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{{Short description|English actress (1932–2014)}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} |
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} |
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{{Use British English|date=January 2017}} |
{{Use British English|date=January 2017}} |
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{{more citations needed|date=December 2014}} |
{{more citations needed|date=December 2014}} |
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{{Infobox person |
{{Infobox person |
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| name = Billie Whitelaw |
| name = Billie Whitelaw |
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| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|size=100%}} |
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|size=100%}} |
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|image = Billie Whitelaw.jpg |
| image = Billie Whitelaw.jpg |
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| caption |
| caption = Whitelaw, {{circa|1960s}} |
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| birthname = Billie Honor Whitelaw |
| birthname = Billie Honor Whitelaw |
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| birth_date = {{birth date|1932|6|6|df=yes}} |
| birth_date = {{birth date|1932|6|6|df=yes}} |
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| birth_place = [[Coventry]], [[Warwickshire]], |
| birth_place = [[Coventry]], [[Warwickshire]],{{efn|name=Coventry}} England |
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| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|12|21|1932|6|6|df=yes}} |
| death_date = {{death date and age|2014|12|21|1932|6|6|df=yes}} |
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| death_place = [[Northwood, London|Northwood]], [[London]], England |
| death_place = [[Northwood, London|Northwood]], [[London]], England |
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| other_names = |
| other_names = |
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| occupation = Actress |
| occupation = Actress |
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| years active = 1950–2007 |
| years active = 1950–2007 |
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| spouse = {{marriage|[[Peter Vaughan]]|1952|1966|end=div}} |
| spouse = {{plainlist| |
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*{{marriage|[[Peter Vaughan]]|1952|1966|end=div}} |
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*{{marriage|[[Robert Muller (screenwriter)|Robert Muller]]|1983|1998|end=d.}} |
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}} |
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| children = 1 |
| children = 1 |
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}} |
}} |
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'''Billie Honor Whitelaw''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014) was an |
'''Billie Honor Whitelaw''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014) was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright [[Samuel Beckett]] for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works.<ref name=nyswi>[http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/archives/whitelaw.html Billie Whitelaw at New York State Writers Institute, State University of New York]</ref> She was also known for her portrayal of [[Secondary characters in The Omen series#Mrs Baylock|Mrs. Baylock]], the demonic nanny in the 1976 horror film ''[[The Omen]]''. |
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==Early life== |
==Early life== |
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Whitelaw was born in [[Coventry]], [[Warwickshire]], |
Whitelaw was born on 6 June 1932 in [[Coventry]], [[Warwickshire]],{{efn|name=Coventry|Since 1 April 1974, Coventry has been part of [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]].}} the daughter of Frances Mary (née Williams) and Gerry Whitelaw.<ref>{{cite web | title=Billie Whitelaw Biography (1932-) | website=Film Reference | date=6 June 1932 | url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/43/Billie-Whitelaw.html | access-date=27 March 2023}}</ref> She had one sister, Constance, who was 10 years older. Whitelaw grew up in a working class part of [[Bradford]] and later attended Grange Girls' Grammar School in Bradford.{{cn|date=March 2023}} |
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At age 11, she began performing as a child actress on radio programmes, including the part of Bunkle, an extrovert prep-schoolboy on Children's Hour from Manchester, and later worked as an assistant stage manager and acted with the repertory company at the Prince's Theatre in Bradford during high school. Her father died of [[lung cancer]] when Billie was 9 years old. Money was tight, and her mother struggled to support the family. "It's something I haven't come to terms with ... I'm rather ashamed of having the good life I have", she later recalled.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29445982 Obituary], bbc.com; accessed 22 December 2014.</ref> |
