Samantha Spiro

Last updated

Samantha Spiro
Born (1968-06-20) 20 June 1968 (age 56)
Education Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art (BA)
Occupations
  • Actress
  • singer
Years active1994–present
SpouseMark Leadbetter (m. 2002)
Children2

Samantha Spiro (born 20 June 1968) is an English actress and singer. She is best known for portraying Barbara Windsor in the stage play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick and the television films Cor, Blimey! and Babs , DI Vivien Friend in M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team , Melessa Tarly in the HBO series Game of Thrones and Maureen Groff in Sex Education . She has won two Laurence Olivier Awards.

Contents

Background

Born in Mill Hill, London, England, Spiro grew up in Radlett, Hertfordshire. [2] She is Jewish. [3] [4] Spiro decided to be an actress at the age of ten after seeing a production of Androcles and the Lion at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. [2] She joined the National Youth Theatre and later trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. [5]

Spiro attended Bancroft's School from 1982 to 1985 and subsequently returned in 2016 for an Arts & Drama masterclass [6] Spiro spoke about how her time at Bancroft's had fuelled her enthusiasm for a career in the Arts.

Spiro married actor Mark Leadbetter, whom she met at drama school, in February 2002. [7] They have two daughters and live in Queen's Park, London. [2]

Career

Theatre

Spiro's first acting job after graduating from drama school was with the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park, in productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream , The Boys From Syracuse and Macbeth . [2] Her many theatre credits include As You Like It , Teechers, The Tragic Roundabout, Jumpers, On the Piste, Roots, How the Other Half Loves and Glyn and It, opposite Penelope Keith. [8]

Spiro played Barbara Windsor in Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick at the National Theatre, a production she credits as her first big break, which "open[ed] a lot of doors". [5] She has also appeared in the Minerva Theatre production of Funny Girl and the first West End revival of Alan Ayckbourn's Bedroom Farce . [1] [8]

Spiro played Rachel in Mike Leigh's production of Two Thousand Years at the National Theatre. This was the first Jewish role of her career. She said:

For English/Jewish artists in this business, we’re English first and the Jewish thing comes down the line. Whereas in the United States, Jewishness is a much celebrated thing. Jewishness is a part of their very being.

Here, I think, we repress it and, far from celebrating it, almost shy away from it. After Two Thousand Years, I suddenly felt that there is a place for people like me. Until that point I hadn’t had a career playing Jewish people. I had got that stuff out of the way by the time I came to play Fanny Brice [in Funny Girl] who is very much a Jewish character. [3]

In 2009, Spiro played Maria in the Donmar Warehouse production of Twelfth Night at the Wyndham's Theatre, alongside Derek Jacobi, and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at the Open Air Theatre. [5] [9] Most recently, she appeared in the acclaimed Open Air Theatre production of Hello, Dolly! , playing Dolly Levi. [2] [5]

In 2013, Spiro played Lady Macbeth in Macbeth at Shakespeare's Globe, alongside Billy Boyd and Joseph Millson.

Discussing whether she prefers acting in the theatre to television or film, Spiro said: "I think theatre prefers me. These days you have to do both, but it never feels as if the TV casting people are beating down my door to offer me work. I just feel that in this business you are lucky if you’re doing something you enjoy." [5]

Television, film and radio

Spiro reprised the role of Barbara Windsor in the television adaptation of Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick, Cor, Blimey! , starring opposite Geoffrey Hutchings. [10]

Her other television credits include The Bill , Cold Feet , Plebs , Coupling , After You've Gone and M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team , in which she played the lead role of DI Vivien Friend. She described the role of Friend as "quite an unusual departure for me...I've done quite a bit of comedy and I've played characters who are light-hearted and characters who are tarts with hearts. In M.I.T. there is no tart or heart!" [11] In order to research the part, Spiro spent time with a female Detective Inspector with the real-life Murder Investigation Team. [11] From 9 August 2010, Spiro starred in the BBC comedy Grandma's House . She plays the part of Simon Amstell's aunt Liz. In 2012 she also appeared in the SkyArts comedy series Psychobitches, where she played various female icons including Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Mary Whitehouse.

In September 2013, Spiro joined the cast of the BBC Three sitcom Bad Education as Professor Celia Green, the new deputy headmaster and adversary to Jack Whitehall's character.

