Eileen Atkins | |
|---|---|
_(52727634127).jpg) Atkins in 2023 | |
| Born | Eileen June Atkins (1934-06-15)15 June 1934 (age 91) |
| Education | Guildhall School of Music and Drama |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953–present |
| Spouses | |
Dame Eileen June Atkins (born 15 June 1934)[a] is an English actress. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. She is a three-timeOlivier Award winner, winning Best Supporting Performance in 1988 (for Multiple roles) andBest Actress forThe Unexpected Man (1999) andHonour (2004).[2] In 2008, she won theBAFTA TV Award for Best Actress and theEmmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie forCranford. She was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990 andDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2001.
Atkins joined theRoyal Shakespeare Company in 1957 and made herBroadway debut in the 1966 production ofThe Killing of Sister George, for which she received the first of fourTony Award nominations forBest Actress in a Play in 1967. She received subsequent nominations for,Vivat! Vivat Regina! (1972),Indiscretions (1995) andThe Retreat from Moscow (2004). Other stage credits includeThe Tempest (Old Vic 1962),Exit the King (Edinburgh Festival andRoyal Court 1963),The Promise (New York 1967),The Night of the Tribades (New York 1977),Medea (Young Vic 1985),A Delicate Balance (Haymarket,West End 1997) andDoubt (New York 2006).
Atkins co-created the television dramasUpstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975) andThe House of Elliot (1991–1994) withJean Marsh. She also wrote the screenplay for the 1997 filmMrs Dalloway. Her film appearances includeI Don't Want to Be Born (1975),Equus (1977),The Dresser (1983),Let Him Have It (1991),Wolf (1994),Jack and Sarah (1995),Gosford Park (2001),Cold Mountain (2003),Vanity Fair (2004),Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006),Evening (2007),Last Chance Harvey (2008),Robin Hood (2010) andMagic in the Moonlight (2014).
Atkins was born in the Mothers' Hospital inLower Clapton, aSalvation Army maternity hospital ineast London. Her mother, Annie Ellen (née Elkins), was abarmaid who was 46 when Eileen was born, and her father, Thomas Arthur Atkins,[3] was agas meter reader who was previously under-chauffeur to thePortuguese Ambassador. She was the third child in the family and when she was born the family moved to a council home inTottenham. Her father did not, in fact, know how to drive and was responsible, as under-chauffeur, mainly for cleaning the car. At the time Eileen was born, her mother worked in a factory by day and then as a barmaid in theElephant & Castle at night. When Eileen was three, aRomani woman came to their door selling lucky heather and clothes pegs. She saw little Eileen and told her mother that her daughter would be a famous dancer. Her mother promptly enrolled her in a dance class. Although she hated it, she studied dancing from age 3 to 15 or 16. From age 7 to 15, which covered the last four years of theSecond World War (1941–45), she danced inworking men's club circuits for 15shillings a time as "Baby Eileen".[4] During the war, she performed as well atLondon's Stage Door canteen for American troops and sang songs like "Yankee Doodle." At one time she was attending dance class three or four times a week.[5]
Once, when she was given a line to recite, someone told her mother that she had aCockney accent. Her mother was appalled but speech lessons were too expensive for the family. Fortunately, a woman took interest in her and paid for her to be educated at Parkside Preparatory School in Tottenham. Eileen Atkins has since publicly credited the Principal, Miss Dorothy Margaret Hall, for the wise and firm guidance under which her character developed. From Parkside she went on toThe Latymer School, agrammar school inEdmonton, London. By 12, she was a professional inpanto inClapham andKilburn. One of her grammar school teachers who used to give them religious instruction, an Ernest J. Burton, spotted her potential and, without charge, rigorously drilled away her Cockney accent. He also introduced her to the works ofWilliam Shakespeare. She studied under him for two years.[6]
When she was 14 or 15 and still at Latymer, Atkins also attended "drama demonstration" sessions twice a year with this same teacher. At around this time (though some sources say she was 12), her first encounter withRobert Atkins took place. She was taken to see Atkins' production ofKing John at theRegent's Park Open Air Theatre. She wrote to him saying that the boy who played Prince Arthur was not good enough and that she could do better. Atkins wrote back and asked that she come to see him. On the day they met, Atkins thought she was a shop girl and not a school girl. She gave a little prince speech and he told her to go to drama school and come back when she was older.[7]
