Siân Thomas (born 20 September 1953) is a British actress from

Stratford-upon-Avon Stratford-upon-Avon ( ), commonly known as Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon (district), Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of Engl ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, who trained at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

. She is known both for her work on stage and for her television and film appearances such as ''

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth and longest novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwart ...

'' in which she played Amelia Bones. Her voice is known to listeners both for her poetry readings on Radio 3 and for her audiobooks.

Career

Thomas played a prominent role in 1993 TV film '' Wide-Eyed and Legless'', known as ''The Wedding Gift'' outside of the UK. Based on a true story, the drama tells of the author Deric Longden's (played by

Jim Broadbent James Broadbent (born 24 May 1949) is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1972, he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television. He has received various accolades ...

) final years of marriage to his first wife Diana (

Julie Walters Dame Julia Mary Walters (born 22 February 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a Go ...

) in the early 1980s and her fight against an illness which doctors then did not understand, later believed to be a form of

chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...

or myalgic encephalomyelitis. The film also featured

Thora Hird Dame Thora Hird (28 May 1911 – 15 March 2003) was an English actress. In a career spanning over 70 years, she appeared in more than 100 films, as well as many television roles, becoming a household name and a British institution. Hird w ...

as Deric Longden's mother Annie. Thomas played partially-sighted Aileen Armitage, the novelist who would become Longden's second wife in 1990. In 2002 she appeared in London's West End theatre production '' Up for Grabs'' with

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

. The critic Michael Billington commented that "Madonna is not positively bad: just technically awkward. But, fortunately, she is buttressed by strong supporting players. Sian Thomas, who can get a laugh simply through the flick of an eyelid, is superb as a Courtauld-trained consultant longing to get her revenge on the corporate world." In 2004, Thomas played the leading role of

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

in 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 ...

's production of ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' at Stratford-on-Avon. Billington wrote that "Sian Thomas was also born to play Lady Macbeth. She has the right mixture of attack, sexiness and emotional drive", adding that she gave

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

's sometimes complex lines exactly the right stress to bring out the subtle antitheses. He noted, too, that she brought out the character's steadily growing "tactical and emotional isolation". In the musical '' Spring Awakening'' in London in 2009, she and Richard Cordery played "all the adult roles with cartoon-like aplomb". In 2010, Thomas played the leading role of the queen in the

National Theatre Wales National Theatre Wales (NTW) was a charity and theatre company based in Wales. It was established in 2009, but following the cessation of funding in April 2024, it closed in December 2024, with its community work being carried on and evolved to ...

's production of

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; ; /524 – /455 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek Greek tragedy, tragedian often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek tragedy is large ...

's ''

The Persians ''The Persians'' (, ''Persai'', Latinised as ''Persae'') is an ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus. It is the second and only surviving part of a now otherwise lost trilog ...

'', described by ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' as "a tremendous performance as the queen, a woman of fiery splendour reduced to ululating agony as the disasters mount and she cries 'this is the peak of my misery'." In 2011, she played the leading lady Martha in the Northern Stage and Sheffield theatres co-production of

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

's play ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''. The critic Clare Brennan commented that she and the leading man Jasper Britton "seize the parts for their own", as Thomas's Martha "part praying mantis, part puppet, jerks around the stage as if impelled by forces trying to rip free from her control – despair, grief and rage." From 2012 she appeared as Atorloppe in the BBC's ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

'' series. Thomas has read poetry for the

BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...

programme ''Words and Music''. She has also been employed on several audiobooks including Allison Pearson's ''I Think I Love You'' and

Marina Lewycka Marina Lewycka ( ; born 12 October 1946) is a British novelist of Ukraine, Ukrainian origin. Early life Lewycka was born in a refugee camp in Kiel after World War II. Her family subsequently moved to England; she now lives in Sheffield, South ...

's ''

A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian ''A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian'' is a humorous novel by Marina Lewycka, first published in 2005 by Viking (Penguin Books). The novel won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize at the Hay Festival, Hay literary festival, the Waverton ...

''.

Family

Thomas spent part of her childhood living in Canada. She is the sister of the actress Sara Mair-Thomas. Her partner is the poet

Tony Harrison Tony Harrison (born 30 April 1937) is an English poet, translator and playwright. He was born in Beeston, Leeds and he received his education in Classics from Leeds Grammar School and Leeds University. He is one of Britain's foremost verse ...

Partial filmography

*''

Prick Up Your Ears ''Prick Up Your Ears'' is a 1987 British film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the 1978 biography by John Lahr. The film stars G ...

'' (1987) - Marilyn Orton *'' Erik the Viking'' (1989) - Thorhild the Sarcastic *'' Vanity Fair'' (2004) - Lady Darlington *'' Perfume: The Story of a Murderer'' (2006) - Madame Gaillard *''The Ruby in the Smoke'' (2006) - Mrs. Rees *''

'' (2007) - Amelia Bones *

War Machine War Machine (Col. James Rupert "Rhodey" Rhodes) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by David Michelinie, John Byrne, and Bob Layton as a supporting character for Iron Man, he first appeared i ...

(2017) - Secretary of State Edith May *

Finding Your Feet ''Finding Your Feet'' is a 2017 British romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine and written by Nick Moorcroft and Meg Leonard. The film stars Imelda Staunton, Timothy Spall, Celia Imrie, Joanna Lumley and David Hayman, and was rele ...

(2018) - Lilly

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Sian 1953 births 20th-century Welsh actresses 21st-century Welsh actresses British film actresses British television actresses Welsh stage actresses Living people British expatriates in Canada Audiobook narrators Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Actresses from Stratford-upon-Avon