In 2013 Spiro starred in an episode of the Sky Atlantic series Little Crackers , an autobiographical comedy written by Rebecca Front in which Spiro played Front's mother.

In 2016 she joined the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 6 as Melessa Tarly, the mother of Samwell Tarly. [12] That year she also joined Tracey Ullman's Show in the recurring role of Birgit, the fictitious fridge-magnet-loving personal assistant and confidante to Tracey Ullman's impression of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. She reprised her role in Ullman's Tracey Breaks the News . In 2017 Spiro reprised her role of Barbara Windsor in the BBC One drama Babs, a biopic based on the life of Windsor. She also appeared in the Doctor Who episode "The Doctor Falls", as Hazran.

Spiro has appeared in the films Beyond Bedlam (1994), as WPC Foster, and Tomorrow La Scala! (2002), as Janey. She also played Martha Tabram in From Hell (2001), opposite Johnny Depp.

Her radio drama credits include The Casebook of Inspector Steine , Gospel According to Mary, Little Cinderellas, Beside the Seaside, Show Boat in which she played Magnolia Hawks, Sarah Kahn in Chicken Soup with Barley and the Guy Meredith play Spring Forward, Fall Back for BBC Radio 7. [13]

In 2018 Spiro played the role of Mrs Erlynne in Kathy Burke's production of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan at London's Vaudeville Theatre. This production was recorded and shown in cinemas under the "More2Screen" initiative.

From 2019 to 2023, Spiro portrayed the recurring character Maureen Groff in Laurie Nunn's British comedy-drama series Sex Education .

Awards

In 2001, Spiro was awarded the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in the 2000 season Donmar Warehouse production of Merrily We Roll Along . She won a Whatsonstage.com award for Best Actress in a Musical for the same production. [1] In 2010, Spiro was once again awarded the Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance in Hello, Dolly! at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park.

Spiro won a 2004 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical, for the production of A Little Night Music at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in Chicago, Illinois. [14]

In the 2011 British Comedy Awards she won the Best Female Comedy Breakthrough Artist award for her performance in Grandma's House . [15]

Filmography

Film

YearFilmRoleNotes
1994Beyond BedlamWPC Foster
1998Guru in SevenSharon
2001 From Hell Martha Tabram
2002 Tomorrow La Scala! Janey
2016 Me Before You Josie Clark
2017 Carnage Edith Paper
2017Catherine the Great: Husbands, Lovers and Sons Catherine II
2019 Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans Mrs. Felix
2023 Hoard Michelle
One Life Esther Rantzen

Television

YearShowRoleNotes
1994 The Bill CherieEpisode: "Dealer Wins"
1994 The Knock Young WomanEpisode: #1.1
2000 Cor, Blimey! Barbara Windsor TV film
2001 Cold Feet Ruth Wylie3 episodes
TV Go Home Sarah GaloshesUnknown episodes
2002 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Red LadyVoice; TV film
2003 M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team DI Vivien Friend8 episodes
2004 Coupling JeffinaEpisode: "9½ Months"
2007 After You've Gone Ann Venables2 episodes
2010–2012 Grandma's House Auntie LizAll 12 episodes
2011 Rock & Chips Beryl BirdEpisode: "The Frog and the Pussycat"
2012 Playhouse Presents Mary Whitehouse Episode: "Psychobitches"
2012–2014 Psychobitches Various11 episodes
2012 Little Crackers Sheila FrontEpisode: "Rainy Days and Mondays"
2012 Panto! Di JenkinsTV film
2013 Bad Education Professor Celia Green3 episodes
2014 The Wrong Mans MariaEpisode: "X-Mans"
2015 London Spy Detective Taylor4 episodes
2016–2018 Tracey Ullman's Show Various13 episodes
2016,2019 Plebs Sylvia2 episodes
2016 Game of Thrones Melessa Tarly Episode: "Blood of My Blood"
2017 Babs Barbara Windsor TV film
2017–2018 Tracey Breaks the News VariousTV pilot
2017 Doctor Who HazranEpisode: "The Doctor Falls"
Doc Martin Tina CollinsEpisode: "Accidental Hero"
2018 Grandpa's Great Escape Patricia BuntingTV film
2018 Oi Leonardo Various3 episodes
2018 Agatha and the Truth of Murder PamelaTV film
2019 Island of Dreams J. K. Rowling TV film
2019–2020Semi-DetachedKate6 episodes
2019–2023 Sex Education Maureen Groff24 episodes
2020 Call the Midwife Grace CalthorpeEpisode: #9.5
2021 Midsomer Murders Phyllis CuttleEpisode: "For Death Prepare"
2021 Ridley Road Liza EpsteinAll 4 episodes
2021 The Larkins BerthaEpisode: "In Which Ma's Sister Bertha Comes to Visit"
2021 Ragdoll Joy3 episodes
2022 Dodger Marie Tussaud Episode: "Waxworks"
2022 Not Going Out Bigoted WomanEpisode: "Jury"
2022 The Pentaverate Darleen Windelchuck2 episodes
2023 Inside No. 9 [16] SueEpisode: Paraskevidekatriaphobia
2023 Beyond Paradise Yvonne Wiley1 episode
2023 Still Up Upcoming series

