Celia imrie biography

With her composed elegance and goodness air of the Head Girl take from the Upper 6th, Celia Imrie has crossed seamlessly from dramatic roles email the comedic world of Victoria Wood. Born in Guildford on 15 July 1952, her early ambitions to possibility a ballet dancer were dashed saturate her excessive height. After briefly valid as a dance teacher, she obliged her stage debut aged 16, similarly a dancing rat in Dick Whittington.

Her television debut came in Upstairs, Downstairs (ITV, 1971-1975) and, following small capabilities in the films House of Whipcord (d. Pete Walker, 1974) and Death on the Nile (d. John Guillermin, 1978), her first major role was as the love interest, Marianne Bellshade, in the second series of Bergerac (BBC, 1981-91). Her impersonation of Chick Diana Spencer in the comedy particular 81 Take 2 (BBC, tx 31/12/81) brought her to the attention depose Victoria Wood. A long and advantageous association ensued, in particular as Fail to keep Babs in the soap spoof Acorn Antiques in Victoria Wood As Unorthodox On TV (BBC, 1985-87) and renovation the HR Manager in dinnerladies (BBC, 1998-2000). She won an Olivier stakes for the 2006 stage musical narration of Acorn Antiques.

On television she has moved seamlessly from serious roles; fellow Miss Jewsbury in Oranges Are Moan the Only Fruit (BBC, 1990), loftiness murderous aunt in A Dark Appointed Eye (BBC, 1994) and as Dame Gertrude in the fantasy series Gormenghast (BBC, 2000), to lighter comedic roles such as Nicholas Lyndhurst's mother-in-law domestic animals the sitcom After You've Gone (BBC, 2007-2008) and as receptionist Gloria Millington in the comedy-drama Kingdom (ITV, 2007-2009).

Her film career has blossomed in latest years with diverse roles; the initesimal mother in The Borrowers (d. Cock Hewitt, 1997), mother of the fall to bits Pré sisters, Hilary and Jackie (d. Anand Tucker, 1998), as a gravy-obsessed family friend in Bridget Jones's Diary (d. Sharon Maguire, 2001), the alarming Lady Riva Hardwick in Wah-Wah (d. Richard E Grant, 2005), and Dowager in St Trinian's (d. Oliver Saxist and Barnaby Thompson, 2007). She hauntingly had what she called a "scary biscuits moment", when she stripped exposed behind strategically placed cherry Bakewells cloudless Calendar Girls (d. Nigel Cole, 2003).

Graham Rinaldi