Alison Steadman OBE
Steadman during a recording ofYou'll Have Had Your Tea forBBC Radio 4 in 2006
Born	(1946-08-26)26 August 1946 (age 79) Liverpool, England
Alma mater	East 15 Acting School
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1968–present
Spouse	Mike Leigh ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 2001)​
Partner	Michael Elwyn
Children	2
Steadman's voice recorded 2012, as part of anaudio description of the pelicans in St James's Park forVocalEyes

Alison Steadman (born 26 August 1946) is an English actress. She received the 1977 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress forAbigail's Party, the 1991National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for theMike Leigh filmLife Is Sweet and the 1993Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as Mari in the original production ofThe Rise and Fall of Little Voice. In a 2007Channel 4 poll, the '50 Greatest Actors' voted for by other actors, she was ranked 42.^[1]

Steadman made her professional stage debut in 1968 and went on to establish her career in Mike Leigh's 1970s TV playsNuts in May (1976) andAbigail's Party (1977).^[2] She receivedBAFTA TV Award nominations for the 1986BBC serialThe Singing Detective and in 2001 for theITV drama seriesFat Friends (2000–2005). Other television roles includePride and Prejudice (1995),Gavin & Stacey (2007–2010, 2019, 2024) andHere We Go (2022–present). Her other film appearances includeClockwise (1986),Blame It on the Bellboy (1992),Confetti (2006),Burn Burn Burn (2015) andBetter Man (2024).

Steadman was born inLiverpool, the youngest of three sisters born to Marjorie (née Evans) (1912–1996) and George Percival Steadman (1912–1991),^[3] who worked as a production controller forPlessey, an electronics firm.

Steadman was educated at Childwall Valley High School for Girls, a state grammar school in the Liverpool suburb ofChildwall, followed byEast 15 Acting School, at which she secured a place in the autumn of 1966 and where she metMike Leigh during her second year.^[4]

Having left the East 15 Acting School inLoughton,Essex, Steadman worked in various regional repertory theatres, starting atLincoln in 1968, where her first role was the schoolgirl Sandy inThe Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She created the role of the monstrous Beverly in Mike Leigh'sAbigail's Party, which she reprised with the original cast on television. She won anOlivier Award forThe Rise and Fall of Little Voice and also appeared inCat on a Hot Tin Roof,Entertaining Mr Sloane,Hotel Paradiso, and others in locations as diverse as theRoyal Court, theTheatre Royal, theOld Vic, theHampstead Theatre, theNottingham Playhouse, theEveryman Liverpool and theNational Theatre. She starred as Elmire in the 1983RSC production ofMolière'sTartuffe, which was adapted for BBC television.^{[citation needed]} 2002 saw her play the role of Hillary inDebbie Isitt'sThe Woman Who Cooked Her Husband at theWest End'sAmbassadors Theatre to widely positive reviews.^[5] In 2010 Steadman played Madame Arcati in a revival ofNoël Coward'sBlithe Spirit.^[6][7] In 2014 Steadman appeared as Madame Raquin inHelen Edmundson's adaptation ofEmile Zola'sThérèse Raquin.^[8][9]

Steadman has appeared in many films, includingP'tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982),Champions (1983),A Private Function (1984),Number One (1984),Clockwise (1986),Stormy Monday (1988),The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988),Shirley Valentine (1989),Wilt (1989),Life Is Sweet (1990),Blame It on the Bellboy (1992),Topsy-Turvy (1999),The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004),Confetti (2006),Burn Burn Burn (2015), Dads Army (2016) and23 Walks (2020).

Steadman is credited with sharing the first lesbian kiss on British television withMyra Frances. Broadcast on 25 February 1974,Girl is the story of the love affair of two WRAC soldiers. “When I was first offered the part I felt quite nervous,” she said and was relieved that her “mum said it was great and was very moved by it.”^[10]

An early television appearance came in 1976 which saw Steadman cast as Cheryl Baker in theGranada Television daytime seriesCrown Court. Her character was the secretary of aconfidence trickster found guilty offraud.

