Harriet Walter

Dame Harriet Walter DBE
Dame Harriet Walter discusses the role of women in Shakespeare plays as part of the RSC's "Stand up for Shakespeare" programme in January 2009
Born	Harriet Mary Walter (1950-09-24) 24 September 1950 London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1974–present
Spouse(s)	Guy Schuessler (m. 2011)
Family	Christopher Lee (uncle)

Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE (born 24 September 1950) is an English stage and screen actress. Her film appearances include Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Governess (1998), Villa des Roses (2002), Atonement (2007) and Man Up (2015). On television she starred as Natalie Chandler in the ITV drama series Law & Order: UK (2009–14), and as Lady Prudence Shackleton in four episodes of Downton Abbey (2013–15). She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2011 for services to drama.

Walter began her career in 1974 and made her Broadway debut in 1983. For her work in various Royal Shakespeare Company productions, including Twelfth Night (1987–88) and Three Sisters (1988), she won the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival. Her other notable work for the RSC includes leading roles in Macbeth (1999) and Antony and Cleopatra (2006). She won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth I in the 2005 London revival of Mary Stuart, and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play when she reprised the role on Broadway in 2009. She is set to reprise her roles of Brutus in Julius Caesar (2012) and the title role in Henry IV (2014), as well as playing Prospero in The Tempest, as part of an all-female Shakespeare trilogy in 2016.

Personal life

Walter is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee,^[1] being the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The Times.^[2] She was educated at the Cranborne Chase School. After turning down a university education, she was in turn rejected by five different drama schools before being admitted into the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[3] Following her training she gained early experience with the Joint Stock Theatre Company, Paines Plough touring, and the Duke's Playhouse, Lancaster.^[4] Her partner, until his death in 2004, was actor Peter Blythe.^[5] On 21 May 2011 she married Guy Schuessler, an American actor (whose stage name is Guy Paul).^[6]

Career

She has worked many times throughout her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in productions including Nicholas Nickleby (1980), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1981), as Helena in All's Well That Ends Well (1981), The Castle (1985), Dasha in A Question of Geography, Viola in Twelfth Night (1988), Masha in Three Sisters (1988), The Duchess of Malfi (1989), Macbeth (1999) and Much Ado about Nothing (2002). She returned to the RSC in 2015 to play Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman, directed by Gregory Doran.

She was made an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987. Her other theatre work includes Three Birds Alighting on a Field (1991), Arcadia (1993), Hedda Gabler (1996), Ivanov (1997) and Mary Stuart (2005).

In New York, she made her Broadway debut in 1983, when the RSC production of All's Well That Ends Well transferred there. In 1993 she starred as Biddy in the Off-Broadway production of Three Birds Alighting on a Field, for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination. She returned to the Broadway stage in 2009 when she and Janet McTeer reprised their roles in Mary Stuart. In 2014 Walter starred as Brutus in an all-female production of Julius Caesar Off-Broadway and received her second Drama Desk nomination.

Her films include Sense and Sensibility (1995), Bedrooms and Hallways (1998), The Governess (1998), Onegin (1999), Villa des Roses (2002) and Bright Young Things (2003). On television, she starred as Detective Inspector Natalie Chandler from 2009–12 in the ITV drama series Law & Order: UK. Other TV roles include Mrs. Gowan in the 2008 BBC adaptation of Little Dorrit and Lady Shackleton in three episodes of Downton Abbey (2013–15). In 1987, she portrayed Lord Peter Wimsey's love interest Harriet Vane for three installments of the BBC's A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery series.^[7]

She is also a patron of several notable charities; the Shakespeare Schools Festival, a charity that enables school children across the UK to perform Shakespeare in professional theatres,^[8] Prisoners Abroad, a charity that supports the welfare of Britons imprisoned overseas and their families and Clean Break, a charity and theatre company dedicated to sharing the often hidden stories of imprisoned women, and to transforming the lives of women offenders and—through theatre education—of women at risk of offending.