At age 11, she began performing as a child actress on radio programmes, including the part of Bunkle, an extrovert prep-schoolboy on Children's Hour from Manchester, and later worked as an assistant stage manager and acted with the repertory company at the Prince's Theatre in Bradford during high school. Her father died of [[lung cancer]] when Billie was 9 years old. Money was tight, and her mother struggled to support the family. "It's something I haven't come to terms with ... I'm rather ashamed of having the good life I have", she later recalled.<ref>[https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29445982 Obituary], bbc.com; accessed 22 December 2014.</ref> |
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At the age of sixteen, Whitelaw met the director [[Joan Littlewood]] at the BBC in Manchester, and was invited to join her Theatre Workshop troupe. |
At the age of sixteen, Whitelaw met the director [[Joan Littlewood]] at the BBC in Manchester, and was invited to join her Theatre Workshop troupe. She was encouraged by her mother to join Harry Hanson's Leeds company in 1948, and then went on to play in repertory theatres in Dewsbury, New Brighton in Liverpool, and Oxford, eventually making her London debut in 1950.<ref name="dnb"/> |
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==Film career== |
==Film career== |
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⚫ | Whitelaw made her film debut in ''[[The Sleeping Tiger]]'' (1954), followed by roles in ''[[Carve Her Name with Pride]]'' (1958) and ''[[Hell Is a City]]'' (1960). Whitelaw soon became a regular in British films of the 1950s and early 1960s. In her early film work, she specialised in blousy blondes and secretaries, but her dramatic range began to emerge by the late 1960s. She starred with [[Albert Finney]] in ''[[Charlie Bubbles]]'' (1967), a performance which won her a [[BAFTA]] award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She would win her second BAFTA as the sensuous mother of college student [[Hayley Mills]] in the psychological study ''[[Twisted Nerve]]'' (1969). She continued in film roles including ''[[Leo the Last]]'' (1970), ''[[Start the Revolution Without Me]]'' (1970), ''[[Gumshoe (film)|Gumshoe]]'' (1971), and the [[Alfred Hitchcock]] thriller ''[[Frenzy]]'' (1972).{{cn|date=March 2023}} |
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⚫ | Whitelaw gained international acclaim for her chilling role as Mrs. Baylock, the evil guardian of the demon child Damien in ''[[The Omen]]'' (1976). Her performance was considered one of the more memorable of the film, winning her the [[Evening Standard British Film Award|''Evening Standard'' British Film Award]] for Best Actress.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37897/saving-abels-top-10-female-villains|title=Saving Abel's Top 10 Female Villains|date=29 September 2012 |publisher=DreadCentral}}</ref> Other films included performing the voice of Aughra in ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'', as the hopelessly naive Mrs. Hall in ''[[Maurice (1987 film)|Maurice]]'' (1987), one of two sisters, with [[Joan Plowright]], struggling to survive in war-time [[Liverpool]] in ''[[The Dressmaker (1988 film)|The Dressmaker]]'' (1988), the fiercely domineering and protective mother of psychopathic twin murderers in ''[[The Krays (film)|The Krays]]'' (1990), a performance that earned her a BAFTA nomination, as the nurse Grace Poole in ''[[Jane Eyre (1996 film)|Jane Eyre]]'' (1996), and the blind laundress in ''[[Quills (film)|Quills]]'' (2000). She returned to film, in a comedy turn, as Joyce Cooper in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' (2007).{{cn|date=March 2023}} |
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⚫ | Whitelaw made her film debut in ''[[The Sleeping Tiger]]'' (1954), followed by roles in ''[[Carve Her Name with Pride]]'' (1958) and ''[[Hell Is a City]]'' (1960). Whitelaw soon became a regular in British films of the 1950s and early 1960s. In her early film work, she specialised in blousy blondes and secretaries, but her dramatic range began to emerge by the late 1960s. She starred with [[Albert Finney]] in ''[[Charlie Bubbles]]'' (1967), a performance which won her a [[BAFTA]] award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She would win her second BAFTA as the sensuous mother of college student [[Hayley Mills]] in the psychological study ''[[Twisted Nerve]]'' (1969). She continued in film roles including ''[[Leo the Last]]'' (1970), ''[[Start the Revolution Without Me]]'' (1970), ''[[Gumshoe (film)|Gumshoe]]'' (1971), and the [[Alfred Hitchcock]] thriller ''[[Frenzy]]'' (1972). |
