Zoe Wanamaker
Encyclopedia
Zoë Wanamaker, CBE
(born 13 May 1949) is an American-British actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company
; in films, including the Harry Potter
series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.
, and radio producer
Sam Wanamaker
, who decided not to return to the United States after being blacklisted
in 1952.
Wanamaker's parents were Jewish, though she was raised without religion. Her family originated in Ukraine. The BBC
documentary Who Do You Think You Are? broadcast on 24 February 2009, revealed that Wanamaker's paternal grandfather Maurice Wanamaker (originally Manus Watmacher) was a tailor
(born 1895) in Nikolaev
in what is now Ukraine.
Wanamaker was educated at the independent King Alfred School in Hampstead
, London and at Sidcot School
, a Quaker
boarding school in Somerset
. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama
.
In November 1994, Wanamaker married actor and dramatist Gawn Grainger
.
. She won an Olivier Award for her 1979 performance in Once In a Lifetime
and a second for Sophocles
' Electra
in 1997. In 1985, she played Verdi's wife Giuseppina Strepponi
in the original production of After Aida
. She appeared on stage playing the part of Beatrice opposite Simon Russell Beale
as Benedick in the National Theatre
's production of Much Ado About Nothing
. She has received Tony Award
nominations for her performances in Piaf, Loot, Electra, and Awake and Sing!
.
From 19 May 2010 to 2 October (extended from 11 September), Wanamaker appeared in Arthur Miller
's play All My Sons
, portraying the role of Kate Keller at the Apollo Theatre
on Shaftesbury Avenue
in London.
production Edge of Darkness
; she was nominated for a BAFTA Award
for her portrayal of the love interest of a suspected serial killer in the first instalment of the Granada
series Prime Suspect.
She played Madam Hooch in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
.
Television series have included Love Hurts
(1992–94) with Adam Faith
.
She played Clarice, one of the dim-witted twin sisters of Lord Groan in Gormenghast (2000), a BBC television adaptation of Mervyn Peake
's trilogy.
Wanamaker portrayed Susan Harper in the BBC
situation comedy My Family from 2000 to 2011.
Wanamaker voiced a CGI
character named Lady Cassandra
in the Doctor Who
episode "The End of the World
" (2005), and reprised the role (also appearing in the flesh this time) in the episode "New Earth
" (2006).
Wanamaker lent her voice to the 2008 Xbox 360
game Fable II as the blind Seeress Theresa, who guides the playing character throughout the game.
Wanamaker has played Ariadne Oliver
in several episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot
.
from the Queen at Buckingham Palace
, rather than an honorary decoration from the British Foreign Secretary.
, since 1997. Tree Aid enables communities in Africa's drylands
to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. In 2006 Wanamaker recorded a successful Radio 4 appeal for the charity.
She is a Patron of Dignity in Dying
, The Lymphoedema Support Network
, Youth Music Theatre: UK
and of the Young Actors Theatre, Islington
. She is also one of the Honorary Patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 13 May 1949) is an American-British actress. She has performed with 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...
; in films, including the Harry Potter
Harry Potter (film series)
The Harry Potter film series is a British-American film series based on the Harry Potter novels by the British author J. K. Rowling...
series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family.
Early life and family
Wanamaker was born in New York City, the daughter of Canadian-born actress and radio performer Charlotte Holland, and American-born actor, film directorFilm director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, and radio producer
Radio producer
A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. There are two main types of producer. An audio or creative producer and a content producer. Audio producers create sounds and audio specifically, content producers oversee and orchestrate a radio show or feature...
Sam Wanamaker
Sam Wanamaker
Samuel Wanamaker was an American film director and actor and is credited as the person most responsible for the modern recreation of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London...
, who decided not to return to the United States after being blacklisted
Hollywood blacklist
The Hollywood blacklist—as the broader entertainment industry blacklist is generally known—was the mid-twentieth-century list of screenwriters, actors, directors, musicians, and other U.S. entertainment professionals who were denied employment in the field because of their political beliefs or...
in 1952.
Wanamaker's parents were Jewish, though she was raised without religion. Her family originated in Ukraine. 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...
documentary Who Do You Think You Are? broadcast on 24 February 2009, revealed that Wanamaker's paternal grandfather Maurice Wanamaker (originally Manus Watmacher) was a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
(born 1895) in Nikolaev
Mykolaiv
Mykolaiv , also known as Nikolayev , is a city in southern Ukraine, administrative center of the Mykolaiv Oblast. Mykolaiv is the main ship building center of the Black Sea, and, arguably, the whole Eastern Europe.-Name of city:...
in what is now Ukraine.
Wanamaker was educated at the independent King Alfred School in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, London and at Sidcot School
Sidcot School
Sidcot School is a British co-educational independent school for boarding and day pupils, associated with the Religious Society of Friends. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England....
, a Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...
boarding school in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama
Central School of Speech and Drama
The Central School of Speech and Drama was founded in London in 1906 by Elsie Fogerty to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students...
.
