English actress Francesca Annis, who has enjoyed a 50-plus year career, spanning seven decades in movies, television and the theater, was born in London six days after V-E Day, on May 14, 1945. Her father, Lester, was English, but her mother, Mariquita (aka Mara Purcell), was of Brazilian-French heritage. From the time she was a year old to the ...
Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a Revival
Movies
Dune, Macbeth, Krull, Cleopatra, The Libertine, Under the Cherry Moon, Murder Most Foul, Revolver, Flipper's New Adventure, Return to Cranford, The Pleasure Girls, The Debt Collector, Shifty, Crooks in Cloisters, Doomsday Gun, The Walking Stick, Onassis: The Richest Man in the World, Coming Out of t...
TV Shows
Jane Eyre, Wives and Daughters, Reckless, Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime, Lillie, Cranford, Madame Bovary, Deceit
Star Sign
Taurus
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Trademark
1
Deep sultry voice
2
Voluptuous figure
3
Natural brunette hair
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Quote
1
[Speaking about her 1978 role as Lily Langtry] She exploited everything and everyone, but she still managed to maintain their respect. I don't know if I would have gone to bed with a man to get what I wanted, even if I had been born in her era, when women had so little freedom. But I can think of worse things people have done to succeed.
2
Each decade, I've lived in that decade, so I could easily shed the 20s, the 30s, the 40s.
3
As you grow older, your whole life becomes very rich, multifaceted.
4
Eat well and sleep well. That will feed your nervous system and your psyche. As you get older, you look how you feel.
5
Everything has changed. An interview has become such a confrontational thing. It makes you very defensive.
6
From 1 till 7, when we moved to England, I spoke only Portuguese. But I can't speak a word of it now.
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Fact
1
Although she played Joanna David's mother in Lillie (1978), she is only a year and a half, her senior, in real life.
2
She played Lily Langtry between the ages of 15 (in 1868) and 75 (in 1929) in Lillie (1978).
She played Ophelia to Nicol Williamson's famous Hamlet (1969), directed by Tony Richardson, in both London at the Roundhouse and on Broadway. Richardson cast Marianne Faithfull in the film version made that same year. When Roman Polanski was casting Macbeth (1971) a year later, he vetoed co-screenwriter Kenneth Tynan's suggestion of Williamson for the title role and nixed Faithfull for the role of Lady Macbeth that went to Annis due to her heroin addiction. A generation later, Annis played the role of Gertrude, Hamlet's mother, to her then-lover Ralph Fiennes 1995 Hamlet in London and Broadway.
Former long-term companion was British actor Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient (1996)). They met while performing the play "Hamlet" in 1994. She portrayed Gertrude, he played Hamlet. The couple broke up in February 2006.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Milk
1999/I
Harriet
The Debt Collector
1999
Val Dryden
Reckless: The Sequel
1998
TV Movie
Anna Fairley
Deadly Summer
1997
TV Movie
Celia Harcourt
Reckless
1997
TV Mini-Series
Anna Fairley
Tales from the Crypt
1996
TV Series
Sharon Bannister
Dalziel and Pascoe
1996
TV Series
Bonnie Fielding
Doomsday Gun
1994
TV Movie
Sophie
Headhunters
1994
TV Series
Sally Hall
A Haunting Harmony
1993
TV Movie
David's mother
Between the Lines
1993
TV Series
Angela Berridge
Weep No More, My Lady
1992
TV Movie
Leila
The Gravy Train Goes East
1991
TV Mini-Series
Katya Princip
Performance
1991
TV Series
Elizabeth Collier
Parnell & the Englishwoman
1991
TV Mini-Series
Katharine O'Shea
Romeo.Juliet
1990
Juliet (voice)
Onassis: The Richest Man in the World
1988
TV Movie
Jacqueline Kennedy
I'll Take Manhattan
1987
TV Mini-Series
Lily Amberville
Inside Story
1986
TV Mini-Series
Paula Croxley
Under the Cherry Moon
1986
Mrs. Wellington
El río de oro
1986
Dubarry
Magnum, P.I.