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⚫ | Whitelaw gained international acclaim for her chilling role as Mrs. Baylock, the evil guardian of the demon child Damien in ''[[The Omen]]'' (1976). Her performance was considered one of the more memorable of the film, winning her the [[Evening Standard British Film Award|''Evening Standard'' British Film Award]] for Best Actress.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37897/saving-abels-top-10-female-villains|title=Saving Abel's Top 10 Female Villains|publisher=DreadCentral}}</ref> Other films included performing the voice of Aughra in ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'', as the hopelessly naive Mrs. Hall in ''[[Maurice (film)|Maurice]]'' (1987), one of two sisters, with [[Joan Plowright]], struggling to survive in war-time [[Liverpool]] in ''[[The Dressmaker (1988 film)|The Dressmaker]]'' (1988), the fiercely domineering and protective mother of psychopathic twin murderers in ''[[The Krays (film)|The Krays]]'' (1990), a performance that earned her a BAFTA nomination, as the nurse Grace Poole in ''[[Jane Eyre (1996 film)|Jane Eyre]]'' (1996), and the blind laundress in ''[[Quills]]'' (2000). She returned to film, in a comedy turn, as Joyce Cooper in ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' (2007). |
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In 1970, she was a member of the jury at the [[20th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="berlinale 1970">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1970/04_jury_1970/04_Jury_1970.html |title=Berlinale 1970: Juries |access-date=2010-03-08 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref> |
In 1970, she was a member of the jury at the [[20th Berlin International Film Festival]].<ref name="berlinale 1970">{{cite web |url=http://www.berlinale.de/en/archiv/jahresarchive/1970/04_jury_1970/04_Jury_1970.html |title=Berlinale 1970: Juries |access-date=2010-03-08 |work=berlinale.de}}</ref> |
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Whitelaw remained the foremost interpreter of the man and his work. She gave lectures on the Beckettian technique, and explained, "He used me as a piece of plaster he was moulding until he got just the right shape".<ref>[http://partners.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/970803.03dickstt.html#hear New York Times article ''An Outsider in His Own Life'']</ref> They collaborated on Beckett plays such as ''[[Play (play)|Play]]'', ''[[Eh Joe]]'', ''[[Happy Days (play)|Happy Days]]'', ''[[Not I]]'', ''[[Footfalls]]'' and ''[[Rockaby]]'' for both stage and screen.<ref name=nyswi/> For her performance in ''Rockaby'' Whitelaw was nominated for a [[Drama Desk Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/billie-whitelaw-408815#Awards|title=Billie Whitelaw|agency=Internet Broadway Database|access-date=25 November 2019}}</ref> |
Whitelaw remained the foremost interpreter of the man and his work. She gave lectures on the Beckettian technique, and explained, "He used me as a piece of plaster he was moulding until he got just the right shape".<ref>[http://partners.nytimes.com/books/97/08/03/reviews/970803.03dickstt.html#hear New York Times article ''An Outsider in His Own Life'']</ref> They collaborated on Beckett plays such as ''[[Play (play)|Play]]'', ''[[Eh Joe]]'', ''[[Happy Days (play)|Happy Days]]'', ''[[Not I]]'', ''[[Footfalls]]'' and ''[[Rockaby]]'' for both stage and screen.<ref name=nyswi/> For her performance in ''Rockaby'' Whitelaw was nominated for a [[Drama Desk Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/billie-whitelaw-408815#Awards|title=Billie Whitelaw|agency=Internet Broadway Database|access-date=25 November 2019}}</ref> |
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From 1964 to 1966, |
From 1964 to 1966, she was a member of Britain's [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre Company]]. In 1965, she took over the part of [[Desdemona]] opposite [[Laurence Olivier]]'s [[Othello]] from [[Maggie Smith]].<ref>Lyn Haill (ed.) ''Olivier at Work'', 1989, p. 28.<!-- ISBN needed --></ref> |
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==Television career== |
==Television career== |
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Whitelaw also appeared frequently on television and won acclaim for her work. A very early TV appearance was in the first series of the long-running BBC1 police series ''[[Dixon of Dock Green]]'' (1955), as Mary Dixon, daughter of George ([[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]]). She also appeared as a woman who tries to join Robin Hood's outlaw band in a 1957 episode of ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]'', "The Bride of Robin Hood", and won a BAFTA award as Best Actress for her performance in ''The Sextet'' (1972). She starred on the 1958–59 sitcom ''[[Time Out for Peggy]]''. She also appeared in an episode of ''[[ |
