Geraldine James
Geraldine James is an English actress. She has worked extensively on television, on stage and in film. She is known for her roles as Sarah Layton in The Jewel in the Crown, Marilla Cuthbert in the Netflix series Anne with an E and as Queen Mary in the 2019 film Downton Abbey. She won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress for her performance in the television film She's Been Away.
Early life and education
Geraldine James Thomas was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, on 6 July 1950, the daughter of Gerald Trevor Griffith Thomas, a cardiologist, and his wife Annabella Doogan. Her parents divorced. After failing her 11-plus exam, she was educated at Downe House School in Newbury, Berkshire, where she was known as Gerry Thomas. Embarrassed by her simple surname, she used the grander-sounding name of Vaughan-Thomas while at the school. Her stage name makes use of her middle name of James.She studied drama at the Drama Centre London.
Career
After graduating from the Drama Centre, James spent three years in repertory theatre and school theatre.Her film credits include Gandhi, The Tall Guy, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, and 45 Years.
On television, Geraldine James played Sarah Layton in The Jewel in the Crown, Rosemary "Rose" Garrity in Band of Gold and Gloria Green in The Sins. She is also known as Mrs. Pincher, the breastfeeding mother in Little Britain.
From 2017 to 2019, she starred in the Netflix series Anne with an E as Marilla Cuthbert, and in the 2019 film Downton Abbey as Queen Mary.
In 2020 James voiced the spoken words on the track "All the Works of Nature Which Adorn the World" on the album Human. :II: Nature. by Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish.
Awards and recognition
James was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2004.Theatre director Peter Hall said that James ranks among the great English classical actresses.
| Year | Nominated work | Award | Category | Result | Refs |
| 1977 | Dummy | BAFTA TV Award | Best Actress | Nomitated | |
| 1984 | The Jewel in the Crown | BAFTA TV Award | Best Actress | Nomitated | |
| 1989 | She's Been Away | Venice Film Festival | Volpi Cup for Best Actress | Won | |
| 1990 | The Merchant of Venice | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Won | |
| 1990 | The Merchant of Venice | Tony Award | Best Actress in a Play | Nomitated | |
| 1995 | Band of Gold | BAFTA TV Award | Best Actress | Nomitated | |
| 2000 | The Sins | BAFTA TV Award | Best Actress | Nomitated | |
| 2017 | Anne with an E | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Supporting Actress, Drama | Nomitated | |
| 2018 | Anne with an E | Canadian Screen Awards | Best Supporting Actress, Drama | Won |
Personal life
James is married to actor and director Joseph Blatchley. They have a daughter.Selected stage roles
- Portia, opposite Dustin Hoffman in the London and Broadway productions of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
- Hedda Gabler at the Royal Exchange, Manchester in 1993
- Rosalind, in As You Like It, at the RSC, Stratford-upon-Avon, in 2023
Radio
Filmography
Film
- The Dumb Waiter as Sally
- Bloody Kids as Ritchie's wife
- Sweet William as Pamela
- Gandhi as Mirabehn
- Freedom Fighter as Krista Donner
- The Tall Guy as Carmen
- The Wolves of Willoughby Chase as Mrs. Gertrude Brisket
- Prince of Shadows as Rebecca Osorio
- If Looks Could Kill – Teen Agent, as Vendetta Galante
- The Bridge as Mrs Todd
- Words Upon the Window Pane as Mrs. Henderson
- Moll Flanders as Edna
- The Man Who Knew Too Little as Dr. Ludmilla Kropotkin
- The Luzhin Defence as Vera
- Lover's Prayer as Mother
- Tom & Thomas as Miss Tromp
- An Angel for May
- Calendar Girls as Marie
- Northanger Abbey as the narrator
- Sherlock Holmes as Mrs Hudson
- Alice in Wonderland as Lady Ascot
- Made in Dagenham as Connie
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Cecilia Vanger
- Arthur as Vivienne Bach
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows as Mrs Hudson
- 45 Years as Lena
- Alice Through the Looking Glass as Lady Ascot
- Rogue One as Jaldine Gerams
- Daphne
- Anne with an E as Marilla Cuthbert
- Megan Leavey as The Veterinarian
- Beast
- Downton Abbey as Mary of Teck
- ''Benediction''
Television
- The Sweeney: Pay Off as Shirley Glass
- Dummy as Sandra X
- Shoestring Nine tenths of the law.
- The History Man as Barbara Kirk
- I Remember Nelson as Emma Hamilton
- The Jewel in the Crown as Sarah Layton
- Blott on the Landscape as Lady Maud Lynchwood
- Echoes as Angela O'Hara
- Inspector Morse: Who Killed Harry Field as Helen Field
- A Doll's House as Kristine Linde
- Band of Gold as Rose Garrety
- Kavanagh QC as Eleanor Harker QC
- Rebecca as Beatrice
- Little Britain as Mother of Harvey Pincher
- The Sins as Gloria Green
- State of Play as Yvonne Shaps
- Hex as Lilith Hughes
- He Knew He Was Right as Lady Rowley
- Agatha Christie's Poirot – After the Funeral, as Helen Abernethie
- The Amazing Mrs Pritchard as Hilary Rees-Benson
- A Harlot's Progress
- Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire as Cornelia
- The Last Enemy as Barbara Turney
- Heist as Joanna
- Midsomer Murders Series 13, episode 8, "Fit for Murder" as Miranda Bedford
- Thirteen Steps Down as Gwendolyn
- Utopia as Milner
- Black Work as Chief Constable Carolyn Jarecki
- The Five as Julia Wells
- Anne with an E as Marilla Cuthbert
- Back to Life as Caroline Matteson
- The Beast Must Die as Joy
- Silo as Mayor Ruth Jahns
- This Town as Marie
- Dope Girls