Imogen Stubbs (born 20 February 1961) is an English actress and writer.
Imogen Stubbs | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 February 1961 Rothbury, Northumberland, England |
| Education | St Paul's Girls' School Westminster School Exeter College, Oxford Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Her first leading part was in Privileged (1982), followed by A Summer Story (1988).
Her first play, We Happy Few, was produced in 2004. In 2008 she joined Reader's Digest as a contributing editor and writer of fiction.
Early life
editImogen Stubbs was born in Rothbury,[1] Northumberland, lived briefly in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where her father was a naval officer, and then moved with her parents to London, where they lived on a vintage river barge on the Thames. She was educated at Cavendish Primary School, then at two independent schools: St Paul's Girls' School and Westminster School, and then Exeter College, Oxford,[2] gaining a First Class degree.[3]
Her acting career started at Oxford, where she played Irina in a student production of Three Sisters at the Oxford Playhouse. After graduating, she enrolled at RADA, and while there had her first professional work, playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.[4] In 1982 she also appeared in her first film, Privileged.
Stubbs graduated from RADA in the same class as Jane Horrocks[5] and Iain Glen, and later became an Associate Member of RADA.
Career
editIn the 1980s Stubbs achieved success on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, notably as Desdemona in Othello, which was directed by Trevor Nunn. Other stage work includes Saint Joan at the Strand Theatre and Heartbreak House at the Haymarket, and in 1997 she played in a London production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
In 1988, Stubbs was a notable Ursula Brangwen in a BBC serialization of The Rainbow, and in 1993 and 1994 had the title role in Anna Lee. She played Lucy Steele in Sense and Sensibility (1995).
In July 2004, Stubbs's play We Happy Few, directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Juliet Stevenson and Marcia Warren, opened at the Gielgud Theatre, London, after a try-out in Malvern.[6] In September 2008 Reader's Digest announced that she had joined the magazine as a contributing editor and writer of adventure stories.[7]
Personal life
editIn 1994, Stubbs married Trevor Nunn.[8] The couple have two children:[9] a son and a daughter, Ellie Nunn, who is also an actress.[10] In April 2011, Stubbs announced that she and her husband were separating.[11] Her partner is Jonathan Guy Lewis.[2][3]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Privileged | Imogen | |
| 1986 | Nanou | Nanou | |
| 1988 | A Summer Story | Megan David | |
| 1989 | Erik the Viking | Princess Aud | |
| 1991 | True Colors | Diana Stiles | |
| 1991 | The Wanderer | Narrator | Voice |
| 1994 | A Pin for the Butterfly | Mother | |
| 1995 | Jack and Sarah | Sarah | |
| 1995 | Sense & Sensibility | Lucy Steele | |
| 1996 | Twelfth Night | Viola | |
| 2003 | Collusion | Mary Dolphin | |
| 2004 | Dead Cool | Henny | |
| 2011 | Babysitting | Mrs. Wollenberg | Short |
| 2014 | Insomniacs | Alice | Short |
| 2016 | Stake Out | Sally | Short |
| 2017 | Kew Gardens | Isabella | Short, post-production |
| 2018 | London Unplugged | Isabella | Anthology film |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Browning Version | Mrs. Gilbert | TV film |
| 1988 | The Rainbow | Ursula Brangwen | TV miniseries |
| 1988 | Deadline | Lady Romy Burton | TV film |
| 1990 | Fellow Traveller | Sarah Atchison | In the Screen Two series |
| 1990 | Relatively Speaking | Ginny Whittaker | TV film |
| 1990 | Pasternak | Lara / Olga (voice) | TV film |
| 1990 | Theatre Night | Desdemona | "Othello" |
| 1992 | Sandra, c'est la vie | Marie | TV film |
| 1992 | Performance | Helen Banner | "After the Dance" |
| 1993 | Anna Lee: Headcase | Anna Lee | TV film |
| 1994 | Anna Lee | Anna Lee | Main role |
| 1996 | 1914–1918 | (voice) | "Total War" |
| 1997 | Screen Two | Suzie | "Mothertime" |
| 2000 | Blind Ambition | Annie Thomas | TV film |
| 2000 | Big Kids | Sarah Spiller | Main role |
| 2001 | Lee Evans: So What Now? | Chloe | "Sofa So Good" |
| 2002 | Township Opera | Narrator | TV film |
| 2005 | Casualty | Chloe Greer | "Running out of Kisses" |
| 2006 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Mona Symmington | "The Moving Finger" |
| 2006 | Brief Encounters | Sonia | "Semi-Detached" |
| 2009 | New Tricks | Lotte Davenport | "Shadow Show" |
| 2010 | The Adventures of Daniel | Mrs. Wallace | TV film |
| 2011 | Injustice | Gemma Lawrence | "1.4", "1.5" |
| 2012 | Doctors | Miranda Payne | "High-Flyer" |
| 2012 | Parents | Isabelle Hopkins | "1.3" |
| 2012 | Switch | Esme | "1.6" |
| 2017 | Holby City | Evelyn Chapman | "It Has to be Now" |
| 2018 | Death in Paradise | Valerie O'Toole | "7.3" |
| 2021 | Midsomer Murders | Tamara Deddington | "21.3 – The Sting of Death" |
| 2023 | The Crown | Anne Tennant, Baroness Glenconner | Season 6, episode 8: "Ritz" |
Theatre
edit| Year | Title | Role | Company |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Cabaret | Sally Bowles | Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich |
| 1985 | The Boyfriend | Polly Browne | Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich |
