Ann Mitchell
Encyclopedia
Ann Mitchell is one of Britain
's leading stage and television actresses. In 2011, she was cast as Cora Cross in the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, the mother of Tanya Jessop and Rainie Cross
. She was only to appear originally for 4 episodes but returned on 28 July 2011 as a regular character. Mitchell has appeared in many roles in film, theatre and television and has played a significant amount of major roles such as Mrs. Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession
and professionally played in earlier roles young mothers.
and went on to train at the pioneering East 15 Acting School
, an establishment inspired by the works of Joan Littlewood
, receiving the first-ever scholarship to the school. She has since worked in theatre
, television, film, and radio, starting with "Diary of a Young Man", a series written for her by John McGrath and Troy Kennedy Martin
, directed by Ken Loach
. She is a visiting lecturer at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama
, East 15 Acting School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
, and is Master Tutor on the foundation course at WAC. Mitchell is on the Board of Directors of The Unity Theatre Trust, a Trustee of Arbours (a psychotherapeutic care centre) and is a Patron of Clean Break, a theatre and training company for female ex-offenders. Mitchell has been married twice and has two sons, one from each of her marriages, one of whom is the actor Che Walker
. She currently resides in London
.
, written by Lynda La Plante
. In 1992 she received the accolade of "Performance of The Year" by The Independent on Sunday
for her Hecuba at The Gate Theatre. In 2003 Mitchell was a nominee for Best Actress in the Evening Standard Awards
and the Laurence Olivier Awards
for her performance as Martha in Through The Leaves, first at The Southwark Playhouse and later the Duchess Theatre
, London. Her work as a director and writer includes: Voices From Prison (RSC Platform), Cathy Come Home (first stage adaptation, Pit Theatre), Ever After (co-written with Kathy Itzen), Kiss and Kill (co-written with Susan Todd for Monstrous Regiment and nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
). She directed the world premiere of Barry Keeffe’s Sus, at the Royal Court Theatre
.
Ann Mitchell first worked with Simon Callow
over 35 years ago in a Lincoln Theatre Royal production of The Erpingham Camp, where Callow made his debut. Since then, they have both worked together a few times, most recently eight years ago when Callow directed Mitchell in The Destiny of Me
at the Leicester Haymarket. While not collaborating with Callow, Mitchell has built up a prolific stage career. In an interview with What's on Stage, Micthell commented that her favourite was Eugene O'Neill
. "I was about 15 when I first started reading him and, even at that age, I knew there was something going on there in the subconscious of his work. Tennessee Williams, because of his delicacy. I also like doing Racine, which is wonderful from the point of the view of the language. I've just done Britannicus at the Citz. And my son, Che Walker. He's a very exciting new young writer. His first play was seen at the Royal Court, Been So Long, and they've commissioned him for his new play next year."
soap opera
EastEnders
as Cora Cross, the mother of already established characters Tanya Jessop and Rainie Cross
. She first appeared to attend her on-screen daughter's wedding and was originally only scheduled to appear for a four episode guest stint. On May 31, 2011 it was announced that Mitchell was returning to EastEnders
as Cora and will be back on screen as a regular character in summer 2011. In an interview with Inside Soap
, the executive prodcuer of EastEnders
, Bryan Kirkwood
commented: "With the loss of Barbara Windsor, I was keen to find a new matriarch for the show, and Ann Mitchell is a dream booking. I've always been a fan of her work, and with the storyline we've got planned, we'll wonder how we ever did without Cora". Mitchell had previously appeared in EastEnders as Jane Williams
, a woman Roy Evans
had an affair with but only appeared for 6 episodes. Upon joining the soap, Mitchell commented: "As a lifelong fan of EastEnders I am thrilled to join the cast. I am a great fan of June Brown’s and am looking forward to sharing some scenes with her". Executive Producer Bryan Kirkwood added, "I’m very excited to have the much-loved Ann Mitchell joining us. Cora Cross is a formidable woman, cut from the same cloth as many glorious Walford women of the past, and Ann Mitchell is just perfect for the role."
