Phoebe Nicholls

Phoebe Nicholls
Born	Phoebe Sarah Nicholls (1957-04-07) 7 April 1957 (age 68) London, England
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1964–present
Spouse	Charles Sturridge ​ (m. 1985)​
Children	3; including Tom and Matilda
Father	Anthony Nicholls
Relatives	Horace Nicholls (grandfather)

Phoebe Sarah Nicholls (born 7 April 1957) is an English film, television, and stage actress. She is known for her roles as Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited and as the mother of John Merrick in The Elephant Man .

Personal life

Nicholls is the daughter of actors Anthony Nicholls and Faith Kent. ^[1] She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. ^[2] Nicholls married director Charles Sturridge on 6 July 1985; ^[3] they have two sons, Tom and Arthur, and a daughter Matilda. ^{[3] [4]} Her grandfather is photojournalist Horace Nicholls. ^[5]

Career

As a child actress in several films she was billed as Sarah Nicholls. ^[6] In her early 20s, she appeared in David Lynch's The Elephant Man (1980), Richard Loncraine's The Missionary (1982) and as Cordelia Flyte in Brideshead Revisited (1981). Since then, she has worked almost exclusively in television and theatre. Cast in Michael Lindsay-Hogg's original staging of Whose Life Is It Anyway? in 1978, she later performed in Robert Strura's revival of Three Sisters with Vanessa Redgrave. At the National Theatre she appeared in Stephen Daldry's acclaimed version of J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls ^[2] and in David Hare's Pravda (starring Sir Anthony Hopkins). At the Royal Court Theatre she appeared the Olivier Award-winning production of Terry Johnson's Hysteria . ^[7] Her supporting performances in the 2008 West End revivals of Noël Coward's The Vortex and Harley Granville Barker's Waste earned her the 2009 Clarence Derwent Award from Equity. She also played the conniving art critic Rivera in the National Theatre production of the Howard Barker drama, Scenes from an Execution .

Nicholls appeared in the BBC film Persuasion (1995), an adaptation of Jane Austen's novel. She has made guest appearances on several television mystery series, including Kavanagh QC , Prime Suspect , Midsomer Murders , Lewis , The Ruth Rendell Mysteries ("May and June", 1997), Foyle's War , Second Sight starring Clive Owen, and the 2012 Christmas episode of Downton Abbey , a role she reprised for the 2014 season. She has also appeared in several works directed by her husband, Charles Sturridge, including his 1995 television adaptation of Gulliver's Travels , where she portrayed the Liliputian Empress, the 1997 film Fairy Tale: A True Story and Shackleton in 2002.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	The Pumpkin Eater	Elizabeth
1965	Dr. Terror's House of Horrors	Carol Rogers	Segment: "Creeping Vine"
1967	Our Mother's House	Gerty
1969	Women in Love	Winifred Crich	billed as Sarah Nicholls
1980	The Elephant Man	Merrick's Mother
1982	The Missionary	Deborah Fitzbanks
1983	Party Party	Rebecca
1984	Ordeal by Innocence	Tina Argyle
1987	Maurice	Anne Durham
1997	FairyTale: A True Story	Polly Wright
1999	The Miracle Maker	Old Woman (voice)
2012	The Scapegoat	Charlotte
2016	Three Women Wait for Death	Miranda	Short
	Starfish	Tom's Mother
	Chubby Funny	Aunty Jane
2017	Transformers: The Last Knight	Aunt Helen
	Finding Your Feet	Janet
2019	Berlin, I Love You	Capucine
2020	The Empty Man	Nurse Allerton
2021	The Electrical Life of Louis Wain	Mrs. Wain
2023	Widow Clicquot	Marie-Catherine Clicquot