1985
TV Series
Penelope St. Clair
Dune
1984
Lady Jessica
Partners in Crime
1983-1984
TV Series
Tuppence Beresford
The Secret Adversary
1983
TV Movie
Tuppence Cowley
Krull
1983
Widow of the Web
Shades of Darkness
1983
TV Series
Catherine Frode
Coming Out of the Ice
1982
TV Movie
Galina
Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
1980
TV Movie
Lady Frances Derwent
Lillie
1978
TV Mini-Series
Lillie
The Comedy of Errors
1978
TV Movie
Luciana
Play for Today
1977
TV Series
Kate Crowley
Madame Bovary
1975
TV Mini-Series
Emma Bovary
Edward the King
1975
TV Series
Lillie Langtry
BBC Play of the Month
1967-1974
TV Series
Helen / Manuela von Meinhardis
ITV Playhouse
1968-1974
TV Series
Elaine / Roxane / Jill
Thriller
1974
TV Series
Tracy Conway
Great Mysteries
1973
TV Series
Nicole Zachary
A Pin to See the Peepshow
1973
TV Series
Julia Almond
Penny Gold
1973
Delphi / Diane
Big Truck and Sister Clare
1972
Sister Clare
Stage 2
1972
TV Series
Solveig
Macbeth
1971
Lady Macbeth
Heritage
1971
TV Series
Antigone
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1970
TV Series
The Walking Stick
1970
Arabella Dainton
The Sky Pirate
1970
Uptight Girl
Ooh La La!
1968
TV Series
Christiane
Theatre 625
1968
TV Series
Helen
The Golden Age
1967
TV Series
Anne
No Hiding Place
1967
TV Series
Jenny
Great Expectations
1967
TV Series
Estella
The Saint
1966
TV Series
Maria
Run with the Wind
1966
Jean Parker
This Man Craig
1966
TV Series
Jane Brewer
ITV Play of the Week
1962-1966
TV Series
Catherine / Christine Burrows / Margery Hamilton
The Five-Nineteen
1966
TV Movie
The Girl
The Pleasure Girls
1965
Sally
Scott On...
1965
TV Series
Our Man at St. Mark's
1965
TV Series
Frances Harding
Alexander Graham Bell
1965
TV Series
Mabel Hubbard
Secret Agent
1964-1965
TV Series
Sheila / Judy
The Human Jungle
1964
TV Series
Mary
Armchair Theatre
1964
TV Series
Amy Racey
Crooks in Cloisters
1964
June
Flipper's New Adventure
1964
Gwen
Love Story
1964
TV Series
Ruth Starr
The Eyes of Annie Jones
1964
Annie Jones
Saturday Night Out
1964
Jean
Murder Most Foul
1964
Sheila Upward
Dr. Finlay's Casebook
1964
TV Series
Fiona Senlac
Comedy Playhouse
1964
TV Series
Ann
West 11
1963
Phyl
Cleopatra
1963
Eiras
Suspense
1963
TV Series
Ann, the girl
Drama 61-67
1963
TV Series
Sally
Wednesday's Child
1962
TV Movie
Vicky Lemming
ITV Television Playhouse
1961-1962
TV Series
Liz / Carla
Sir Francis Drake
1962
TV Series
Mariella
Ghost Squad
1961
TV Series
Ethel Rice
Harpers West One
1961
TV Series
Jenny Bates
Stress Point
1961
TV Movie
Lesley Gifford
His and Hers
1961
Wanda
The Afterthought
1961
TV Movie
Elaine Coombes
Probation Officer
1960
TV Series
Judy Beale
Beware of Children
1960
Priscilla
BBC Sunday-Night Play
1960
TV Mini-Series
Anne Miller
The Young Jacobites
1960
Jean
Carry on Teacher
1959
Schoolgirl (uncredited)
The Cat Gang
1959
Sylvia
Home Fires
2015-2016
TV Series
Joyce Cameron
The Briny
2015
Short
Loving Miss Hatto
2012
TV Movie
Joyce
The Little House
2010
TV Series
Elizabeth
Playhouse: Live
2010
TV Series
Cranford
2007-2009
TV Series
Lady Ludlow
Shifty
2008
Valerie
Agatha Christie's Marple
2007
TV Series
Lady Selina Hazy
Jane Eyre
2006
TV Mini-Series
Lady Ingram
Jericho
2005
TV Series
Lady Clare Wellesley
Revolver
2005
Lily Walker
The Libertine
2004
Countess
Copenhagen
2002
TV Movie
Magrethe Bohr
Deceit
2000
TV Series
Ellen Richmond
Wives and Daughters
1999
TV Mini-Series
Mrs. Gibson
Onegin
1999
Katiusha (uncredited)
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Making of Cranford
2007
Video documentary short
Herself / Lady Ludlow
Deleted 'Dune'
2006
Video documentary short
Lady Jessica (uncredited)
Network First
1994
TV Series documentary
Alexandra
Entertainment UK
1992
TV Series
Herself - Interviewee
Aspel & Company
1991
TV Series
Herself
Destination Dune
1984
TV Movie documentary
Herself / Lady Jessica
Journey to Krull
1983
Video documentary short
Herself / Widow of the Web
The British Academy Award
1979
TV Movie
Herself - Winner: Best TV Actress
Golden Gala
1978
TV Movie
Herself
Call My Bluff
1974
TV Series
Herself
Macbeth - Power and Corruption (Polanski's the Tragedy of Macbeth)