Polly Walker is an English actress.

Early life

Walker was born in Warrington

Warrington

Warrington is a town, borough and unitary authority area of Cheshire, England. It stands on the banks of the River Mersey, which is tidal to the west of the weir at Howley. It lies 16 miles east of Liverpool, 19 miles west of Manchester and 8 miles south of St Helens...

, Cheshire, England. Her first school was Silverdale Preparatory West Acton, London. At 16, Walker graduated from Ballet Rambert School in Twickenham

Twickenham

Twickenham is a large suburban town southwest of central London. It is the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames and one of the locally important district centres identified in the London Plan...

, began her career as a dancer, but had to abandon dancing after a leg injury at the age of 18. She then decided to become an actress. She moved from the Drama Centre in London to 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...

, where she played bit parts for six months before graduating to small roles on television.

Film and television roles

Walker landed the title role in the television series Lorna Doone before making her feature debut in Shogun Mayeda (1991). In that same year she appeared in Les Equilibristes and in Mike Newell

Mike Newell (director)

Michael Cormac "Mike" Newell is an English director and producer of motion pictures for the screen and for television. After the release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005, Newell became the third most commercially successful British director in recent years, behind Christopher Nolan...

's Enchanted April

Enchanted April

Enchanted April is the second film adaptation Elizabeth von Arnim's 1922 novel, The Enchanted April. The novel was adapted as a Broadway play in 1925, and as an RKO Radio film in 1935 - both using the same title as the novel. The 1992 film release received several Golden Globe and Academy Award...

, in which she played an aristocrat eager to escape the attentions of her persistent male admirers. Walker first garnered international attention in 1992 as a single-minded English member of an Irish terrorist group in Phillip Noyce

Phillip Noyce

Phillip Noyce is an Australian film director.-Life and career:Noyce was born in Griffith, New South Wales, attended Barker College, Sydney, and began making short films at the age of 18, starting with Better to Reign in Hell, using his friends as the cast...

's Patriot Games

Patriot Games (film)

Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr...

. In 2003 she had a starring role 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...

 drama series State of Play.

Between 2005–2007, Walker played Atia of the Julii

Atia of the Julii

Atia of the Julii is a fictional character from the HBO/BBC/RAI original television series Rome, played by Polly Walker. The niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavian/Augustus and Octavia, she is depicted as a cheerfully amoral and opportunistic manipulator...

 in the both seasons of the HBO/BBC2 television series Rome

Rome (TV series)

Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...

. Her performance earned her a Golden Globe

Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 nomination in 2005 for "Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama." She next played the sinister Catherine Braithwaite in Deus Ex Machina, a two-episode story of the BBC television "cold case" crime series Waking the Dead

Waking the Dead (TV series)

Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...

, which also aired in January 2007. In May 2007, Walker appeared as Lady Bess Sedgwick in ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

's Marple

Marple (TV series)

Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced...

: At Bertram's Hotel

At Bertram's Hotel

At Bertram's Hotel is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by the Collins Crime Club on 15 November 1965 and in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company the following year. The UK edition retailed at sixteen shillings and the US edition at $4.50...

, and then played sugar heiress Ellis Samuels in the CBS

CBS

CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

 television drama Cane

Cane (TV series)

Cane is an American television drama created by Cynthia Cidre, who also served as executive producer alongside Jonathan Prince, Jimmy Iovine and Polly Anthony. The pilot was directed by Christian Duguay...

, which premiered 25 September 2007.

In May 2008, Walker was cast as Sister Clarice Willow, headmistress of a private religious school, in Syfy

Syfy

Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...

's Battlestar Galactica

Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)

Battlestar Galactica is an American military science fiction television series, and part of the Battlestar Galactica franchise. The show was developed by Ronald D. Moore as a re-imagining of the 1978 Battlestar Galactica television series created by Glen A. Larson...

prequel

Prequel

A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...

 series Caprica

Caprica (TV series)

Caprica is a science fiction drama television series. It is a spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. Caprica shows how humanity first created the robotic Cylons who would later plot to destroy humans in...

. In 2011 she guest starred as Ranna Seneschal, leader of the underground city of Praxis, on Sanctuary.