: Mother Courage
in Mother Courage and Her Children
, Helen in A Taste of Honey
, Amanda in Private Lives
, Mary in Mary Stuart, Eva in Summit Conference (written for her by Robert David McDonald), Mrs. Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession
, Gertrude in Hamlet
and Agrippina in Britannicus
. At London: Mrs. Marwood in The Way of the World
, and Cornelia in The White Devil
.
her roles include Hecuba, Aethra, and the nurse in Tantalus at the Barbican (RSC), Frieda Lawrence in Divine Gossip, and The Woman in Edward Bond
’s War Plays I, II, III. Tantalus was a coproduction of the RSC and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
in the U.S.
where it received its world premiere in a mammoth performance of the three parts given over 10 hours. Working for the leading companies in the UK she was: Helen in The Road to Mecca (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals
(Nottingham Playhouse
), Marge in A Colder Climate (Royal Court), A Matter of Life and Death
(Royal National Theatre
), Brenda in Mary Barnes (Royal Court), Guinevere in Guinevere (written for her by Pam Gems
, Soho Poly), Mrs. Prentice in What the Butler Saw
(the Crucible Theatre
, Sheffield
). In 2005, she co-starred in Whose Life Is It Anyway?
in London’s West End
with Kim Cattrall
and Janet Suzman
.
, Talking to a Stranger
, Up the Junction
, Play for Today
, Upstairs, Downstairs
, Within These Walls
, Bergerac
, Taggart
, The Detectives
, Kavanagh QC
, Maigret, The Bill
, EastEnders
, French & Saunders
, and Gimme Gimme Gimme (written for her by Jonathan Harvey
). She co-stars as Lillian in the forthcoming Granada
production of Jane Hall’s Big Bad Bus Ride, and was most recently seen as Rita in Tunnel of Love for Thames
. As Dolly Rawlins in Widows I, II and She’s Out (written for her by Lynda La Plante) she won acclaim and affection.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's leading stage and television actresses. In 2011, she was cast as Cora Cross in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, the mother of Tanya Jessop and Rainie Cross
Rainie Cross
Lorraine "Rainie" Cross is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Tanya Franks. Rainie was introduced as the drug-addicted sister of Tanya Branning . After having three separate guest stints in 2007 , 2008 and 2010 , she returned on 12 April 2011 as a...
. She was only to appear originally for 4 episodes but returned on 28 July 2011 as a regular character. Mitchell has appeared in many roles in film, theatre and television and has played a significant amount of major roles such as Mrs. Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893. The story centers on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren, a brothel owner, described by the author as "on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman" and her daughter, Vivie...
and professionally played in earlier roles young mothers.
Personal life
As a child she attended Raine's Foundation SchoolRaine's Foundation School
Raine's Foundation School is a Church of England Voluntary Aided school in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.Henry Raine, a very rich man who lived in Wapping, decided to create a school where poor children could get an education for free, so that they could go into skilled labour when they left....
and went on to train at the pioneering East 15 Acting School
East 15 Acting School
East 15 is a British drama school in Debden, Loughton, Essex. At the main campus, Loughton, it occupies an 18th century mansion, Hatfields, and has its own theatre, the Corbett, which is adjacent. The Corbett Theatre is an adaptation of a 15th-century barn...
, an establishment inspired by the works of Joan Littlewood
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood was a British theatre director, noted for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop...
, receiving the first-ever scholarship to the school. She has since worked in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, television, film, and radio, starting with "Diary of a Young Man", a series written for her by John McGrath and Troy Kennedy Martin
Troy Kennedy Martin
Troy Kennedy Martin was a Scottish-born film and television screenwriter best known for creating the long running BBC TV police series Z-Cars, and for the award-winning 1985 anti-nuclear drama Edge of Darkness...
, directed by Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
. She is a visiting lecturer at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
, East 15 Acting School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
, and is Master Tutor on the foundation course at WAC. Mitchell is on the Board of Directors of The Unity Theatre Trust, a Trustee of Arbours (a psychotherapeutic care centre) and is a Patron of Clean Break, a theatre and training company for female ex-offenders. Mitchell has been married twice and has two sons, one from each of her marriages, one of whom is the actor Che Walker
Ché Walker
Ché Walker is an English actor, playwright, theatre director and teacher at the Identity Drama School.Walker lives in Camden in London and his play The Frontline deals with street life outside Camden Town tube station....
. She currently resides in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Career
In 1984 she received the Pye Award for Female who had the greatest impact on television for her role as Dolly Rawlins in the groundbreaking crime series WidowsWidows (TV series)
Widows was a British primetime television serial aired in 1983, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network....
, written by Lynda La Plante
Lynda La Plante
Lynda La Plante, CBE is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the Prime Suspect television crime series....
