Celia Imrie

Imrie was born on 15 July 1952 in Guildford, Surrey,{{cite news |last= Mellor |first=Rupert |date= 3 May 2003 |title= She wears it well |issue= 67753 |page= 5[S3] }}{{Cite web | url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/571825/index.html | title=BFI Screenonline: Imrie, Celia (1952–) Biography }} the fourth of five children of Dr. David Andrew Imrie, a radiologist from Glasgow, Scotland,{{cite web|url=http://www.fabulousdames.com/Celia/celiaadventure.htm |title=Celia Imrie – Awfully big adventure |publisher=Fabulousdames.com |access-date=24 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004072528/http://www.fabulousdames.com/Celia/celiaadventure.htm |archive-date=4 October 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.william1.co.uk/r28.htm |title=Rutland 28 |publisher=William1.co.uk |access-date=24 January 2012}} and Diana Elizabeth, née Cator. Her mother was a granddaughter of Sir John Ralph Blois, 8th Baronet, from an ancient Suffolk family.Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 1, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 402 Imrie was educated at Guildford High School, an independent school for girls in her home town of Guildford, followed by the Guildford School of Acting.{{cite web|url=https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/famous-celebrities-taught-school-surrey-17649486|title=26 celebrities who went to school in Surrey|first=Anna|last=Starnes|author2=Tom van Klaveren|author3=Eleanor Fleming|website=Surrey Live|date=16 January 2021|access-date=21 May 2021}}

Imrie's film credits include the mischievous Mrs. Selma Quickly in Nanny McPhee, Iris du Pré in Hilary and Jackie, Homily Clock in the 1997 film The Borrowers, House of Whipcord, Bridget Jones's Diary, Calendar Girls, Highlander and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. Imrie played Fighter Pilot Bravo 5 in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace,Nicholson, Rebecca. [https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/sep/22/celia-imrie-fighter-pilot-star-wars-gran-better-things-trapeze Celia Imrie: ‘People go wild when I tell them I was a fighter pilot in Star Wars], The Guardian, 22 September 2020 Matron in St Trinian's (2007), Claudia Bing in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016), Victoria Watkins in A Cure for Wellness (2016), Bif in Finding Your Feet (2017), Vice-Chancellor in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), Mimi in Love Sarah (2020), and Imelda in Good Grief (2024).

Imrie's television credits include Upstairs, Downstairs, Bergerac, The Nightmare Man, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Casualty, Absolutely Fabulous, and The Darling Buds of May.[http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/571825/index.html Biography of Celia Imrie], British Film Institute Screenonline She also played Vera in A Dark-Adapted Eye (1994) by Ruth Rendell.

She first worked with Victoria Wood in the 1980s on Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, which included the popular sketch Acorn Antiques. In 1994, she reunited with Wood in the television film Pat and Margaret, and later appeared in Dinnerladies from 1998 to 1999.

Imrie's other roles include Still Game, Cloud Howe, Taggart,[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/tv-radio/there-s-been-a-murder-taggart-at-25-921715.html There's been a murder: Taggart at 25], The Independent, 7 September 2008 Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, and Blue Black Permanent (1992).[https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/2c3d3610-cded-55a5-a700-be3d9bad0faa/blue-black-permanent Blue Black Permanent], British Film Institute database

In 2000, she played Lady Gertrude in Gormenghast, while, in 2001, she was in Love in a Cold Climate with Alan Bates. In 2002, she played Mrs Violet Pearman to Albert Finney's Churchill in The Gathering Storm. She appeared in the BBC television drama Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle (2005), appeared opposite Nicholas Lyndhurst in the BBC sitcom After You've Gone (2007–2008), opposite Stephen Fry in the ITV1 drama Kingdom,{{cite news|url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1291795.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616092506/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article1291795.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 June 2011|title=Times Online Viewing Guide – After You've Gone|work=The Times|access-date=24 January 2012|location=London}} and with Judi Dench in Cranford. In 2013, she guest-starred in the BBC's Doctor Who, playing the villainous Miss Kizlet in "The Bells of Saint John". In May 2016, she made her US television debut in the DC action-adventure series Legends of Tomorrow. In September 2016 she began starring as Phyllis in the FX series Better Things.