In November 1994, Wanamaker married actor and dramatist Gawn Grainger
Gawn Grainger
Gawn Grainger is a leading British stage and screen actor and husband of actress Zoë Wanamaker.-Early life:Some sources indicate he was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 12 October 1937. He is the son of Charles Neil Grainger and his wife Elizabeth...
.
Stage
Wanamaker's career got started in the theatre. From 1976 to 1984 she was a member of 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...
. She won an Olivier Award for her 1979 performance in Once In a Lifetime
Once in a Lifetime (play)
Once in a Lifetime is a play by Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman, the first of eight on which they collaborated in the 1930s.-Plot:The satirical comedy focuses on the effect talking pictures have on the entertainment industry...
and a second for Sophocles
Sophocles
Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...
' Electra
Electra (Sophocles)
Electra or Elektra is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles. Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes and the Oedipus at Colonus lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan...
in 1997. In 1985, she played Verdi's wife Giuseppina Strepponi
Giuseppina Strepponi
Clelia Maria Josepha Strepponi was a nineteenth century Italian operatic soprano of great renown and the second wife of composer Giuseppe Verdi...
in the original production of After Aida
After Aida
After Aida , is a 1985 play-with-music by Julian Mitchell. It is about Giuseppe Verdi, and the pressure put upon him after his attempt to retire from composing...
. She appeared on stage playing the part of Beatrice opposite Simon Russell Beale
Simon Russell Beale
Simon Russell Beale, CBE is an English actor. He has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation."-Early years:...
as Benedick in the 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...
's production of Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
. She has received Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations for her performances in Piaf, Loot, Electra, and Awake and Sing!
Awake and Sing!
Awake and Sing! is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935.-Summary and characters:...
.
From 19 May 2010 to 2 October (extended from 11 September), Wanamaker appeared in Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's play All My Sons
All My Sons
All My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller. The play was twice adapted for film; in 1948, and again in 1987.The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances...
, portraying the role of Kate Keller at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
on Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue
Shaftesbury Avenue is a major street in central London, England, named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, that runs in a north-easterly direction from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus....
in London.
Screen
Starting in the early 1980s, Wanamaker began performing on screen, most notably in a number of critically acclaimed television productions, such as the BBC TelevisionBBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
production Edge of Darkness
Edge of Darkness
Edge of Darkness is a British television drama serial, produced by BBC Television in association with Lionheart Television International and originally broadcast in six fifty-five minute episodes in late 1985...
; she was nominated for a BAFTA Award
British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Film Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts . It is the British counterpart of the Oscars. As of 2008, it has taken place in the Royal Opera House, having taken over from the flagship Odeon cinema on Leicester Square...
for her portrayal of the love interest of a suspected serial killer in the first instalment of the 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....
series Prime Suspect.
She played Madam Hooch in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, released in the United States and India as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, is a 2001 fantasy film directed by Chris Columbus and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. The film is the first instalment in the Harry Potter film series,...
.
Television series have included Love Hurts
Love Hurts (UK TV series)
Love Hurts is a British situation-comedy television series that was broadcast from 1992 to 1994 on the BBC. It was scripted by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran and starred Adam Faith, Zoë Wanamaker and Jane Lapotaire as Frank Carver, Tessa Piggott and Diane Warburg, respectively....
(1992–94) with Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...
.
She played Clarice, one of the dim-witted twin sisters of Lord Groan in Gormenghast (2000), a BBC television adaptation of Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R...
's trilogy.
Wanamaker portrayed Susan Harper 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...
situation comedy My Family from 2000 to 2011.
Wanamaker voiced a CGI
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
character named Lady Cassandra
Lady Cassandra
Lady Cassandra O'Brien.Δ17 is a fictional character from the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. The character was voiced by Zoë Wanamaker, and was largely computer-generated, although a physical prop was also used on set....
in the Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
episode "The End of the World
The End of the World (Doctor Who)
"The End of the World" is the second episode of Series One of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who. Written by show runner Russell T Davies and directed by Euros Lyn, the episode was first broadcast on 2 April 2005....
" (2005), and reprised the role (also appearing in the flesh this time) in the episode "New Earth
New Earth
"New Earth" is the first episode of the second series of the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, first broadcast on 15 April 2006. It is a sequel to the first series episode "The End of the World", and brings back its villain who was thought to be destroyed, Lady Cassandra, as...
" (2006).
Wanamaker lent her voice to the 2008 Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
game Fable II as the blind Seeress Theresa, who guides the playing character throughout the game.
Wanamaker has played Ariadne Oliver
Ariadne Oliver
Ariadne Oliver is a fictional character in the novels of Agatha Christie. She is a mystery novelist and a friend of Hercule Poirot.-Profile:Mrs. Oliver often assists Poirot in his cases through her knowledge of the criminal mind. She often claims to be endowed with particular "feminine intuition,"...
in several episodes of 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...
.
Honours
Wanamaker holds both American and British nationalities, having become a British citizen in 2000, specifically so that she could receive a CBECBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
from the Queen at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, rather than an honorary decoration from the British Foreign Secretary.
