Life and career

Cornwell was born in Marylebone, London, England, the daughter of Ronald Cornwell. She is the half-sister of spy novelist John le Carré

John le Carré

David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...

 (David Cornwell). She describes him as "the best brother a girl could have". Le Carré based the main female character in his novel, The Little Drummer Girl

The Little Drummer Girl

The Little Drummer Girl is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1983. The story follows the manipulations of Martin Kurtz, an Israeli spymaster who is trying to kill a Palestinian terrorist code-named 'Khalil', who is bombing Jewish-related targets in Europe, particularly Germany, and the...

- an English actress called "Charlie" - on her.

She has a daughter, Nancy Cranham, from a former relationship with actor Kenneth Cranham

Kenneth Cranham

Kenneth Cranham is a film, television and stage actor. He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. He also appeared in Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Rome, Oliver! and many other films. He is probably best known to horror genre fans as the deranged Dr...

 and a son, Mark Baylis whom was
adopted at birth. Mother and son were reunited in 2006 after a chance meeting at a west London dinner party,

Her 30-year career began when she trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art

The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehensive training for those intending to pursue a...

 in London. She made her professional debut with three seasons at the Bristol Old Vic

Bristol Old Vic

The Bristol Old Vic is a theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, King Street, in Bristol, England. The theatre complex includes the 1766 Theatre Royal, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating theatre in England, along with a 1970s studio theatre , offices and backstage facilities...

 Company, playing a broad range of roles from Kate Hotspur in Shakespeare's Henry IV to Becky in Sam Shepherd's Tooth of Crime.

She spent three years as a leading member of the Royal Shakespeare Company

Royal 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...

, and has worked as a leading actress with the 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...

 since 1984. She has worked extensively both in the West End and on the Fringe, and has appeared in the US in several productions, including Richard III and An Enemy of the People opposite Sir Ian McKellen

Ian McKellen

Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH, CBE is an English actor. He has received a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction...

, Athol Fugard

Athol Fugard

Athol Fugard is a South African playwright, novelist, actor, and director who writes in English, best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid and for the 2005 Academy-Award winning film of his novel Tsotsi, directed by Gavin Hood...

's The Road to Mecca

The Road to Mecca

The Road to Mecca is a play by South Africa's Athol Fugard.It was inspired by the story of Helen Martins who lived in Nieu-Bethesda, Eastern Cape, South Africa and created The Owl House, now a national monument....

and most recently Terence McNally's Master Class.

She has appeared in films such as The Krays

The Krays (film)

The Krays is a 1990 film based on the lives and crimes of the British gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray, twins who are often referred to as The Krays...

, The Russia House

The Russia House

The Russia House is a novel by John le Carré published in 1989. The title refers to the nickname given to the portion of the British Secret Intelligence Service that was devoted to spying on the Soviet Union. A film based on the novel was released in 1990, starring Sean Connery and Michelle...

, White Hunter Black Heart

White Hunter Black Heart

White Hunter Black Heart is a 1990 American film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood as John Wilson, based on the book by Peter Viertel. Viertel also co-wrote the script with James Bridges and Burt Kennedy. The film was based on several Golden Age of Hollywood movie producers...

, The Saint

The Saint (film)

The Saint is a 1997 film based on the character of Simon Templar created by Leslie Charteris in 1928 for a series of books published as "The Saint." The film stars Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue and Rade Šerbedžija...

, Ghosts of Mars

Ghosts of Mars

John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars is a 2001 American science fiction action horror film composed, written, and directed by John Carpenter. The film stars Ice Cube, Natasha Henstridge, Jason Statham, Pam Grier, Clea DuVall, and Joanna Cassidy...

(voiceover). Cornwell has also worked extensively on television including appearances in Rock Follies

Rock Follies

Rock Follies, and its sequel, Rock Follies of '77, was a comedy musical drama shown on British television in the mid 1970s. The storyline, over 12 episodes and two series, followed the ups and downs of a fictional female rock band called the "Little Ladies" as they struggled for recognition and...

, Shoestring, The Men's Room, The House of Eliott

The House of Eliott

The House of Eliott is a British television series produced and broadcast by the BBC in three series between 1991 and 1994. The series starred Stella Gonet and Louise Lombard as two sisters in 1920s London who establish a dressmaking business and eventually their own haute couture fashion house...

, A Touch of Frost

A Touch of Frost (TV series)

A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1992 until 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. D. Wingfield....

, Silent Witness

Silent Witness

Silent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...

, The Mentalist

The Mentalist

The Mentalist is an American police procedural television series which debuted on September 23, 2008, on CBS. The show was created by Bruno Heller, who is also the show's executive producer...

, CI5: The New Professionals

CI5: The New Professionals

CI5: The New Professionals is a British crime drama that aired on the Sky1 satellite channel from 19 September to 19 December 1999. An updating of the late 1970s television series The Professionals, the series is set in a fictional government agency CI5 .-Synopsis:The original group of three men...

and The West Wing, among other television programs in the UK and the US.

She currently teaches at the University of Southern California

University of Southern California

The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...

.

In 1985 Cornwell sued the Sunday People TV critic Nina Myskow

Nina Myskow

Nina Myskow is a British journalist and TV celebrity who appeared on New Faces and was also a columnist for The Sun and The News of the World under the byline "The Bitch on the box" in the 1980s...

 for libel. The critic wrote that "She can't sing, her bum is too big, and she has the sort of stage presence that blocks lavatories." Cornwell was eventually awarded £11,000 after appeals.

External links

• MFA Acting Faculty Biographies at the University of Southern California
  University of Southern California
  The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...