Whitelaw also appeared frequently on television and won acclaim for her work. A very early TV appearance was in the first series of the long-running BBC1 police series ''[[Dixon of Dock Green]]'' (1955), as Mary Dixon, daughter of George ([[Jack Warner (actor)|Jack Warner]]). She also appeared as a woman who tries to join Robin Hood's outlaw band in a 1957 episode of ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (TV series)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]'', "The Bride of Robin Hood", and won a BAFTA award as Best Actress for her performance in ''The Sextet'' (1972). She starred on the 1958–59 sitcom ''[[Time Out for Peggy]]''.<ref name=imdb/> She also appeared in an episode of ''[[Wicked Women (TV series)|Wicked Women]]'' (1970),<ref>{{imdb title|0902940|Wicked Women}}</ref> the [[BBC]] adaptation of [[Thomas Hardy]]'s ''[[Wessex Tales]]'' (1973), ''[[A Tale of Two Cities (1980 film)|A Tale of Two Cities]]'' (1980), ''[[Private Schulz]]'' (1982), ''[[A Murder of Quality (film)|A Murder of Quality]]'' (1991), ''[[Duel of Hearts]]'' (1991), ''[[Firm Friends]]'' (1992–1994) with [[Madhur Jaffrey]], ''[[Jane Eyre (1996 film)|Jane Eyre]]'' (1996), ''[[Born to Run (TV series)|Born to Run]]'' (1997), ''[[Merlin (miniseries)|Merlin]]'' (1998) and ''A Dinner of Herbs'' (2000).<ref name=imdb>{{IMDb name|0925794}}</ref> |
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==Personal life and death== |
==Personal life and death== |
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Whitelaw was married to the actor [[Peter Vaughan]] from 1952 to 1966 |
Whitelaw was married to the actor [[Peter Vaughan]] from 1952 to 1966. She later married the writer and drama critic [[Robert Muller (screenwriter)|Robert Muller]]. The couple had a son together. ''Billie Whitelaw... Who He?'' was published by [[St. Martin's Press]] in 1996. Muller died in 1998. |
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Having divided her time between a home in [[Hampstead]], north London |
Having divided her time between a home in [[Hampstead]], north London and a cottage near [[Glemsford]] in [[Suffolk]], Whitelaw spent the last four years of her life as a resident of [[Denville Hall]], the actors' retirement and nursing home in [[Northwood, London|Northwood]], [[Hillingdon]].<ref name="dnb">Michael Coveney, "Whitelaw, Billie Honor (1932–2014)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, Feb 2018 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/108193 available online]. Retrieved 18 June 2020.</ref> She died there aged 82, following a bout of [[pneumonia]]<ref name="dnb"/> on 21 December 2014.<ref name=death>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-30571601|title=Actress Billie Whitelaw dies aged 82|date=21 December 2014|agency=BBC News|access-date=21 December 2014}}</ref> |
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==Honours== |
==Honours== |
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Whitelaw was appointed a [[Commander of the British Empire]] by |
Whitelaw was appointed a [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] by [[Queen Elizabeth II]] in the [[1991 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rawlinson |first=Kevin |date=2014-12-21 |title=Billie Whitelaw dies aged 82 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/dec/21/billie-whitelaw-dies-actor |access-date=2024-02-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> |
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==Selected filmography== |
==Selected filmography== |
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* ''[[Night Watch (1973 film)|Night Watch]]'' (1973) as Sarah Cooke |
* ''[[Night Watch (1973 film)|Night Watch]]'' (1973) as Sarah Cooke |
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* ''[[Napoleon and Love]]'' (1974, TV Mini-Series) as Josephine |
* ''[[Napoleon and Love]]'' (1974, TV Mini-Series) as Josephine |
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* ''[[The Omen]]'' (1976) as Mrs Baylock |
* ''[[The Omen]]'' (1976) as Mrs. Baylock |
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* ''[[Space: 1999]]'' (1976, TV Series ) as Zamara |
* ''[[Space: 1999]]'' (1976, TV Series ) as Zamara |
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* ''[[The Water Babies (film)|The Water Babies]]'' (1978) as Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby / Old Crone / Mrs Tripp / Woman in Black / Water Babies 'Gate Keeper' |
