Career Siân Phillips

1 career

1.1 radio, television , stage
1.2 later film , television
1.3 other work

career
early radio, television , stage

phillips began acting professionally @ age of 11 home service of bbc radio in wales. first role ginger tom cat. @ same age won first speech-and-drama award, performance @ national eisteddfod held @ llandybïe in 1944, , schoolfriend played parts of 2 elderly men in dramatic duologue.

she made first british television appearance @ 17 , won welsh acting award @ 18. in 1953, while still student @ cardiff university, worked newsreader , announcer bbc in wales , toured wales in welsh-language productions of welsh arts council.

from 1953 1955 phillips member of bbc repertory company , national theatre company , toured wales performing welsh , english plays welsh arts council. nottingham playhouse in 1958, masha in 3 sisters. performed princess siwan in saunders lewis king s daughter @ hampstead theatre club in 1959 , katherine in taming of shrew oxford playhouse in 1960. princess siwan again in bbc s production of siwan: king s daughter alongside peter o toole emyr humphrys producer. broadcast on bbc 1 (wales only) on 1 march 1960. october 1958 april 1959 compere of land of song (gwlad y gân) monthly programme @ tww (television wales , west) channel 10 baritone ivor emmanuel.

she made first appearance on london stage in 1957 when appeared in hermann sudermann s magda rada. magda, opera diva, first real success in london. play did , benefited career greatly; although student @ time, first since sarah bernhardt play role.

in 1957 (some sources 1959) phillips performed title role in ibsen s hedda gabler. many sources consider london stage debut did magda before hedda gabler. in september 1958 performing margaret muir in john hall s holiday @ oxford new theatre.

in may 1958 phillips performed joan in g. b. shaw s saint joan, @ belgrade theatre in coventry, had opened 6 weeks before, produced bryan bailey. observer described performance: sian phillips portrayal of joan defies law of averages, since, after seeing siobhan mckenna in 1955 arts theatre production, reckoned impossible equal within half century. irish girl, welsh girl perfect... girl doesn t act joan – joan. in short, perfection.

she julia in royal shakespeare company s 1960-1961 version of duchess of malfi. royal shakespeare company performances are:

julia in duchess of malfi: @ shakespeare memorial theatre (stratford, 30 november 1960, opening night).
julia in duchess of malfi: @ aldwych theatre (london, 15 december 1960, opening night)
bertha in ondine: @ aldwych theatre (london, 12 january 1961, opening night)
miss havisham in great expectations: @ royal shakespeare company (stratford, 6 december 2005).

later film , television

her long career has included many films , television programmes, best known starring livia in popular bbc adaptation of robert graves s novel i, claudius (bbc2, 1976), won 1977 bafta television award best actress, , many appearances on original run of call bluff. appeared opposite then-husband peter o toole , richard burton in becket (1964); ursula mossbank in musical film goodbye, mr. chips (1969), again starring o toole; once more opposite o toole in murphy s war (1971); emmeline pankhurst in tv mini-series shoulder shoulder (1974); clementine churchill in southern television s winston churchill: wilderness years (1981) starring robert hardy; lady ann, unfaithful wife of alec guinness s character george smiley, in bbc1 espionage dramas tinker, tailor, soldier, spy (1979) , smiley s people (1982), adapted john le carré s eponymous novels; in nijinsky (1980); , queen cassiopeia in clash of titans (1981). popular role of reverend mother gaius helen mohiam in david lynch s dune (1984) , charal ewoks: battle endor (1985). appeared in seasons 2 , 4 (1998 , 2000) of canadian tv series la femme nikita adrian, renegade founder of powerful section 1 anti-terrorist organisation. in 2001, appeared herself in lily savage s blankety blank. , in ballykissangel faith healer consuela dunphy in episode 7 ( 1 born every minute or getting better time ). recent film gigolos (2006) richard bracewell, in played lady james. in 2010, appeared in new tricks in episode coming out ball , in 2011 appeared in episode wild justice in fifth season of television series lewis.

phillips s west end credits include marlene (in portrayed marlene dietrich), pal joey, gigi , little night music. has appeared on american stage in marlene.

other work

her national theatre performances have included:

lady britomart in major barbara: lyttelton theatre (18 october 1982, opening night).
madam armfeldt in little night music: olivier theatre (18 september 1995, opening night).
hope in in bed magritte (1 december 1995, opening night).
she appears madame nielsen in les blancs @ national theatre.

between 2001 , 2002 played leading role in bbc radio 4 comedy leopard in autumn.

she provided spoken-word backing track on rufus wainwright s 2007 album release stars, , appeared live him @ old vic theatre in london on 31 may/1 june 2007. phillips starred in london s west end production of calendar girls. phillips played juliet opposite michael byrne s romeo in juliet , romeo @ bristol old vic 10 march until 24 april 2010.

in january 2011 appeared in new cabaret show, crossing borders, @ wilton s music hall in cable street, london. reviewing show cabaretscenes.org, harold sanditen said: cabaret shows of more traditional type. she’s had long , impressive career, , show followed progression, backstage anecdotes people she’s met , worked along way. may not edgy, it’s delightful evening, delightful performer, in delightful venue.