Lesley Manville Biography

Lesley Manville (born 12 March 1956) is an English actress of film, theatre and television. She frequently collaborates with director Mike Leigh, twice being named British Actress of the Year at the London Film Critics Circle Awards for her performances in the Mike Leigh films, All or Nothing and Another Year. She is also a BAFTA and Olivier award nominee.

Early life

Born in Brighton, Sussex, Manville was brought up in nearby Hove, one of three daughters of a taxicab driver. Training as a soprano singer from age 8, she twice became under-18 champion of Sussex. She began acting as a teenager, appearing in television series such as King Cinder. As a result, at age 15, she gained a place at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.

Career

After turning down teacher Arlene Phillips' invitation to join her new dance troupe Hot Gossip, she was taught improvisation by Italia Conti teacher Julia Carey.

Her first job was in West End theatre in the musical I and Albert directed by John Schlesinger, which was followed by television presentation on Westward Television's version of the BBC's Blue Peter. She paid for her first flat taking a part on Emmerdale Farm, which lasted for 80 episodes.

Manville built a career as a distinctive theatre actress, appearing in new plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Warehouse and Royal Court Theatre. She played Sister Croy in The Sons of Light; Ali in Savage Amusement; Isabel in Trust Us and Lucy in Lucy Page's Lucy.

In 1979, she met Mike Leigh, who was looking for RSC actors who could improvise. She starred in the 1980 BBC play Grown-Ups. She subsequently appeared in Leigh's films High Hopes, Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, All or Nothing and Another Year. Other film appearances include: Dance with a Stranger, Sammy and Rosie Get Laid, High Season and The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael, as well as A Christmas Carol and Womb.

Manville has also remained active on television, with credits such as The Gentle Touch, Coronation Street, Bulman, Soldier Soldier, Ain't Misbehavin', Tears Before Bedtime, Kavanagh QC, Holding On, Silent Witness, Real Women, The Cazalets, North and South and Cranford. and "Mayday" in 2013.

As of September 2011 Manville was starring in Mike Leigh's play Grief at the National Theatre.

Awards

For her role as Nadine in the series Other People's Children, Manville received a nomination for Best Actress in the 2001 Royal Television Society Awards.

For her role in All or Nothing she won the London Film Critics' Circle British Actress of the Year in 2002.

For her role in Another Year she has been nominated for the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress and the European Film Award for Best Actress, as well as the Chicago Film Critics Award for Best Actress. She won her second London Film Critics Circle award for British Actress of the Year. She also won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress from the San Diego Film Critics Society. On 18 January 2011, she received a BAFTA nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category. On 7 February 2011, former Charlie's Angels stars Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd presented the Best Actress Award to Lesley Manville for "Another Year" at the "Movies for Grownups Awards".

Personal life

She met her first husband Gary Oldman while working at the Royal Court Theatre. Oldman left her in 1989, three months after their son, Alfie, was born. Her second marriage was to Joe Dixon. As of 2007, Manville lived with her son in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

Film and television

Role	Film	Year
Maryanne	Dance with a Stranger	1985
Margy	Sammy and Rosie Get Laid	1987
Carol	High Season	1987
Laetitia Boothe-Brain	High Hopes	1988
Social Worker	Secrets & Lies	1996
Lucy Gilbert	Topsy-Turvy	1999
Penny	All or Nothing	2002
Mrs. Wells	Vera Drake	2004
Sarah Carmichael	The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael	2005
Mother	Richard Is My Boyfriend	2007
Jill	Sparkle	2007
Mary	Another Year	2010
The Nurse	Romeo and Juliet	2013
Margaret	Spike Island	2013
Flittle	Maleficent	2014

