Alison Steadman
Steadman during a recording of You'll Have Had Your Tea for BBC Radio 4 in 2006
Born	August 26 1946 (1946--) (age 61) Liverpool, England
Awards Laurence Olivier Awards {{{laurenceolivierawards}}}

Alison Steadman OBE (born on July 26 1945) is an award-winning English stage, television and film actress.

Personal life

Alison was born in Liverpool, Merseyside, England. She trained as a secretary and worked in a probation office, then in her 20s she enrolled in the East 15 Acting School, where she met Mike Leigh. They married in 1973 and had two sons, Toby in 1979 and Leo in 1981. They separated in 1995 and divorced in 2001. Her present partner is Michael Elwyn ^[1] and she currently lives in Highgate, London.^[2]

Career

Stage work

She has acted to much acclaim in productions of Abigail's Party (later filmed for television), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Hotel Paradiso, and others in locations as diverse as the Royal Court, the Theatre Royal, the Old Vic, the Hampstead Theatre, the Nottingham Playhouse, the Everyman Liverpool and the National Theatre.

Film

She has acted in many films, including Shirley Valentine, Clockwise and A Private Function, although she is perhaps most noted for her work in films directed by Leigh such as Life Is Sweet, Secrets and Lies and Topsy Turvy.

Television

Her television work include Fat Friends as Betty, Selling Hitler, The Singing Detective, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Pride and Prejudice as Mrs. Bennet. She also provides a voice over in the children's TV show Bob the Builder. Television productions directed by Leigh in which she has acted include Nuts in May, and famously in Abigail's Party as Beverly. She also appeared in the BBC comedy The Worst Week of My Life. She can currently be seen in the "BBC Three" comedy "Gavin and Stacey" as Gavin's proud mother Pamela. Steadman will next be see in Fanny Hill.

Awards and recognition

• Invested as Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1999
• Nominated for Best Actress by BAFTA for Fat Friends in 2001
• Nominated for Best Actress by BAFTA for The Singing Detective in 1987
• Awarded Best Actress by the US National Society of Film Critics for Life Is Sweet in 1992
• Awarded the Olivier for Best Actress for The Rise and Fall of Little Voice in 1993
• Nominated for the Olivier for Best Actress for The Memory of Water in 1998

Footnotes

External links

• Alison Steadman at the Internet Movie Database
• East15 Acting School (part of the University of Essex)
• Agent's website

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