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Prometheus: The Life of Balzac	Augustine de Berny	Episode: "Apprenticeship of a Genius"
1977	Van der Valk	Treesje	Episode: "Gold Plated Delinquents"
1979	Telford's Change	Jean	Episode: "1.8"
	Bless Me, Father	Nurse Owen	Episodes: "Father Neil's First Miracle", "The Heart of a Curate"
	Secret Orchards	Stella	Television film
1980	BBC2 Playhouse	Geraldine	Episode: "Hesther for Example"
	Blade on the Feather	Christabel Cavendish	Television film
1981	Brideshead Revisited	Cordelia Flyte	Miniseries
1982	Tales of the Unexpected	Carol	Episode: "A Harmless Vanity"
1983	Pictures	Babs	Episode: "1.3"
	All for Love	Christine	Episode: "To the Camp and Back"
1984	Hay Fever	Sorel Bliss	Television film
1985	Screen Two	Louie Jermy	Episode: "Poppyland"
1987	Gentry	Susannah	Television film
1990	Screen Two	Sarah	Episode: "Drowning in the Shallow End"
1991	4 Play	Annabel	Episode: "Seduction"
1993	Heart of Darkness	The Intended	Television film
1995	Kavanagh QC	Jackie Jarvis	Episode: "Heartland"
	Screen Two	Elizabeth Elliot	Episode: "Persuasion"
1996	Gulliver's Travels	Empress of Lilliput	Episode: "1.1"
1997	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	May Thrace	Episode: "May and June: Parts 1 & 2"
1999	Second Sight	Judith Bendrix	TV film
2002	Shackleton	Emily Shackleton	Miniseries
	I'm Alan Partridge	Karen Colman	Episode: "Bravealan"
2003	Midsomer Murders	Laura Smythe-Webster	Episode: "A Tale of Two Hamlets"
	Prime Suspect 6: The Last Witness	Shaw	Episode: "Part 2"
	Foyle's War	Amanda Reece	Episode: "The Funk Hole"
2004	Hawking	Isobel Hawking	Television film
	The Brief	Sally Graydon	Episode: "Children"
2006	Spooks	Janet Wheeler	Episode: "5.10"
2007	The Trial of Tony Blair	Cherie Blair	Television film
	Lewis	Caroline Croft	Episode: "Expiation"
	All About Me	Helen Conroy	TV film
	Clapham Junction	Natasha	Television film
2010	The Road to Coronation Street	Mrs. Simpson	Television film
2012	Loving Miss Hatto	Mrs. Hatto	Television film
2012–2014	Downton Abbey	Susan MacClare	Episodes: "A Journey to the Highlands", "5.8"
2013	New Tricks	Annie Banks	Episode: "The One That Got Away"
2015	Fortitude	Dr. Allerdyce	9 episodes
	Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell	Mrs. Wintertowne	Episodes: "The Friends of English Magic", "How Is Lady Pole?"
2016	Doctor Thorne	Countess de Courcy	Episodes: "1.1", "1.2", "1.3"
2017	Endeavour	Caroline Bryce-Morgan	Episode: "Lazaretto"
2021	A Very British Scandal	Helen Whigham	Episode #1.1
2022	Anatomy of a Scandal	Tuppence Whitehouse	Episode #1.4
2024	Eric	Anne Anderson	Miniseries [8]
2025	The Sandman	Taramis	2 episodes

Stage

• 1978: Whose Life Is It Anyway?
• 1981: The Cherry Orchard
• 1983: The Beautiful Part of Myself
• 1984: Pravda
• 1985: The Seagull
• 1991: Three Sisters
• 1993: An Inspector Calls
• 1993: Hysteria
• 1994: Rutherford & Son
• 1997: Dona Rosita the Spinster
• 2005: Three Women and a Piano Tuner
• 2007: The Vortex
• 2008: Waste
• 2009: When the Rain Stops Falling
• 2012: Scenes from an Execution
• 2022: The Southbury Child

References

1. McFarlane, Brian, ed. (2016). "Nicholls, Anthony". The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. UK: Manchester University Press. p. 1,975. ISBN   9781526111968.
2. "SonyPictures.com". Sony Pictures Classic: Phoebe Nicholls. Archived from the original on 1 April 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
3. "Charles Sturridge Biography (1951–)". FilmReference.com. Archived from the original on 12 January 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
4. Ellen, Barbara (3 July 2016). "Tom Sturridge: 'If I'd been a parent to myself, I would have been scared'". The Guardian . UK. Archived from the original on 3 September 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
5. Buckland, Gail; Horace Walter Nicholls (1989). The golden summer: the Edwardian photographs of Horace W. Nicholls. Pavilion. p. 114.
6. "Phoebe Nicholls". AllMovie.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
7. "[Untitled cast biography page]". FairyTale: A True Story official site (Paramount Pictures). Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2007.
8. Otterson, Joe (3 February 2023). "Benedict Cumberbatch-Led Netflix Limited Series 'Eric' Rounds Out Main Cast". Variety. Retrieved 3 April 2023.

External links

• Phoebe Nicholls at IMDb