. In 1992 she received the accolade of "Performance of The Year" by The Independent on Sunday
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
for her Hecuba at The Gate Theatre. In 2003 Mitchell was a nominee for Best Actress in the Evening Standard Awards
Evening Standard Awards
The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre. Sponsored by the Evening Standard newspaper, they are announced in late November or early December...
and the Laurence Olivier Awards
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
for her performance as Martha in Through The Leaves, first at The Southwark Playhouse and later the Duchess Theatre
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....
, London. Her work as a director and writer includes: Voices From Prison (RSC Platform), Cathy Come Home (first stage adaptation, Pit Theatre), Ever After (co-written with Kathy Itzen), Kiss and Kill (co-written with Susan Todd for Monstrous Regiment and nominated for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
Susan Smith Blackburn Prize
The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize established in 1978, is for English-language women playwrights. Named for Susan Smith, alumna of Smith College, who died of breast cancer.-Winners:* 1978-79 Mary O'Malley* 1979-80 Barbara Schneider...
). She directed the world premiere of Barry Keeffe’s Sus, at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
.
Ann Mitchell first worked with Simon Callow
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
over 35 years ago in a Lincoln Theatre Royal production of The Erpingham Camp, where Callow made his debut. Since then, they have both worked together a few times, most recently eight years ago when Callow directed Mitchell in The Destiny of Me
The Destiny of Me
The Destiny of Me is a play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on Ned Weeks, a character introduced in The Normal Heart, as he checks into the National Institutes of Health to undergo an experimental treatment for AIDS...
at the Leicester Haymarket. While not collaborating with Callow, Mitchell has built up a prolific stage career. In an interview with What's on Stage, Micthell commented that her favourite was Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
. "I was about 15 when I first started reading him and, even at that age, I knew there was something going on there in the subconscious of his work. Tennessee Williams, because of his delicacy. I also like doing Racine, which is wonderful from the point of the view of the language. I've just done Britannicus at the Citz. And my son, Che Walker. He's a very exciting new young writer. His first play was seen at the Royal Court, Been So Long, and they've commissioned him for his new play next year."
EastEnders
In 2011, Mitchell was cast in the popular BritishUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
as Cora Cross, the mother of already established characters Tanya Jessop and Rainie Cross
Rainie Cross
Lorraine "Rainie" Cross is a fictional character from the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, played by Tanya Franks. Rainie was introduced as the drug-addicted sister of Tanya Branning . After having three separate guest stints in 2007 , 2008 and 2010 , she returned on 12 April 2011 as a...
. She first appeared to attend her on-screen daughter's wedding and was originally only scheduled to appear for a four episode guest stint. On May 31, 2011 it was announced that Mitchell was returning to EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
as Cora and will be back on screen as a regular character in summer 2011. In an interview with Inside Soap
Inside Soap
Inside Soap is a weekly UK magazine, released every Tuesday. It covers current and future storylines in soap operas shown in the United Kingdom....
, the executive prodcuer of EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, Bryan Kirkwood
Bryan Kirkwood (producer)
Bryan Kirkwood is a Scottish-born British television producer. He was the producer of teen Channel 4 soap opera Hollyoaks from 2006 until 2009 and has been the executive producer of the BBC soap EastEnders since 2010.- Personal life :...
commented: "With the loss of Barbara Windsor, I was keen to find a new matriarch for the show, and Ann Mitchell is a dream booking. I've always been a fan of her work, and with the storyline we've got planned, we'll wonder how we ever did without Cora". Mitchell had previously appeared in EastEnders as Jane Williams
Jane Williams
Jane Williams may refer to:*Jane Williams *Jane Williams Subject of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley*Jane Williams , Welsh writer*Jane Williams, Baroness Williams of Elvel...
, a woman Roy Evans
Roy Evans
Roy Evans CBE was a Liverpool football player who eventually rose through the coaching ranks to become team manager.-Career:...
had an affair with but only appeared for 6 episodes. Upon joining the soap, Mitchell commented: "As a lifelong fan of EastEnders I am thrilled to join the cast. I am a great fan of June Brown’s and am looking forward to sharing some scenes with her". Executive Producer Bryan Kirkwood added, "I’m very excited to have the much-loved Ann Mitchell joining us. Cora Cross is a formidable woman, cut from the same cloth as many glorious Walford women of the past, and Ann Mitchell is just perfect for the role."
