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In detail |
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Zoë Wanamaker was
born on May 13th 1949 in New York, USA. At the age of three, Zoë had to move to
London with her family, because her father, the actor/director Sam Wanamaker, was blacklisted during the McCarthy
witch-hunts. Her mother, Charlotte Holland, was an actress and radio
star; when they came
to London she left work so she could take care of her
family. Zoe
also has two sisters - Abby, the eldest, and Jessica, who is the
youngest. Zoë comes from a Russian-Jewish background. |
Sam Wanamaker is most well known for the reconstruction of
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the South Bank in London. He was
passionate about building a faithful replica of The Globe, and spent nearly thirty years trying to get his project finished.
Sam
was awarded a CBE in early 1993, and sadly died later that year of
cancer. Queen Elizabeth II opened the Globe in June 1997, and
Zoë was the first person to speak on stage when she read
a passage from Henry V. |
Zoë decided she wanted to act at the age of ten, after spending a
summer in Stratford with her parents. They tried to stop her going
into the acting industry, as they didn't want her to have to go
through its rejection and fierce competition. She trained
as a dancer and went to art school. She also had a very short
career as a secretary, and even toyed with the idea of becoming a
nun! She finally knew she definitely wanted to act. |
Zoë joined the Central School of Speech and
Drama, and after
spending three years there, she left in 1970 and went straight on to
stage work. She went from strength to strength and recently became an
Associate to The National Theatre, on the South Bank in London.
She also remains a trustee of Shakespeare's Globe, at which she
has recently unveiled a Blue Plaque that was awarded to her father
for his efforts, and in recognition of the Globe. The award was a
People's Choice award voted for by the public, and Zoë accepted this
on his behalf. The Blue Plaque can be found on the site of the
Globe. |
She went from stage to our TV screens in many different roles, and
slipped from one role to the next with no problem and so much
talent. She is now a well-known face on TV, mostly recognised
for her recent role as Susan Harper in the BBC sitcom My Family,
in which she plays alongside Robert
Lindsay; and also for her role as
Tessa Piggott in Love Hurts,
in which she worked with Adam
Faith in the early 1990s. Zoë has more recently starred in films
such as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,
in which she
played the famous Madam Hooch. |
Zoë is married to actor/writer Gawn Grainger,
with whom she previously
worked in Bob Hoskins' 1988 film The Raggedy Rawney. They married in November
1994, and she has now taken on the role
of the 'wicked stepmother' to his two children. |
She has been nominated for many awards and won two Best Actress
Olivier awards, among others. In 2000 she was
awarded a CBE by the Queen in the New Year Honours list. Zoë has done
extensive work for charity, which included reporting from South
Africa on Ethiopia's economic crisis in 1993, for Comic
Relief.
She has also been working as Honorary Vice-President of the
Voluntary Euthanasia Society for some time. |
Having done over a hundred roles and performances in a career
spanning over 25
years, with her talent shining through in each one, she has gone from
playing a mad aunt, a twin, a Leprechaun and even a dog, every
time her performance better than before. Zoë is one of the best
actresses of her time and puts her 'all' into every show, series
and film she does. |
Who knows what we can expect next from Zoë Wanamaker! |
Written in consultation with Zoë. With thanks to Kerrie. |
Credits |
| Theatre
credits include His Girl Friday, Battle
Royal, The Crucible, Mrs Klein, The Bay at Nice, Wrecked Eggs, and
The Importance of Being Earnest at the National Theatre; Boston
Marriage at the Donmar Warehouse and New Ambassadors; Electra at
Chichester, the Donmar, the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York,
and the McCarter Theater, Princeton, and for which she received
Variety, Olivier, and Tony Awards; The Old Neighborhood at the
Royal Court; Sylvia at the Apollo Theatre; The Glass Menagerie at
the Donmar and Comedy Theatre; Dead Funny at Hampstead and the
Vaudeville Theatre; The Last Yankee at the Young Vic. For the RSC:
Othello (also at the Young Vic), Mother Courage and Her Children
(for which she won a Drama Award), The Time of Your Life, The
Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Piaf (also in the West End and
New York and, for which, with Loot, she received a Tony
nomination), Once in a Lifetime (also at Wyndhams and the
Piccadilly, directed by Trevor Nunn, and for which she won a SWET
Award), The Taming of the Shrew, Captain Swing, Wild Oats, Ivanov,
The Devil's Disciple, Trumpets and Drums, A Servant of Two
Masters, Pygmalion and A Streetcar Named Desire at the Nottingham
Playhouse, the latter two directed by Richard Eyre; Guys and Dolls
and A Midsummer Night's Dream for Manchester 69 Company. |
Television credits include My Family
(series 1, 2, 3, and 4), David Copperfield, The Magical Legend of
the Leprechauns, Gormenghast, A Dance to the Music of Time, The
Widowing of Mrs Holroyd (directed by Katie Mitchell), The English
Wife, The Countess Alice, Memento Mori, The Blackheath Poisonings,
Love Hurts, Prime Suspect I, Inspector Morse, and Othello. |
Film credits number Harry Potter
and the Philosopher's Stone, Swept from the Sea/Amy Foster, Wilde,
The Raggedy Rawney, The Hunger, Inside the Third Reich, and The
Last Ten Days of Hitler. |
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