Amanda Dorothy Cary Elwes (born 25 July 1964) is an English actress.

Personal life

Amanda Elwes and her twin sister Lydia were born to Timothy Cyprian George Thomas Elwes, of East End Farm,

Seale, Surrey Seale is a village in Surrey, England. Seale covers most of the civil parish of Seale and Sands and the steep slope and foot of the south side of the Hog's Back (mid-western section of the North Downs between Farnham and Guildford) as well as ...

, and his first wife Lorna, daughter of Captain Ian Archibald de Hoghton Lyle,

Black Watch The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS) is an infantry battalion of the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The regiment was created as part of the Childers Reforms in 1881, when the 42nd (Royal Highland) Regiment ...

, of the family of the Lyle baronets of Glendelvine. Actor

Cary Elwes Ivan Simon Cary Elwes (; born 26 October 1962) is an English actor. He starred as Westley in ''The Princess Bride (film), The Princess Bride'' (1987), and also had lead roles in films such as ''Robin Hood: Men in Tights'' (1993) and the Saw (fr ...

and his brother, producer

Cassian Elwes Cassian Cary Elwes (born 7 August 1959) is a British independent film producer and talent agent. Early life and education Cassian Elwes was born on 7 August 1959 in London. He is the son of Dominic Elwes, a portrait painter, and Tessa Kennedy, ...

, are her first cousins. In 1992, Elwes married music promoter Matthew Austin.

Career

Elwes started her acting career training at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She first acted on stage in the early 1980's and among her theatre roles are as Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park (Sheffield Crucible), Lucy in ''

Woman in Mind ''Woman in Mind (December Bee)'' is the 32nd play by English playwright Alan Ayckbourn. It was premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction resul ...

'' at the Windsor Theatre Royal, Lady Windermere in ''

Lady Windermere's Fan ''Lady Windermere's Fan, A Play About a Good Woman'' is a four-act comedy by Oscar Wilde, first performed on Saturday, 20 February 1892, at the St James's Theatre in London. The story concerns Lady Windermere, who suspects that her husband is ...

'' (1993-94, at numerous theatres, including

Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...

and

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

) and Emma in

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramat ...

's play ''

Betrayal Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. Of ...

'' at the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and playwright in residence Paul Vincent Carroll is based in Glasgow, Scotland, as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat ...

in Glasgow from March 30th to April 22nd 1995. She made her first screen appearance in a commercial for

After Eight After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins, often referred to as simply After Eights, are a brand of mint chocolate covered sugar confectionery. They were created by Rowntree Company Limited in the UK in 1962 and have been manufactured by Nestlé since ...

mints in 1987, along with former theatre colleague

Adam Morris Adam Morris (also known as Wayne Morris) is a British stage and screen actor whose most notable roles have been Robin Hood (or Robin of Kensington) in the television comedy series ''Maid Marian and Her Merry Men'', and more recently, Philip Nor ...

, and two years later she won her first TV role in an episode of the TV detective series '' Bergerac'' in January 1989. Very quickly she gained notice in a number of successful new shows that year, including episodes in ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'', or simply ''Poirot'' (), is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2020. The ITV show is based on many of Agatha Christie's famous crime fiction series, wh ...

'' and '' Campion'' and the following year she appeared in another hit series, the hugely popular ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British Aca ...

'' as Angela Travers. Another notable role was in 1991 as Marjorie Fisher in ''

A Perfect Hero ''A Perfect Hero'' is a 1991 TV drama serial set in World War II England. It was produced by Havahall Pictures in association with LWT for ITV and first broadcast at 9:00pm on Friday 17 May 1991 and ran for six episodes. It was broadcast in th ...

'' alongside

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor and presenter. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielb ...

, and she continued to be very busy in 1992 with appearances in ''

A Touch of Frost ''A Touch of Frost'' is a British television detective mystery drama series starring David Jason produced by Yorkshire Television (later ITV Studios) for ITV from 6 December 1992 until 5 April 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. ...

'', ''

Miss Marple Miss Jane Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Miss Marple lives in the village of St Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterised as an elderly spinster, she is one ...

'' and a big role in the TV movie Tattle Tale alongside Hollywood stars

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor and director. After making his film debut with a supporting role in ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), Howell had his breakout with a lead role as Ponyboy Curtis in the c ...

and

Ally Sheedy Alexandra Elizabeth Sheedy (born June 13, 1962) is an American actress. She made her feature film debut in '' Bad Boys'' (1983) and came to prominence as a member of the Brat Pack with roles in '' Oxford Blues'' (1984), '' The Breakfast Club'' ...

. By the end of the year Elwes married music producer Matthew Austin. Although Elwes continued to appear on screen in such shows as '' The Riff Raff Element'' (1993) and ''

Heartbeat Heartbeat, heart beat or heartbeats may refer to: Science and technology * Heartbeat (biology), one cardiac cycle of the heart * Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system ** Heartbea ...

'' (1994), after this her workload dropped off considerably. It was during her run on stage in Lady Windermere's Fan in the West End in 1994 that Elwes began to have second thoughts about acting. Discovering she was five months pregnant with her first child and wanting a more child friendly career, a fellow actress learned of her love of flowers and encouraged her to set up a floristry business. Helped financially, she eventually founded Amanda Austin Flowers in 1998, and in 2011 her twin sister Lydia joined her in running the business. Although she continued to act sporadically on screen - including a notable role in the children's drama True Tilda in 1997 - her last screen appearance was in the ITV series ''

Rosemary & Thyme ''Rosemary & Thyme'' is a British television cosy mystery Thriller (genre), thriller series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme. The show began on ITV (TV network), ITV in 2003. The th ...

'' in 2004, after which she seemed to have retired from acting for now.

Television

References

1964 births English television actresses Living people {{UK-tv-actor-1960s-stub