Walter played Brutus in Julius Caesar in 2012, and the title role in Henry IV in 2014, in all-female productions at the Donmar Warehouse. Both productions transferred to Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse in New York. She is set to reprise both roles, as well as playing Prospero in an all-female production of The Tempest, as part of director Phyllida Lloyd's Shakespeare trilogy at the Donmar's temporary, in-the-round, 420-seat theatre next to King's Cross station in 2016.

Honours

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours^[4] and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to drama.^[9]

In 2001 she and Kenneth Branagh were both given honorary doctorates and honorary fellowships at the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford.

Her performance in Mary Stuart at the Donmar Warehouse transferred to Broadway, where it was nominated for numerous Tony Awards, including Best Actress nods for her and her co-star Janet McTeer.^[10]

Stage – notable performances

• 1981/82, Royal Shakespeare Company, Helena in All's Well That Ends Well
• 1987/88, Royal Shakespeare Company, Imogen in Cymbeline
• 1987/88, Royal Shakespeare Company, Viola in Twelfth Night^[11]
• 1987/88, Royal Shakespeare Company, Dacha in A Question of Geography
• 1988, Royal Shakespeare Company, Masha in Chekhov'sThree Sisters
• 1989/90, Royal Shakespeare Company, Duchess in John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi
• 1991, Royal Court Theatre (and Broadway transfer), Biddy in Timberlake Wertenbaker's "Three Birds Alighting on a Field"
• 1993, Royal National Theatre, Lady Croom in Arcadia by Tom Stoppard
• 1999 Royal Shakespeare Company, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth
• 2002 Royal National Theatre Paige in Dinner by Moira Buffini, co-starring Nicholas Farrell and Catherine McCormack.
• 2005, Donmar Warehouse and West End, Mary Stuart by Schiller ^[4]
• 2006, Royal Shakespeare Company, Antony and Cleopatra
• 2009, Mary Stuart, Broadway transfer
• 2010, Royal National Theatre, Women Beware Women
• 2012/13 Donmar Warehouse, Brutus in Julius Caesar ^[12]
• 2014, Donmar Warehouse, King Henry IV in Henry IV.
• 2015, Royal Shakespeare Company and the Noel Coward Theatre, Linda Loman in Death of a Salesman

Television

Documentary

• George Eliot: A Scandalous Life (2002) (TV) – Mary Ann Evans/George Eliot
• London (2004) (TV) (BBC) – Virginia Woolf

Drama

• Rebecca (1979) – Clarice
• Play for Today: "The Imitation Game" (1980) – Cathy Raine
• Amy (1984) – Amy Johnson
• The Price (1985, mini-series) – Frances Carr ^[13]
• Strong Poison (1987) – Harriet Vane
• Have His Carcase (1987) – Harriet Vane
• Gaudy Night (1987) – Harriet Vane
• La Nuit Miraculeuse (1989)
• Ashenden (1991, miniseries) – Giulia Lazzari
• The Men's Room (1991) – Charity Walton
• Bye Bye Columbus (1991) – Queen Isabella
• The Hour of the Pig (1993) – Jeannine Martin
• Inspector Morse – The Day of the Devil (1993) – Dr. Esther Martin
• The Maitlands (1993) – Mrs. Dorothy Maitland
• Hard Times (1994) – Rachel
• A Dance to the Music of Time: segment two (1997, miniseries)- Mildred Blaides
• Norman Ormal: A Very Political Turtle (1998) – Felicity Ormal
• Unfinished Business (1998, TV Series) – Amy
• The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (1999) – Queen Morag
• Dalziel and Pascoe Time to Go (1999) – Mary Waddell (guest appearance)
• Black Cab – Busy Body (2000) – Jane (guest appearance)
• Waking the Dead – A Simple Sacrifice (2001) – Annie Keel (guest appearance)
• My Uncle Silas II (2003) – Pamela Farrell (guest appearance)
• Spooks – aka MI-5 (USA) – Who Guards the Guards? (2004) – Deep Throat (guest appearance)
• Messiah: The Harrowing (2005) – Prof Robb
• New Tricks – Episode No. 2.3 (2005) – Madeline (guest appearance)
• Midsomer Murders – Orchis Fatalis (2005) – Margaret Winstanley (guest appearance)
• Ballet Shoes (2007) – Dr Smith
• Cat Among the Pigeons (2008) – Honoria Bulstrode
• Little Dorrit (2008) – Mrs. Gowan (guest appearance)
• The Palace (2008) – Joanna Woodward (guest appearance)
• Law & Order: UK (2009–12) – Detective Inspector Natalie Chandler
• Midsomer Murders - Death and the Divas (2013) - Diana Davenport (guest appearance)
• Downton Abbey (2013–15) - Lady Shackleton (three guest appearances)
• By Any Means (2013)
• Law & Order: UK (2014) – Detective Inspector Natalie Chandler (Guest Appearance)
• London Spy (2015)
• The Crown (2016) - Clementine Churchill

