Emma Georgina Annalies Fielding (born 07 October 1964 in Catterick, North Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actress.

Biography

The daughter of a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurkha ...

officer, Colonel Johnny Fielding, and Sheila Fielding, she was raised

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and some of her childhood in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

and

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, and a period in Malvern. While studying at the Berkhamsted Collegiate

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of " room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exte ...

, she won a place at Robinson College, Cambridge to study law, after spending a gap year which included five months in a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

in the occupied

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

, Palestine, picking watermelons, and as an

usherette An usher is a person who welcomes and shows people where to sit, especially at a church, theatre or when attending a wedding. History The word comes from the Latin ''ostiarius'' ("porter", "doorman") through Norman French, and is a cognate of ...

at the Oxford Apollo; before embarking on the study of acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. After graduation she worked for the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

and the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, coming to the attention of critics in 1993's National Theatre production of

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and polit ...

's '' Arcadia,'' in which she created the role of Thomasina, and then most notably in

John Ford John Martin Feeney (February 1, 1894 – August 31, 1973), known professionally as John Ford, was an American film director and naval officer. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers of his generation. He ...

's '' The Broken Heart'' for which she won the Dame Peggy Ashcroft Award for Best Actress. Also in 1993, she was Agnes in '' The School for Wives'' at the Almeida Theatre, for which she won the

Ian Charleson Award The Ian Charleson Awards are theatrical awards that reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors under age 30. The awards are named in memory of the renowned British actor Ian Charleson, and are run by the ''Sunday Times'' ne ...

.Fowler, Rebecca. "Triumphant first acts". '' Sunday Times''. 13 March 1994. She made her

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

debut in 2003 in Noël Coward's '' Private Lives.'' "From the bookies to Stratford's RSC"
. Worcestershire News - 26 April 2003 She has also appeared in numerous radio plays for the BBC, including playing Esme in

's '' Rock 'n' Roll'', a role she also played in the West End. More recently, she appeared in the BBC TV mini-series '' Cranford''. In 2009, she appeared as Daisy alongside Timothy West in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC's ...

adaptation of John Mortimer's '' Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders''. She has also appeared in the crime drama '' Death in Paradise'' playing the part of Astrid Knight. (Season 1, Episode 4). In 2014, she appeared in another crime drama '' DCI Banks'' (Series 3, Episodes 17 & 18). In 2018, Fielding appeared in '' EastEnders'' as Ted Murray's ( Christopher Timothy) daughter. In November 2018, she provided the voice for the alien Kisar in the '' Doctor Who'' episode "

Demons of the Punjab "Demons of the Punjab" is the sixth episode of the eleventh series of the British science fiction television programme ''Doctor Who''. It was written by Vinay Patel, directed by Jamie Childs, and first broadcast on BBC One on 11 November 2018. ...

Awards and nominations

*Fielding was nominated for a 1999 ''Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance'' for her role in ''

The School for Scandal ''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777. Plot Act I Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling S ...

'' in the 1998 season. *She was nominated for a 2002 ''Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role'' of 2001 for her performance in '' Private Lives'' at the Albery Theatre, London. She won a Theatre World Award for outstanding Broadway debut for the same role when the show was produced on Broadway in 2002. *She was awarded the 1993 Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her performances in '' Arcadia'' and '' The School for Wives''.

Filmography

Audiobooks

*'' His Dark Materials'' as

Mrs Coulter Marisa Coulter (née Delamare) is a fictional character in Philip Pullman's '' His Dark Materials'' trilogy and one of the main antagonists of '' Northern Lights''. She is the former lover of Lord Asriel and is usually called "Mrs Coulter". ...

*''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' as Rebecca Sharp Crawley *'' The Haunting of Hill House'' as The Narrator. (By

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Over the duration of her writing career, which spanned over two decades, she composed six novels, two m ...

. Audiobook, BBC). *''Israbel'' as Israbel. (By Tanith Lee. Dramatisation, 'A Short History of Vampires Episode 3 of 4'' BBC). *'' Funny Girl'' as The Narrator. (By Nick Hornby, 2014, Penguin Audio). She has narrated the following for Naxos Audiobooks: *''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

'' *'' Hedda Gabler'' *''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' *'' Lady Windermere's Fan'' *'' Othello'' *'' Rebecca'' *'' The Turn of the Screw'' *'' Fanny Hill'' for Random House Audio: *''

I Don't Know How She Does It ''I Don't Know How She Does It'' is a 2011 American comedy film based on Allison Pearson's 2002 novel of the same name. Directed by Douglas McGrath, the film stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. The film was released on Se ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, Emma 1970 births Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Audiobook narrators Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses Living people People from Catterick, North Yorkshire Royal Shakespeare Company members English Shakespearean actresses Ian Charleson Award winners Theatre World Award winners Actresses from Yorkshire 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses