Miranda Richardson was born in Southport, Lancashire, and recalls "a cinema about 50 yards from my house. So Saturday mornings were spent with The ABC Minors: the Saturday cinema club with the theme song set to the tune of 'Blaze Away' by Abe Holzmann, a red ball bouncing over the lyrics so you could sing along. As I got older, I would go to the cinema by myself to watch matinees of westerns and historical Technicolor dramas."
Richardson joined the Manchester Library Theatre in 1979 as an assistant stage manager, followed by a number of appearances in repertory theatre. Her London stage debut was in Moving at the Queen's Theatre in 1981. She found recognition in the West End for a series of stage performances, ultimately receiving an Olivier Award nomination for her performance in A Lie of the Mind, and, in 1996, she appeared in the single-actor theatrical adaptation of Orlando at the Edinburgh Festival.
In 1985, Richardson made her film debut as Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, in the biographical drama "Dance with a Stranger" (below). The story of Ellis has resonance in Britain because it provided part of the background to the extended national debates that led to the progressive abolition of capital punishment from 1965.
Following "Dance with a Stranger," Richardson turned down numerous parts in which her character was unstable or disreputable, including the Glenn Close role in 1987's "Fatal Attraction." In this period, she appeared in "Empire of the Sun" (1987), where she played Mrs. Victor.
Otehr film roles include Vanessa Bell in "The Hours" (2002), Lady Van Tassel in "Sleepy Hollow" (1999), and Patsy Carpenter in "The Evening Star" (1996). She also won acclaim for her performances in "The Crying Game" (1992) and "Enchanted April" (1991), for which she won a Golden Globe. She received Academy Award nominations for her performances in "Damage" (1992) and "Tom & Viv" (1994). British television fans will remember her as Queenie in the "Blackadder" series. (Wikipedia)
No comments:
Post a Comment