After appearing as a chorus girl in many a pantomime, Imrie got a job, in 1975, as an Assistant Stage Manager and understudy in the Royal Shakespeare Company with Glenda Jackson playing Hedda Gabler, directed by Trevor Nunn, on a world tour.[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/mar/19/theatre The art of showing off], The Guardian, 19 March 2005 Also in the company at that time were Patrick Stewart, Timothy West, Peter Eyre, Pam St Clement, Jennie Linden and Fidelis Morgan.

In 1979, Imrie played in her first revue, Performing Ceals with Celia Foxe, which first opened at The Bonne Crepe and played at various venues in London ending up in 1980 at The Comic Strip.[https://fidelismorgan.com/directing/ Performing Ceals], Fidelis Morgan website Other plays include Seduced at the Royal Court Theatre, and Heaven and Hell at the Traverse Theatre. Imrie appeared with the company in the 1979, 1981 and 1983 seasons at the celebrated Citizens Theatre in Glasgow. In 1984 she played in Alfie with Adam Faith at the Liverpool Playhouse in a production directed by Alan Parker. In 1991 she appeared in The Sea with Dame Judi Dench at the National Theatre in London.[https://theatricalia.com/play/1p2/the-sea/production/cwt Cast of The Sea (1991)], Theatricalia website In 2005, after a successful run at the King's Head Theatre, her one woman play Unsuspecting Susan written by Stewart Permutt transferred to 59E59 Theaters in New York.{{cite web|url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=207&story=E8821048792461 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616051522/https://www.whatsonstage.com/index.php?pg=207&story=E8821048792461|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 June 2011|title=What's on Stage – Unsuspecting Susan|publisher=Whatsonstage.com|access-date=24 January 2012}}{{cite news|last=Mitchell|first=Gabrielle|url=https://www.variety.com/review/VE1117927429.html?categoryid=33&cs=1|title=Variety Theatre Review – Unsuspecting Susan|work=Variety|date=20 June 2005|access-date=24 January 2012}} In 2009 she appeared in Plague Over England in the West End,{{cite news |first=Rhoda |last=Koenig |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/reviews/plague-over-england-duchess-theatre-london-saturday-night-jermyn-street-theatre-london-1631177.html|title=Plague Over England, Duchess Theatre, London; Saturday Night, Jermyn Street Theatre, London – Reviews, Theatre & Dance|work=The Independent|location=UK|date=25 February 2009|access-date=24 January 2012}} while in the same year she appeared in the world premiere of Robin Soans' Mixed Up North, directed by Max Stafford-Clark.{{cite web |first=Lalayn |last=Baluch |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/25210/imrie-to-star-in-world-premiere-of-mixed-up |title=Imrie to star in world premiere of Mixed Up North|publisher=Thestage.co.uk|date=6 August 2009|access-date=24 January 2012}} In 2010, she appeared alongside Robin Soans in a production of Sheridan's The Rivals.

In 2005, Imrie won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in Acorn Antiques: The Musical! playing Miss Babs.{{cite web |url=http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/awards/winners#Other |title=Past Winners | The Official London Theatre Guide|publisher=Officiallondontheatre.co.uk|access-date=24 January 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204104538/http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/awards/winners|archive-date=4 February 2012}}{{cite web |title=Past Winners |url=http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/awards/winners |website=Official London Theatre |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201939/http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/awards/winners |archive-date=27 September 2007}} In 1995 she played in The Hothouse at the Chichester Festival Theatre with Harold Pinter,[https://www.cft.org.uk/about-us/our-history/1995 1995: The Hothouse], Chichester Festival Theatre website with the production after transferring to the West End. In 1990 she appeared in Hangover Square at the Lyric Hammersmith with Dudley Sutton,[https://fidelismorgan.com/plays/ Hangover Square], the Fidelis Morgan website in Drama at Inish (2011) at the Finborough Theatre with Paul O'Grady,[https://fidelismorgan.com/directing/drama-inish/ Drama at Inish], the Fidelis Morgan website and in her cabaret Laughing Matters[https://fidelismorgan.com/directing/laughing-matters/ Laughing Matters], the Fidelis Morgan website – all adapted and directed by Fidelis Morgan.