Personal life

She is one of four siblings. Walker has two children from two previous relationships, Giorgio (b. 1993) and Delilah (b. 2000). She currently lives in the United States. On 23 October 2008, Walker married former British soap star, Laurence Penry-Jones, most famous for his role as Dr. Oliver Berg in the BBC soap, Doctors.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Storyboard	Margaret Niner	Episode: "Hunted Down"
1989	Rules of Engagement	Fiona	TV miniseries
1990	Lorna Doone	Lorna Doone	television film
1990	Agatha Christie's Poirot Agatha Christie's Poirot Agatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...	Nick Buckley	Episode: "Peril at End House Peril at End House Peril at End House is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie first published in the US by the Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1932 and in the UK by the Collins Crime Club in March of the same year... "
1990	Screen Two	Nadja	Episode: "The Kremlin, Farewell"
1991	Journey of Honor	Cecilia
1991	Ao Fim da Noite
1992		Annette	television film
1992	Walking a Tightrope	Hélène Lagache
1992	Enchanted April Enchanted April Enchanted April is the second film adaptation Elizabeth von Arnim's 1922 novel, The Enchanted April. The novel was adapted as a Broadway play in 1925, and as an RKO Radio film in 1935 - both using the same title as the novel. The 1992 film release received several Golden Globe and Academy Award...	Caroline Dester
1992	Patriot Games Patriot Games (film) Patriot Games is a 1992 film directed by Phillip Noyce and based on Tom Clancy's the novel of the same name. It is a sequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. In the movie, Jack Ryan is played by Harrison Ford, Jack's surgeon-wife, Dr...	Annette
1993		Leni
1993	Sliver Sliver (film) Sliver is a 1993 film based on the Ira Levin novel of the same name about the mysterious occurrences in a privately owned New York highrise apartment building. Phillip Noyce directed the film, from a screenplay by Joe Eszterhas...	Vida Warren
1995	Restoration	Celia Clemence
1996	Emma Emma (1996 film) Emma is a 1996 period film based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen. Directed by Douglas McGrath, it stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam, Toni Collette, and Ewan McGregor.- Synopsis :...	Jane Fairfax
1997	Roseanna's Grave Roseanna's Grave Roseanna's Grave is a 1997 film directed by Paul Weiland. In his review, Roger Ebert concludes that Roseanna's Grave "isn't of much consequence, perhaps, and the gears of the plot are occasionally visible as they turn...	Cecilia
1997	Robinson Crusoe	Mary McGregor
1997		Polina
1997		Mrs. Charmond
1997	Bandyta	Mara
1998	Curtain Call Curtain Call (1999 film) Curtain Call is a 1999 film directed by Peter Yates. It stars James Spader and Polly Walker.-Cast:*James Spader as Stevenson Lowe*Polly Walker as Julia*Michael Caine as Max Gale*Maggie Smith as Lily Marlowe*Buck Henry as Charles Van Allsburg...	Julia
1998	Talk of Angels Talk of Angels Talk Of Angels is a film directed in 1996 by Nick Hamm, but not released by its production company, Miramax, until 1998. The film received mostly unfavorable comparisons to Casablanca, Dr...	Mary Lavelle
1998	Dark Harbor Dark Harbor Dark Harbor is a 1998 film directed by Adam Coleman Howard starring Alan Rickman, Norman Reedus and Polly Walker.- Plot :David Weinberg , a lawyer in his 50s, and his much younger wife Alexis , drive through a torrential rainstorm to get the last ferry to their private island...	Alexis Chandler Weinberg
1999		Palmira
2000	After Alice After Alice After Alice is a 1999 mystery thriller directed by Paul Marcus and written by Jeff Miller. The film stars Kiefer Sutherland as Detective Mickey Hayden.- Summary :...	Dr. Vera Swann
2002	D-Tox D-Tox D-Tox is a 2002 film directed by Jim Gillespie and starring Sylvester Stallone. It also stars Tom Berenger, Charles S. Dutton, Robert Patrick, Polly Walker, Jeffrey Wright and Kris Kristofferson. The film was released internationally by United International Pictures...	Jenny
2002	Savage Messiah	Paula Jackson
2002	Jeffrey Archer: The Truth Jeffrey Archer: The Truth Jeffrey Archer: The Truth was a 2002 BBC satirical comedy drama on the life of Jeffrey Archer, with the title role played by Damian Lewis. Its duration was 90 minutes and its premiere occurred on 1 December 2002. It was written and directed by Guy Jenkin....	Mrs. Archer	television film
2003	State of Play	Anne Collins	TV miniseries
2003		Lucetta Templeman	television film
2004	Control	Barbara Copeland
2005–2007	Rome Rome (TV series) Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...	Atia of the Julii Atia of the Julii Atia of the Julii is a fictional character from the HBO/BBC/RAI original television series Rome, played by Polly Walker. The niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavian/Augustus and Octavia, she is depicted as a cheerfully amoral and opportunistic manipulator...	22 episodes
2006	Scenes of a Sexual Nature Scenes of a Sexual Nature Scenes of a Sexual Nature is a 2006 British comedy-drama film directed by Ed Blum. It stars Ewan McGregor, among others.-Plot:The film is mostly based on a series of seven loosely related stories of couples on Hampstead Heath in north London, featuring an ensemble cast...	Esther
2007	Waking the Dead Waking the Dead (TV series) Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...	Catherine Braithwaite	Episode: "Deus Ex Machina: Part 1" Episode: "Deus Ex Machina: Part 2"
2007	Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel	Bess Sedgwick	television film
2007	Cane Cane (TV series) Cane is an American television drama created by Cynthia Cidre, who also served as executive producer alongside Jonathan Prince, Jimmy Iovine and Polly Anthony. The pilot was directed by Christian Duguay...	Ellis Samuels	13 episodes
2009	Numb3rs NUMB3RS Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...	Dr. Lorna Ludlow	Episode: "Animal Rites"
2009–2010	Caprica Caprica (TV series) Caprica is a science fiction drama television series. It is a spin-off prequel of the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica, taking place about 58 years prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica. Caprica shows how humanity first created the robotic Cylons who would later plot to destroy humans in...	Clarice Willow	17 episodes
2010	Sanctuary	Ranna Seneschal	2 episodes
2010	Clash of the Titans Clash of the Titans (2010 film) Clash of the Titans is a 2010 fantasy and action remake of the 1981 film of the same name . The story is very loosely based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Sam Worthington, the film was originally set for standard release on March 26, 2010...	Cassiopeia
2012	John Carter	Sarkoja	Post-production

External links