This alert and classy Britisher seemed poised for Hollywood stardom in the early 1970s. Although it wasn't meant to be, Janet Suzman has remained one of the more respected classical stage actresses of her time. Born in 1939, she was raised in a staunch, liberal family household in South Africa at a time when the country was confronted with the ...
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Kingsmead College, University of the Witwatersrand
Spouse
Trevor Nunn
Children
Joshua Nunn
Parents
Saul Suzman, Betty Suzman
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best New Star of the Year – Actress, BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles, Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play, Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a Revival, British Academy Tele...
Movies
Nicholas and Alexandra, The Draughtsman's Contract, A Dry White Season, Nuns on the Run, Priest of Love, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, The Black Windmill, Leon the Pig Farmer, Nijinsky, And the Ship Sails On, The House on Garibaldi Street, Voyage of the Damned, Antony and Cleopatra, The Zany Advent...
TV Shows
The Singing Detective, The Colour of Magic, Labyrinth, Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy, Clayhanger
Star Sign
Aquarius
#
Trademark
1
Shakespearean roles
2
Often plays women of power
3
Often plays charismatic women with imperious screen presence
4
Flame hair and intense blue eyes
#
Quote
1
[on 'Nicholas and Alexandra'] The film is entirely too long. What a gargantuan monster to condense into three hours! If I do more movies I'd like to have some fun, look great in tacky things, meeting spy boats in the fog in a trench coat and smoking lots of cigarettes. Like Bette Davis. But nobody seems to make those movies anymore.
2
We do have our exits and our entrances and we are perhaps mere, but I think if one keep a certain joyousness in life which should be in playing, then good for one, but it's slightly more serious than that. But I know what Shakespeare meant; he meant there's a kind of insignificance in our life which he can apply to the world.
She was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.
4
She was an active voice against the Extension of University Education Bill while a college student in South Africa. The bill was a means of introducing Apartheid into higher education, and when it was passed in 1959, Suzman decided to leave South Africa for England.
5
Her marriage to stage director was a prolific pairing personally and professionally for many years during the 70s. They later divorced. One son Joshua.
6
Received the Evening Standard acting stage awards for "Hello, Goodbye" in 1973 and "The Three Sisters" in 1976.
7
Trained at LAMDA, she was made an honorary associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has been awarded honorary degrees by the Universities of Warwick and Leicester, and by the Open University.
8
Niece of the staunch South African anti-apartheid activist Helen Suzman.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
2nd House
1974
TV Series
Miss Nightingale
1974
TV Movie
Miss Nightingale
Antony and Cleopatra
1974
TV Movie
Cleopatra
The Black Windmill
1974
Alex Tarrant
BBC Play of the Month
1968-1972
TV Series
Hedda Gabler
Lady Macbeth
Masha
...
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
1972
Sheila
Nicholas and Alexandra
1971
Alexandra
Solo
1970
TV Series
Charlotte Brontë
Theatre 625
1966
TV Series
Edith Swan-Neck / Mary
Conflict
1966
TV Series
Joan of Arc
Lord Raingo
1966
TV Series
Delphine
The Wars of the Roses
1965
TV Mini-Series
Lady Anne
Joan la Pucelle
Festival
1964
TV Series
Luciana, Adriana's sister
The Lake
2014/IV
Short completed voice
Felix
2013/I
Mrs. Cartwright
Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson
2012
TV Movie
Readings
Labyrinth