Burton came to an agreement with Eileen's parents that he would try to get her a scholarship for one drama school and that if she did not get the scholarship he would arrange for her to do a teaching course in some other drama school. Her parents were not at all keen on the fact that she would stay in school until 16 as her sister had left at 14 and her brother at 15 but somehow they were persuaded. Eileen was in Latymer's until 16. Out of 300 applicants for aRADA scholarship, she got down to the last three but was not selected, so she did a three-year course on teaching at theGuildhall School of Music and Drama. But, although she was taking the teaching course, she also attended drama classes and in fact performed in three plays in her last year. This was in the early 1950s. In her third and last year she had to teach once a week, an experience she later said she hated. She graduated from Guildhall in 1953.[8]
As soon as she left Guildhall, Atkins got her first job with Robert Atkins in 1953: asJaquenetta inLove's Labour's Lost at the same Regent's Park Open Air Theatre where she was brought to see Atkins' King John production years before. She was also, very briefly, an assistant stage manager at theOxford Playhouse untilPeter Hall fired her for impudence. She was also part of repertory companies performing inBilly Butlin's holiday camp inSkegness,Lincolnshire. It was there when she metJulian Glover.
It took nine years (1953–62) before she was working steadily.[9][10]
Atkins joined the Guild Players Repertory Company inBangor, County Down,Northern Ireland, as a professional actress in 1952. She appeared as the nurse inHarvey at the Repertory Theatre, Bangor, in 1952.[11] In 1953 she appeared as an attendant inLove's Labours Lost at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre. Her London stage debut was in 1953 asJaquenetta in Robert Atkins's staging ofLove's Labour's Lost at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park.[12][13]
Atkins has regularly returned to the life and work ofVirginia Woolf for professional inspiration. She has played the writer on stage inPatrick Garland's adaptation ofA Room of One's Own and also inVita and Virginia, winning theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show and anObie Award for A Room of One's Own in which she also played in the 1990 television version; she also provided the screenplay for the 1997 film adaptation of Woolf's novelMrs. Dalloway, and made a cameo appearance in the 2002 film version ofMichael Cunningham's Woolf-themed novel,The Hours.
Atkins joined theStratford Memorial Theatre Company in 1957 and stayed for two seasons. She was with theOld Vic in its 1961–62 season (she appeared in the Old Vic's Repertoire Leaflets of February–April 1962 and April–May 1962).
Atkins appeared as Maggie Clayhanger in all six episodes ofArnold Bennett'sHilda Lessways from 15 May to 19 June 1959, produced byBBCMidlands withJudi Dench and Brian Smith.[14] In the 1960 Shakespeare productionAn Age of Kings she played Joan of Arc.
Atkins helped create two television series. Along with fellow actressJean Marsh, she created the concept for an original television series,Behind the Green Baize Door, which became the award-winningITV seriesUpstairs, Downstairs (1971–75). Marsh played maid Rose for the duration of the series but Atkins was unable to accept a part because of stage commitments. The same team was also responsible for theBBC seriesThe House of Eliott (1991–93).
Atkins' film and television work includes appearing asDornford Yates' villainess Vanity Fair in the BBC adaptation ofShe Fell Among Thieves (1978),Sons and Lovers (1981),Smiley's People (1982),Oliver Twist (1982),Titus Andronicus (1985),A Better Class of Person (1985),Roman Holiday (1987),The Lost Language of Cranes (1991),Cold Comfort Farm (1995),Talking Heads (1998),Madame Bovary (2000),David Copperfield (2000),Wit (2001) andBertie and Elizabeth (2002),Cold Mountain (2003),What a Girl Wants (2003),Vanity Fair (2004),Ballet Shoes (2005) andAsk the Dust (2006).
In the autumn of 2007, Atkins co-starred with DameJudi Dench and SirMichael Gambon in theBBC One dramaCranford playing the central role of Miss Deborah Jenkyns. This performance earned her the 2008BAFTA Award for best actress, as well as theEmmy Award.[15] In September 2007 she played Abigail Dusniak inWaking the DeadYahrzeit (S6:E11-12).
