Victoria Hamilton

Victoria Hamilton
Born Victoria Sharp
1971 (age 44–45)[1]
Wimbledon, London, England
Nationality United Kingdom
Education London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation Actress

Victoria Hamilton (born 1971) is an English actress known for her roles on stage and television. After training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Hamilton began her career in classical theatre, appearing in productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. In 2002, she appeared in the London stage play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg alongside Clive Owen and later Eddie Izzard. She made her Broadway debut in 2003 when the production moved to New York, where she earned a Tony Award nomination. She won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award and Evening Standard Theatre Award for her performance in the play Suddenly, Last Summer, held in 2004 at the Lyceum Theatre.

Hamilton has also appeared in three Jane Austen adaptations: the 1995 serial Pride and Prejudice, the 1995 film Persuasion, and the 1999 film Mansfield Park. Despite strong competition, the relatively unknown Hamilton won the role of Queen Victoria in the 2001 production Victoria & Albert, portraying the monarch in her early years. From 2008 to 2011, Hamilton was a cast member in the BBC1 series Lark Rise to Candleford. She will next appear in the Netflix series The Crown as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.

Career

Hamilton was born in Wimbledon, London to a non-theatrical family.[2][3] She attended St Hilary's School, a private school in Surrey, from 1974 to 1982.[4] She initially intended to attend Bristol University, reading English, before training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.[5][3] Hamilton began her acting career in classical theatre, spending the first five years appearing in productions by troupes such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre.[6] She stayed with the Royal Shakespeare Company for eighteen months.[7] Hamilton commented in 2001 that it was "very unfashionable" to begin a career in classical theatre – rather than pursue opportunities in television – but sought to emulate the careers of actors like Judi Dench and Ian Holm who "started in rep and slowly built themselves into the position where they could juggle theatre and film".[3]

Stage

In 1995, Hamilton appeared in Ibsen's The Master Builder directed by Peter Hall, starring Alan Bates and Gemma Jones and performed at the Haymarket Theatre in the West End of London. The Independent described Hamilton as a "formidable talent" despite being a newcomer, and noted that she had previously appeared in two performances held at the Orange Tree Theatre in London, one of them being an adaptation of a play by James Saunders.[8]

She made her Broadway debut in the 2003 play A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, co-starring alongside the comedian Eddie Izzard.[9] She had starred with Clive Owen, and later Izzard, in a successful London production of the play the previous year.[6][10] In the play, Hamilton and Izzard portray the parents of a girl with severe brain damage who attempt to save their marriage through jokes and black comedy.[3] For her performance in the Broadway adaptation, Hamilton received a nomination for Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.[11]

The following year she appeared in Suddenly, Last Summer, an adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, performed at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield.[12] For her performance, she was honoured as Best Actress by winning the Critics' Circle Theatre Award and Evening Standard Theatre Award.[13][14] Her success lead some of the media to brand her as "the next Judi Dench".[3][15] In 2008, she starred as Viola in the Shakespearean comedy Twelfth Night, staged at Wyndham's Theatre in the West End of London.[16]

Television and film

During the 1990s, Hamilton had supporting roles in three adaptations of Jane Austen's novels. These include the 1995 serial Pride and Prejudice as Mrs Forster,[17] the 1995 film Persuasion as Henrietta Musgrove,[18] and the 1999 film Mansfield Park as Maria Bertram.[19]

Hamilton won the role of Queen Victoria in the 2001 BBC-TV production Victoria & Albert, despite facing strong competition and being relatively unknown at the time. She auditioned with the director John Erman in a London hotel suite, and after reading lines from several more scenes at his prompting, was offered the part immediately.[20] Noting that the monarch is typically depicted as stern and stout, Hamilton desired to show a younger version who "loved parties and balls and theatre and opera and new dresses" after a childhood spent in a "forbidding environment".[21]

In 2005, Hamilton appeared in the three-part miniseries To the Ends of the Earth alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Jared Harris. The production, an adaptation of the novels of the same name by William Golding, featured various self-absorbed characters who are forced to remain in close quarters while sailing on a ship to Australia during the Napoleonic Wars.[22] Hamilton described the production as having "some of the most beautiful scripts I've seen", and called her character Miss Granham "one of the strongest people on the boat".[7]

From 2008 to 2011, Hamilton appeared in the BBC1 series Lark Rise to Candleford as Ruby Pratt, one of two spinster sisters who run a high fashion shop in a small 19th-century town.[23] The Guardian deemed Ruby's rivalry with her sister Pearl (played by Matilda Ziegler) as a highlight of the series, believing both actresses portrayed their characters with "infectious relish".[24] In 2013, she played Peggy in What Remains, a BBC TV series.[25]

In 2016, she will appear in the Netflix series The Crown as Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother. The drama series, which is scheduled to span over six seasons, depicts the relationship between Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh from 1947 to the present.[26]

