Judy Parfitt Biography

Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt (born 7 November 1935) is an English theatre, film and television actress. She made her film debut in a minor supporting part in Information Received (1961), followed by supporting role in the BBC television serial David Copperfield (1966). She also appeared as Queen Gertrude in Tony Richardson's 1969 film adaptation of Hamlet.

Later credits include as Vera Donovan in the Stephen King film adaptation of Dolores Claiborne (1995), and in Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003), the latter for which she earned a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Beginning in 2012, Parfitt has starred on the drama series Call the Midwife as Sister Monica Joan.

Early life

Parfitt was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire in 1935 to Catherine Josephine (ne Caulton) and Lawrence Hamilton Parfitt. As a teenager, she attended Notre Dame High School for Girls and later trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1953 with a degree in acting.

Career

Parfitt began her career in theatre in 1954, appearing in a production of Fools Rush In at the Amersham Repertory Company.

In 1971, she appeared in the Hammer television film Journey to Murder, opposite Joseph Cotten and hosted by Joan Crawford. In 1978, Parfitt appeared opposite Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright and Frank Finlay in the episode "Saturday, Sunday, Monday" of Laurence Olivier Presents. In 1981 she created the role of Eleanor in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Peter Nichols' Passion Play. In 1984 she played Deidre in Jack Rosenthal's The Chain. In 1987, she appeared in Maurice. Two of her most notable past roles are Mildred Layton in The Jewel in the Crown (1984; for which she received her first BAFTA nomination) and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1980 TV serial version of Pride and Prejudice. In 1995, she portrayed Kathy Bates' former, domineering employer in Dolores Claiborne, who is dying in present-time, but is seen as a vibrant, glowing woman in flashback sequences.

She has appeared in some American television shows, beginning with her regular role as Snow White's Stepmother, Evil Queen Lillian "Lily" White in the series The Charmings. Parfitt's real-life husband Tony Steedman guest-starred as Santa Claus in The Charmings' second season Christmas special. She appeared on an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1989, and as the mother of Dr Elizabeth Corday (played by Alex Kingston) on several episodes of ER in 2002.

Parfitt played Lady Mount-Temple in the biopic film Wilde, alongside Stephen Fry, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Jones in 1997. In 2003, she played Maria Thins in Girl with a Pearl Earring. The role earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

She played the domineering American dowager, Mrs van Schuyler, opposite David Suchet, James Fox, Frances de la Tour and David Soul in a feature-length episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot in the 2004 edition of Death on the Nile. In 2008, she appeared as the primary villainess in Little Dorrit, as the cruel Mrs Clennam, alongside Alun Armstrong, Sue Johnston and Matthew Macfadyen. At Christmas 2011, she appeared in a small role similar to that which she portrayed in Little Dorrit as Aunt Chastity along with Una Stubbs and Phyllida Law in The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff.

In 2012, she began appearing in the BBC TV series Call the Midwife as Sister Monica Joan, an elderly nun who is suffering from the early stages of dementia. The character has a strong educational background, particularly in classical literature, and her apparently random quotes are often used in the programme as a way of reflecting on the unfolding drama. She has also recently appeared in BBC"?s spy tale, The Game; a film, Hello Carter; and a Radio 4 show, Hang Ups, and is currently appearing in another series of Jessica Hynes"?s suffragette sitcom Up the Women.