Other television work includesFat Friends as Betty,Grumpy Old Women,Stressed Eric,Let Them Eat Cake,The Singing Detective,No Bananas,The Caucasian Chalk Circle,Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years as Pauline Mole, oppositeJames Bolam in the television filmThe Missing Postman, andPride and Prejudice asMrs. Bennet. In 1991, she also appeared asEdda Göring inSelling Hitler and as Lauren Patterson inGone to the Dogs, which was then followed up byGone to Seed.

Television productions directed by Leigh in which she has appeared includeNuts in May,Hard Labour andAbigail's Party. She also appeared in theBBC comedyThe Worst Week of My Life. In 2007 she featured in theBBC Wales programmeComing Home about her Welsh family history, with roots in Trefarclawdd andRuabon.

In October 2007 Steadman appeared inFanny Hill onBBC Four.

From May 2007 to January 2010 Steadman starred in theBBC comedyGavin & Stacey asPam Shipman. She returned to the role for the Christmas specials in 2019 and 2024 respectively.^[11][12] She appeared inLewis as the Reverend Martha Steadman in 'Intelligent Design' in 2013.

In 2014 Steadman starred as Joyce in the first series of the BBC comedyBoomers, followed by a Christmas special in 2015 and a second series in 2016.^[13] In 2016 she presented the three-part seriesLittle British Islands with Alison Steadman on Channel 4. The series visited Gigha, Jura, Colonsay and Oronsay in episode 1, Jersey, Alderney and Sark in episode 2 and the Isles of Scilly in episode 3. In 2016 she appeared as Abigail in the Midsomer Murders episode 'The incident at Cooper Hill'.

In 2018 Steadman made a return to BBC1 withJohn Cleese inHold the Sunset. On 9 December 2018 Steadman appeared in the BBC1 Drama 'Care' in the role of Mary. Also in 2018 she featured in ITV1 mini series Butterfly where she played Maxine Duffy’s Grandmother.

On radio, Steadman's talent for mimicry and character voices was given full rein in the 1970s, mainly at BBC Manchester, in comedy sketch shows includingWeek Ending,Castle's on the Air andThe Worst Show on the Wireless. In the second and third of these she played the over-protective mother toEli Woods's long-sufferingBunty/Precious. From 1982 to 1984, also at BBC Manchester, she joinedEli Woods andEddie Braben (Morecambe and Wise's scriptwriter) in 13 episodes of the radio comedyThe Show with No Name, written by Braben, which can best be described as an updated version of the comedy sketch showRound the Horne. In the early to mid 1980s Steadman also had a spell in Roy Hudd's long-running comedy sketch seriesThe News Huddlines. From 2002 she co-starred as Mrs Naughtie in the situation comedy seriesHamish and Dougal. In December 2009 she starred in Mike Stott'sMy Mad Grandad onBBC Radio 4.^[14] From 2012 she played Ginny Fox, a parody ofVirginia Woolf, in the sitcomGloomsbury. In 2018 she made a guest appearance in Radio 4'sThe Archers as Olwen, a friend of Jill Archer.

In 1972 directorMike Leigh drove to Liverpool to seeTed Whitehead's playThe Foursome, which featured Steadman. He asked her to be in his filmHard Labour, during which, both said, they "got together".^[15] They married in 1973 and had two sons.^[16] The couple lived with their sons inWood Green, London.^[17] They separated in 1995 and divorced in 2001.

Steadman's partner is actorMichael Elwyn.^[18] The couple live inHighgate, London.^[19]

She is abirdwatcher^[20] and in November 2016 became an ambassador forLondon Wildlife Trust.^[21]

• 2000:Invested asOfficer of the Order of the British Empire

• Alison Steadman atIMDb
• Biodata at Debrett's
• Alison Steadman atBritish Comedy Guide

• 1946 births
• Living people
• 20th-century English actresses
• 21st-century English actresses
• Actresses from Liverpool
• Alumni of East 15 Acting School
• Birdwatchers
• English film actresses
• English radio actresses
• English stage actresses
• English television actresses
• English voice actresses
• Laurence Olivier Award winners
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People educated at Childwall Valley High School for Girls

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