Brenda Blethyn
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 20, 1946
- Birthplace
- Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work. Born into a working class home in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming. In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups; then, after a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-living sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made her real cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews. Blethyn has since appeared in an eclectic range of films, including independent comedies such as Saving Grace (2000), Plots with a View (2002) and Clubland (2007), music-themed films like Little Voice (1998) and Beyond the Sea (2004) and big-budget dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). In addition, Blethyn has appeared in television productions including The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), Belonging (2004) and War and Peace (2007). Her most recent leading role in TV drama is the title role in Vera (2011), playing Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. Description above from the Wikipedia article Brenda Blethyn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
King of the Teds TBA
as Nina
Strawberry Fields Forever TBA
as Grannie Nellie
- Fools
Fools TBA
Actor
Dragonfly 2025
as Elsie
Vera, Farewell Pet 2025
as Herself / Vera
Charlotte 2022
as Grossmama (voice)
Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen 2018
as Narrator
Ethel & Ernest 2016
as Ethel Briggs (voice)
Two Men in Town 2014
as Emily Smith
Mary and Martha 2013
as Martha
My Angel 2011
as Headmistress
- The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
The Many Faces of... Michael Caine 2011
Actor
The Calling 2010
as Sister Ignatious
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths 2010
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too 2009
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
London River 2009
as Elisabeth
Dead Man Running 2009
as Mother
Clubland 2007
as Jean, Writer
Atonement 2007
as Grace Turner
Mysterious Creatures 2006
as Wendy Ainscow
Pride & Prejudice 2005
as Mrs. Bennet
On a Clear Day 2005
as Joan
Pooh's Heffalump Movie 2005
as Mama Heffalump (voice)
Beyond the Sea 2004
as Polly Cassotto
A Way of Life 2004
as Annette
Piccadilly Jim 2004
as Nesta Pett
The Best of So Graham Norton 2004
as Self (archive footage)
Belonging 2004
as Jess Copplestone
Blizzard 2003
as Aunt Millie
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot 2003
as Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
The Sleeping Dictionary 2003
as Aggie
The Wild Thornberrys Movie 2002
as Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
Undertaking Betty 2002
as Betty Rhys-Jones
Sonny 2002
as Jewel
Lovely & Amazing 2002
as Jane Marks
Pumpkin 2002
as Judy Romanoff
The Yellow Bird 2002
as Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
Daddy and Them 2001
as Julia Montgomery
On the Nose 2001
as Mrs. Delaney
Saving Grace 2000
as Grace Trevethyn
RKO 281 1999
as Louella Parsons
Little Voice 1998
as Mari Hoff
In the Winter Dark 1998
as Ida Stubbs
Girls' Night 1998
as Dawn Wilkinson
Music from Another Room 1998
as Grace Swan
Night Train 1998
as Alice Mooney
Inside the Golden Statue 1998
as Self
Remember Me? 1997
as Shirley
Secrets & Lies 1996
as Cynthia Rose Purley
The Bullion Boys 1993
as Gwen
A River Runs Through It 1992
as Mrs. Maclean
The Witches 1990
as Mrs Jenkins
The Shawl 1989
as Miss A
The Storyteller: A Story Short 1988
as The Storyteller's Wife
Claws 1987
as Sylvia
Floating Off 1983
as Janice
Henry VI Part 1 1983
as Joan La Pucelle
King Lear 1982
as Cordelia
Mike Leigh: Making Plays 1982
as Self
- Say No to Strangers
Say No to Strangers 1981
as Policewoman
Grown-Ups 1980
as Gloria
- Bedroom Farce
Bedroom Farce 1980
as Kate
- Sheppey
Sheppey 1980
as Miss Grange
The Imitation Game 1980
Actor
Credits from TMDB.