In 2010, Imrie played in Hay Fever,Gardner, Lyn. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/sep/30/hay-fever-celia-imrie-review Review of Hay Fever], The Guardian, 30 September 2010 and during the 2011–2012 season she appeared in Noises Off at The Old Vic and the West End, for which performance she was nominated for an Olivier Award.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/9146000/Olivier-Awards-full-list-of-nominations.html Olivier Awards: full list of nominations], The Daily Telegraph, 15 March 2012 In 2016 Imrie re-united with Glenda Jackson after 41 years since their RSC world tour, playing a "grimly determined Goneril" in King Lear at The Old Vic.Billington, Michael. [https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/nov/05/king-lear-review-glenda-jackson-old-vic Review of King Lear], The Guardian, 5 November 2016

Imrie narrated during the ceremonial event held to mark the 75th anniversary of D-day at Portsmouth in 2019.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-05 |title=Donald Trump And The Queen Join Allies For D-Day Celebrations |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/donald-trump-and-the-queen-join-allies-for-d-day-celebrations_uk_5cf79c89e4b0747b8c5f034b |access-date=2022-05-01 |website=HuffPost UK |language=en}}

Imrie's radio work includes parts in BBC Radio 4's No Commitments and Bleak Expectations. In early 2007, she narrated the book Arabella, broadcast over two weeks as the Book at Bedtime. She was the guest on Desert Island Discs on BBC Radio 4 on 13 February 2011.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00yhv30 Celia Imrie: Desert Island Discs], BBC Desert Island Discs webpage

She appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in October 2019. Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "A half-burnt candle".{{cite web |title=Gallery 14 – Room Five |url=https://qi.com/shows/museum/gallery-fourteen/5-room-five |website=qi.com |access-date=4 March 2023}}

Imrie's debut novel Not Quite Nice was published by Bloomsbury in 2015, had six weeks in the Sunday Times Top Ten, was cited by The Times as a 'delicious piece of entertainment', and also reached number 5 in the Apple ibook chart and 8 in Amazon's book chart.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/arts-and-culture/books/book-review-nice-work-if-you-can-get-it-by-celia-imrie-1-4066131|title=Book review: Nice Work (If You Can Get It) by Celia Imrie|last=Christie|first=Janet|date=2016|website=The Scotsman|language=en|access-date=26 June 2019}} Her second novel, Nice Work (If You Can Get It), was published in 2016;{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/celia-imrie/nice-work-if-you-can-get-it-imrie/|title=Nice work if you can get it|date=20 September 2016|website=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=26 June 2019}} and her third, Sail Away, was published in February 2018.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/celia-imrie/sail-away-imrie/|title=Sail Away – Celia Imrie|date=3 April 2018|website=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=26 June 2019}} Her next work, A Nice Cup of Tea, was published in 2019.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/celia-imrie/a-nice-cup-of-tea/|title=A Nice Cup of Tea- Celia Imrie|date=13 May 2019|website=Kirkus Reviews|access-date=26 June 2019}} Her fifth novel, Orphans of the Storm, was published in 2021.

• The Happy Hoofer (2011), Hodder & Stoughton, {{ISBN|978-1444709278}}
• Not Quite Nice (2015), Bloomsbury Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1632860323}}
• Nice Work (If You Can Get It) (2016), Bloomsbury Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1408876909}}
• Sail Away (2018), Bloomsbury Publishing, {{ISBN|978-1408883235}}
• A Nice Cup of Tea (2019), Bloomsbury Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1408883266}}
• Orphans of the Storm (2021), Bloomsbury Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1526614896}}
• Meet Me At Rainbow Corner (2024), Bloomsbury Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1526616357}}