| 1986 | The Rover | Helena | Swan Theatre, Stratford |
| 1986 | Two Noble Kinsmen | Gaoler's daughter | The Other Place, Stratford |
| 1987 | Richard II | Queen Isabel | Swan Theatre, Stratford |
| 1989 | Othello | Desdemona | The Other Place, Stratford[12] |
| 1992 | Heartbreak House | Ellie | Theatre Royal, Haymarket |
| 1994 | Saint Joan | Joan | Strand Theatre |
| 1994 | Uncle Vanya | Yelena | Chichester Festival |
| 1996 | A Streetcar Named Desire | Stella | Theatre Royal, Haymarket |
| 1998 | Closer | Anna | Lyric Theatre, London |
| 1998 | Betrayal | Emma | National Theatre |
| 2001 | The Relapse | Amanda | National Theatre |
| 2002 | Three Sisters | Masha | Theatre Royal, Bath (and tour) |
| 2003 | Mum's the Word | Linda | Albery Theatre |
| 2004 | Hamlet | Gertrude | The Old Vic |
| 2006 | Duchess of Malfi | Duchess | West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds |
| 2008 | Scenes from a Marriage | Marianne | Belgrade Theatre, Coventry |
| 2009 | Alphabetical Order | Lucy | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2010 | The Glass Menagerie | Amanda | Shared Experience |
| 2011 | Private Lives | Amanda | Manchester Royal Exchange |
| 2011 | Little Eyolf | Rita | Jermyn Street Theatre, London |
| 2011 | Salt, Root and Roe | Menna | Trafalgar Studios, London[13][14][15][16] |
| 2012 | Orpheus Descending | Lady | Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester[17][18] |
| 2013 | Third Finger, Left Hand | Niamh | Trafalgar Studios, London |
| 2013 | Strangers on a Train | Elsie | Gielgud Theatre, London[19] |
| 2014 | Little Revolution | Sarah / various | Almeida Theatre, London[20] |
| 2014 | The Hypochondriac | Beline | Touring,[21] |
| 2015 | Communicating Doors | Ruella | Menier Theatre, London[22] |
| 2016 | Things I Know to be True | Fran Price | Frantic Assembly |
| 2018 | The Be All and End All | Charlotte | York Theatre Royal[2] |
| 2022 | Clybourne Park | Bev/Kathy | Park Theatre |
| 2023 | The Children | Rose | Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds[3] |
| 2023 | Three Acts of Love | Dr Fiona McGill | Live Theatre, Newcastle[23] |
Other projects and contributions
edit- When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) – Shakespeare's "Sonnet 21" ("So it is not with me as with that Muse")
References
edit- ^ Edmonds, Mark (31 March 2013), "The world's fastest interview", The Sunday Times Magazine, p. 7
- ^ a b c Weale, Sally (20 April 2018). "Imogen Stubbs laments 'awful treadmill' of UK education system". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c Harvey, Chris; Stubbs, Imogen (25 February 2023). "'It's become less and less acceptable to age' – The Saturday Interview: The actress tells Chris Harvey about her bohemian childhood on a boat, marriage to her former husband director Trevor Nunn and her distaste for plastic surgery". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Barnett, Laura (9 March 2010). "Imogen Stubbs, actor". The Guardian. London. p. G2-23.
- ^ Pelley, Rich (30 November 2023). "Jane Horrocks: 'I'd love to be a baddie in a Tarantino movie'". The Guardian.
- ^ Taylor, Paul (6 July 2004). "We Happy Few". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 September 2008.[dead link]
- ^ Carter, Meg (15 September 2008). "Digest revamped". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
- ^ Montague-Smith, Patrick (1970). Debrett's Correct Form. Headline. pp. 76–77. ISBN 0-7472-0658-9.
- ^ "Nunn, Sir Trevor (Robert)". Who's Who. Oxford, England: A & C Black. 2011.
- ^ Taylor, Interviews by Jeremy (10 January 2018). "Relative Values: the actress Imogen Stubbs, and her daughter, Ellie Nunn". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ "Imogen Stubbs and Sir Trevor Nunn separate after 21 years". The Daily Telegraph. London. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
- ^ Dickson, Andrew (11 July 2016). "Willard White on playing Othello: 'I broke down – I considered walking away'". The Guardian.
- ^ "Stubbs, Imogen Mary, (Lady Nunn)". Who's Who. Oxford, England: A & C Black. 2011.
- ^ Trowbridge, Simon (2008). "Imogen Stubbs". Stratfordians: a biographical dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford, England: Editions Albert Creed. p. 475. ISBN 978-0-9559830-1-6.
- ^ Gardner, Lynn (8 March 2011). "Private Lives – review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
- ^ Coveney, Michael (9 May 2011). "Little Eyolf, Jermyn Street Theatre, London". The Independent. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
- ^ "The Stage / Listings / Orpheus Descending". Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ "Autumn – the Royal Exchange Theatre". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
- ^ "Strangers on a Train, Based on Novel, to Star Laurence Fox and Jack Huston at London's Gielgud Theatre". playbill.com. Playbill. 20 September 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
- ^ "Cast, Little Revolution, Almeida Theatre". Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
- ^ "Theatre Royal Bath – What's On". Theatre Royal Bath. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
- ^ Lawrence, Ben. "Communicating Doors, Menier Chocolate Factory". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ^ Fisher, Mark (8 December 2023). "Three Acts of Love review – pain and pleasure in a trio straight from the heart". The Guardian.
