Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken (born 12 September 1945) is a British theatre director, teacher, actress, and writer. As an actress, Aitken has been twice nominated at the

Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

, in

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

for ''Private Lives'' and in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

for ''Waste''. Her performance in the film ''A Fish Called Wanda'' (1988) earned her a nomination for the

BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film Award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting perfo ...

Early life and career

Aitken was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, the daughter of Sir William Aitken, a Conservative MP, and the Hon. Penelope Aitken, whose father was John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby. Her grandfather was the UK Representative to Ireland (1939–49). She is a great-niece of newspaper magnate and war-time minister

Lord Beaverbrook William Maxwell Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (25 May 1879 – 9 June 1964), was a Canadian-British newspaper publisher and backstage politician who was an influential figure in British media and politics of the first half of the 20th century ...

, and sister to former Conservative cabinet minister

Jonathan Aitken Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a British author, Church of England priest and former Conservative Party politician. Beginning his career in journalism, he was elected to Parliament in 1974 (serving until 1997), and wa ...

. She attended Riddlesworth Hall Preparatory School in Norfolk,

Sherborne School for Girls Sherborne Girls, formally known as Sherborne School for Girls, is an independent day and boarding school for girls, located in Sherborne, North Dorset, England. There were 485 pupils attending in 2019–2020, with more than 90 per cent of them ...

in Dorset and

St Anne's College, Oxford St Anne's College is a Colleges of the University of Oxford, constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It was founded in 1879 and gained full college status in 1959. Originally a women's college, it has admitted men since 1979. ...

, where she graduated with a degree in English Language and Literature. She has directed several plays in the West End and on Broadway. Her production of '' The 39 Steps'', which ran in London for nine years, also played three years on Broadway and won Olivier and

Tony Awards The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cere ...

. In 2011, she directed

Frank Langella Frank A. Langella Jr. (; born January 1, 1938) is an American actor. He eschewed the career of a traditional film star by making the stage the focal point of his career, appearing frequently on Broadway. He has received four Tony Awards (out of ...

in '' Man and Boy'' on Broadway. She is a Visiting Lecturer at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

, NYU and

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became the Juilliard School, named aft ...

drama schools. Her extensive acting career includes leading roles at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

, 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 opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

and in the West End. She has played more

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

leads than any other actress. Her film career includes appearances in '' Doctor Faustus'' (1967), ''

Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...

'' (1971), '' Half Moon Street'' (1986), ''

A Fish Called Wanda ''A Fish Called Wanda'' is a 1988 heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and written by Crichton and John Cleese. It stars Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film follows a gang of diamond thieves who double- ...

'' (1988) (for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award), '' The Fool'' (1990), '' The Grotesque'' (1995), '' Fierce Creatures'' (1997), '' Jinnah'' (1998) and '' Asylum'' (2005). In 1984, Aitken co-wrote and starred in the sitcom '' Poor Little Rich Girls'' alongside Jill Bennett. She is the author of ''A Girdle Round the Earth'', a story of some of the remarkable women travellers of the last 200 years, and ''Style: Acting in High Comedy'', published in 1996, which contends that " High comedies are not bloodless, refined, wordy plays — their themes are sex, money and social advancement. They contain a splendid contradiction: wit and elegance at the service of man's basest drives."

Personal life

Aitken is the mother of actor Jack Davenport, born during her marriage to

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and ''Chariots of Fir ...

from 1972 to 1981. She was married to Richard Durden from 1968 to 1971. Since 1991, she has been married to the novelist Patrick McGrath and they live together in New York and London. She has been a patron of the

British Thyroid Foundation The British Thyroid Foundation (BTF) is a UK-based, patient-led, registered charity dedicated to supporting people with thyroid Thyroid#Clinical significance, disorders and helping their families and people around them to understand the conditio ...

since 1992, and was appointed a Trustee of the

Foundation in 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Aitken, Maria 1945 births Living people Maria Alumni of St Anne's College, Oxford English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses People educated at Sherborne Girls British women theatre directors English people of Canadian descent