Theatre

Related Research Articles

Georgina McKee is an English actress. She won the 1997 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Our Friends in the North (1996), and earned subsequent nominations for The Lost Prince (2003) and The Street (2007). She also starred on television in The Forsyte Saga (2002) and as Caterina Sforza in The Borgias (2011). Her film appearances include Notting Hill (1999), Phantom Thread (2017), and My Policeman (2022).

Samantha Jane Bond is an English actress. She played Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films during the Pierce Brosnan era, and appeared in Downton Abbey as the wealthy widow Lady Rosamund Painswick, sister of Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. On television, she played "Auntie Angela" in the sitcom Outnumbered and the villain Mrs Wormwood in the CBBC Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures. She also originated the role of "Miz Liz" Probert in the Rumpole of the Bailey series. She is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sophie Thompson</span> British actress (born 1962)

Sophie Thompson is a British actress. She has worked in film, television and theatre and she won the 1999 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the London revival of Into the Woods. She has been nominated for the Olivier Award five other times for Wildest Dreams (1994), Company (1996), Clybourne Park (2011) Guys and Dolls (2016) and Present Laughter (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jenna Russell</span> British actress

Jenna Russell is an English actress and singer. She has appeared on the stage in London in both musicals and dramas, as well as appearing with the Royal Shakespeare Company. She performed the role of Dot in Sunday in the Park with George in the West End and on Broadway, receiving the Tony Award nomination and the 2006 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role. She has also appeared in several television series, including Born and Bred and EastEnders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Grandage</span> British theatre director (born 1962)

Michael Grandage CBE is a British theatre director and producer. He is currently artistic director of the Michael Grandage Company. From 2002 to 2012 he was artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse in London and from 2000 to 2005 he was artistic director of Sheffield Theatres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allan Corduner</span> British actor (born 1950)

Allan Corduner is a British actor. Born in Stockholm to a German mother and a Russo-Finnish father, Corduner grew up in a secular Jewish home in London. After earning a BA (Hons) in English and Drama at Bristol University he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. He has worked extensively on stage, TV, and film, both in the UK and in the United States. His voice is familiar from many BBC radio plays, audio books and TV documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elena Roger</span> Argentine actress (born 1974)

Elena Silvia Roger is an Argentine actress who won the 2009 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in Piaf. She has also appeared in the West End in Evita, Boeing-Boeing, and Passion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scarlett Strallen</span> English actress (b. 1982)

Scarlett Aimee Vaigncourt-Strallen is an English stage actress, best known for her work in musical theatre productions in the West End and on Broadway. She has received two Olivier Award nominations, in 2006 for her portrayal of Josephine in an adaptation of H.M.S. Pinafore, performed at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre and in 2012 for her role in Singin' in the Rain. Strallen is also a former voice actress.

Janie Dee is a British actress. She won the Olivier Award for Best Actress, Evening Standard Award and Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Play, and in New York the Obie and Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer, for her performance as Jacie Triplethree in Alan Ayckbourn's Comic Potential.

Bríd Brennan is an Irish actress who is known for her film, TV and theatre work. She originated the role of Agnes in the Brian Friel play Dancing at Lughnasa, for which she won the 1992 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She is also a three-time Olivier Award nominee; for Rutherford and Son (1995), The Little Foxes (2002) and The Ferryman (2018).

Josefina Gabrielle Holmes, professionally known as Josefina Gabrielle, is a British actress and former ballet dancer, best known for her performances in West End musicals and plays.