In 2009 Atkins played the evil Nurse Edwina Kenchington in theBBC Two black comedyPsychoville. Atkins replacedVanessa Redgrave asEleanor of Aquitaine in the blockbuster movieRobin Hood, starringRussell Crowe, which was released in the UK in May 2010. The same year, she played Louisa in the dark comedy filmWild Target.
Atkins andJean Marsh, creators of the original 1970s series ofUpstairs, Downstairs, were among the cast of anew BBC adaptation, shown over the winter of 2010–11. The new series is set in 1936. Marsh again played Rose while Atkins was cast as the redoubtable Maud, Lady Holland. In August 2011, it was revealed that Atkins had decided not to continue to take part as she was unhappy with the scripts.[16] In September 2011, Atkins joined the cast of ITV comedy-drama seriesDoc Martin playing the title character's aunt, Ruth Ellingham.[4] She remained with the series until the show ended in 2022.
Atkins starred as Lady Spence withMatthew Rhys in an adaptation ofDaphne du Maurier'sThe Scapegoat, shown in September 2012.[17]
Atkins has portrayedQueen Mary on two occasions, in the 2002 television filmBertie and Elizabeth and in the 2016Netflix-produced television seriesThe Crown.
In 2018 Atkins starred in a British documentary titledNothing Like a Dame, directed byRoger Michell, which documents conversations between actresses Atkins,Judi Dench,Maggie Smith andJoan Plowright, which were interspersed with scenes from their careers on film and stage.[18][19] The film was released in the United States asTea with the Dames.Peter Bradshaw ofThe Guardian gave the film a five out of five star rating, declaring it an "outrageously funny film".[20] Guy Lodge ofVariety called the film a "richly enjoyable gabfest" but that the film was "hardly vital cinema".[21]
Atkins portrayed graduate school professor Evelyn Ashford to Vivian Bearing (Emma Thompson) inWit, a 2001Americantelevision movie directed byMike Nichols. The teleplay by Nichols andEmma Thompson is based on the 1999Pulitzer Prize winningplay of the same title byMargaret Edson. The film was shown at theBerlin International Film Festival on 9 February 2001 before being broadcast byHBO on 24 March. It was shown at theEdinburgh Film Festival and theWarsaw Film Festival later in the year.
Atkins had a guest role inBBC Radio 4's long-running rural soapThe Archers in September 2016, playing Jacqui, the juror who persuades her fellow jurors to acquit Helen Titchener (née Archer) of the charge of attempted murder and wounding with intent of her abusive husband, Rob.[22]
Atkins was married to actorJulian Glover in 1957; they divorced in 1966. A day after his divorce, Glover married actressIsla Blair.[23] She married her second husband, Bill Shepherd, on 2 February 1978. Shepherd died on 24 June 2016.[24]
In 1997, she wrote the screenplay forMrs Dalloway, starringVanessa Redgrave. The film received positive reviews but was a box-office failure. It was a financial disaster for Atkins and her husband, who had invested in it. She said of this incident: "I have to work. I was nearly bankrupted overMrs Dalloway, and if you are nearly bankrupted, you are in trouble for the rest of your life. I don't have a pension. In any case, it doesn't hurt me to work. I think it's quite good, actually."[25]
"All through my career, I have tried to do new work, but there is a problem in the West End as far as new work is concerned. As a theatregoer, I get bored with seeing the same old plays again and again. I felt terrible the other night because I bumped intoGreta Scacchi and she asked me if I was coming to see her inThe Deep Blue Sea. I said, 'Greta, I'm so old, I've seen it so many times. I've seen it withPeggy Ashcroft, withVivien Leigh, withGoogie Withers, withPenelope Wilton and I played it myself when I was 19. I can't bring myself to see it again.' She was very sweet about it."[25]
