Liz Crowther

Last updated

Liz Crowther
Born
Elizabeth Ann Crowther

(1954-12-09) 9 December 1954 (age 70)
Isleworth, Middlesex, England
OccupationActress
Years active1966–present
Parent(s) Leslie Crowther
Jean Crowther (née Stone)

Elizabeth Ann Crowther (born 9 December 1954) is an English theatre actress. Her father was the actor, comedian and presenter Leslie Crowther and her mother was Jean Crowther, actress and dancer.

Contents

Theatre work

Beginning her stage career in 1966, Crowther debuted with London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet), playing Clara, the lead role in the annual production of The Nutcracker. At the time, she was training at Arts Educational Schools, London, where she studied from ages 10–17. She later went on to train at École Jacques Lecoq, Paris, where she focused primarily on mime and physical theatre.

Since then, Crowther has featured in over a hundred theatre productions, touring in England as well as performing internationally.

Among Crowther's later theatre work are productions of A Passage to India (Simple8 Theatre/Theatre Royal, Northampton/ Park Theatre), [1] Running Wild (Chichester/Regents Park Theatre, UK tour), [2] Oliver Twist (Regents Park) and Kite (Wrong Crowd/Soho Theatre) as part of the London International Mime Festival.

Working with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford, Crowther was cast in productions of Middleton and Dekker's The Roaring Girl , John Webster's The White Devil , Massinger's The City Madam and Weiss' Marat/Sade , a 'reimagined' version of Cardenio (Shakespeare's lost play) by Gregory Doran, Song of Song (adapted from the biblical text) and The Witch of Edmonton by Dekker and Ford.

Crowther played the title role in Richard III, performing the show and conducting workshops on tour across the US, with 'Actors from the London Stage'. [3] She has also performed in Romeo and Juliet (Rose Theatre, Bankside, and Globe Theatre), Macbeth (Theatre Royal, Northampton), Twelfth Night and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Regents Park).

Appearing in over twenty-five plays for the same theatre, Crowther's credits at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, include Middlemarch Trilogy, The Memorandum, Bodies, What the Heart Feels, Four Attempted Acts and King Lear. [4]

Elsewhere, Crowther has appeared in Cyrano de Bergerac (Royal Exchange), Blithe Spirit (Nottingham Playhouse), Mr Whatnot, The Elephant Man, Piaf, Wait Until Dark and David Copperfield (Theatre Royal, Northampton), Abigail's Party (Hampstead Theatre & UK Tour), Communicating Doors (Stephen Joseph and Chicago Theatre Festival), The Real Thing (UK Tour), and Be My Baby and Pat and Margaret (Salisbury Playhouse).

Crowther's noteworthy appearances in London's West End include The Country Wife (Theatre Royal Haymarket), Gambling (Royal Court), Onassis (Novello Theatre), Animal Farm (National Theatre) and Ducktastic (Noël Coward Theatre), written by comedy double-act The Right Size and directed by Kenneth Branagh.

In 2023 Crowther played Es in Es and Flo by Jennifer Lunn, a drama about dementia that played at the Wales Millennium Centre and the Kiln Theatre, London, directed by Susie McKenna.

Television and film work

Although primarily a stage performer, Crowther has also made film and television appearances. She first appeared as Lucy in ABC's 1967 production of The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. Later, she featured in Shoestring, Watching , Slinger's Day , French Fields , The Dumping Ground , Outnumbered, Mansfield Park, Holby City , London's Burning, Miss Marple, EastEnders and A Very Peculiar Practice . Beyond these appearances, Crowther was a regular cast member in soap opera Family Affairs , playing Annie Hart, from its debut in 1997, until 1999. She also played Sgt Jane Kendall in The Bill for nine months in 1993. Recent television includes: Beyond Paradise, three episodes of Pack of Lies, The Chelsea Detective , Miss Scarlet and The Duke , the Christmas episode of Vera, and Dalgleish.

In film, Crowther has played Romola Garai's mother in The Unicorn (Daybreak Pictures), a short film by Penelope Skinner. She has also featured in Funseekers (Comic Strip) and The Thirty-Nine Steps (Rank). [5] Crowther appears as Beth in the French romcom Jane Austen a Gâché ma Vie which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2024, followed by the Marrakesh Film Festival in November 2024.

Selected filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1967 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Lucy10 episodes [6]
1968The Queen Street GangPhilippa9 episodes [6]
ITV Playhouse EstherThirteen Thousand and Eighty Free Pounds
1978 The Thirty Nine Steps Maid (uncredited)
1979 Hazell CynthiaEpisode: "Hazell Gets the Boot"
1979–1980 Shoestring Sonia20 episodes
1983 Mansfield Park Julia Bertram5 episodes (TV mini-series)
1984 Play for Today Doctor"Dog Ends"
Tripper's Day Sylvia6 episodes
1985 Miss Marple: A Murder is AnnouncedMyrna Harris2 episodes
1986 A Very Peculiar Practice AntoniaEpisode: "A Very Long Way from Anywhere"
No Place Like Home Elsie5 episodes
Slinger's Day Sylvia6 episodes
1987 Bergerac Carol MilesEpisode: "A Desirable Little Residence"
1988 The Comic Strip Presents April"Funseekers"
1988–1989 Watching Susan Roberts8 episodes
1989–1990 French Fields Jill Trendle12 episodes
1991 Titmuss Regained Daphne Jones1 episode (TV mini-series)
1992 The Bill Susan HardingEpisode: "Just Send Them Flowers"
1992–1993 Growing Pains Sandra Phillips20 episodes
1993 A Year in Provence Georgina1 episode (TV mini-series)
The BillSgt. Jane Kendall11 episodes
1995 Ghosts Nurse AngelaEpisode: "Shadowy Third"
Porkpie JaniceEpisode: "Spend, Spend, Spend"
1997–1999 Family Affairs Annie Hart35 episodes
2000 Grange Hill Carol Wright2 episodes
2001 London's Burning Alison Hemmings8 episodes
2006 EastEnders Marion1 episode
Holby City##Iona MorrowEpisode: "The Games People Play"
2008 Outnumbered AliceEpisode: "The Airport"
2010 Lewis Mrs. LemmingEpisode: "Dark Matter"
2016 The Dumping Ground MaryEpisode: "The End of it All"
2020 Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators Nelissa NorrisEpisode: "All That Glisters"
2022 The Chelsea Detective Nancy CooperEpisode: "Mrs. Romano"
Miss Scarlet and The Duke Maud SkeltonEpisode: "The Heir"
2023 Dalgleish: A Certain JusticeMargaret Jackson1 episode
The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies Joyce Ransom4 episodes
Vera Judith SinclairEpisode: "The Rising Tide"
2024 Beyond Paradise Penny1 episode
Jane Austen a Gâché ma VieBethFeature film

Charity work

Crowther works with Scene & Heard, a playwriting charity committed to benefiting disadvantaged children in Somers Town, Kings Cross, London, performing alongside other volunteer theatre professionals. [7]

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References

  1. ↑ "A Passage to India". Park Theatre. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  2. ↑ Crowther, Sacha (5 April 2017). "We chat to Running Wild's Liz Crowther". The State of the Arts. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  3. ↑ Nichols, Aaron (21 October 2016). "Back at the Mothership: Richard III returns to Notre Dame". Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  4. ↑ "The Middlemarch Trilogy". Orange Tree Theatre. Archived from the original on 10 January 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  5. ↑ "Liz Crowther". Holborn, London: Scott Marshall Partners. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  6. 1 2 Credited as Elizabeth Crowther.
  7. ↑ "Home page". Scene & Heard. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
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