Stephen Leonard Mear is an English dancer, choreographer and director best known for his award-winning work in musical theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Fleetwood</span> English actress (b. 1972)

Kate Fleetwood is an English actress. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance as Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, at Chichester Festival Theatre and the West End and Broadway and an Olivier Award nomination in 2012 for her performance as Julie in London Road at the National Theatre. Her film and television credits include Vanity Fair (2004), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), Macbeth (2010), Philomena (2013), London Road (2015), Harlots (2017–2019), and The Wheel of Time (2021).

The Ian Charleson Awards are theatrical awards that reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30. The awards are named in memory of the British actor Ian Charleson, and are run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre. The awards were established in 1990 after Charleson's death, and have been awarded annually since then. Sunday Times theatre critic John Peter (1938–2020) initiated the creation of the awards, particularly in memory of Charleson's extraordinary Hamlet, which he had performed shortly before his death. Recipients receive a cash prize, as do runners-up and third-place winners.

Lucy-Anne Bradshaw is a British actress and singer, known for playing Cathy in the original production of Whistle Down the Wind by National Youth Music Theatre and Miss Kenton in the musical adaptation of The Remains of the Day. She also played Terry in Merrily We Roll Along directed by Michael Grandage at the Donmar Warehouse in December 2000, which won the 2001 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Musical.

Michelle Terry is an Olivier Award–winning English actress and writer, known for her extensive work for Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre, as well as her television work, notably writing and starring in the Sky One television series The Café. Terry took up the role of artistic director at Shakespeare's Globe in April 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Sheader</span> British theatre director (born 1971)

Timothy Sheader is a British theatre director. Sheader read Law with French at the University of Birmingham before moving into a career in theatre. He has been Artistic Director at Regent's Park Open Air Theatre from 2007 to 2024. He became Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse in 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Worthington Cox</span> British actress from Merseyside

Eleanor Winifred Worthington Cox is an English actress from Merseyside best known for portraying Matilda Wormwood in Matilda the Musical. Eleanor won a 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical along with the three other child actresses playing Matilda: Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, and Sophia Kiely. Upon winning, 10-year-old Eleanor became the youngest Olivier Award winner in any category at the time. She received a nomination for a British Academy Television Award for playing Janet Hodgson in The Enfield Haunting. She is also known for portraying Polly Renfrew in the CBBC TV adaptation of Jacqueline Wilson's Hetty Feather and Cait in the Sky Atlantic series Britannia.

The 2011 Evening Standard Theatre Awards were announced on 20 November 2011. The shortlist was revealed on 7 November 2011 and the longlist on 19 October 2011.

Katherine Kingsley is an English actress.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Paddock, Terri (8 April 2002). "20 Questions With...Samantha Spiro". What's On Stage. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Why Samantha Spiro loves Regent's Park". Times Series. 5 June 2009. Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  3. 1 2 Nathan, John (4 December 2008). "Interview: Samantha Spiro". The Jewish Chronicle . Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  4. Logan, Brian (11 March 2013). "Samantha Spiro: 'I was never an ingenue'". The Guardian. London.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Smurthwaite, Nick (26 June 2009). "Spiro's inspired roles". The Stage . Retrieved 8 July 2007.
  6. "Game of Thrones Actor Attends Arts Celebration at Former School". Pressburst.news. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  7. Marlow, Will (7 December 2002). "Go directly to jail". Edinburgh Evening News . Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  8. 1 2 Bosanquet, Theo (19 May 2008). "Samantha Spiro On...Playing Funny Girls". What's on Stage. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. Lockyer, Daphne (2 April 2000). "I became Babs so completely even now I can't stop doing her wiggle". Sunday Mirror . Retrieved 8 July 2009.
  11. 1 2 "Interviews with the team from M.I.T with On The Box". 21 September 2009. Archived from the original on 21 September 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2020.
  12. "Meet the Tarlys: Game of Thrones adds three more actors to season 6!". Watchers On The Wall. 16 September 2015.
  13. Chichester Festival Theatre: What's On: Samantha Spiro Archived 8 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 8 July 2009.
  14. Samantha Spiro – Biography IMDB. Retrieved on 8 July 2009.
  15. "In Full: British Comedy Awards – Winners". Digital Spy. 22 January 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  16. "Inside No.9 season 8: Guest stars, release date and trailer". BT Group. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  17. Marlowe, Sam (24 July 2017). "Fixer-upper worth buying". The Times. No. 72283. T2. p. 11. ISSN   0140-0460.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: location (link)