Emma Thompson

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Emma Thompson

Thompson at the Nanny McPhee London premiere in 2004

Born

April 15, 1959 (age 48)
London, England

Spouse(s)

Kenneth Branagh (1989-1995)
Greg Wise (2003-)

Parents

Eric Thompson (1929-1982)
Phyllida Law (b.1932)

Awards won
Academy Awards
Best Actress 1992 Howards End Best Adapted Screenplay 1995 Sense and Sensibility
BAFTA Awards
Best TV Actress 1987 Tutti Frutti ; Fortunes of War Best Actress 1992 Howards End 1996 Sense and Sensibility
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series 1998 Ellen
Golden Globe Awards
Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1993 Howards End Best Screenplay 1996 Sense and Sensibility

Emma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is an Emmy-, BAFTA-, Golden Globe- and two time Academy Award-winning English actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She is also a patron of the Refugee Council.

1 Biography
2 Filmography
3 Selected Theatreography
4 Awards
5 Further reading
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Thompson was born in Paddington, London, England. Her father, Eric Thompson, was an actor known for narrating the English version of the French children's TV series The Magic Roundabout. Her mother, Phyllida Law, is a Scottish actress. Thompson's younger sister is actress Sophie Thompson. Thompson has spent part of her life in Scotland and has stated that she "feel[s] Scottish".^[1]

Thompson went to Camden School for Girls and then studied English at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she was a member and vice-president of the University's theatrical club, the Footlights. Her acting talent was so impressive that agent Richard Armitage signed her to a contract while she was still 2 years away from graduation. In 1982, Emma completed her education at Cambridge with her degree. Soon after that, she came to fame with a leading role in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, opposite Robert Lindsay, followed by the BBC serial drama, Fortunes of War.

[edit] Acting career

Thompson's first major film role was in a romantic comedy, The Tall Guy. Her career took a more serious turn with a series of critically acclaimed performances and films, beginning with 1992's Howards End (for which she received an Oscar for Best Actress), the part of Gareth Peirce, the lawyer for the Guildford Four, in In the Name of the Father, The Remains of the Day opposite Anthony Hopkins, and as the British painter Dora Carrington in the film Carrington. She won her next Oscar in 1996, for Best Adapted Screenplay for her screenplay adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, a film in which she also played the Oscar-nominated lead actress role. She has said that she keeps both of her award statues in her downstairs bathroom, citing embarrassment at placing them in a more prominent place.^{[citation needed]}

One of Thompson's earliest television appearances was in 1984 alongside Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie as guest stars on the sitcom The Young Ones. In 1988, she starred in and wrote the eponymous Thompson comedy sketch series for BBC1; the series was not successful with audiences or critics. Described in Time Out magazine as "very clever-little-me-ish",^{[citation needed]} it has never been repeated in Britain despite her Oscar successes, and Thompson has not returned to the sketch comedy field.

Thompson's recent television work has included a starring role in the 2001 HBO drama Wit, in which she played a dying cancer victim, and 2003's Angels in America, playing multiple roles, including one of the titular angels. Her Emmy Award was as a guest star in a 1997 episode of the show Ellen; in the episode, she played a fictionalised parody of herself: a closeted lesbian more concerned with the media finding out she's actually American. She also appeared in an episode of Cheers in 1992 titled "One Hugs, the Other Doesn't". Her character, Nanette Gooseman, aka "Nanny Gee", was a children's entertainer and Frasier Crane's first wife.

Thompson in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Most recently, Thompson appeared in supporting roles in films of a lighter nature, including her role as Sybill Trelawney in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She has also appeared in the comedy Love Actually.

The film Nanny McPhee, written by Thompson, was first released in October 2005. Thompson worked on the project for nine years, having written the screenplay and starred, alongside her mother (who has a cameo appearance). In her most recent film, Stranger Than Fiction, she plays an author planning on killing her main character, Harold Crick, who turns out to be a real person. Most recently, Emma Thompson made a short uncredited cameo as a doctor introducing the cure for cancer in the form of measles in the latest film adaptation for I Am Legend.

[edit] Personal life

While she was at Cambridge University, Thompson had a romantic relationship with her fellow student, actor Hugh Laurie, who was also a member of the Cambridge Footlights Revue.

