Eileen Atkins
Dame Eileen June Atkins, DBE (born 16 June 1934) is an English actress and occasional screenwriter. She has worked in the theatre, film, and television consistently since 1953. She has won several major acting awards, including a BAFTA, an Emmy and three Olivier's. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990 and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2001. Atkins joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1957 and made her Broadway debut in the 1966 production of The Killing of Sister George, for which she received the first of four Tony Award nominations for Best Actress in a Play in 1967. She received subsequent nominations for, Vivat! Vivat Regina! in 1972, Indiscretions in 1995 and The Retreat from Moscow in 2004. In the UK, she has won three Olivier Awards, for Best Supporting Performance (for multiple roles) in 1988 and two for Best Actress, for The Unexpected Man in 1999 and Honour in 2004. Other stage credits include, Twelfth Night (Old Vic London, 1961 & 1978), The Tempest (Old Vic 1962), Exit the King with Alec Guinness (Edinburgh Festival and Royal Court 1963), The Promise (New York 1967), The Night of the Tribades (New York 1977), Medea (Young Vic 1985), A Delicate Balance with Maggie Smith (Haymarket, West End 1997) and Doubt (New York 2006). For television, she co-created Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975) and The House of Elliot (1991–1993) with Jean Marsh. In 2008, she won a BAFTA TV Award and an Emmy Award for her role opposite Judi Dench in the BBC drama Cranford Her film roles include, Equus (1977), The Dresser, (1983), Let Him Have It (1991), Wolf (1994), Jack and Sarah (1995), Gosford Park (2001), Evening (2005), Last Chance Harvey (2008) and Robin Hood (2010). She also wrote the screenplay for the 1997 film version of Mrs Dalloway, starring Vanessa Redgrave.