Elizabeth Spender
{{Short description|Film actress (born 1950)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elizabeth Spender
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1950}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| othername =
| occupation = Actress
| years_active =
| spouse = {{marriage|Barry Humphries|1990|2023|end=died}}
| parents = Stephen Spender
Natasha Spender
| relatives = Matthew Spender (brother)
}}
Elizabeth Spender (born 1950) is a film and television actress known for her role in Brazil.
Early life and education
Spender is the daughter of concert pianist Natasha Spender (née Litvin) and the poet, novelist and essayist Stephen Spender.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/celebrity/humphries-family-gathers-from-around-the-globe-20230418-p5d19k.html|title=Humphries’ family gathers from around the globe|first=Andrew|last=Hornery|date=April 21, 2023|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}{{Cite news |date=August 2015 |title=Unbridled Passion |pages=53–57 |work=House & Garden}} She studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Drama Centre London.{{Cite news |date=24 March 1987 |title=Rolling the credits for a Spender |pages=31 |work=Evening Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/722417131/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=newspapers.com}} She also attended an Arvon Foundation television play-writing course which was taught by Jack Rosenthal.
Career
Among numerous television and film credits, she appeared in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film Brazil.{{Cite web |title=Elizabeth Spender |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4a8ccda |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517213010/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4a8ccda |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 17, 2021 |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=BFI |language=en}}
She has written two BBC TV dramas: Hedgehog Wedding (1987) produced by Innes Lloyd,{{Cite web |title=Hedgehog Wedding (1987) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b724c6127 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411230237/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b724c6127 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 11, 2019 |access-date=2023-04-29 |website=BFI |language=en}} and These Foolish Things (1989){{Cite web |title=These Foolish Things (1989) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b799d1e7f |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126000752/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b799d1e7f |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |access-date=2023-04-29 |website=BFI |language=en}} which starred Lindsay Duncan.{{Cite news |date=28 February 1989 |title=Fooling Around With Love |pages=19 |work=Daily Mirror |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19890228/145/0019 |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=British Newspaper Archive}} In the 1990s she wrote a series of Pastability cookbooks.{{cite news |last1=Dowe |first1=Michael |title=Italian Treats for Non-Italians |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/121290165 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=15 Oct 1991 |page=43 |language=en}} In 2005 she published a memoir of her childhood, The Wild Horse Diaries ({{isbn|9780733619755}}).{{cite book |last1=Spender |first1=Stephen |title=New Selected Journals, 1939-1995 |date=3 July 2012 |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=978-0-571-29411-4 |page=542 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2qOfElFbwQC&pg=PT542 |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=25 September 2005 |title=The kindness of famous friends |pages=5 |work=Sunday Independent (Ireland) – Living Section |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002324/20050925/688/0059 |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=British Newspaper Archive}}{{Cite news |date=28 August 2005 |title=The horse was my baby |pages=38 |work=The Sunday Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/753272303/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite web |date=11 September 2005 |title=The pony-mad child inside |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3646657/The-pony-mad-child-inside.html |access-date=29 April 2023 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}
Personal life
From 1990 until his death in 2023, she was married to the Australian actor and satirist Barry Humphries.{{Cite web|url=https://www.smoothradio.com/news/entertainment/barry-humphries-edna-age-wife-children/|title=Barry Humphries facts: Dame Edna comedian's age, career, wife, children and more revealed|website=Smooth}} They had met at a Groucho Club party in 1988.
Filmography
= Film =
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 1981
|Elsa Weekley | |
| 1985
|Alison / 'Barbara' Lint | |
| 1987
|Florence | |
| 1996
|Anne | |
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !Title !Role !Notes |
| 1973
|Ballroom Guest |Television film |
| 1979
|Feet First |Fay Faith |Episode #1.3 |
| 1979
|Premiere |Trudi |Episode: "Over There" |
| 1979
|Christina |Episode: "1918" |
| 1980
|Helen Tippett |Episode: "Blood Sports" |
| 1980
|Constance |Episode: "The Happy Autumn Fields" |
| 1981
|Something in Disguise |Annabel |Episode: "A New Life" |
| 1982
|Henrietta |Episode: "Scandals" |
| 1984
|Girl at party |Episode: "The Muse" |
| 1984
|The Secret Servant |Melinda Fay |2 episodes |
| 1984
|Kate |Television film |
| 1986
|Magdalena Hofdemel |Episode: "The Mozart Inquest" |
| 1988
|Laura Lyons |Episode: "The Hound of the Baskervilles" |
| 1991
|Valkyrie / Marlene |4 episodes |
| 1998–1999
|Fast Tracks |Judy Brumfield |3 episodes |
| 2023
|Barry Humphries: A Tribute |{{N/a}} |Television special |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20210517213010/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4a8ccda Elizabeth Spender] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}}
- {{IMDb name|id=0818175|name=Elizabeth Spender}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spender, Lizzie}}
Category:English film actresses
Category:English people of German-Jewish descent
Category:Jewish English actresses
Category:21st-century English memoirists