In 1995, Atkins was diagnosed withbreast cancer and treated for the condition. She has recovered.[26] Living alone in widowhood during the COVID lockdown, Atkins (at age 87) completed her autobiographyWill She Do?.[4] She read an abridged version on BBC Radio 4.[27]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | Inadmissible Evidence | Shirley | |
| 1975 | Sharon's Baby | Sister Albana | |
| 1977 | Equus | Hester Saloman | |
| 1983 | The Dresser | Madge | |
| 1991 | Let Him Have It | Lilian Bentley | |
| 1994 | Wolf | Mary | |
| 1995 | Jack and Sarah | Phil | |
| Cold Comfort Farm | Judith | ||
| 1998 | The Avengers | Alice | |
| 1999 | Women Talking Dirty | Emily Boyle | |
| 2001 | Gosford Park | Mrs. Croft | |
| 2002 | The Hours | Barbara | |
| 2003 | Cold Mountain | Maddy | |
| What a Girl Wants | Jocelyn Dashwood | ||
| A Long Weekend in Pest and Buda | Amanda | ||
| 2004 | Vanity Fair | Miss Matilda Crawley | |
| The Queen of Sheba's Pearls | School matron | ||
| 2005 | The Feast of the Goat | Aunt Adelina | |
| 2006 | Ask the Dust | Mrs. Hargraves | |
| Scenes of a Sexual Nature | Iris | ||
| 2007 | Evening | The Night Nurse | |
| 2008 | Last Chance Harvey | Maggie | |
| 2010 | Robin Hood | Eleanor of Aquitaine | |
| Wild Target | Louisa Maynard | ||
| 2012 | The Scapegoat | Lady Spence | |
| 2013 | Beautiful Creatures | Gramma | |
| 2014 | Magic in the Moonlight | Aunt Vanessa | |
| 2016 | ChickLit | Peggy Law | [28] |
| 2017 | Paddington 2[29] | Madame Kozlova | |
| 2018 | Nothing Like a Dame | Herself | Documentary |
| 2023 | Wicked Little Letters | Mabel |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Hilda Lessways | Maggie Clayhanger | 6 episodes |
| 1960 | An Age of Kings | Performer | 3 episodes |
| 1961 | Emergency – Ward 10 | Miss Spinks | 2 episodes |
| ITV Playhouse | Girl | Episode: "The Square" | |
| 1964 | Z-Cars | Grace Patchett | Episode: "A Stroll Along the Sands" |
| The Massingham Affair | Charlotte Verney | 6 episodes | |
| 1964–1965 | ITV Play of the Week | Norma/Kathy | 2 episodes |
| 1965 | Knock on Any Door | Ruth | Episode: "Close Season" |
| 1966 | Major Barbara | Barbara | Television film |
| 1968 | Theatre 625 | Eileen | Episode: "Party Games" |
| Half Hour Story | Her | Episode: "Nothing's Ever Over" | |
| The Sex Game | Performer | Episode: "Women Can Be Monsters" | |
| 1965–1969 | The Wednesday Play | 4 episodes | |
| 1969–1970 | W. Somerset Maugham | Various | 2 episodes |
| 1970 | Solo | Mary Kingsley | Episode: "Eileen Atkins as Mary Kingsley" |
| 1972 | Stage 2 | The Duchess | Episode: "The Duchess of Malfi" |
| 1969–1972 | BBC Play of the Month | Performer | 4 episodes |
| 1974 | The Lady from the Sea | Ellida Wangel | Television film |
| 1975 | Affairs of the Heart | Kate Cookman | Episode: "Kate" |
| 1980 | She Fell Among Thieves | Vanity Fair | BBC2 Play of The Week |
| Masterpiece Theatre: Sons and Lovers | Gertrude Morel | Mini-series; 7 episode | |
| 1981 | Celebrity Playhouse | Stella Kirby | Episode: "Eden's End" |
| 1982 | Smiley's People | Madame Ostrakova | 4 episodes |
| Oliver Twist | Mrs. Mann | Television film | |
| 1983 | Nelly's Version | Nelly | |
| 1985 | The Burston Rebellion | Kitty Higdon | SeeBurston Strike School |
| 1986 | Breaking Up | Mrs. Mailer | 4 episodes |
| 1985–1987 | Screen Two | Performer | 2 episodes |
| 1991 | A Room of One's Own | Virginia Woolf | Television film |
| 1992 | The Lost Language of Cranes | Rose Benjamin | BBC Screen Two |
| Mistress of Suspense | Mrs. Waggoner | Episode: "The Stuff of Madness" | |
| 1993 | Performance | Mrs. May Maitland | Episode: "The Maitlands" |
| 1995 | Cold Comfort Farm | Judith Starkadder | Television film |
| 1997 | A Dance to the Music of Time | Brightman | Episode: "Post War" |
| 1998 | Talking Heads 2 | Celia | Episode: "The Hand of God" |
| 2000 | Tales from the Madhouse | The Mourner | Episode: "The Mourner" |
| David Copperfield | Miss Jane Murdstone | Television film | |