As part of the cast of the 2018 film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Imrie achieved her first UK Top 40 single alongside Lily James with a cover of the ABBA song "When I Kissed the Teacher", which reached number 40 in August 2018.{{Cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/charts/uk-top-40-singles-chart/20180817/750140/|title=Official Singles Chart Top 40 {{!}} Official Charts Company|website=www.officialcharts.com|language=en|access-date=2018-08-29}}

Imrie lives in London and in Nice, France.{{Cite web|url=https://inews.co.uk/culture/books/celia-imrie-interview-author-orphans-in-the-storm-titanic-actor-1158540|title=Celia Imrie: 'They can age you too quickly, but there are still parts for women my age'|date=20 August 2021}} She has a son, Angus Imrie, born in 1994, with the actor Benjamin Whitrow.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8441832/Celia-Imrie-the-screen-matriarch-who-couldnt-bear-to-be-married.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8441832/Celia-Imrie-the-screen-matriarch-who-couldnt-bear-to-be-married.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Celia Imrie, the screen matriarch who couldn't bear to be married |work=The Telegraph|date= 11 April 2011|access-date=2017-11-09|first=Nick|last=Britten}}{{cbignore}} Angus appears as her on-screen son in Kingdom (2007–2009) and has acted in other productions, having studied drama and performance at the University of Warwick.{{cite news |last=Lockyer |first=Daphne |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10093006/Celia-Imrie-Love-and-marriage-Gawd-no.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10093006/Celia-Imrie-Love-and-marriage-Gawd-no.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Celia Imrie: Love and marriage? Gawd, no |work=The Telegraph|date=2013-06-03 |access-date=2016-12-21}}{{cbignore}}

When she was 14, she was admitted to the Royal Waterloo Hospital suffering from anorexia nervosa. Under the care of controversial psychiatrist William Sargant, she was given electroshock and large doses of the anti-psychotic drug Largactil.{{cite news |url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/celebrity/interview-actress-celia-imrie-on-her-40-years-on-showbusiness-1-4044556 |first=Janet |last=Christie |title=Interview: Actress Celia Imrie on her 40 years in showbusiness |work=The Scotsman |date=5 March 2016|accessdate=9 March 2022}}

In July 2005, she suffered a pulmonary embolism and was hospitalised for two weeks.{{cite web | url=https://www.thefreelibrary.com/How+w+a+brush+with+death+taugh+ht+Celia+to+slow+down.-a0254065402 | title=How a brush with death taugh Celia to slow down. – Free Online Library }}

Imrie was featured in the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? in October 2012 and discovered that an ancestor on her mother's side was William, Lord Russell, a Whig parliamentarian executed for treason in 1683, after being found guilty of conspiring against Charles II.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9598998/Who-Do-You-Think-You-Are-Celia-Imrie-BBC-One-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9598998/Who-Do-You-Think-You-Are-Celia-Imrie-BBC-One-review.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Who Do You Think You Are? Celia Imrie, BBC One, review|last=O'Donovan|first=Gerard|date=10 October 2012|website=The Telegraph|access-date=19 May 2018}}{{cbignore}} Imrie's great-great uncle, William Imrie, was a founder of the White Star Line. Imrie is the ten-times-great granddaughter of the infamous Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset.BBC programme Who Do You Think You Are?

In 2013, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Winchester.{{Cite web |url=http://www.winchester.ac.uk/newsandevents/Pages/University-celebrates-Graduation-2013-at-Winchester-Cathedral.aspx|title=University celebrates Graduation 2013 at Winchester Cathedral|date=10 October 2013|website=University of Winchester|language=en-GB|access-date=2017-01-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000556/http://www.winchester.ac.uk/newsandevents/Pages/University-celebrates-Graduation-2013-at-Winchester-Cathedral.aspx|archive-date=2 February 2017|url-status=dead}}

Imrie was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to drama.{{London Gazette|issue=64082|supp=y|page=B9|date=17 June 2023}}

