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Miranda Richardson (Born 3 March 1958, in
Southport, Lancashire) is a United Kingdom|British
actress. The second daughter of middle-class
parents, she had a talent for acting from an early
age. 

Richardson had originally intended to study
veterinarian|veterinary medicine, but her
squeamishness made this impossible. She enrolled
at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where she
studied alongside Daniel Day-Lewis. In 1981, she
made her stage debut in Moving at the Queen's
Theatre in London.

Three years later, she made her big screen debut
as platinum blonde nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis,
the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom
in Mike Newell's critically acclaimed biographical
drama, Dance with a Stranger. Her performance in
that film won her much praise, and within a year,
she had been cast by Steven Spielberg to appear in
his Second World War|World War II drama Empire of
the Sun (1987).


Richardson is perhaps best known for her role as
the naughty school girl version of Queen Elizabeth
I, aka Queenie, in the cult British comedy
Blackadder. Other television roles include the
bitchy Pamela Flitton in A Dance to the Music of
Time (1997), Miss Gilchrist in St. Ives (1998),
Bettina (the obsessive compulsive interior
decorator) in Absolutely Fabulous  and the
emotionally repressed Mary of Teck|Queen Mary in
The Lost Prince (2003).

As well as a number of high profile supporting
roles in the cinema, including Vanessa Bell in The
Hours, Lady Van Tassel in Sleepy Hollow
(movie)|Sleepy Hollow and Toosie in The Apostle,
she has also won acclaim for performances in The
Crying Game and Enchanted April, for which she won
a Golden Globe, beating a quartet of Hollywood
heavyweights: Geena Davis, Whoopi Goldberg,
Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep.

Two Academy Award nominations (for Damage
(novel)|Damage and Tom & Viv) have not altered the
actress's modesty. She refuses to discuss her
private life in interviews, and takes both leading
and supporting roles.

More recently, Richardson has played Queen
Rosalind of Denmark in the Julia Stiles vehicle
The Prince and Me, and the ballet mistress Madame
Giry in the long-awaited film version of The
Phantom of the Opera (2004 movie)|The Phantom of
the Opera, starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum.
She has since signed on to appear as Rita Skeeter,
the venomous Daily Prophet journalist in Harry
Potter and the Goblet of Fire, to be released in
November 2005.

She currently resides in her London home, and also
has a Wiltshire retreat, with her two cats, two
dogs and an axolotl.

==Declined Roles==
According to the Internet Movie Database, Miranda
Richardson has turned down roles in films such as
Fatal Attraction (Glenn Close), Waterworld (Sinead
Cusack), Rob Roy (Jessica Lange), Howard's End
(Emma Thompson), and a plum recurring role in hit
American Broadcasting Company|ABC TV show
Desperate Housewives in 2005. She was also
considered as a major contender by the studios,
for the role of the White Witch in the 2005
fantasy adventure The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe.

==Projects in Production==

*Midsummer Dream (Completed) ~ Queen Titania
(voice)
*Wah-Wah (Completed) ~ Lauren Compton
*Gideon's Daughter TV (Post-Production)
*Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
(Post-Production) ~ Rita Skeeter
*Provoked (2005)|Provoked (Post-Production) ~
Veronica Scott
*Merlin's Apprentice TV (Filming) ~ Queen Mab

Possible Projects:

*Bad Blood (2005)|Bad Blood (2006)
(Pre-Production) ~ Valma Stockton
*The Assumption (2007) (Pre-Production) ~ Magda
*The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2007)
(Pre-Production) ~ The Duchess
*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
(Pre-Production) ~ Rita Skeeter