Thompson married Kenneth Branagh, with whom she appeared in Fortunes of War, on August 20, 1989. They appeared together several times, in hit films such as Dead Again, Henry V and Much Ado About Nothing, but were eventually divorced in October 1995.

In 2003, Thompson married actor Greg Wise (who starred with her in Sense and Sensibility) with whom she has a daughter, Gaia Romilly, born in 1999.

[edit] Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
1987	Tutti Frutti	Suzi Kettles	Cult BBC TV Series starring Emma and Robbie Coltrane bringing both to national prominence. Written by John Byrne
1989	Henry V	Catherine of Valois
1990	The Tall Guy	Kate Lemmon
1991	Dead Again	Grace/Margaret Strauss
1992	Howards End	Margaret Schlegel	Winner, Academy Award for Best Actress
1992	Peter's Friends	Maggie Chester
1993	Much Ado About Nothing	Beatrice
	The Remains of the Day	Miss Kenton	Nominated Academy Awards for Best Actress
	In the Name of the Father	Gareth Peirce	Nominated Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actress
1994	Junior	Dr. Diana Reddin
1995	Carrington	Dora Carrington
1995	Sense and Sensibility	Elinor Dashwood	Winner, Academy Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay, Nominated Academy Awards for Best Actress
1997	The Winter Guest	Frances
1998	Primary Colors	Susan Stanton
2001	Wit	Vivian Bearing	Television movie Nominated for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
2002	Treasure Planet	Captain Amelia	Animated Disney film, science fiction version of Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island
2003	Imagining Argentina	Cecilia
	Love Actually	Karen
	Angels in America (miniseries)	Nurse Emily/the Homeless Woman/the Angel America
2004	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban	Professor Sybill Trelawney
2005	Nanny McPhee	Nanny McPhee	Script Writer
2006	Stranger than Fiction	Karen Eiffel
2007	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Professor Sybill Trelawney
2007	I Am Legend	Dr. Alice Krippin	Uncredited Cameo
2008	Brideshead Revisited	Lady Marchmain	post-production
2008	Last Chance Harvey		post-production

| Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) || || filming |}

[edit] Selected Theatreography

1990 - Played The Fool in Shakespeare's King Lear and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream - International tour.
1989 - Played Alison in Look Back In Anger by John Osborne - Lyric Shaftesbury, London.
1984/5 - Played Sally in the musical Me and My Girl - Adelphi Theatre, London.
1984 - Wrote and starred in the one woman show Short Vehicle - Edinburgh Festival.
1982 - Appeared in Not The Nine O'Clock News - UK tour.
1982 - Co-wrote and appeared in Beyond the Footlights - Lyric Hammersmith, London.

[edit] Awards

Awards
Preceded by Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs	Academy Award for Best Actress 1992 for Howards End	Succeeded by Holly Hunter for The Piano
Preceded by Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs	BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 1992 for Howards End	Succeeded by Holly Hunter for The Piano
Preceded by Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs	NYFCC Award for Best Actress 1992 for Howards End	Succeeded by Holly Hunter for The Piano
Preceded by Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs	Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1993 for Howards End	Succeeded by Holly Hunter for The Piano
Preceded by Eric Roth for Forrest Gump	Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 1995 for Sense and Sensibility	Succeeded by Billy Bob Thornton for Sling Blade
Preceded by Susan Sarandon for The Client	BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 1996 for Sense and Sensibility	Succeeded by Brenda Blethyn for Secrets & Lies
Preceded by Carol Burnett for Mad About You	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series 1998 for Ellen	Succeeded by Tracey Ullman for Ally McBeal

[edit] Further reading

Shuttleworth, Ian (1994). Ken and Em. Headline Book Publishing, London. ISBN 0-7472-1225-2.
Nickson, Chris (1997). Emma: The Many Facets of Emma Thompson. Taylor Publishing. ISBN 0878339655.
Hewison, Robert (1984). Footlights! A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy. Methuen, London. ISBN 0-413-56050-3.
Kenneth, Branagh (1989). Beginning. St. Martin's Press, New York. ISBN 0-312-05822-5.