McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Katharine Wolcott (née Watts), a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor.[3] She is of Irish, English, and Scottish descent.[4] Her younger sister is novelist Cammie McGovern. Her paternal grandfather was adventurer William Montgomery McGovern, her maternal great-grandfathers were U.S. diplomat Ethelbert Watts and Admiral Charles P. Snyder, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Congressman Charles P. Snyder.[5][6][7]
In 1980, while studying at Juilliard, McGovern was offered a part in what became her first film, Ordinary People, in which she played the girlfriend of troubled teenager Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton). The following year she completed her acting education at the American Conservatory Theater and Juilliard, and began to appear in plays, first off-Broadway and later in famous theaters.
In a 1994 comedy, The Favor, McGovern played a woman who cheats on her boyfriend (played by Brad Pitt) by becoming her married best friend's proxy in a tryst with a man the friend has fantasized about.
McGovern appeared in a number of films in the 21st century, including Woman in Gold, a drama starring Helen Mirren and directed by her husband Simon Curtis.
In 2018, McGovern starred in The Chaperone, directed by Michael Engler and written by Julian Fellowes, whom she also worked with on the British drama series Downton Abbey. Based on the novel by Laura Moriarty, McGovern played Norma Carlisle, a middle-aged wife and mother who volunteers to chaperone the young Louise Brooks to New York City to study dance at the Denishawn School. The Chaperone is the first film that McGovern has also produced. Her husband, Simon Curtis, was an executive producer for the film.[11][12]
McGovern has appeared in several television productions, mostly in the UK. In 1999 and 2000 McGovern played Marguerite St. Just in a BBC television series loosely based on the novel The Scarlet Pimpernel.[13] She also starred in the four-part television crime drama series Thursday the 12th that same year.
In December 2008, McGovern appeared as Dame Celia Westholme in "Appointment with Death", an episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot. In the same year, she appeared in the three-part BBC comedy series Freezing, written by James Wood and directed and co-produced by her husband Simon Curtis. First broadcast on BBC Four, it was also shown on BBC2 in February 2008. McGovern played an American expatriate actress named Elizabeth, living in Chiswick with her publisher husband, played by Hugh Bonneville, and co-starring Tom Hollander as her theatrical agent.
McGovern is also a singer-songwriter and plays the guitar. In 2008 she began fronting the band Sadie and the Hotheads at The Castle pub venue in Portobello Road, London. The band released an album of songs she developed with The Nelson Brothers, who are now part of the band. The album, I Can Wait, also includes Ron Knights on bass and Rowan Oliver, borrowed from Goldfrapp, as drummer for the recording sessions.[10]Michelle Dockery, who plays McGovern's eldest daughter in Downton Abbey, has occasionally sung with the band.[17] Dockery was also a guest backing vocalist on the bands second album How Not To Lose Things, released in 2012.[18]Terl Bryant also joined the band, taking over from Rowan Oliver as drummer and percussionist.[19]
McGovern recorded three Christmas tracks in 2014. Her rendition of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and duet with Julian Ovenden performing The First Noel appear on the double-disc album Christmas At Downton Abbey, produced by Warner Music. Sadie and the Hotheads also released their cover version of the Christmas song The Little Drummer Boy.[25][26]
Following the conclusion of TV series Downton Abbey in late 2015, McGovern and her band Sadie and the Hotheads began work on a fourth album and embarked on a mini tour of the UK.[27] While they continued to record their new album, the band released a compilation album of songs from their first three albums entitled The Collection (Everybody's Got A Song) in early 2016.
In 2017, McGovern and "Hothead" Simon Nelson collaborated with American singer and musician Duke Robillard on a track for his album Duke Robillard & His Dames of Rhythm. McGovern sings vocals for "Me, Myself and I" while Nelson is a guest musician on electric guitar for the track.[28]
McGovern's fifth album, The Truth, was released in early 2019. Unlike her previous albums with her band, The Truth was released under her name, though it features all of the musicians from Sadie and the Hotheads. The album includes a track on which Samuel L. Jackson appears as a guest vocalist.[29][30]
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith was a British actress. Known for her wit in both comedic and dramatic roles, she had an extensive career on stage and screen for over seven decades and was one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award, as well as nominations for six Olivier Awards. Smith is one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting.
Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams, known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey from 2010 to 2015. His performance on the show earned him a nomination at the Golden Globes and two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, as well as three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He reprised his role in the feature films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). He also appeared in the films Notting Hill (1999), Iris (2001), The Monuments Men (2014), and the Paddington films (2014–present).