Charity work
Wanamaker has been a Patron of the UK charity Tree AidTree Aid
Tree Aid is a forestry focused development charity providing funding and on the ground training and support to local communities in the Sahel of Africa. Tree Aid has a head office in Bristol, UK, and a West African office in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso...
, since 1997. Tree Aid enables communities in Africa's drylands
Drylands
Drylands is a Miles Franklin Award winning novel by Australian author Thea Astley. This novel shared the award with Benang by Kim Scott.-Awards:...
to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. In 2006 Wanamaker recorded a successful Radio 4 appeal for the charity.
She is a Patron of Dignity in Dying
Dignity in Dying
Dignity in Dying is a United Kingdom nationwide campaigning organisation. It is funded by voluntary contributions from members of the public, and as of December 2010, it claimed to have 25,000 actively subscribing supporters...
, The Lymphoedema Support Network
Lymphoedema Support Network
The Lymphoedema Support Network is a registered UK charity and the UK's national patient support organisation for lymphoedema. It began in 1991 as a small patient support group at the Royal Marsden Hospital....
, Youth Music Theatre: UK
Youth Music Theatre: UK
Youth Music Theatre UK is the United Kingdom's biggest provider of music theatre projects for young people. It is one of nine recognised National Youth Music Organisations ....
and of the Young Actors Theatre, Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
. She is also one of the Honorary Patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard
Scene & Heard
Scene & Heard, is a British registered charity which operates as a mentoring project for inner-city children in Somers Town, London.Much of the charity's work involves teaming children with a volunteer theatre professional to write short plays, which are performed by professional actors in front of...
.
Stage work
- The Devil's Disciple, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1976
- Wild Oats; or, The Strolling Gentleman, Royal Shakespeare Company,1976
- Ivanov, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1976
- The Taming of the Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1978
- Captain Swing, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1978
- Piaf, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1978
- Mary Daniels, Once in a Lifetime, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1979
- Toine, Piaf, Plymouth Theatre, 1981 (Broadway debut)
- The Importance of Being Earnes, Royal National Theatre, London, England, 1982
- The Time of Your Life, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
- Twelfth Night, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
- Comedy of Errors, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
- Mother Courage, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1984
- Wrecked Eggs, Royal National Theatre, 1986
- The Bay at Nice, Royal National Theatre, 1986
- Fay, Loot, Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, then Music Box Theatre,both New York City, 1986
- Mrs. Klein, Royal National Theatre, London, 1988, then Apollo Theatre, London, 1989
- Othello, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1989
- The Crucible, Royal National Theatre, 1990
- The Last Yankee, Young Vic Theatre, London, then New York City production, 1993
- Dead Funny, New York City, 1994
- The Glass Menagerie, Donmar Warehouse Theatre, London, then ComedyTheatre, London, 1995
- Sylvia, Apollo Theatre, 1996
- The Old Neighborhood, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1997
- Electra, Donmar Warehouse Theatre, 1997, then McCarterTheatre, Princeton, NJ, then Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1998–1999
- Battle Royal, National Theatre, London, 1999
- Boston Marriage, Donmar Warehouse, London, 2001
- The Women, Old Vic, London, 2001
- His Girl Friday, National Theatre, London, 2003
- One Knight Only, Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, 2005
- Awake and Sing!, Belasco Theatre, New York, 2006
- The Rose Tattoo, National Theatre, London, 2007
- Much Ado About Nothing, National Theatre, London, 2007
- All My Sons, Apollo Theatre, London, 2010
- The Cherry Orchard, National Theatre, London, 2011
Awards and nominations
- Nominated for a 1981 New York City Drama Desk Award for featured actress for her performance in Piaf
- Nominated for a 1981 Tony Award for best featured actress in a play for Piaf
- Won the 1984 London Critics Circle Award (Drama Theatre Award) for best supporting actress in Mother Courage
- Nominated for a 1986 New York City Drama Desk Award for featured actress for her performance in a revival of Joe Orton's Loot
- Nominated for a 1986 Tony Award for best featured actress in a play for Loot
- Won the 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress of the 1997 season for her performance in Electra at the Donmar Warehouse
- Nominated for a 1999 New York City Drama Desk Award for outstanding actress for her performance in Electra
- Nominated for a 1999 Tony Award for best actress in a play for Amy's View
- Nominated for a 2002 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress of 2001 for her performance in Boston Marriage performed at the Donmar Warehouse and at the New Ambassador's Theatres, London
- Nominated for a Tony Award in 2006 for best performance by a featured actress in a play for Awake and Sing!
- Won the 2006 New York City Drama Desk Award for outstanding ensemble performance for the Belasco Theatre production of Awake and Sing!
External links
- Natasha Lehrer, Biography of Zoë Wanamaker, Jewish Women Encyclopedia
- Controversy over payment for Harry Potter film Guardian Unlimited article
- Zoë Wanamaker - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.orgAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
- Actors On Performing Working in the Theatre seminar video at American Theatre WingAmerican Theatre WingThe American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
, April 2006 - Zoe Wanamaker interviewed by Beth Stevens about Awake and Sing! on Broadway.com
- Zoe Wanamaker demands equal pay for actresses - Telegraph