Penelope Alice Wilton, Template:Post-nominals (born 3 June 1946) is an English actress of stage, film, and TV. She starred opposite Richard Briers in the BBC situation comedy Ever Decreasing Circles. She has also appeared in Doctor Who, and in the period drama Downton Abbey. She has twice won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award. Wilton has been married to two distinguished actors, Daniel Massey and Ian Holm.
Scarborough, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Height
1.7 m
Profession
Actress
Education
Drama Centre London
Nationality
British
Spouse
Daniel Massey (actor)
Children
Alice Massey
Parents
Alice Travers, Clifford Wilton
Siblings
Lindy Wilton, Rosemary Wilton
Awards
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, Order of the British Empire, Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress, Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress
Nominations
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play, Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a Revival
Movies
The BFG, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Shaun of the Dead, Calendar Girls, Match Point, Cry Freedom, Pride & Prejudice, Belle, Clockwise, Iris, Blame It on the Bellboy, The History Boys, The French Lieutenant's Woman, The Girl, Half Broken Things, The Secret R...
TV Shows
Downton Abbey, Five Days, The Passion, Bob & Rose, Talking Heads, The Return of the Borrowers, Ever Decreasing Circles, The Borrowers, Screaming
Star Sign
Gemini
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Quote
1
I didn't come into the business till the late sixties but I've seen a lot of changes in the 35 years since. Mostly I mourn the demise of the repertory companies - that's a very sad thing from the point of view of the training of actors.
She was awarded the Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to Drama. She is an actress in London, England.
3
She has been acclaimed by theatre critic Michael Billington as having an "extraordinary quality of moral authority" and "carries weight and substance behind everything she says".
4
Rehearsing for her leading role in T.S. Eliot's "The Family Reunion", opposite Samuel West, at the Donmar Warehouse opening later this month. [November 2008]
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Preparing for her role in The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse (June-August 2008) in the West End. [February 2008]
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Paddington, London, England [May 2009]
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Nominated Best Actress at the 2009 Laurence Olivier Awards for "The Chalk Garden" at the Donmar Warehouse.
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Named Best Actress (along with her co-star, Margaret Tyzack) at the 2008 London Evening Standard Theatre Awards for "The Chalk Garden" at the Donmar Warehouse.
9
Nominated Best Actress at the 2008 Royal Television Society Awards for Five Days, Celebration and Half Broken Things.
10
Nominated Best Actress at the 2008 Laurence Olivier Awards for "John Gabriel Borkman" at the Donmar Warehouse.
11
Nominated for the 2007 London Evening Standard Theatre Awards as Best Actress for John Gabriel Borkman at the Donmar Warehouse.
Nominated for the 1994 Laurence Olivier Award - Best Actress in a Play for "The Deep Blue Sea" at the Almeida and the Apollo Theatres in the West End.
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Nominated for the 1988 Laurence Olivier Award - Actress of the Year in a New Play for "The Secret Rapture" at the National Theatre (Lyttelton). She played the same character (Marion French) in the film adaptation of David Hare's play in 1993.
15
Nominated for the 1981 Laurence Olivier Award - Actress of the Year in a Revival for "Man & Superman" at the National Theatre (Olivier).
16
Appeared on the BAFTA Television shortlist for Best Actress in the following roles: 1985 for Ever Decreasing Circles, 1987 for The Monocled Mutineer, 1993 for The Borrowers, 1999 for Talking Heads 2: Nights in the Gardens of Spain and 2006 for Falling.
17
Appeared on the BAFTA Film shortlist for Best Supporting Actress in the following roles: 1986 for Clockwise (1986), 1987 for Cry Freedom (1987) and 1994 for The Secret Rapture (1993).
18
In the 1970s she married actor Daniel Massey, by whom she had one daughter. Before that she lost a baby boy, born very premature.
19
She was once married to Ian Holm, who played Frodo Baggins in a BBC Radio 4 dramatization of The Lord of the Rings. In Shaun of the Dead (2004), her husband is played by Bill Nighy, who played Sam Gamgee opposite Holm in the same Radio 4 production. Also appearing in the film was Martin Freeman, who played the younger version of Holm's Bilbo Baggins.
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She was nominated for a 2001 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Little Foxes at the Donmar Warehouse.
21
She was awarded the 1993 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actress for her performance in The Deep Blue Sea. Her former husband, Ian Holm, was awarded Best Actor for his performance in Moonlight at the same awards.
22
She was awarded the 1981 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actress of 1980 for her performances in Much Ado About Nothing and Man and Superman.
She was awarded the 1981 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actress of 1980 for her performance in Much Ado About Nothing.
$19 Million