==Filmography==
*Dance with a Stranger (1985) Ruth Ellis
*Underworld (1985 movie)|Underworld (1985) Oriel
*The Innocent (1985) Mary Turner
*Blackadder|Blackadder II (1985) (Television|TV)
Queenie
*After Pilkington (1986) Penny
*The Death of the Heart (1986) Daphne Heccomb
*Eat the Rich (1987) DHSS Blonde
*Empire of the Sun (1987) Mrs Victor
*Ball Trap on the Cote Sauvage (1989) Early Bird
*The Bachelor (1990) Frederica
*The Fool (1990 movie)|The Fool (1990)
Columbine/Rosalind/Ophelia
*Twisted Obsession (1990) Marilyn
*Old Times (1990) Anna
*Die Kinder (1990) (Television|TV) Sidonie Reiger
*The Crying Game (1992) Jude O'Hara
*Damage (novel)|Damage (1992) Ingrid Fleming
*Enchanted April (1992) Rose Arbuthnot
*Century (1993 movie)|Century (1993) Clara
*The Line, the Cross and the Curve (1993)
Mysterious woman
*Tom & Viv (1994) Vivienne Haigh-Wood
*Fatherland (1994) Charlie Maguire
*The Night and the Moment (1994) Julie
*The Evening Star (1996) Patsy Carpenter
*Kansas City (1996 movie)|Kansas City (1996)
Carolyn Stilton
*The Designated Mourner (1997) Judy
*Saint-Ex (1997) Consuelo
*The Apostle (1997) Toosie
*St. Ives (1998 movie)|St. Ives (1998) Miss
Gilchrist
*Merlin (movie)|Merlin (1998) Queen Mab/The Lady
of the Lake
*The Big Brass Ring (1999) Dinah Pellarin
*Sleepy Hollow (movie)|Sleepy Hollow (1999) Lady
Van Tassel|Lady Mary Van Tassel/Crone
*Get Carter (2000 movie)|Get Carter (2000) Gloria
Carter
*Chicken Run (2000) Mrs Tweedy
*The Hours (2002) Vanessa Bell
*Spider (movie)|Spider (2002) Yvonne/Mrs. Cleg
*The Lost Prince (2003) (Television|TV) Mary of
Teck|Queen Mary
*The Prince and Me (2004) Queen Rosalind
*Churchill: The Hollywood Years (2004) Eva Braun
*The Phantom of the Opera (2004 movie)|The Phantom
of the Opera (2004) Madame Giry

==In the Theatre==
Before making a name for herself as a screen star,
Miranda Richardson had previously led a hugely
successful and extensive theatre career. Starting
out with juvenile performances in Cinderella (the
title role) and Lord Arthur's Saville Crime (as
Sybil Merton) at the Southport Dramatic Club, the
young thespian enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic
Theatre School, making her stage debut in Moving
at the Queen's Theatre, London. Soon afterwards,
Richardson appeared in reportory theatre, until
she found recognition in the West End for a series
of highly praised stage performances, ultimately
receiving an Olivier Award nomination for her
performance in A Lie of the Mind.

Repertory Theatre
*Savage Amusement (Hazel)
*Stags and Hens (Linda)
*All My Sons (Ann)
*Sisterly Feelings (Brenda)
*Ten Times Table (Phillipa)
*Whose Life is it Anyway (Kay Sadler)
*Play it Again Sam (Linda Christie)
*Tom Jones (Sophie Western)
*Educating Rita (Rita)

Professional Theatre
*Moving (Jane Gladwin)
*The Table of the Two Horseman (Katie Wyld)
*Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Honey)
*The Maids (Madame)
*Insignificance (The Actress)
*Life of Einstein (?)
*Edmond (Glenna)
*A Lie of the Mind (Beth)
*The Changeling (Beatrice-Joanna)
*Mountain Language (Young Woman)
*Etta Jenks (Etta Jenks)
*The Designated Mourner (Judy)
*Orlando (Orlando)
*Aunt Dan and Lemon (Aunt Dan)
*The Play What I Wrote (Herself)

== Awards & Nominations ==

Academy Award: (nominee) Damage (novel)|Damage
(1993)

Academy Award: (nominee) Tom & Viv (1995)

BAFTA: (nominee) After Pilkington (1988)

BAFTA: (winner) Damage (novel)|Damage (1993)

BAFTA: (nominee) The Crying Game (1993)

BAFTA: (nominee) Tom & Viv (1994)

BAFTA: (nominee) A Dance to the Music of Time
(1998)

BAFTA: (nominee) The Lost Prince (2004)

Golden Globe: (winner) Enchanted April (1993)

Golden Globe: (nominee) Damage (novel)|Damage
(1993)

Golden Globe: (nominee) Tom & Viv (1995)

Golden Globe: (winner) Fatherland (1995)

Golden Globe: (nominee) Merlin (movie)|Merlin
(1999)

Golden Globe: (nominee) The Big Brass Ring (2000)

Golden Globe: (nominee) The Lost Prince (2005)

National Board of Review Best Actress winner Tom &
Viv (1994)

== External links ==
* http://www.miranda-richardson.com 'Miranda
Richardson Appreciation Page' website
*http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001669/ 'IMDb page'