Maggie Steed

After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, Steed left the theatre for several{{quantify|date=October 2015}} years.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} She stated: "Actresses in those days had to be 'dolly birds' and I was just Margaret Baker from Plymouth, tall with very gappy teeth, so I became a secretary instead. It was only years later, when I'd grown up politically and become interested in theatre, that I started again and ended up at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre with Clive Russell and Sue Johnston."The Independent, 22 March 2000 Steed has performed with the Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and with Belt and Braces, the political theatre troupe run by Gavin Richards as well as working as a comedian in alternative cabaret.

She was one of the first women to become involved in the alternative comedy scene when it sprang into existence in 1979, and performing at the Comedy Store, with the group Alternative Cabaret and elsewhere. Her material was personal and confessional.

Her first major television role was playing Rita Moon in the series Shine on Harvey Moon. She played Margaret Crabbe in Pie in the Sky and Phyllis Woolf in Born and Bred. Her television credits include appearances on Fox, Minder, Sensitive Skin and Jam & Jerusalem.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007cjm7|title=Jam and Jerusalem; Series 1 Episode 5|date=22 December 2006|accessdate=29 May 2023}}

In 2008, Steed appeared on tour in Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off as Mrs Clackett, produced by the Ambassador Theatre Group, which included the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The cast included Sophie Bould, Colin Baker and Jonathan Coy. In 2010 she appeared in the short film The Miserables, and the following year onstage in a comedy duo role with actress Jackie Clune in a production of The Belle's Stratagem.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/sep/11/the-belles-stratagem-review|first=Michael|last=Billington|title=The Belle's Stratagem – review|work=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian Media Group|accessdate=29 May 2023|date=11 September 2011}}

In April 2017, it was announced that Steed was joining the cast of EastEnders as Joyce Murray.{{cite news| url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/maggie-steed-and-christopher-timothy-excited-to-be-joining-eastenders/35585983.html|work=Belfast Telegraph|accessdate=29 May 2023|title=Maggie Steed and Christopher Timothy 'excited' to be joining EastEnders|date=2 April 2017}} It was announced in March 2018 that her character had been written out of the series and subsequently would be killed off.{{cite news|url= https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/eastenders-spoilers-joyce-dead-killed-off_uk_5ab4dc93e4b008c9e5f64297|work=Huffington Post UK|date=23 March 2018|first=Daniel|last=Welsh|title='EastEnders' Spoilers: Joyce Murray To Be Killed Off As Maggie Steed Leaves|accessdate=29 May 2023}}

Steed was active in the Campaign Against Racism in the Media. She appeared in an edition of the BBC's Open Door series on 1 March 1979 (with the academic Stuart Hall) entitled "It Ain't Half Racist, Mum", criticising British television's discussion and representation of immigration and racial stereotypes.{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b72f8384f|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216014152/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b72f8384f|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 December 2017|title=It Ain't Half Racist, Mum (1979)|work=BFI|access-date=6 August 2021}}

She helped write and perform in the comedy benefit concert An Evening for Nicaragua, at the Shaftesbury Theatre, which was shown on British television in 1983. The cast included Ben Elton, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Emma Thompson and Rik Mayall.Steed visited Nicaragua in 1982 with Andy de la Tour.{{cite web|url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b71375826|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180613053036/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b71375826|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 June 2018|title=British Film Institute: An Evening for Nicaragua (1983)|work=BFI}}

• The Heiress – as Aunt Lavinia (National Theatre) (2000)
• The Importance of Being Earnest – as Lady Bracknell (2005)
• Relative Values – as the Countess of Marshwood (Salisbury Playhouse production) (2005)
• The History Boys – replaced Frances de la Tour as Mrs. Lintott (National Theatre) (2006)
• Noises Off – as Dotty Otley (UK Touring Production) (2008)
• Hay Fever – as Judith Bliss (West Yorkshire Playhouse) (2010)

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0824353}}
• [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1754672/ "The Miserables", at IMDb]
• [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000322/ai_n14283963 "Theatre: Debut – Maggie Steed" Interview by David Benedict in The Independent (London), 22 March 2000]
• [http://www.historyboysonbroadway.com/thecast.php The History Boys on Broadway] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504005646/http://www.historyboysonbroadway.com/thecast.php |date=4 May 2012 }}
• [http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2005/01/29/relative_values_review_290105_feature.shtml "Review: Relative Values" at bbc.co.uk]

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Category:Living people

Category:1946 births

Category:20th-century English actresses

Category:21st-century English actresses

Category:Actresses from Plymouth, Devon

Category:Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

Category:English film actresses

Category:English stage actresses

Category:English television actresses

Category:English women comedians

Category:Comedians from Devon