Personal life

In 1963 Parfitt and actor Tony Steedman married in Harrow, Middlesex. He died in 2001. The couple had one child, a son, David.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1956	A Likely Tale	Ursula Bludgeon	Television film
1962	Information Received	June Clifford
1964	Hide and Seek	Chauffer
1966	David Copperfield	Rosa Dartle
1967	Angel Pavement	Lilian Matfield	Television film
1967	Escape in Time	Vesta
1969	Hamlet	Queen Gertrude
1970	The Mind of Mr. Soames	Jenny Bannerman
1971	Journey to Murder (Do Me a Favor and Kill Me)	Faith Wheeler	Television film
1972	The Edwardians	E. Nesbit	Television film
1974	Alice Through the Looking Glass	Red Queen
1974	Galileo	Angelica Sarti
1979	Secret Orchards	Muriel Perry	Television film
1980	Death of a Princess	Elsa Gruber
1983	Office Romances	Pam Ivygale	Television film
1983	Champions	Dr. Merrow
1984	The Chain	Deirdre
1985	Covenant	Renata Beck	Television film
1987	Maurice	Mrs. Durham
1989	Diamond Skulls	Lady Crewne	Also known as Dark Obsession
1989	Getting It Right	Lady Stella Munday
1991	King Ralph	Queen Katherine
1993	The Return of the Borrowers	Mrs. Platter	Television film
1995	Dolores Claiborne	Vera Donovan
1995	Heavy Weather	Lady Constance Keeble
1996	Element of Doubt	Genevieve
1996	Goodbye My Love	Ruth
1996	September	Verena	Television film
1997	Wilde	Lady Mount-Temple
1998	Ever After	Queen Marie
2000	Falling Through	Ambassador
2003	Girl with a Pearl Earring	Maria Thins
2003	Hearts of Gold	Isobel John	Television film
2004	The Aryan Couple	Rachel Krauzenberg
2005	Asylum	Brenda Raphael
2008	Dean Spanley	Mrs. Brimley
2008	My Talks with Dean Spanley	Mrs. Brimley
2009	Jonathan Creek: The Grinning Man	Constance Gessler
2011	The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff	Aunt Chastity	Television film
2011	W.E.	Queen Mary
2012	The Moth Diaries	Mrs. Rood
2013	Hello Carter	Aunt Miriam

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1963	The Odd Man	Lisa Kapp	1 episode
1963	The Sentimental Agent	Sally Clare	1 episode
1965	Public Eye	Marion Hordern	1 episode
1965	Out of the Unknown	Marie	1 episode
1965	The Wednesday Play	Dorothy Gorbet	1 episode
1965	Z-Cars	Christina Haines	1 episode
1967	The Saint	Anne Liskard	1 episode
1967	Adam Adamant Lives!	Ireyna	1 episode
1967	Les Misrables	Mme. Thenardier	Miniseries
1967	Angel Pavement	Lilian Matfield	4 episodes
1968	Dixon of Dock Green	Mary Dewar	1 episode
1968	The Avengers	Loris	1 episode
1969	Journey to the Unknown	Faith Wheeler	1 episode
1973	Play for Today		1 episode
1973	The Protectors	Lena Hayden	1 episode
1974	Shoulder to Shoulder	Lady Constance Lytton	Miniseries
1975-82	Crown Court	Pauline Fanshawe / Mrs Gillian Forrest Q.C.	17 episodes
1978	Rumpole of the Bailey	Anna Aspen	1 episode
1978	Laurence Olivier Presents		1 episode
1979	Malice Aforethought	Julia Bickleigh	Serial
1980	Pride and Prejudice	Lady Catherine de Bourgh	Serial
1980	A Tale of Two Cities	Madame Defarge	Serial
1981	Yes Minister	Betty Oldham	1 episode
1984	The Jewel in the Crown	Mildred Layton	9 episodes
1986	Mr Pye	Miss Dredger	Miniseries
1987-88	The Charmings	Queen Lillian White	21 episodes
1989	Murder, She Wrote	Peggy Brooks	1 episode
1993	The Alleyn Mysteries	Lady O'Callaghan	1 episode
1997	Holding the Baby	Margaret	1 episode
1998	Berkeley Square	Lady Harmonsworth	1 episode
1999-2008	Midsomer Murders	Caroline Halsey / Angela Wentworth	2 episodes
2001	Murder in Mind	Margaret Collins	1 episode
2002	ER	Isabelle Corday	7 episodes
2004	Agatha Christie's Poirot: Death on the Nile	Miss Van Schuyler	1 episode
2004	The Long Firm	Lady Ruth Thursby	1 episode
2005	Funland	Mercy Woolf	11 episodes
2008	Heartbeat	Lady Veronique	1 episode
2008	Little Dorrit	Mrs. Clennam	12 episodes
2012-16	Call the Midwife	Sister Monica Joan	41 episodes
2012	The Syndicate	Maureen	1 episode
2012	Vera	Maggie	1 episode
2015	The Game	Hester Waterhouse	5 episodes

Awards and nominations

BAFTA Film Awards

• 2003 - Best Actress in a Supporting Role - as Maria Thins in Girl with a Pearl Earring - nominated

BAFTA TV Awards

• 1984 - Best TV Actress - as Mildred Layton in The Jewel in the Crown - nominated

Other awards

• 2009 - Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - as Mrs Clennam in Little Dorrit - nominated
• 2014 - Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television - as Sister Monica Joan in Call the Midwife - nominated