Theatre
As a leading member of the ground-breaking Citizens Theatre for many years, Mitchell's roles included at GlasgowGlasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
: Mother Courage
Mother Courage
Mother Courage is a character from a Grimmelshausen novel Lebensbeschreibung der Ertzbetrügerin und Landstörtzerin Courasche dating from around 1670...
in Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children
Mother Courage and Her Children is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin...
, Helen in A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey
A Taste of Honey is the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was 18. It was initially intended as a novel, but she turned it into a play because she hoped to revitalize British theatre and to address social issues that she felt were not being presented...
, Amanda in Private Lives
Private Lives
Private Lives is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It focuses on a divorced couple who discover that they are honeymooning with their new spouses in neighbouring rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetually stormy relationship, they realise that they still have feelings for...
, Mary in Mary Stuart, Eva in Summit Conference (written for her by Robert David McDonald), Mrs. Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs. Warren's Profession
Mrs Warren's Profession is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893. The story centers on the relationship between Mrs Kitty Warren, a brothel owner, described by the author as "on the whole, a genial and fairly presentable old blackguard of a woman" and her daughter, Vivie...
, Gertrude in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
and Agrippina in Britannicus
Britannicus
Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus was the son of the Roman emperor Claudius and his third wife Valeria Messalina. He became the heir-designate of the empire at his birth, less than a month into his father's reign. He was still a young boy at the time of his mother's downfall and Claudius'...
. At London: Mrs. Marwood in The Way of the World
The Way of the World
The Way of the World is a play written by British playwright William Congreve. It premiered in 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London...
, and Cornelia in The White Devil
The White Devil
The White Devil is a revenge tragedy from 1612 by English playwright John Webster . A notorious failure when it premiered, Webster complained the play was acted in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience. The play's complexity, sophistication and satire made it a poor fit with the...
.
Royal Shakespeare Company
For the Royal Shakespeare CompanyRoyal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
her roles include Hecuba, Aethra, and the nurse in Tantalus at the Barbican (RSC), Frieda Lawrence in Divine Gossip, and The Woman in Edward Bond
Edward Bond
Edward Bond is an English playwright, theatre director, poet, theorist and screenwriter. He is the author of some fifty plays, among them Saved , the production of which was instrumental in the abolition of theatre censorship in the UK...
’s War Plays I, II, III. Tantalus was a coproduction of the RSC and the Denver Center for the Performing Arts
Denver Center for the Performing Arts
The Denver Center for the Performing Arts ' is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, a graduate-level training school for actors, acting classes for the community and rental...
in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
where it received its world premiere in a mammoth performance of the three parts given over 10 hours. Working for the leading companies in the UK she was: Helen in The Road to Mecca (Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester), Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
(Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
), Marge in A Colder Climate (Royal Court), A Matter of Life and Death
A Matter of Life and Death (play)
A Matter of Life and Death is a stage adaptation by Tom Morris and Emma Rice of Powell and Pressburger's film of the same name for the company Kneehigh Theatre...
(Royal National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
), Brenda in Mary Barnes (Royal Court), Guinevere in Guinevere (written for her by Pam Gems
Pam Gems
Pam Gems was a British playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by major European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play Piaf.-Personal life:...
, Soho Poly), Mrs. Prentice in What the Butler Saw
What the Butler Saw (play)
What the Butler Saw is a farce written by English playwright Joe Orton. It premièred at the Queen's Theatre in London on 5 March 1969. It was Orton's final play and the second to be performed after his death, following Funeral Games the year before....
(the Crucible Theatre
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....
, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
). In 2005, she co-starred in Whose Life Is It Anyway?
Whose Life is it Anyway?
Whose Life Is It Anyway? is a play by Brian Clark adapted from his 1972 television play of the same title. The play premiered at the Mermaid Theatre in London's West End in 1978 starring Tom Conti as Ken.-Plot:...
in London’s West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
with Kim Cattrall
Kim Cattrall
Kim Victoria Cattrall is an English actress. She is known for her role as Samantha Jones in the HBO comedy/romance series Sex and the City, and for her leading roles in the 1980s films Police Academy, Big Trouble in Little China, Mannequin, and Porky's...
and Janet Suzman
Janet Suzman
Dame Janet Suzman, DBE is a South African-born-British actress and director.-Early life:Janet Suzman was born in Johannesburg to a Jewish family, the daughter of Betty and Saul Suzman, a wealthy importer of tobacco....
