Zoë Wanamaker

Zoë Wanamaker
Born	(1949-05-13) 13 May 1949 New York City, New York, United States of America
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1973–present
Spouse(s)	Gawn Grainger (m.1994–present)
Parent(s)	Sam Wanamaker (deceased) Charlotte Holland (deceased)
Website	http://www.zoewanamaker.com/

Zoë Wanamaker, CBE (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born English actress. She has performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company; in films, including the Harry Potter series; and in a number of television productions, including a long-time role as Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family. Wanamaker has been nominated for a BAFTA Film Award, two BAFTA TV Awards, Four Tony's and nine Olivier Awards, winning two.

Early life and family

Wanamaker was born in New York City, the daughter of Canadian-born actress and radio performer Charlotte Holland, and American-born actor, film director and radio producer Sam Wanamaker, who decided not to return to the United States after being blacklisted in 1952.

Wanamaker's parents were Jewish, though she had a non-religious and non-observant upbringing. Her family was of Ukrainian extraction. The BBC documentary Who Do You Think You Are? broadcast on 24 February 2009, revealed that Wanamaker's paternal grandfather Maurice Wanamaker (originally Manus Watmacher) was a tailor (born 1895) in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.

Wanamaker was educated at the independent King Alfred School in Hampstead, London, and at Sidcot School, a Quaker boarding school in Somerset. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

In November 1994, Wanamaker married actor and dramatist Gawn Grainger.

Career

Stage

Wanamaker's career started in the theatre. From 1976 to 1984 she was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She won an Olivier Award for her 1979 performance in Once In a Lifetime and a second for Sophocles' Electra in 1997. In 1985, she played Verdi's wife Giuseppina Strepponi in the original production of After Aida. She appeared on stage playing the part of Beatrice opposite Simon Russell Beale as Benedick in the National Theatre's production of Much Ado About Nothing. She has received Tony Award nominations for her performances in Piaf, Loot, Electra, and Awake and Sing!.

In 1997, Zoe Wanamaker was the first person to speak on the stage of the newly-completed replica theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, on London's South Bank. This was in recognition of the role played by her father in founding the new theatre. She subsequently became Honorary President of the Globe.

From 19 May to 2 October 2010 (extended from 11 September), Wanamaker appeared in Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, portraying the role of Kate Keller at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London.

Screen

Starting in the early 1980s, Wanamaker began performing on screen, most notably in a number of critically acclaimed television productions, such as the BBC Television production Edge of Darkness; she was nominated for a BAFTA Award for her portrayal of the love interest of a suspected serial killer in the first instalment of the Granada series Prime Suspect.

Television series have included Paradise Postponed (as Charlotte Fanner-Titmuss, 1986) and Love Hurts (1992–94) with Adam Faith.

She played Madam Hooch in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.

She played Clarice, one of the dim-witted twin sisters of Lord Groan in Gormenghast (2000), a BBC television adaptation of Mervyn Peake's trilogy.

Wanamaker portrayed Susan Harper in the BBC situation comedy My Family from 2000 to 2011.

She voiced a CGI character named Lady Cassandra in the Doctor Who episode "The End of the World" (2005), and reprised the role (also appearing in the flesh this time) in the episode "New Earth" (2006).

Wanamaker lent her voice to the 2008 Xbox 360 game Fable II as the blind Seeress Theresa, who guides the playing character throughout the game. She returned to voice Theresa again in Fable III in 2010, and again in 2012 for Fable: The Journey.

She has played Ariadne Oliver in several episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot.

Honours

Wanamaker holds both American and British citizenship, having become a British citizen in 2000, specifically so that she could receive a CBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace, rather than an honorary decoration from the British Foreign Secretary. She also received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia on 19th July 2012.

Charity work

Wanamaker has been a Patron of the UK charity Tree Aid, since 1997. Tree Aid enables communities in Africa's drylands to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. In 2006 Wanamaker recorded a successful Radio 4 appeal for the charity.

She is a Patron of Dignity in Dying, The Lymphoedema Support Network, Youth Music Theatre: UK and of the Young Actors' Theatre, Islington. She is also one of the Honorary Patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard.

