Miriam Margolyes - Actress

Miriam Margolyes

Miriam Margolyes Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: May 18, 1941

Age: 84 years old

Birth Place: Oxford, England, UK

A British character actress, Margolyes has performed primarily on the stage and radio, generally in eccentric comedy roles. After studies at Cambridge, she began acting in radio with the BBC. Over the next decade Margolyes' ripe delivery could be heard everywhere in radio spots and TV commercial voiceovers, including a stint as a seductive rabbit plugging Cadbury's Carmel Bunny candy and as a charwoman chimp for a tea ad.

Margolyes did not act regularly in film until the mid-1970s, and for a time most of her roles were in little-seen British films including "The Battle of Billy's Pond" (1976), "On a Paving Stone Mounted" (1978) and the experimental "Crystal Gazing" (1982), or small parts in the US-made "Yentl" (1983) and "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986).

She gained critical and public attention with her performance as flirtatious spinster Flora Finching in the two-part film adaptation of Charles Dickens' "Little Dorrit" (1988). She followed with an amusing turn as Kevin Kline's outraged mother in the black comedy "I Love You to Death" (1990), a highly successful one-woman touring show, "Woomen, Lovely Woomen" (1991), spotlighting Dickensian females, and a sitcom, "Frannie's Turn" (1992).

Margolyes received her greatest popular acclaim as the elderly, sharp-tongued Mrs. Mingott, the primary source of comic relief in "The Age of Innocence" (1993). The widely expected Oscar nomination for Margolyes' work as Mrs. Mingott surprisingly did not appear, but the actress continued in prominent roles in ambitious films like "Immortal Beloved" (1994).

Voiceover work kept her busy as well, her most popular effort in this vein being Fly, the maternal but pragmatic dog who learns about not compromising one's dreams from a pig named "Babe" (1995). She returned for the sequel, "Babe: Pig in the City" (1998) and also lent her voice to the Matchmaker of "Mulan" (1998).

Margolyes continued to work frequently, appearing in mainstream films such as "Magnolia" (1999) and "End of Days" (1999), but it was in 2002 that she nabbed the role that would make her a star, at least among juvenile moviegoers: Professor Sprout, the delightful proponent of mandrake in "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets." The actress continued to work in a variety of projects, most notably playing one of the circle surrounding the aging theater diva (Annette Bening) in "Being Julia" (2004) and actor Peter Sellers' frighteningly ambitious mother in the HBO biopic "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (2004).

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Credits

Doctor WhoStream

Voice
The Meep
Series
2023
93%

Gods of TennisStream

Self
Docuseries
2023

My Happy EndingStream

Actor
Judy
Movie
2023
38%

Miss Fisher and the Crypt of TearsStream

Actor
Prudence Stanley
Movie
2020
67%

Early ManStream

Voice
Queen Oofeefa
Movie
2018
80%

The Little VampireStream

Actor
Wulftrud
Movie
2017
14%

Miss Fisher's Murder MysteriesStream

Actor
Prudence
Series
2012

Call the MidwifeStream

Actor
Sister Mildred
Series
2012

The Guilt TripStream

Actor
Anita
Movie
2012
36%

Flushed AwayStream

Voice
Rita's Grandma
Movie
2006
72%

Happy FeetStream

Voice
Mrs. Astrakhan
Movie
2006
76%

Being JuliaStream

Actor
Dolly de Vries
Movie
2004
76%

Harry Potter and the Chamber of SecretsStream

Actor
Professor Sprout
Movie
2002
82%

End of DaysStream

Actor
Mabel
Movie
1999
11%

James and the Giant PeachStream

Voice
The Glowworm/Aunt Sponge
Movie
1996
91%

Romeo + JulietStream

Actor
The Nurse
Movie
1996
74%

Cold Comfort FarmStream

Actor
Mrs. Beetle
Movie
1995
83%

BabeStream

Voice
Fly the Female Sheepdog
Movie
1995
97%

The Age of InnocenceStream

Actor
Mrs. Mingott
Movie
1993
88%

Frannie's Turn

Actor
Frannie Escobar
Series
1992
40%

A Little PrincessStream

Actor
Miss Amelia
Miniseries
1987

BlackadderStream

Actor
Series
1983

YentlStream

Actor
Sarah
Movie
1983
69%

Tales of the UnexpectedStream

Actor
Mary Burge
Series
1979

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