Terl Bryant is an English musician. In his early career, he worked with the American singer/songwriter and filmmaker Steve Taylor, and later was in the band of Peter Murphy, the lead singer for Bauhaus. During the 1990s, he joined the influential folk-themed progressive band Iona and, in 1999, he joined the former Led Zeppelin bass guitarist and multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones as part of his trio with the Chapman stick player Nick Beggs. Bryant is currently on tour with Martin Barre the former Jethro Tull guitarist.
My Anna Margaretha Buring Rantapää, known professionally as MyAnna Buring, is a Swedish-born British actress. Her films include The Descent (2005), Kill List (2011), and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and Part 2 (2012). On television, she is known for her roles in the BBC series Ripper Street (2012–2016) and the Netflix series The Witcher (2019–2023).
Michelle Suzanne Dockery is an English actress. She is best known for starring as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV television period drama series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and three consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. She reprised her role in the films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).
Lesley Nicol is an English actress, a three-time SAG Award winner in the Best Cast in a Drama Series category for her role as Beryl Patmore in the ITV and PBS drama TV series Downton Abbey. She also starred in the 2019 feature film adaptation of the series and its 2022 sequel.
Joanne Froggatt is a British actress. From 2010 to 2015, she portrayed Anna Bates in the ITV period drama series Downton Abbey, for which she received three Emmy nominations and won the 2014 Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. From 2017 to 2020, she starred as Laura Nielson in the ITV/Sundance drama series Liar.
Freezing is a BBC comedy series starring Hugh Bonneville and Elizabeth McGovern about an otherwise successful couple in their forties who find themselves out of work.
Tuppence Amelia Middleton is a British actress known for her performances in film, television and theatre. In 2010, she was nominated for the London Evening Standard Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer.
Downton Abbey is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on PBS, which supported its production as part of its Masterpiece Classic anthology, on 9 January 2011. The show ran for fifty-two episodes across six series, including five Christmas specials.
Sophie McShera is an English actress known for her roles as Ros McCain in the fifth series of the BBC television series Waterloo Road, as Daisy Mason in the ITV television series Downton Abbey, and as Drizella Tremaine in the 2015 Disney film Cinderella.
Jessica Rose Brown Findlay is an English actress. She played Lady Sybil Crawley in the ITV television period drama series Downton Abbey and Emelia Conan Doyle in the 2011 British comedy-drama feature film Albatross.
Laura Carmichael is an English actress, most widely known for her performance as Lady Edith Crawley in the ITV (UK) and PBS (US) television period drama series Downton Abbey. Her other work includes television series Marcella (2016), and the feature film A United Kingdom (2016).
Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson, known professionally as Lily James, is an English actress. She studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and began her career in the British television series Just William (2010). Following a supporting role in the period drama series Downton Abbey (2012–2015), her breakthrough was the title role in the fantasy film Cinderella (2015).
Simon Curtis is an English director and producer. He has worked on theater, television and film.
The Chaperone is a 2018 period drama film, directed by Michael Engler, with a screenplay by Julian Fellowes, from the novel by Laura Moriarty. It stars Elizabeth McGovern, Haley Lu Richardson, Miranda Otto, Blythe Danner, Campbell Scott, Géza Röhrig and Victoria Hill.
Downton Abbey is a 2019 historical drama film directed by Michael Engler from a screenplay by Julian Fellowes, based on the television series of the same name created by Fellowes. The film continues the storyline from the series, with much of the original cast returning. Set in 1927, it depicts a royal visit to the Crawley family's stately home in Yorkshire. As royal staff members descend on Downton, an assassin has also arrived and attempts to kill the monarch.
Sadie and the Hotheads are a UK-based European Americana band formed in 2007 when American actress Elizabeth McGovern was encouraged by her guitar teacher, Steve Nelson of The Nelson Brothers, to write songs. Nelson then introduced McGovern to his brother Simon Nelson and together, they began to collaborate with other local musicians including Rowan Oliver from Goldfrapp on drums, Ron Knights on bass and Lizzie Deane on backing vocals.
Downton Abbey: A New Era is a 2022 historical drama film directed by Simon Curtis from a screenplay by Julian Fellowes. It is the sequel to Downton Abbey (2019) and the second film in the Downton Abbey franchise. Set in 1928, it follows the Crawley family on a journey to the south of France to uncover the mystery of the Dowager Countess's newly inherited villa.
Downton Abbey 3 is an upcoming historical drama film directed by Simon Curtis from a screenplay by Julian Fellowes. It is the sequel to Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022) and the third film in the Downton Abbey franchise. Much of the original franchise's cast, which also appeared in the previous two films, will return, with Paul Giamatti and Dominic West reprising their roles as Harold Levinson from the television series and Guy Dexter from the second film, respectively, and Joely Richardson, Alessandro Nivola, Simon Russell Beale and Arty Froushan joining the cast.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