Filmography

2

Video games

• Fable II (2008) (video game)
• Fable III (2010) (video game)
• Fable: The Journey (2012) (video game)

Stage work

• The Devil's Disciple, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1976
• Wild Oats; or, The Strolling Gentleman, Royal Shakespeare Company,1976
• Ivanov, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1976
• The Taming of the Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1978
• Captain Swing, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1978
• Piaf, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1978
• Mary Daniels, Once in a Lifetime, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1979
• Toine, Piaf, Plymouth Theatre, 1981 (Broadway debut)
• The Importance of Being Earnes, Royal National Theatre, London, England, 1982
• The Time of Your Life, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
• Twelfth Night, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
• Comedy of Errors, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1983
• Mother Courage, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1984
• Wrecked Eggs, Royal National Theatre, 1986
• The Bay at Nice, Royal National Theatre, 1986
• Fay, Loot, Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, then Music Box Theatre, both New York City, 1986
• Mrs. Klein, Royal National Theatre, London, 1988, then Apollo Theatre, London, 1989
• Othello, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1989
• The Crucible, Royal National Theatre, 1990
• The Last Yankee, Young Vic Theatre, London, then New York City production, 1993
• Dead Funny, New York City, 1994
• The Glass Menagerie, Donmar Warehouse Theatre, London, then Comedy Theatre, London, 1995
• Sylvia, Apollo Theatre, 1996
• The Old Neighborhood, Royal Court Theatre, London, 1997
• Electra, Donmar Warehouse Theatre, 1997, then McCarter Theatre, Princeton, NJ, then Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York City, 1998–1999
• Battle Royal, National Theatre, London, 1999
• Boston Marriage, Donmar Warehouse, London, 2001
• The Women, Old Vic, London, 2001
• His Girl Friday, National Theatre, London, 2003
• One Knight Only, Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, 2005
• Awake and Sing!, Belasco Theatre, New York, 2006
• The Rose Tattoo, National Theatre, London, 2007
• Much Ado About Nothing, National Theatre, London, 2007
• All My Sons, Apollo Theatre, London, 2010
• The Cherry Orchard, National Theatre, London, 2011

Awards and nominations

• For her stage work, Wanamaker has been nominated four times for the United States' most prestigious theatre award the Tony and nine times for the most prestigious British theatre award the Olivier, winning two.
• For her screen work, Wanamaker has received three BAFTA nominations.

year given is year of ceremony

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1979	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Revival	Once in a Lifetime	Won
1981	Tony Award	Best Featured in a Play	Piaf!	Nominated
1981	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play	Piaf!	Nominated
1984	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Revival	Twelfth Night	Nominated
1984	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	The Time of Your Life	Nominated
1985	Olivier Award	Best Performance in a Supporting Role	Mother Courage	Nominated
1986	Tony Award	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Loot	Nominated
1986	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play	Loot	Nominated
1989/90	Olivier Award	Best Performance in a Supporting Role	Othello	Nominated
1991	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	The Crucible	Nominated
1992	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	Prime Suspect	Nominated
1993	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	Love Hurts	Nominated
1996	Olivier Award	Best Actress	The Glass Menagerie	Nominated
1998	BAFTA Film Award	Best Supporting Actress	Wilde	Nominated
1998	Olivier Award	Best Actress	Electra	Won
1999	Tony Award	Best Actress in a Play	Electra	Nominated
1999	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actress in a Play	Electra'	Nominated
2002	Olivier Award	Best Actress	Boston Marriage	Nominated
2006	Tony Award	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Awake and Sing!	Nominated

• In 2006, Wanamaker and the rest of the cast of Awake and Sing! won a special Drama Desk award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.

External links

• Zoë Wanamaker at IMDb
• Zoë Wanamaker at the Internet Broadway Database
• Natasha Lehrer, Biography of Zoë Wanamaker, Jewish Women Encyclopedia
• Controversy over payment for Harry Potter film Guardian Unlimited article
• Zoë Wanamaker – Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org
• Actors On Performing Working in the Theatre seminar video at American Theatre Wing, April 2006
• Zoe Wanamaker interviewed by Beth Stevens about Awake and Sing! on Broadway.com
• Zoe Wanamaker demands equal pay for actresses – Telegraph