Role	Television Feature or Series	Year
Janet	Pop Goes the Weasel	1974
Rosemary Kendall	Emmerdale Farm	1974-76
Christine West	Barlow at Large " Protection	1975
Janice	The Emigrants	1976
Helen Wyatt	A Bunch of Fives	1977
Julie	Leap in the Dark " The Fetch	1977
Nikki	King Cinder	1977
Francoise	Wings " Dawn Attack	1978
Shirley Davies	The Gentle Touch " Hammer	1980
Mandy	BBC2 Playhouse " Grown-Ups	1980
Liz	Objects of Affection " Our Winnie	1982
Jill Mason	Coronation Street	1982
Vivienne	Play for Today " Dog Ends	1984
Karen Tait	Bullman - The Name of the Game	1985
Sue	The Firm	1989
?	Bad Girl	1992
?	When the Lies Run Out	1993
Margot	The Mushroom Picker	1993
Rosalind Killin	Goggle-Eyes	1993
Melissa Quigley	Ain't Misbehavin'	1994
Judith Silver	Little Napoleons	1994
Bessie Parkes	A Skirt Through History	1994
Beattie Freeman	Tears Before Bedtime	1995
Ellie Shannon	The Bite	1996
Lucy Cartwright	Kavanagh QC " True Commitment	1996
Fortune	Soldier Soldier	1997
Hilary	Holding On	1997
Susie Peel	Painted Lady	1997
Karen Turner	Real Women	1998
Suzy Franklin	Silent Witness " Fallen Idol	1998
Mrs. Allen	Toy Boys	1999
Karen Turner	Real Women II	1999
Fiona	Milk	1999
Nadine	Other People's Children	2000
Yvonne	Black Cab Episode: "Lost & Found"	2000
Mrs. Micawber	David Copperfield	2000
Villy Cazalet	The Cazalets	2001
Mandy Greenfield	Bodily Harm	2002
Dora Bruce	Plain Jane	2002
Capt. Annie Sullivan	Promoted to Glory	2003
Professor Diane Marquis	Rose and Maloney Episode No.1.2	2004
Maria Hale	North & South	2004
Mrs. Lorrimer	Poirot: Cards on the Table	2005
Sister Antonia	Perfect Parents	2006
Mrs. Rose	Cranford	2007
Phyllis Gladstone	Law & Order: UK	2009
Margaret Thatcher	The Queen	2009
Phoebe Archbold	Midsomer Murders: "Fit for Murder"	2011
Heather Hartnell	An Adventure in Space and Time	2013
Gail Spicer	Mayday	2013

Theatre

Role	Play	Theatre	Year
Ali	Savage Amusement (John Caird)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
Sister Croy	The Sons of Light (Ron Daniels)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
Jen	Fear of the Dark (Walter Donohue)	Royal Shakespeare Company	1980
?	Chorus Girls (Adrian Shergold)	Theatre Royal, Stratford East	1981
Second Student	Who Needs Enemies? (Walter Donohue)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
Lucy	Lucy (Mark Dornford-May)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
Isabel	Trust Us (Walter Donohue)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
Second Student	Who Needs Enemies? (Walter Donohue)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
Lucy	Lucy (Mark Dornford-May)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
Isabel	Trust Us (Walter Donohue)	RSC - Warehouse	1978
?	Borderline (Max Stafford-Clark)	Royal Court	1981
Sue	Rita, Sue and Bob Too (Andrea Dunbar)	Royal Court	1981
Patient Griselda	Top Girls (Caryl Churchill)	Royal Court	1982
?	Falkland Sound	Royal Court	1983
Pat	The Pope's Wedding (Max Stafford-Clark)	Royal Court	1984
Liz	Bond's Saved (Danny Boyle)	Royal Court	1984
Polya	Gorky's Philistines	TOP	1985
Dolores	The Dead Monkey (Roger Mitchell)	Royal Shakespeare Company	1985
Phebe	As You Like It (Adrian Noble)	RST	1985-6
?	High Season (Clare Peploe)	?	1987
Cécile	Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Howard Davies)	Pit	1986
Scilla	Serious Money (Max Stafford-Clark)	Royal Court	1989
Sandra	American Bagpipes (Lindsay Posner)	Royal Court	1989
Varya	The Cherry Orchard (Sam Mendes)	Aldwych	1989
Natasha	Three Sisters (Adrian Noble)	Royal Court	1990
Miss Julie	Miss Julie	Greenwich Theatre	1990
?	Some Girls	?	2005
Mrs. Coulter	His Dark Materials	National Theatre	2005
?	Pillars of the Community	National Theatre (Lyttelton)	2006
Dol Common	The Alchemist	National Theatre	2006
Manuela	All About My Mother	The Old Vic	2007
Celia Cain	Her Naked Skin	National Theatre	2008
Ouisa Kittredge	Six Degrees of Separation	The Old Vic	2010
Dorothy	Grief	National Theatre	2011