* ''[[The Water Babies (film)|The Water Babies]]'' (1978) as Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby / Old Crone / Mrs Tripp / Woman in Black / Water Babies 'Gate Keeper' |
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* ''[[Shadey]]'' (1985) as Doctor Cloud |
* ''[[Shadey]]'' (1985) as Doctor Cloud |
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* ''Murder Elite'' (1985) as Margaret Baker |
* ''Murder Elite'' (1985) as Margaret Baker |
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* ''[[Maurice (film)|Maurice]]'' (1987) as Mrs Hall |
* ''[[Maurice (1987 film)|Maurice]]'' (1987) as Mrs. Hall |
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* ''[[The Secret Garden (1987 film)|The Secret Garden]]'' (1987) as Mrs Medlock |
* ''[[The Secret Garden (1987 film)|The Secret Garden]]'' (1987) as Mrs. Medlock |
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* ''Joyriders'' (1988) as Tammy O'Moore |
* ''Joyriders'' (1988) as Tammy O'Moore |
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* ''[[The Dressmaker (1988 film)|The Dressmaker]]'' (1988) as Margo |
* ''[[The Dressmaker (1988 film)|The Dressmaker]]'' (1988) as Margo |
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* ''[[Jane Eyre (1996 film)|Jane Eyre]]'' (1996) as Grace Poole |
* ''[[Jane Eyre (1996 film)|Jane Eyre]]'' (1996) as Grace Poole |
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* ''[[Merlin (miniseries)|Merlin]]'' (1998, TV Mini-Series) as Ambrosia |
* ''[[Merlin (miniseries)|Merlin]]'' (1998, TV Mini-Series) as Ambrosia |
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* ''[[The Lost Son (film)|The Lost Son]]'' (1999) as Mrs Spitz |
* ''[[The Lost Son (film)|The Lost Son]]'' (1999) as Mrs. Spitz |
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* ''[[The Last of the Blonde Bombshells]]'' (2000) as Evelyn |
* ''[[The Last of the Blonde Bombshells]]'' (2000) as Evelyn |
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* ''[[Quills]]'' (2000) as Madame LeClerc |
* ''[[Quills (film)|Quills]]'' (2000) as Madame LeClerc |
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* ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' (2007) as Joyce Cooper (final film role) |
* ''[[Hot Fuzz]]'' (2007) as Joyce Cooper (final film role) |
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{{div col end}} |
{{div col end}} |
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==Notes== |
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{{Notelist}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060602102734/http://ubu.wfmu.org/video/Beckett-Samuel_Not-I-Whitelaw_1973.avi Video of Billie Whitelaw performing Beckett's ''Not I''] |
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060602102734/http://ubu.wfmu.org/video/Beckett-Samuel_Not-I-Whitelaw_1973.avi Video of Billie Whitelaw performing Beckett's ''Not I''] |
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*{{Screenonline name|489152}} |
*{{Screenonline name|489152}} |
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*[http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=18292 Billie Whitelaw; Aveleyman] |
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{{Navboxes |
{{Navboxes |
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{{BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress 1968-1984}} |
{{BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress 1968-1984}} |
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{{British Academy Television Award for Best Actress 1960-1979}} |
{{British Academy Television Award for Best Actress 1960-1979}} |
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{{Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress}} |
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{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress}} |
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress}} |
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}} |
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[[Category:1932 births]] |
[[Category:1932 births]] |
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[[Category:2014 deaths]] |
[[Category:2014 deaths]] |
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[[Category:Actresses from Coventry]] |
[[Category:Actresses from Coventry]] |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:Alumni of RADA]] |
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[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]] |
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[[Category:Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners]] |
[[Category:Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners]] |
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[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]] |