.
Television
For television, Mitchell has starred in many of the most popular UK television series ranging from drama to comedy, including Z-CarsZ-Cars
Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by...
, Talking to a Stranger
Talking to a Stranger
Talking to a Stranger is a British television drama, produced by the BBC and made up of four separate plays telling the story of one weekend from the viewpoints of four different members of the same family. Originally transmitted on BBC2 as part of the Theatre 625 anthology strand, the four...
, Up the Junction
Up the Junction
Up the Junction is a 1963 novel by Nell Dunn that depicts contemporary life in the industrial slums of Battersea near Clapham Junction.The book uses colloquial speech, and its portrayal of petty thieving, sexual encounters, births, deaths and back-street abortion provided a view of life that was...
, Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
, Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs
Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...
, Within These Walls
Within These Walls
Within These Walls is a British television drama programme made by London Weekend Television for ITV and shown between 1974 and 1978. It portrayed life in HMP Stone Park, a fictional women's prison...
, Bergerac
Bergerac (TV series)
Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show...
, Taggart
Taggart
Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network...
, The Detectives
The Detectives
The Detectives is a British comedy television series, starring Jasper Carrott, Robert Powell, and George Sewell. It was a spoof of police dramas, which were numerous in the 1990s, and it was aired on BBC One...
, Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC
Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs....
, Maigret, The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, French & Saunders
French & Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
, and Gimme Gimme Gimme (written for her by Jonathan Harvey
Jonathan Harvey (playwright)
Jonathan Harvey is a British playwright whose work has earned multiple awards. He is also a former secondary school English teacher.-Life and works:...
). She co-stars as Lillian in the forthcoming Granada
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
production of Jane Hall’s Big Bad Bus Ride, and was most recently seen as Rita in Tunnel of Love for Thames
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
. As Dolly Rawlins in Widows I, II and She’s Out (written for her by Lynda La Plante) she won acclaim and affection.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Sunday Night Theatre Sunday Night Theatre Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of plays created by the BBC first in early 1950, and was regularly shown on Sundays until late 1959, when the last play, A Cup of Kindness, was staged... |
Unknown |
| 1963 | The Scheme | Country girl |
| 1964 | Catch Hand | Helen Woods |
| Diary of a Young Man | Eileen | |
| Z-Cars Z-Cars Z-Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby in the outskirts of Liverpool in Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.-Origins:The series was developed by... |
Mrs. Napier | |
| 1965 | Monitor Monitor (TV series) Monitor was a BBC arts programme that was launched on 1 September 1958 and ran until 1965.Huw Wheldon was the first editor from 1958 to 1964. He was also the principal interviewer and anchor... |
Neighbour |
| The Wednesday Play The Wednesday Play The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured... |
Marie | |
| 1966 | Dixon of Dock Green Dixon of Dock Green Dixon of Dock Green was a popular BBC television series that ran from 1955 to 1976, and later a radio series. Despite being a drama series, it was initially produced by the BBC's light entertainment department.-Overview:... |
Mrs. Stubbings |
| Thirty-Minute Theatre | Pat | |
| Talking to a Stranger Talking to a Stranger Talking to a Stranger is a British television drama, produced by the BBC and made up of four separate plays telling the story of one weekend from the viewpoints of four different members of the same family. Originally transmitted on BBC2 as part of the Theatre 625 anthology strand, the four... |
Mother as a young woman | |
| Theatre 625 Theatre 625 Theatre 625 is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production and transmission being in the higher-definition 625-line... |
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| 1967 | Hobson's Choice | Ada Figgins |
| 1973 | Play for Today Play for Today Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted... |
Amenities officer |
| 1975 | Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs, Downstairs Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a... |
Militant Woman |
| Crown Court Crown Court (TV series) Crown Court was an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.... |
Mrs. Vera Chadwick | |
| 1975–76 | Within These Walls | Kathleen Marsh |
| 1976 | Killers | Mrs. Harrison |