2012
TV Mini-Series
Esclarmonde
Sinbad
2012
TV Series
Grandmother
Safia
Tinga Tinga Tales
2011
TV Series
Ostrich
Midsomer Murders
2010
TV Series
Lady Matilda William
The Color of Magic
2008
TV Mini-Series
Ninereeds
Trial & Retribution
2006-2007
TV Series
Winifred Morgan QC
Hiroshima
2005
TV Movie documentary
Kinuko Doi (voice)
A Fairy Story
2002
Short
Max
2002/I
Max's Mother
Ruth Rendell Mysteries
1997
TV Series
Cecily Branksome
Hildegard of Bingen
1994
TV Movie documentary
Marchioness
Inspector Morse
1993
TV Series
Dr. Claire Brewster
The Secret Agent
1992
TV Series
Margaret, Duchess of Chester
Leon the Pig Farmer
1992
Judith Geller
Horizon
1992
TV Series documentary
Narrator
Nuns on the Run
1990
Sister Superior
Revolutionary Witness: The Preacher
1989
TV Short
Theroign de Mericourt (segment "The Woman")
4 Play
1989
TV Series
Judith (segment "Not As Bad As They Seem")
A Dry White Season
1989
Susan du Toit
Theatre Night
1988
TV Series
Frosine
The Singing Detective
1986
TV Mini-Series
Nicola
Masterpiece Theatre: Lord Mountbatten - The Last Viceroy
1986
TV Mini-Series
Lady Edwina Mountbatten
Time for Murder
1985
TV Series
Avon Eve
The Midsummer Marriage
1984
TV Movie
Sosostris
The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood
1984
TV Movie
Eleanor of Aquitaine
And the Ship Sails On
1983
Edmea Tetua
The Draughtsman's Contract
1982
Virginia Herbert / Mrs Herbert
Praise
1982
TV Movie
Adelaide Graham
Priest of Love
1981
Frieda Lawrence
Escape
1980
TV Series
Wendy Woods
The Greeks: A Journey in Space and Time
1980
TV Series
Clytemnestra
Nijinsky
1980
Emilia Marcus
The House on Garibaldi Street
1979
TV Movie
Hedda
Voyage of the Damned
1976
Leni Strauss
Clayhanger
1976
TV Series
Hilda Lessways
Hilda Clayhanger
Twelfth Night
1976
TV Movie
Viola
Director
Title
Year
Status
Character
Othello
1989
TV Movie
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
The Singing Detective
1986
TV Mini-Series performer - 1 episode
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Nobody's Died Laughing
2016
Documentary
Herself
Piers Morgan's Life Stories
2015
TV Series
Herself - Actress and Friend
Shakespeare Uncovered
2015
TV Mini-Series documentary
Herself
Falls the Shadow: The Life and Times of Athol Fugard
2012
TV Movie documentary
Herself
Storyville
2012
TV Series documentary
Dorothe Bushell
Late Review
2010
TV Series
Herself - Interviewee
Imagine
2006
TV Series documentary
Herself
Hollywood Greats
2006
TV Series documentary
Herself
University Challenge
2006
TV Series
Herself
We Have Ways of Making You Talk
2005
TV Movie documentary
Narrator (voice)
Drama Connections
2005
TV Series documentary
Herself
Manhunt: The Press Baron's Wife
2001
TV Series documentary
Narrator (2001) (voice)
Secrets of the Incas
2000
TV Movie documentary
Herself (narrator)
Manhunt: The Search for the Yorkshire Ripper
1999
TV Mini-Series documentary
Narrator
The ABC of Democracy
1994
TV Movie documentary
Herself
The London Programme
1989
TV Series
Herself
The Evening Standard Drama Awards
1988
TV Special
Herself
Acting
1987
TV Mini-Series documentary
Herself
Only One Earth
1987
TV Mini-Series documentary
Narrator
Masterpiece Theatre: Fifteen Years
1986
TV Movie
Herself
Golden Gala
1978
TV Movie
Herself
Arena
1976
TV Series documentary
Herself
The Brian Connell Interview
1974
TV Series
Herself
Play for Today
1973
TV Series
Herself
Film Night
1972
TV Series
Herself
The 44th Annual Academy Awards
1972
TV Special
Herself - Nominee: Best Actress in a Leading Role
The David Frost Show
1971
TV Series
Herself
Film '72
1971
TV Series
Herself
Ten Days That Shook the World
1967
TV Movie documentary
Krupskaya (voice)
Double Image
1966
TV Mini-Series documentary
The Woman
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1993
CableACE
CableACE Awards
International Cultural/Theatrical/Performing Arts Special or Series