• 1992: The Clarence Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Sea{{cite newspaper The Times |title= Winning supporters: Lennie James and Celia Imrie |date= 13 April 1992 |issue= 64305 |page= 6}}{{cite web |url= http://members.aol.com/actorsite/citz/ciindex.htm |title= Celia Imrie |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20071104012605/http://members.aol.com/actorsite/citz/ciindex.htm |archive-date=4 November 2007 }}
• 2006: Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical in Acorn Antiques:The Musical!{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/feb/27/arts.artsnews|title=Ballet Billies triumph at the Olivier awards|last=Higgins|first=Charlotte|date=27 February 2006|work=The Guardian|access-date=26 June 2019|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}
• 2017: UK WFTV (Women in Film and Television) Award for the EON Productions Lifetime Achievement{{cite web |title=Meet the 2017 Women in Film and Television Award Winners |website=WFTV |date=2 December 2017 |url=https://wftv.org.uk/events-gallery/2017-wftv-award-winners/ |access-date=17 May 2018 |archive-date=15 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115071808/https://wftv.org.uk/events-gallery/2017-wftv-award-winners/ |url-status=dead }}

{{Pending films key}}

Source:{{cite web |url=http://www.celiaimrie.com/stage.asp |title='Stage productions all years' on official website for Celia Imrie |publisher=Celiaimrie.com |access-date=24 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120121022515/http://www.celiaimrie.com/stage.asp |archive-date=21 January 2012}}

{{columns-list|colwidth=25em|

• 1976: Now Here's a Funny Thing
• 1976: Sherlock Holmes
• 1976: The Adventures of Alice
• 1977: Henry V
• 1977: Love's Labour's Lost
• 1977: The Boyfriend
• 1978: As You Like It
• 1978: Cabaret
• 1978: Macbeth
• 1978: 'Tis Pity She's a Whore
• 1979: The Good Humoured Ladies
• 1979: Pygmalion
• 1980: Seduced
• 1981: Heaven and Hell
• 1981: A Waste of Time
• 1982: Puntila and Matti, Master and Servant
• 1982: Puss in Boots
• 1982: Philosophy of the Boudoir
• 1982: The Screens
• 1983: Arms and the Man
• 1983: Custom of the Country
• 1983: The Merchant of Venice
• 1983: Sirocco
• 1983: Webster
• 1984: Alfie
• 1984: The Merchant of Venice
• 1984: When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout
• 1985: Particular Friendships
• 1985: The Philanthropist
• 1986: Last Waltz
• 1987: School For Wives
• 1987: Yerma
• 1988: Doctor Angelus
• 1988: The Madwoman of Chaillot
• 1990: In Pursuit of the English
• 1990: Hangover Square
• 1990: No One Sees the Video
• 1991: The Sea
• 1995: The Hothouse
• 1996: Habeas Corpus
• 1997: Dona Rosita the Spinster
• 1998: The School for Scandal
• 2003: The Way of the World
• 2003: Unsuspecting Susan
• 2005: Acorn Antiques: The Musical!
• 2005: Unsuspecting Susan
• 2009: Plague Over England
• 2009: Mixed Up North
• 2010: The Rivals
• 2010: Polar Bears
• 2010: Hay Fever
• 2011: Drama at Inish
• 2011–2012: Noises Off
• 2016: King Lear
• 2018–2019: Party Time and Celebration
• 2025: Backstroke

}}

{{reflist}}

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• {{IMDb name}}
• {{Screenonline name|571825}}
• {{British Comedy Guide|people|celia_imrie}}
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/jersey/content/image_galleries/bergerac_series_gallery.shtml?2 Photograph of Celia as Marianne Bellshade in 1982] in Bergerac

{{OlivierAward MusicalSupportingPerformance 2001–2025}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Imrie, Celia}}

Category:1952 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century British actresses

Category:21st-century British actresses

Category:Actresses from Guildford

Category:Alumni of the Guildford School of Acting

Category:Anglo-Scots

Category:British film actresses

Category:British musical theatre actresses

Category:British people of Scottish descent

Category:British television actresses

Category:British women comedians

Category:Clarence Derwent Award winners

Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire

Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners

Category:People educated at Guildford High School

Category:WFTV Award winners