| 2001 | The Sleeper | Violet Moon | |
| Wit | Evelyn Ashford | ||
| 2002 | Bertie and Elizabeth | Queen Mary | |
| 2003 | Love Again | Eva Larkin | |
| 2007 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Lady Tressilian | Episode: "Towards Zero" |
| Waking the Dead | Abigail Dusniak | Episode:Yahrzeit | |
| Cranford | Miss Deborah Jenkyns | 2 episodes | |
| Ballet Shoes | Madame Fidolia | Television film | |
| 2009–2011 | Psychoville | Edwina Kenchington | 8 episodes |
| 2010 | Upstairs Downstairs | Maud, Lady Holland | 3 episodes |
| Agatha Christie's Poirot | Princess Natalia Dragomiroff | Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express" | |
| Rosamunde Pilcher's Shades of Love | Violet Aird | 2 episodes | |
| 2014 | This Is Jinsy | Miss Penny | Episode: "Penny's Pendant" |
| 2016 | The Crown | Queen Mary | Main role (Season 1); 5 episodes |
| 2017 | Carnage | Dorothy | Mockumentary |
| 2011–2022 | Doc Martin | Ruth Ellingham | 46 episodes |
| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | "Child of the Moon" | The Rolling Stones[30] |
Atkins was appointed aCommander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the1990 Birthday Honours.[38] She was promoted toDame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) on her 67th birthday in the2001 Queen's Birthday Honours "for services to Drama."[39] On 23 June 2010, she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Letters,honoris causa, byOxford University and is an Honorary Fellow ofSt Hugh's College, Oxford. On 5 December 2005 she received the degree of Doctor of Arts,honoris causa, fromCity University London.[40] She is a member of theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame; she was inducted in 1998.
Tony Awards
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Best Actress in a Play | The Killing of Sister George | Nominated | [41] |
| 1972 | Vivat! Vivat Regina! | Nominated | ||
| 1995 | Indiscretions | Nominated | ||
| 2004 | The Retreat from Moscow | Nominated |
Drama Desk Awards
| Year | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Outstanding Performance | Vivat! Vivat Regina! | Won | [41] |
| 1978 | Featured Actress in a Play | The Night of the Tribades | Won | |
| 1991 | Outstanding Solo Performance | A Room of One's Own | Won | |
| 1995 | Honorary Award | — | Won | |
| 2001 | Outstanding Actress in a Play | The Unexpected Man | Nominated | |
| 2004 | The Retreat from Moscow | Nominated |
Olivier Awards
| Year | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Best Actress in a Revival | Twelfth Night | Nominated |
| 1981 | Best Actress in a New Play | Passion Play | Nominated |
| 1988 | Best Supporting Performance | Cymbeline The Winter's Tale Mountain Language | Won |
| 1992 | Best Supporting Actress | The Night of the Iguana | Nominated |
| 1997 | Best Actress | John Gabriel Borkman | Nominated |
| 1999 | The Unexpected Man | Won | |
| 2004 | Honour | Won | |
| 2018 | The Height of the Storm | Nominated |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | BAFTA TV Award | Best Actress | BBC Play of the Month W. Somerset Maugham The Wednesday Play | Nominated |
| 1983 | BAFTA Film Award | Best Supporting Actress | The Dresser | Nominated |
| 2001 | Screen Actors Guild | Outstanding Ensemble – Film | Gosford Park | Won |
| 2002 | Broadcast Film Critics Association | Best Acting Ensemble | Won | |
| 2002 | Florida Film Critics Circle | Best Ensemble Cast | Won | |
| 2002 | Phoenix Film Critics Society | Best Ensemble | Nominated | |
| 2002 | Satellite Award | Best Cast – Film | Won | |
| 2008 | BAFTA TV Award | Best Actress | Cranford | Won |
| 2008 | Golden Globe Award | Best Supporting Actress – Television | Nominated | |
| 2008 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | Won | |
| 2011 | Upstairs Downstairs | Nominated |
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