Cast & creator
Brenda Blethyn
Best known for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Graham Norton Show, The One Show
Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work. Born into a working class home in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming. In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups; then, after a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-living sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made her real cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews. Blethyn has since appeared in an eclectic range of films, including independent comedies such as Saving Grace (2000), Plots with a View (2002) and Clubland (2007), music-themed films like Little Voice (1998) and Beyond the Sea (2004) and big-budget dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). In addition, Blethyn has appeared in television productions including The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), Belonging (2004) and War and Peace (2007). Her most recent leading role in TV drama is the title role in Vera (2011), playing Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope. Description above from the Wikipedia article Brenda Blethyn, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
65
film credits
41
television credits
105
1944–2026 · acting roles
6.6
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (106)
Showing 106 of 106 credits
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Linnie Malcolm
1999
The Graham Norton Show
Self
2007
The One Show
Self - Guest
2006
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Presenter
1944Golden Globe Awards
Self - Winner
1944
Vera
DCI Vera Stanhope
2011
Tales of the Unexpected
Carol Hutchins
1979
GMTV
Self
1993
Playhouse
Gloria
1974
The New Adventures of Old Christine
Angela Kimble
2006
The Oscars
Self
1953
Pride & Prejudice
Mrs. Bennet
2005
V Graham Norton
Self
2002
Rumpole of the Bailey
Pauline
1975
Playhouse Presents
Nina
2012
Screen One
Gwen
1989
The Frank Skinner Show
Self
1995
The Play on One
Miss A
1988
So Graham Norton
Self - Guest
1998
HBO First Look
self
1992
Atonement
Grace Turner
2007
The Storyteller
Storyteller's Wife
1988
Dalgliesh
Angela Foley
1983
A River Runs Through It
Mrs. Maclean
1992
Yes Minister
1980
A Woman of Substance
Older Emma Harte
2026
The Witches
Mrs Jenkins
1990
Maigret
1992
Pooh's Heffalump Movie
Mama Heffalump (voice)
2005
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story
Ticki Tocquet
1989
This Morning
Self
1988
Outside Edge
Miriam Dervish
1994
Between The Sheets
Hazel Delany
2003
The Buddha of Suburbia
Margaret Amir
1993
Secrets & Lies
Cynthia Rose Purley
1996
Anne Frank: The Whole Story
Auguste Rottgen-van Pels
2001
The Wild Thornberrys Movie
Mrs. Fairgood (voice)
2002
Undertaking Betty
Betty Rhys-Jones
2002
War and Peace
Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa
2007
Chance in a Million
Alison Little
1984
Death of an Expert Witness
Angela Foley
1983
Kate & Koji
Kate Abbott
2020Weekend Playhouse
Jean Saunders
1984
The Sleeping Dictionary
Aggie
2003
Music from Another Room
Grace Swan
1998
Saving Grace
Grace Trevethyn
2000
Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too
Mama Heffalump (voice)
2009
All Good Things
Shirley Frame
1991
Beyond the Sea
Polly Cassotto
2004
Lovely & Amazing
Jane Marks
2002Who Dares Wins
Various
1984Sunday Premiere
Sylvia
1986
The Mysteries
Mary Magdalene / Mary
1985
The Best of So Graham Norton
Self (archive footage)
2004
Dead Man Running
Mother
2009
Charlotte
Grossmama (voice)
2022
Little Voice
Mari Hoff
1998The Labours of Erica
1989
Daddy and Them
Julia Montgomery
2001
Mary and Martha
Martha
2013
Two Men in Town
Emily Smith
2014
Bob the Builder: The Knights of Can-A-Lot
Dr. Florence Mountfitchet (voice)
2003
Remember Me?
Shirley
1997
Inside the Golden Statue
Self
1998
RKO 281
Louella Parsons
1999
Ethel & Ernest
Ethel Briggs (voice)
2016
Blizzard
Aunt Millie
2003
Girls' Night
Dawn Wilkinson
1998
On a Clear Day
Joan
2005
Mysterious Creatures
Wendy Ainscow
2006
Sonny
Jewel
2002
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Self
1982
London River
Elisabeth
2009
Dragonfly
Elsie
2025
Pumpkin
Judy Romanoff
2002
My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths
Mama Heffalump (voice)
2010
Henry VI Part 1
Joan La Pucelle
1983
My Angel
Headmistress
2011Sheppey
Miss Grange
1980
King Lear
Cordelia
1982
In the Winter Dark
Ida Stubbs
1998
The Storyteller: A Story Short
The Storyteller's Wife
1988Bedroom Farce
Kate
1980
Piccadilly Jim
Nesta Pett
2004
On the Nose
Mrs. Delaney
2001
A Way of Life
Annette
2004
The Yellow Bird
Mrs. Louise Tutwiler
2002
The Imitation Game
1980
King of the Teds
Nina
Grown-Ups
Gloria
1980The Many Faces of... Michael Caine
2011Say No to Strangers
Policewoman
1981
The Calling
Sister Ignatious
2010
Night Train
Alice Mooney
1998
Raymond Briggs: Snowmen, Bogeymen and Milkmen
Narrator
2018
The Bullion Boys
Gwen
1993
Belonging
Jess Copplestone
2004
Clubland
Jean
2007Clubland
Writer
2007Fools
The Shawl
Miss A
1989
Claws
Sylvia
1987
Floating Off
Janice
1983
Strawberry Fields Forever
Grannie Nellie
Vera, Farewell Pet
Herself / Vera
2025