Maggie Steed

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Maggie Steed
Born
Margaret Baker

(1946-12-01) 1 December 1946 (age 78)
Plymouth, Devon, England
Education Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupations
  • Actress
  • comedian
Years active1970–present

Maggie Steed (born Margaret Baker; 1 December 1946) is an English actress and comedian.

Contents

Career

After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol in the late 1960s, Steed left the theatre for several years, until she was about 30 years old, 1976 or 1977. She stated: "Actresses in those days had to be 'dolly birds' and I was just Margaret Baker from Plymouth, tall with very gappy teeth, so I became a secretary instead. It was only years later, when I'd grown up politically and become interested in theatre, that I started again and ended up at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre with Clive Russell and Sue Johnston." [1]

Steed has performed with the Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and with Belt and Braces, the political theatre troupe run by Gavin Richards as well as working as a comedian in alternative cabaret.

She was one of the first women to become involved in the alternative comedy scene when it sprang into existence in 1979, and performing at the Comedy Store, with the group Alternative Cabaret and elsewhere. Her material was personal and confessional.

Her first major television role was playing Rita Moon in the series Shine on Harvey Moon . She played Margaret Crabbe in Pie in the Sky in the mid 1990s and Phyllis Woolf in Born and Bred . Her television credits include appearances on Fox, Minder , Sensitive Skin and Jam & Jerusalem . [2]

In 2008, Steed appeared on tour in Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off as Mrs Clackett, produced by the Ambassador Theatre Group, which included the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The cast included Sophie Bould, Colin Baker and Jonathan Coy. In 2010 she appeared in the short film The Miserables , and the following year onstage in a comedy duo role with actress Jackie Clune in a production of The Belle's Stratagem. [3]

In April 2017, it was announced that Steed was joining the cast of EastEnders as Joyce Murray. [4] It was announced in March 2018 that her character had been written out of the series and subsequently would be killed off. [5]

Political activism

Steed was active in the Campaign Against Racism in the Media. She appeared in an edition of the BBC's Open Door series on 1 March 1979 (with the academic Stuart Hall) entitled "It Ain't Half Racist, Mum", criticising British television's discussion and representation of immigration and racial stereotypes. [6]

She helped write and perform in the comedy benefit concert An Evening for Nicaragua, at the Shaftesbury Theatre, which was shown on British television in 1983. The cast included Ben Elton, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Emma Thompson and Rik Mayall. [7] Steed visited Nicaragua in 1982 with Andy de la Tour. [7]

Film

YearTitleRole
1980 Babylon Woman at Lockup
1990Blood Rights Tess Barker
1992Clothes in the WardrobeMrs. Raffald
Growing RichRaelene
1993Olly's PrisonEllen
1999Simon MagusMuttchen
2000 Stardom British Fashion Reporter
2004Lawrence of Arabia CloseDoris
2006 The Painted Veil Mrs Garstin
2009 The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Louis Vuitton Woman
2010 The Miserables Evelyn Pickleton
2013 A Promise Frau Hermann
Alpha: OmegaDee
2014 Pudsey the Dog: The Movie Mrs Willoughby
2016 Florence Foster Jenkins Mrs O'Flaherty
Juliet RememberedJuliet
A Cure for Wellness Mrs Abramov
2017 Transformers: The Last Knight Vivian's Grandmother
Paddington 2 Mrs Gertrude Biggleswade
2019 Fisherman's Friends Maggie
2022 Fisherman's Friends: One and All Maggie

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1970 Coronation Street Ellen Smith4 episodes
1980 Fox Bette Greene5 episodes
1981 The History Man Myra Beamish4 episodes
1982 Minder SherryEpisode: "Broken Arrow"
The Young Ones Woman from CouncilEpisode: "Demolition"
1982-95 Shine on Harvey Moon Rita Moon41 episodes
1983 Crown Court Clare Forsyth QC3 episodes
1984CharlieElla Pearce4 episodes
The Young OnesWitchEpisode: "Sick"
RosemaryEpisode: "Summer Holiday"
1985-7 Victoria Wood As Seen on TV Shopper/ Marion Clune2 episodes
1987 Intimate Contact Becca Crichton4 episodes
1991 Lovejoy JoannaEpisode: "One Born Every Minute"
1991 The Gravy Train Goes East Mrs Steadmanepisode 3
1992 Red Dwarf Dr. Hildegarde LanstromEpisode: "Quarantine"
Van Der Valk Maria ThompEpisode: "Proof of Life"
1993 Lipstick on Your Collar Aunt Vickie6 episodes
1994 Martin Chuzzlewit Mrs Todgers5 episodes
1994-7 Pie in the Sky Margaret Crabbe33 episodes
1997 Inspector Morse Angela StoorsEpisode: "Death Is Now My Neighbour"
1998-2004 French and Saunders Various3 episodes
1999 Let Them Eat Cake Madame Vigée-Lebrun Episode: "The Portrait"
2000 Midsomer Murders Rosemary FurmanEpisode: "Judgement Day"
2002 Foyle's War Margaret EllisEpisode: "The White Feather"
2002-5 Born and Bred Phyllis Woolf36 episodes
2005-7 Sensitive Skin Victoria Dawkins6 episodes
2006 New Tricks Rose DyerEpisode: "Dockers"
2006-9 Jam & Jerusalem Eileen Pike19 episodes
2008Midsomer MurdersLynne FoxEpisode: "Left for Dead"
2009 Lark Rise to Candleford Mrs Herring1 episode
My Family Mrs PhilbinEpisode: "Dog Dazed"
2010 Whites Celia5 episodes
201132 Brinkburn StreetElizabeth5 episodea
2012 Stella Meg8 episodes
2013Midsomer MurdersSylvia MountfordEpisode: "Schooled in Murder"
2015-7 Chewing Gum Esther10 episodes
2017-8 EastEnders Joyce Murray 59 episodes
2019 Father Brown Dorothy ParnellEpisode: "The Whistle in the Dark"
Elizabeth Is Missing ElizabethTV Movie
2022 Ten Percent Stella Hart8 episodes
2023 Sister Boniface Mysteries Vivienne Bonham-Crane2 episodes
2024 Changing Ends NanEpisode: "Mad Dogs and English Nans"
Rivals Lady Gosling3 episodes
Ridley Celia Machin2 episodes
2025 Silent Witness Dr. Harriet Maven8 episodes

Theatre

References

  1. The Independent , 22 March 2000
  2. "Jam and Jerusalem; Series 1 Episode 5". 22 December 2006. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  3. Billington, Michael (11 September 2011). "The Belle's Stratagem – review". The Guardian . Guardian Media Group . Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  4. "Maggie Steed and Christopher Timothy 'excited' to be joining EastEnders". Belfast Telegraph . 2 April 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  5. Welsh, Daniel (23 March 2018). "'EastEnders' Spoilers: Joyce Murray To Be Killed Off As Maggie Steed Leaves". Huffington Post UK . Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  6. "It Ain't Half Racist, Mum (1979)". BFI . Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
  7. 1 2 "British Film Institute: An Evening for Nicaragua (1983)". BFI. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018.