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]] |
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[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in England]] |
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[[Category:English film actresses]] |
[[Category:English film actresses]] |
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[[Category:English stage actresses]] |
[[Category:English stage actresses]] |
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[[Category:English television actresses]] |
[[Category:English television actresses]] |
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[[Category:English voice actresses]] |
[[Category:English voice actresses]] |
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⚫ |
Latest revision as of 16:37, 6 May 2024
Billie Whitelaw | |
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Born | Billie Honor Whitelaw 6 June 1932 |
Died | 21 December 2014 | (aged 82)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1950–2007 |
Spouses | |
Children | 1 |
Billie Honor Whitelaw CBE (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014) was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works.[1] She was also known for her portrayal of Mrs. Baylock, the demonic nanny in the 1976 horror film The Omen.
Early life
Whitelaw was born on 6 June 1932 in Coventry, Warwickshire,[a] the daughter of Frances Mary (née Williams) and Gerry Whitelaw.[2] She had one sister, Constance, who was 10 years older. Whitelaw grew up in a working class part of Bradford and later attended Grange Girls' Grammar School in Bradford.[citation needed]
At age 11, she began performing as a child actress on radio programmes, including the part of Bunkle, an extrovert prep-schoolboy on Children's Hour from Manchester, and later worked as an assistant stage manager and acted with the repertory company at the Prince's Theatre in Bradford during high school. Her father died of lung cancer when Billie was 9 years old. Money was tight, and her mother struggled to support the family. "It's something I haven't come to terms with ... I'm rather ashamed of having the good life I have", she later recalled.[3]
At the age of sixteen, Whitelaw met the director Joan Littlewood at the BBC in Manchester, and was invited to join her Theatre Workshop troupe. She was encouraged by her mother to join Harry Hanson's Leeds company in 1948, and then went on to play in repertory theatres in Dewsbury, New Brighton in Liverpool, and Oxford, eventually making her London debut in 1950.[4]
Film career
Whitelaw made her film debut in The Sleeping Tiger (1954), followed by roles in Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) and Hell Is a City (1960). Whitelaw soon became a regular in British films of the 1950s and early 1960s. In her early film work, she specialised in blousy blondes and secretaries, but her dramatic range began to emerge by the late 1960s. She starred with Albert Finney in Charlie Bubbles (1967), a performance which won her a BAFTA award as Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She would win her second BAFTA as the sensuous mother of college student Hayley Mills in the psychological study Twisted Nerve (1969). She continued in film roles including Leo the Last (1970), Start the Revolution Without Me (1970), Gumshoe (1971), and the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Frenzy (1972).[citation needed]
Whitelaw gained international acclaim for her chilling role as Mrs. Baylock, the evil guardian of the demon child Damien in The Omen (1976). Her performance was considered one of the more memorable of the film, winning her the Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress.[5] Other films included performing the voice of Aughra in The Dark Crystal, as the hopelessly naive Mrs. Hall in Maurice (1987), one of two sisters, with Joan Plowright, struggling to survive in war-time Liverpool in The Dressmaker (1988), the fiercely domineering and protective mother of psychopathic twin murderers in The Krays (1990), a performance that earned her a BAFTA nomination, as the nurse Grace Poole in Jane Eyre (1996), and the blind laundress in Quills (2000). She returned to film, in a comedy turn, as Joyce Cooper in Hot Fuzz (2007).[citation needed]
In 1970, she was a member of the jury at the 20th Berlin International Film Festival.[6]
Theatre and Beckett
In 1963, Billie Whitelaw met Irish playwright Samuel Beckett. She and Beckett enjoyed an intense professional relationship until his death in 1989. He wrote many of his more experimental plays especially for her, referring to Whitelaw as "a perfect actress". Whitelaw became Beckett's muse, as he created, reworked and revised each play while she physically, at times to the point of total exhaustion, acted each movement.