| 1977 | Full Circle | Unknown |
| 1978 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie | Miss Michaels |
| Angels Angels (TV series) Angels was originally a British television seasonal drama series dealing with the subject of student nurses and was broadcast by the BBC between 1975 and 1978. The show's format then switched to a twice weekly soap opera format from 1979 to 1983. The show's title derived from the name of the... |
Sister Huntley | |
| 1979 | Murder by Decree | Jane |
| Play of the Week Play of the Week Play of the Week is an American anthology series of televised stage plays which aired in NTA Film Network syndication from October 12, 1959 to May 1, 1961... |
Mother | |
| 1980 | Blunt Instrument | Unknown |
| 1981 | Sunday Night Thriller | Miss Grindley |
| Lady Chatterley's Lover Lady Chatterley's Lover Lady Chatterley's Lover is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1928. The first edition was printed privately in Florence, Italy with assistance from Pino Orioli; it could not be published openly in the United Kingdom until 1960... |
Ivy Bolton | |
| 1982 | Friend or Foe | WVS Lady |
| 1983 | Widows Widows (TV series) Widows was a British primetime television serial aired in 1983, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network.... |
Dolly Rawlins |
| 1985 | Widows 2 Widows (TV series) Widows was a British primetime television serial aired in 1983, produced by Euston Films for Thames Television and aired on the ITV network.... |
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| 1986 | Unnatural Causes | Morved |
| 1988 | Bergerac Bergerac (TV series) Bergerac was a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the Seven Network, and screened on BBC1, it starred John Nettles as the title character Detective Sergeant Jim Bergerac, a detective in "Le Bureau des Étrangers" Bergerac was a British television show... |
Lola Betts |
| Verdict | Judge Jane Harrison | |
| Supply & Demand | Caroline | |
| 1992 | Taggart Taggart Taggart is a Scottish detective television programme, created by Glenn Chandler, who has written many of the episodes, and made by STV Productions for the ITV network... |
Annie Gilmore |
| Papierowe Malzenstwo | Phyllida | |
| Maigret Maigret (1992 TV series) Maigret was a British television series that ran on ITV for twelve episodes between 1992 and 1993. It was an adaptation of the books by Georges Simenon featuring his fictional French detective Jules Maigret... |
Mme. Moncin | |
| 1993 | Growing Pains | Unknown |
| Harry Harry (TV series) Harry is a television drama series that was made by Union Pictures for the BBC, and shown on BBC One between 1993 and 1995. The programme concerned a journalist called Harry Salter who ran a news agency in the town of Darlington in England.- Cast :* Harry Salter - Michael Elphick* Jonathan - Tom... |
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| 1994 | Frank Stubbs | Mrs. Laker |
| 1995 | She's Out | Dolly Rawlins |
| 1996 | Deep Secrets | Fran |
| The Detectives The Detectives The Detectives is a British comedy television series, starring Jasper Carrott, Robert Powell, and George Sewell. It was a spoof of police dramas, which were numerous in the 1990s, and it was aired on BBC One... |
Superintendent Simmons | |
| 1997 | Smith & Jones | Unknown |
| 1998 | Kavanagh QC Kavanagh QC Kavanagh QC is a British television series made by Carlton Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. It has been shown on ITV3 as recently as August 2011; series 1–6 are available on Region 2 DVDs.... |
Mrs. Justice Addis |
| 2000 | Summer in the Suburbs | Mulligan |
| 2001 | Gimme Gimme Gimme | Miss Twitch |
| Tantalus: Behind the Mask | Hecuba / Nurse / Aethra | |
| 2001–02 | EastEnders EastEnders EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End... |
Jane Williams |
| 2004 | Tunnel of Love | Rita |
| 2005 | What's Your Name 41? | Joanna Castelloe |
| 2006 | Jane Hall Jane Hall (TV series) Jane Hall was a six-part British television comedy drama on ITV, written by Sally Wainwright and starring Sarah Smart and Stephen Mangan, revolving around Jane Hall's job training to be a bus driver and her home life in Hounslow, "the arsehole of London".... |
Lilian Ramsey |
| 2008 | Heartbeat | Iris Grocott |
| The Bill The Bill The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work... |
Doreen Fallon | |
| The Passion Within | Doña Angustias | |
| 2009 | Casualty Casualty (TV series) Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The... |
Margaret Samson |
| 2011 | The Deep Blue Sea The Deep Blue Sea (2011 film) The Deep Blue Sea is an upcoming British drama film directed by Terence Davies and starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston and Simon Russell Beale. It is an adaptation of the 1952 Terence Rattigan play The Deep Blue Sea about the wife of a Judge who engages in an affair with an RAF pilot... |
Mrs. Nelson |
| 2011— | EastEnders EastEnders EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End... |
Cora Cross |