Filmography

Year Film Role Notes Citation
1995 Cone Zone Zandra Ward TV film [2]
Persuasion Henrietta Musgrove [1]
Pride and Prejudice Mrs. Forster TV mini-series (3 episodes) [1]
1996 The Merchant of Venice Nerissa TV film [1]
1998 King Lear Cordelia TV series/Masterpiece Theatre [1]
1999 Mansfield Park Maria Bertram [1]
2000 Midsomer Murders Hilary Inkpen TV series (1 episode: "Garden of Death") [2]
2001 The Savages Jessica TV series (6 episodes) [2]
Victoria & Albert Queen Victoria TV serial [1]
2002 A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Sheila TV film [1]
Before You Go Catherine [1]
Babyfather Lucy TV series (2 episodes) [1]
Goodbye, Mr. Chips Kathie TV film [1]
2003 In Search of the Brontës Charlotte Brontë TV film [2]
2005 Twisted Tales Jessie Vasquez TV series (1 episode: "The Magister") [2]
To the Ends of the Earth Miss Granham TV mini-series (2 episodes) [2]
A Very Social Secretary Kimberley Fortier TV film [2]
Jericho Miss Greenaway TV series (1 episode: "To Murder and Create") [2]
2006 Scoop Jan [1]
Wide Sargasso Sea Cora TV film [1]
The Shell Seekers Nancy TV film [2]
2007 Trial & Retribution Suzy TV series (1 episode: "Curriculum Vitae: Part 1") [1]
The Time of Your Life Esther TV series (6 episodes) [1]
2008 French Film Cheryl [1]
Lark Rise to Candleford Ruby Pratt TV series (25 episodes: 2008–2011)
2010 Toast Mum TV film [1]
2013 What Remains Peggy Scott TV series [1]
2014 The Game Sarah Montag TV series [1]
2015 Doctor Foster Anna TV series
2015 Call the Midwife Iris Willets TV series [1]
2016–present The Crown Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother TV series

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 "Victoria Hamilton". British Film Institute. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Hamilton, Victoria 1971–". Contemporary Theatre, Film and Television. 1 January 2007. Retrieved 7 May 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Spencer, Charles (4 December 2001). "Victoria's values". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "St Hilary's Association". St Hilary's School. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  5. ↑ "Their awards". London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  6. 1 2 Kuchwara, Michael (30 May 2003). "Izzard and Hamilton: A British dynamic duo enchant Broadway". Associated Press. Retrieved 13 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  7. 1 2 "To the Ends of the Earth: Interviews with the Cast". PBS. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  8. ↑ Taylor, Paul (15 October 1995). "Reviews: Theatre The Master Builder Haymarket Theatre Royal, London". The Independent. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  9. ↑ Isherwood, Charles (4 April 2003). "Putting it together: Matt Wolf charts the road traveled to get Austen actors to the table". Daily Variety. Retrieved 13 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  10. ↑ "Comedian Izzard to debut on Broadway". Associated Press. 5 November 2002. Retrieved 13 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  11. ↑ Wolf, Matt (1 January 2003). "Putting it together: Matt Wolf charts the road traveled to get Austen actors to the table". Persuasions: The Jane Austen Journal. Retrieved 13 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  12. ↑ Wolf, Matt (3 June 2004). "Suddenly Last Summer". Daily Variety. Retrieved 13 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  13. ↑ "Mel Brooks's the Producers scoops top theatre award". Liverpool Daily Post. 2 February 2005. Retrieved 13 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  14. ↑ Singh, Anita (13 December 2004). "Judi Dench honoured for 'doing job I adore'". The Independent. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  15. ↑ Amer, Matthew (3 December 2008). "Victoria Hamilton". Official London Theatre. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  16. ↑ Billing, Christian M. (22 September 2009). "Twelfth Night". Shakespeare Bulletin. Retrieved 13 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  17. ↑ "Pride and Prejudice: Also in the cast". BBC. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  18. ↑ Hinson, Hal (20 October 1995). "Persuasion: Austen found". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  19. ↑ Ivry, Bob (17 November 1999). "Taking a clue from Austen". The Record. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  20. ↑ Convey, Olivia (18 August 2001). "Victoria picked for plum role as queen". The News Letter. Retrieved 12 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  21. ↑ Wolf, Matt (23 October 2001). "Victoria Hamilton, queen share more than a name". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 10 April 2016 – via Highbeam Research. (subscription required)
  22. ↑ Parrill 2009, p. 298.
  23. ↑ "Lark Rise To Candleford" (Press release). BBC. 17 December 2007. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  24. ↑ Groskop, Viv (11 February 2011). "Lark Rise to Candleford: The end is nigh". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
  25. ↑ Frost, Caroline (9 January 2013). "'What Remains' Episode 2 Review - David Threlfall Stars In Intriguing BBC Murder Mystery". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  26. ↑ Vincent, Alice; Singh, Anita (11 April 2016). "The Crown: Everything you need to know about Netflix's £100 million series about the Queen's reign". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
Works cited

External links

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