Whitelaw remained the foremost interpreter of the man and his work. She gave lectures on the Beckettian technique, and explained, "He used me as a piece of plaster he was moulding until he got just the right shape".[7] They collaborated on Beckett plays such as Play, Eh Joe, Happy Days, Not I, Footfalls and Rockaby for both stage and screen.[1] For her performance in Rockaby Whitelaw was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.[8]
From 1964 to 1966, she was a member of Britain's National Theatre Company. In 1965, she took over the part of Desdemona opposite Laurence Olivier's Othello from Maggie Smith.[9]
Television career
Whitelaw also appeared frequently on television and won acclaim for her work. A very early TV appearance was in the first series of the long-running BBC1 police series Dixon of Dock Green (1955), as Mary Dixon, daughter of George (Jack Warner). She also appeared as a woman who tries to join Robin Hood's outlaw band in a 1957 episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood, "The Bride of Robin Hood", and won a BAFTA award as Best Actress for her performance in The Sextet (1972). She starred on the 1958–59 sitcom Time Out for Peggy.[10] She also appeared in an episode of Wicked Women (1970),[11] the BBC adaptation of Thomas Hardy's Wessex Tales (1973), A Tale of Two Cities (1980), Private Schulz (1982), A Murder of Quality (1991), Duel of Hearts (1991), Firm Friends (1992–1994) with Madhur Jaffrey, Jane Eyre (1996), Born to Run (1997), Merlin (1998) and A Dinner of Herbs (2000).[10]
Personal life and death
Whitelaw was married to the actor Peter Vaughan from 1952 to 1966. She later married the writer and drama critic Robert Muller. The couple had a son together. Billie Whitelaw... Who He? was published by St. Martin's Press in 1996. Muller died in 1998.
