Emma Thompson
Biography
Dame Emma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and her accolades include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, she was made a dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to drama. Born to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe and appeared in the comedy sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984). In 1985, she starred in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, which was a breakthrough in her career. In 1987, she became famous for her performances in two BBC series, Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work on both series. In the early 1990s, she often collaborated with then-husband, actor and director Kenneth Branagh in films such as Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Thompson won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Merchant-Ivory period drama Howards End (1992). In 1993, she received two Academy Award nominations—Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress—for the respective roles of the housekeeper of a grand household in The Remains of the Day and a lawyer in In the Name of the Father, becoming one of the few actors to achieve this feat. Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay—making her the only person in history to win Oscars for both acting and writing—and once again won the BAFTA. Further critical acclaim came for her roles in Primary Colors (1998), Love Actually (2003), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Late Night (2019), and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022). Other notable film credits include the Harry Potter series (2004–2011), Nanny McPhee (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), An Education (2009), Men in Black 3 (2012) and the spin-off Men in Black: International (2019), Brave (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Cruella (2021), and Matilda the Musical (2022). Her television credits include Wit (2001), Angels in America (2003), The Song of Lunch (2010), King Lear (2018) and Years and Years (2019). She portrayed Mrs. Lovett in a Lincoln Center production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2014. Authorised by the publishers of Beatrix Potter, Thompson has also written three Peter Rabbit children's books.
Known For
Karen
Love Actually
Miss Kenton
The Remains of the Day
Karen Eiffel
Stranger Than Fiction
Sybill Trelawney
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Sybill Trelawney
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Katherine
Henry V
Elinor Dashwood
Sense and Sensibility
Dr. Alice Krippin
I Am Legend
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee
Kate
The Tall Guy
Maggie Chester
Peter's Friends
Gareth Peirce
In the Name of the Father
Dr. Diana Reddin
Junior
Margaret Strauss / Grace
Dead Again
Headmistress
An Education
Beatrice
Much Ado About Nothing
Margaret Schlegel
Howards End
Captain Amelia (voice)
Treasure Planet
Susan Stanton
Primary Colors
Lady Marchmain
Brideshead Revisited
Sybill Trelawney
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Vivian Bearing
Wit
Cecilia Rueda
Imagining Argentina
Frances
The Winter Guest
Nanny McPhee
Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang
Agent O
Men in Black 3
Self
An Audience with Adele
Self
The Real Mary Poppins
FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins
Judas Kiss
Elinor (voice)
Brave
Kate Walker
Last Chance Harvey
Dora Carrington
Carrington
Charlotte
The Boat That Rocked
She
The Song of Lunch
Narrator
How to Stop a Nuclear War
P.L. Travers
Saving Mr. Banks
Narrator (voice)
Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom
Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes
Beautiful Creatures
Self
Merchant Ivory
Lady Eastlake
Effie Gray
various
The Cellar Tapes
Narrator (voice)
Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity
Kate Jones
The Love Punch
Self (archive footage)
Hannibal Hopkins et Sir Anthony
Alison Porter
Look Back in Anger
Narrator (voice)
Men, Women & Children
Self
Hollywood's Dark Secret
Catherine Bryson
A Walk in the Woods
Cemolina
The Legend of Barney Thomson
Self (archive footage)
A Tribute To Ismail Merchant
Self
The Fringe, Fame and Me
Young Woman
Slags
Mrs. Lovett
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
The Queen
Walking the Dogs
Isabel (uncredited)
My Father the Hero
Barb
Dead of Winter
Self
Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out
Anna Quangel
Alone in Berlin
Mrs. Potts
Beauty and the Beast
Dr. Rosshilde
Burnt
Self
Nos Bastidores de Hollywood
Self
When Harry Left Hogwarts
Extinction
Self
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
Self
James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty
Marie Bonnar
The Blue Boy
Dr. Rawlings
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
Duchess D'Antan
Impromptu
The Sheep Detectives
Maureen Meyerowitz
The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
Self
Junket Whore
Dr Rawlings
Bridget Jones's Baby
Catherine Winslow
The Winslow Boy
Narrator (voice)
To the Ends of the Earth
Self
Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day'
Elephant Woman
Hospital!
Druscilla
Maybe Baby
Self
Sea Sorrow
Self
Fry and Laurie Reunited
Fiona Maye
The Children Act
Goneril
King Lear
Prime Minister
Johnny English Strikes Again
Katherine Newbury
Late Night
Dora the Yeti Elder (voice)
Missing Link
Petra Andrich
Last Christmas
Amanda
How to Build a Girl
Agent O
Men in Black: International
The Baroness
Cruella
Self (archive footage)
Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal
Elle-Même
Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson
Poly (voice)
Dolittle
Nancy Stokes
Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Agatha Trunchbull
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
Self
Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw
Self
The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey
Cath Stevenson
What's Love Got to Do with It?
Narrator (voice)
Rabbit Ears - The White Cat
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss
Hear Me Roar
Narrator (voice)
The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science
Narrator
Twelve Nights
Tin Fish
Royal Variety Performance 1984
Self
Adapting Austen
Self
A Sense of Character
Self
A Very Quiet Man
Self
Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility
Self
Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility
Self
Sense and Sensibility: 25th Anniversary Reunion
Dr. Alice Krippin
I Am Legend: Alternate Ending
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
109
Gender
Female
Birthday
1959-04-15
Place of Birth
Paddington, London, England, UK
Also Known As
اما تامپسون