2006)
• Cornelia in Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2006)
• Barbara Turney in The Last Enemy (2008)
• Joanna the Concubine in Heist (2008)
• Gwendolen in the 2012 ITV adaptation of the Ruth Rendell thriller Thirteen Steps Down
• Milner: An MI5 spy in Utopia Channel 4 (2013 drama)
• Marilla Cuthber in Anne (2017)

Theatre appearances

• Portia opposite Dustin Hoffman in the London and Broadway productions of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare.^[4][5]
• Hedda Gabler at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 1993.

Radio appearances

Date	Title	Role	Director	Station
21 February 2000 – 3 March 2000	The Hours		Gaynor Macfarlane	BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama
21 March 2003	Baldi: The Book Case	Maggie	Mark Lambert	BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
19 April 2003	Turtle Diary	Neaera	Gaynor Macfarlane	BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play

Film appearances

• Bloody Kids (1980) as Ritchie's Wife
• Sweet William (1980) as Pamela
• Gandhi (1982) as Mirabehn
• The Tall Guy (1989) as Carmen
• 'The Wolves of Willoughby Chase' (1989) as Mrs Gertrude Brisket
• Prince of Shadows (1991) as Rebecca Osorio
• If Looks Could Kill – Teen Agent, (1991) as Vendetta Galante
• The Bridge (1992) as Mrs Todd
• Words Upon the Window Pane (1994) as Mrs. Henderson
• Moll Flanders (1996) as Edna
• An Angel for May (2002)
• Calendar Girls (2003) as Marie
• Northanger Abbey (2007) as the narrator
• Sherlock Holmes (2009) as Mrs Hudson
• Alice in Wonderland (2010) as Lady Ascot
• Made in Dagenham (2010) as Connie
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011) as Cecilia Vanger
• Arthur (2011) as Vivienne Bach
• Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) as Mrs Hudson
• 45 Years (2015)
• Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016) as Lady Ascot

Awards

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result	Refs
1977	Dummy	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	Nominated	[6]
1984	The Jewel in the Crown	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	Nominated
1989	She's Been Away	Venice Film Festival	Volpi Cup for Best Actress	Won	[7][8]
1990	The Merchant of Venice	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Won
1990	The Merchant of Venice	Tony Award	Best Actress in a Play	Nominated
1995	Band of Gold	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	Nominated
2000	The Sins	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	Nominated

• James was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours.

References

1. "Geraldine James" (17 December 2001) Woman's Hour, Radio 4, BBC
2. Geraldine James Film Reference biography
3. "James, Geraldine (1950-)" (2003) BFI Screenonline
4. "Hoffman as Shylock: London Critics Cool" (3 June 1989) New York Times
5. "'Merchant' role is jewel in James' crown" (29 Jan 1990) USA TODAY
6. "Television | Actress in 1978" BAFTA
7. "Miss Geraldine James, OBE". Debrett's. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
8. "Triumph in Venice" (16 Sep 1989) The Guardian

External links

• Geraldine James at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Jewel That is James" – Interview by Jeremy Taylor for bmi Voyager October 2007
• Q&A with Geraldine James in the Guardian