Having divided her time between a home in Hampstead, north London and a cottage near Glemsford in Suffolk, Whitelaw spent the last four years of her life as a resident of Denville Hall, the actors' retirement and nursing home in Northwood, Hillingdon.[4] She died there aged 82, following a bout of pneumonia[4] on 21 December 2014.[12]
Honours
Whitelaw was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in the 1991 Birthday Honours.[13]
Selected filmography
- The Fake (1953) as Waitress
- The Sleeping Tiger (1954) as Receptionist at Pearce & Mann
- Companions in Crime (1955)
- Room in the House (1955)
- Mr. Arkadin (1955) (voice)
- Miracle in Soho (1957) as Maggie
- Small Hotel (1957) as Caroline Mallet
- Carve Her Name with Pride (1958) as Winnie
- Gideon's Day (1958) as Christine (uncredited)
- Time Out for Peggy (1958–1959, TV Series) as Peggy Spencer
- Breakout (1959) as Rose Munro
- Bobbikins (1959) as Lydia Simmons
- The Flesh and the Fiends (1960) as Mary Patterson
- Hell Is a City (1960) as Chloe Hawkins
- Make Mine Mink (1960) as Lily
- Payroll (1961) as Jackie Parker
- No Love for Johnnie (1961) as Mary
- Mr. Topaze (1961) as Ernestine
- The Devil's Agent (1962) as Piroska Maslov
- The Comedy Man (1964) as Judy
- Charlie Bubbles (1967) as Lottie Bubbles
- The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1968, TV Movie) as Gwyn Thomas
- Twisted Nerve (1968) as Joan Harper
- The Adding Machine (1969) as Daisy Devore
- Start the Revolution Without Me (1970) as Queen Marie Antoinette
- Leo the Last (1970) as Margaret
- Gumshoe (1971) as Ellen
- Eagle in a Cage (1972) as Madame Bertrand
- Frenzy (1972) as Hetty Porter
- Follow the Yellow Brick Road (1972, TV Series) as Judy Black
- Night Watch (1973) as Sarah Cooke
- Napoleon and Love (1974, TV Mini-Series) as Josephine
- The Omen (1976) as Mrs. Baylock
- Space: 1999 (1976, TV Series ) as Zamara
- The Water Babies (1978) as Mrs. Doasyouwouldbedoneby / Old Crone / Mrs Tripp / Woman in Black / Water Babies 'Gate Keeper'
- Leopard in the Snow (1978) as Isabel James
- A Tale of Two Cities (1980) as Madame Therese Defarge
- Private Schulz (1980) as Bertha Freyer
- An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1982) as Elizabeth Leaming
- The Dark Crystal (1982) as Aughra (voice)
- Jamaica Inn (1983, TV Series) as Aunt Patience
- Terror in the Aisles (1984) as Madge
- The Chain (1984) as Mrs. Andreos
- Camille (1984, TV Movie) as Prudence Duvorney
- Tangiers (1985) as Louise
- Shadey (1985) as Doctor Cloud
- Murder Elite (1985) as Margaret Baker
- Maurice (1987) as Mrs. Hall
- The Secret Garden (1987) as Mrs. Medlock
- Joyriders (1988) as Tammy O'Moore
- The Dressmaker (1988) as Margo
- The Krays (1990) as Violet Kray
- Freddie as F.R.O.7 (1992) as Messina (voice)
- Deadly Advice (1994) as Kate Webster
- Jane Eyre (1996) as Grace Poole
- Merlin (1998, TV Mini-Series) as Ambrosia
- The Lost Son (1999) as Mrs. Spitz
- The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2000) as Evelyn
- Quills (2000) as Madame LeClerc
- Hot Fuzz (2007) as Joyce Cooper (final film role)
Notes
- ^ a b Since 1 April 1974, Coventry has been part of West Midlands.
References
- ^ a b Billie Whitelaw at New York State Writers Institute, State University of New York
- ^ "Billie Whitelaw Biography (1932-)". Film Reference. 6 June 1932. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
- ^ Obituary, bbc.com; accessed 22 December 2014.
- ^ a b c Michael Coveney, "Whitelaw, Billie Honor (1932–2014)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Feb 2018 available online. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
- ^ "Saving Abel's Top 10 Female Villains". DreadCentral. 29 September 2012.
- ^ "Berlinale 1970: Juries". berlinale.de. Retrieved 8 March 2010.
- ^ New York Times article An Outsider in His Own Life
- ^ "Billie Whitelaw". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
- ^ Lyn Haill (ed.) Olivier at Work, 1989, p. 28.
- ^ a b Billie Whitelaw at IMDb
- ^ Wicked Women at IMDb
- ^ "Actress Billie Whitelaw dies aged 82". BBC News. 21 December 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014.
- ^ Rawlinson, Kevin (21 December 2014). "Billie Whitelaw dies aged 82". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 24 February 2024.