“My parents were Irish immigrants. Dad was a worker and mom was a hairdresser. I grew up in Archway, north London and we lived above the hairdressers. My mother gave birth to me when I was 21 and shortly afterwards was running a large hair salon, which she later owned. “I wasn't a spoiled child, but I didn't want for anything,” actress Imelda Staunton wrote in a 2015 article for The Guardian. In the historical drama “The Crown,” she is primarily a supporting actress with a solid career in the world of acting, which made her one of Harry Potter's most fearsome villains, Dolores Umbridge. but also to receive one of the industry's most coveted awards in England, a BAFTA for Best Actress, for her role in Vera Drake's Secret.
Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton said in another interview that her mother dreamed of becoming a hairdresser on a cruise ship “so she could see the whole world,” but since she was raised Catholic, “she had to get married” and do whatever all Irish immigrants did. back then: work hard. Because of this, Staunton's mother, Birdie, decided to send her daughter to a private Catholic school to give her an education that she could not afford. It was there that young Staunton discovered acting: “My drama teacher at school told me I should audition for drama school. He convinced my mother that I had to become an actress. My parents came from a generation where they accepted it when someone in authority told them that this was what their daughter would do. They weren’t worried about me pursuing acting because they didn’t know anything about it,” he confessed. At the age of 18 she was accepted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she studied: “Through theater I discovered a new world. That was my training. “We didn’t have any books at home,” the actress told the Guardian.
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Staunton is a discreet actress – both professionally and personally – who has managed to make a career for herself thanks to the work ethic inherited from her mother and the strong values of her childhood: “I turned to my mother to play many of my roles embodied a strong woman. “His work ethic was his greatest legacy,” he said. His career began in the late 1970s in the theater – which he never gave up – where he received good reviews thanks to his performances in works such as “The Beggar's Opera” and “Guys and Dolls”. It was in this work that she met her husband, also actor Jim Carter, another extremely popular face on British and international television thanks to his portrayal of Mr. Carson, the butler in Downton Abbey. Staunton and Carter married in 1983, making them two of the oldest in the industry. He also has a daughter, Bessie Carter, born in 1993, who followed in her parents' footsteps and is currently participating in the popular series The Bridgertons.
Imelda Staunton and her husband, actor Jim Carter, at the Old Vic theater party in London on May 13, 2018. Dave Benett (Dave Benett/Getty Images)
Staunton later began appearing in British television series and films, which made him a popular face in the United Kingdom, particularly as Second Gold. However, her breakthrough and international fame came with two titles in the 2000s. In 2004, she took the lead role in the film “Vera Drake's Secret”, a dramatic film in which the actress gave life to a woman from a humble background who secretly performed abortions in the 1950s. For this character, Staunton was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe, although she ultimately only took home a BAFTA award. “My mother died in 2004 and my father died six days later,” wrote the actress herself: “Mom had coronary heart disease and went to the hospital to do a bypass, but she never survived the operation.” A week after hers I received an Oscar nomination for Vera Drake. The fact that my mother never knew and couldn’t have that experience with her was completely devastating.”
In 2007, the actress played Professor Dolores Umbridge in the film “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” and in 2010, she reprized her character in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.” Some critics highlighted this portrayal as one of the most important for his career. It was certainly the most popular. At least until Netflix cast her as the last queen of England in “The Crown,” a role previously played by Claire Foy and Oscar winner Olivia Colman. “It was a challenge,” Staunton said of her portrayal of Elizabeth II in the fifth and sixth seasons, the only seasons that premiered after the Queen of England's death and whose filming was therefore postponed. “We fictionalized real events that were very close to the audience,” he told Sky News, as he felt that with the ending the audience no longer perceived the series as a historical drama, as they were already very close to their memories .
From left to right: Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton and Claire Foy play Queen Elizabeth II at different stages of her life in the final episode of “The Crown”.©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Cordon Press
Despite his enormous success in film and television, Staunton's great love remains the theater, whose stages he never left. Simply to take a well-deserved break. He won his first Olivier Award, the most prestigious award in British theater, in 1985 for his performances in A Chorus of Disapproval and Goodbye, Miss Ruth. In 1991 he received the second. He appeared on stage in works such as “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” or follies. “In my job I consider myself a very lucky person because I get to play all these different people and live many lives,” the actress said in an interview with The Scotsman, “but it's also important to live my life.” And it doesn't take much to make me happy: a nice walk with my dog, a nice vacation with my husband… I already do an extraordinary job, so I like doing normal things.”