Siân Phillips
Biography
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips DBE (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a Welsh actress, author and singer. Phillips was the daughter of Sally (née Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman. She is a Welsh-speaker and in the first volume of her autobiography, "Private Faces", she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio. She attended Pontardawe Grammar School and later read English and Philosophy at University College Cardiff, graduating in 1955. She entered RADA in LOndon, England with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson. She went on to win the prestigious Bancroft Gold Medal for Hedda Gabler and was offered work in Hollywood when she left RADA. While still a student she was offered three film contracts, entailing her to work for an extended period of time in the United States; but she declined, preferring to work on stage instead.
Known For
Self
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
Dune
Cassiopeia
Clash of the Titans
Narrator
The Mountain That Had To Be Painted
Charal
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Mrs. Archer
The Age of Innocence
Nain Griffiths
The Snow Spider
Nain Griffiths
Emlyn's Moon
Mrs Utah Watkins / Polly Garter / Mrs Beyon
National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood
Nain Griffiths
The Chestnut Soldier
Hayden
Murphy's War
Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard
Under Milk Wood
Gwendolen
Becket
Madame de Volanges
Valmont
Marie Strickland
The Murder Room
Voice
Eh, Joe?
Ru
Come and Go
Narrator
A Picture of London
Ella
Young Cassidy
Lady Ripon
Nijinsky
Self
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Mrs. Patrick Campbell
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill
Annabella Rock
The Doctor and the Devils
Mrs. Pugh
Under Milk Wood
Mathilda Gillespie
The Scold's Bridle
Self
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
Jo
It’s Dearer After Midnight
Voice
Apple Cider Vinegar
Woman
Thief
Dona Ana
Don Juan in Hell
Maggie
Lovesong
Daisy Barnett
The Black Candle
Self
Siân Phillips at 90
Aberfan: The Green Hollow
Narrator
Stalin: Inside the Terror
Calypso
The Vacillations of Poppy Carew
Red Queen
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Mrs. Blessington
Dark River
Mam
House of America
Hesione Hushabye
Heartbreak House
Sarah Walker
Hochelaga, Terre des Âmes
Erica
Voyageuse
Narrator
The Mousehole Cat
Anna Maria Dalí
Miss Dalí
Ursula Mossbank
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Patient
To Provide All People
Mersyankh (voice)
David Macaulay: Pyramid
Grandmother / narrator (voice)
A Christmas Carol
Mrs Alicia Moore
How Many Miles to Babylon?
Narrator
Nureyev
Maureen
Dream Horse
Narrator/Older Lady Emily Lennox
Aristocrats
Be Happy!
Margaret Corey
Summerland
WRNS Officer (uncredited)
The Longest Day
Eleanor
Time & Again
Madame Neilsen
National Theatre Live: Les Blancs
Self
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
Evil Baroness
Cinderella: The ITV Pantomime
Anna
Platonov
Mrs. Henska
Carpathian Eagle
Self
Dal: Yma/Nawr
Lady Pamela More
Laughter in the Dark
Janet Achurch
The Achurch Letters
self
Alec Guinness: A Class Act
Frank and Percy
Self
Richard Burton: Wild Genius
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
67
Gender
Female
Birthday
1933-05-14
Place of Birth
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Glamorgan, Wales
Also Known As
Sian Phillips