Film

• Reflections (1984) – Ottilie Garinger
• The Good Father (1985) – Emmy Hooper
• Turtle Diary (1985) – Harriet Sims (bookstore clerk)
• Milou en mai (1990) – Lily
• They Never Slept (1990) – Amelia Cleverly
• A Man You Don't Meet Every Day (1994) – Charlotte
• Sense and Sensibility (1995) – Fanny Dashwood
• The Leading Man (1996) – Liz Flett
• Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1997) – Julia Comstock
• Bedrooms and Hallways (1998) – Sybil
• The Governess (1998) – Mrs. Cavendish
• Onegin (1999) – Mme. Larina
• Villa des Roses (2002) – Olive
• Bright Young Things (2003) – Lady Metroland
• Chromophobia (2005) – Penelope Aylesbury
• Babel (2006) – Lilly
• Atonement (2007) – Emily Tallis
• Cheri (2009) – La Loupiote
• The Young Victoria (2009) – Queen Adelaide
• Morris: A Life with Bells On (2009) – Professor Compton Chamberlayne
• From Time to Time (2009) – Lady Gresham
• A Royal Affair (2012) – Augusta, Princess of Wales
• The Wedding Video (2012) – Alex
• Man Up (2015) – Fran
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) – Kalonia^[14]
• The Sense of an Ending (2016)

Radio

• Jeremy Hardy Speaks to the Nation
• Scenes of Seduction, radio play written by Timberlake Wertenbaker and directed by Ned Chaillet, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 7 Mar 2005 – Catherine.^[15]
• Desmond Olivier Dingle (as herself), broadcast on BBC7 on 28 February 2007, episode 2 of 6, duration 30 minutes
• The Arts and How they was done (Radio Show) (as herself), broadcast on BBC Radio 4 between 4 April and 9 May 2007, episodes 1 and 6 out of 6, duration 30 minutes
• I, Claudius, broadcast on BBC Radio 4 December 2010 – Livia, wife of Augustus.
• Guest in Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 on 26 June 2011.
• Time and the Conways as Mrs. Conway in BBC Radio 3's adaptation of J.B. Priestley's play, broadcast on 14 September 2014.

Books

• Clamorous Voices: Shakespeare's Women Today (1988). Womens Press, ISBN 070434145X.
• Players of Shakepeare 3 (1994). Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521477345.
• Macbeth (Actors on Shakespeare) (2002). Faber and Faber, London. ISBN 0-571-21407-X
• Other People's Shoes (2003). Nick Hern Books, London. ISBN 1-85459-751-5. Autobiography.
• Facing It, Reflections on images of older women (2010). Self Published, London. ISBN 978-0-9566497-1-3

References

External links

• Harriet Walter at the Internet Movie Database
• Company Members : Harriet Walter at the Royal National Theatre
• Official website
• Facingitpublications.co.uk