Geraldine McEwan(1932-2015)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Geraldine McEwan was born in Old Windsor, England and made her theatre
debut at the age of 14 at the Theatre Royal in Windsor. By the age of
18 she was starring in London's West End in several long-running
popular productions. During the 1950s she acted with the Shakespeare
Memorial Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon and joined the Royal
Shakespeare Company in 1961.
She had leading roles as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing with
Christopher Plummer, Ophelia
in Hamlet, The Princess of France in Love's Labour's Lost, Marina in
Pericles and played opposite Dorothy Tutin
in Twelfth Night which also toured Moscow and Leningrad.
Miss McEwan originated the female lead role in
Joe Orton's Loot, captivated Broadway
with productions of The School for Scandal, The Private Ear and the
Public Eye, and most recently, The Chairs, earning her a Tony
nomination for best actress.
As a member of the Royal National Theatre, acting along side
Albert Finney, and
Laurence Olivier, Geraldine spent the
1960s and 70s with memorable roles including The Dance of Death, Love
for Love, A Flea in Her Ear, Chez Nous, Home and Beauty, The Browning
Version, Harlequinade and The White Devil. In 1976 she had the
distinction of being nominated for an Olivier Award in two separate
categories.
In 1983 she won the Evening Standard Best Actress Award for The Rivals.
In 1991 she won the BAFTA Best Actress Award for her intense and
powerful performance as the Mother in
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1989)
and in 1995 she won the Evening Standard Best Actress Award for her
performance of Lady Wishfort in The Way of the World.
In 1998, McEwan was nominated for a Tony Award in the Best Actress
Category for The Chairs. Her numerous television credits include the
highly acclaimed The Barchester Chronicles (1982) with Alan Rickman, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1978), Mulberry (1992), and the immensely popular Mapp & Lucia (1985). Her film work includes The Dance of Death (1969) with Laurence Olivier, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) with Alan Rickman, Henry V (1989) and Love's Labour's Lost (2000), both with Kenneth Branagh, and most recently The Magdalene Sisters (2002), The Lazarus Child (2004), Vanity Fair (2004) and
Carrie's War (2004). In 2003, Geraldine was chosen to play Agatha Christie's Jane Marple. She recently retired from that role after completing 12 hugely popular two-hour mysteries for ITV/PBS.
debut at the age of 14 at the Theatre Royal in Windsor. By the age of
18 she was starring in London's West End in several long-running
popular productions. During the 1950s she acted with the Shakespeare
Memorial Theatre in Stratford-Upon-Avon and joined the Royal
Shakespeare Company in 1961.
She had leading roles as Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing with
Christopher Plummer, Ophelia
in Hamlet, The Princess of France in Love's Labour's Lost, Marina in
Pericles and played opposite Dorothy Tutin
in Twelfth Night which also toured Moscow and Leningrad.
Miss McEwan originated the female lead role in
Joe Orton's Loot, captivated Broadway
with productions of The School for Scandal, The Private Ear and the
Public Eye, and most recently, The Chairs, earning her a Tony
nomination for best actress.
As a member of the Royal National Theatre, acting along side
Albert Finney, and
Laurence Olivier, Geraldine spent the
1960s and 70s with memorable roles including The Dance of Death, Love
for Love, A Flea in Her Ear, Chez Nous, Home and Beauty, The Browning
Version, Harlequinade and The White Devil. In 1976 she had the
distinction of being nominated for an Olivier Award in two separate
categories.
In 1983 she won the Evening Standard Best Actress Award for The Rivals.
In 1991 she won the BAFTA Best Actress Award for her intense and
powerful performance as the Mother in
Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1989)
and in 1995 she won the Evening Standard Best Actress Award for her
performance of Lady Wishfort in The Way of the World.
In 1998, McEwan was nominated for a Tony Award in the Best Actress
Category for The Chairs. Her numerous television credits include the
highly acclaimed The Barchester Chronicles (1982) with Alan Rickman, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1978), Mulberry (1992), and the immensely popular Mapp & Lucia (1985). Her film work includes The Dance of Death (1969) with Laurence Olivier, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) with Alan Rickman, Henry V (1989) and Love's Labour's Lost (2000), both with Kenneth Branagh, and most recently The Magdalene Sisters (2002), The Lazarus Child (2004), Vanity Fair (2004) and
Carrie's War (2004). In 2003, Geraldine was chosen to play Agatha Christie's Jane Marple. She recently retired from that role after completing 12 hugely popular two-hour mysteries for ITV/PBS.