1959-04-15 Paddington, London, England, UK
Dame Emma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and her accolades include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, she was made a dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to drama. Born to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe and appeared in the comedy sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984). In 1985, she starred in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, which was a breakthrough in her career. In 1987, she became famous for her performances in two BBC series, Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work on both series. In the early 1990s, she often collaborated with then-husband, actor and director Kenneth Branagh in films such as Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Thompson won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Merchant-Ivory period drama Howards End (1992). In 1993, she received two Academy Award nominations—Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress—for the respective roles of the housekeeper of a grand household in The Remains of the Day and a lawyer in In the Name of the Father, becoming one of the few actors to achieve this feat. Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay—making her the only person in history to win Oscars for both acting and writing—and once again won the BAFTA. Further critical acclaim came for her roles in Primary Colors (1998), Love Actually (2003), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Late Night (2019), and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022). Other notable film credits include the Harry Potter series (2004–2011), Nanny McPhee (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), An Education (2009), Men in Black 3 (2012) and the spin-off Men in Black: International (2019), Brave (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Cruella (2021), and Matilda the Musical (2022). Her television credits include Wit (2001), Angels in America (2003), The Song of Lunch (2010), King Lear (2018) and Years and Years (2019). She portrayed Mrs. Lovett in a Lincoln Center production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2014. Authorised by the publishers of Beatrix Potter, Thompson has also written three Peter Rabbit children's books.
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The Sheep Detectives | 2026-05-07 | |
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Dead of Winter | Barb | 2025-09-23 |
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Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy | Dr. Rawlings | 2025-02-12 |
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Merchant Ivory | Self | 2024-08-30 |
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Bad Tidings | Self (archive footage) | 2024-12-22 |
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What's Love Got to Do with It? | Cath Stevenson | 2023-01-26 |
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The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special | Self | 2022-11-29 |
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Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical | Agatha Trunchbull | 2022-11-25 |
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The Fringe, Fame and Me | Self | 2022-08-08 |
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Good Luck to You, Leo Grande | Nancy Stokes | 2022-06-16 |
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Hannibal Hopkins et Sir Anthony | Self (archive footage) | 2021-03-26 |
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Twelve Nights | Narrator (voice) | 2021-12-02 |
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Cruella | The Baroness | 2021-05-26 |
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An Audience with Adele | Self | 2021-11-21 |
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How to Build a Girl | Amanda | 2020-09-24 |
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Dolittle | Poly (voice) | 2020-01-02 |
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Hollywood's Dark Secret | Self | 2019-07-09 |
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Last Christmas | Petra Andrich | 2019-11-07 |
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Extinction | 2019-09-01 | |
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Men in Black: International | Agent O | 2019-06-12 |
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Missing Link | Dora the Yeti Elder (voice) | 2019-04-04 |
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Late Night | Katherine Newbury | 2019-01-25 |
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Beyond Boundaries: The Harvey Weinstein Scandal | Self (archive footage) | 2018-08-21 |
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Greenpeace: There's a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom | Narrator (voice) | 2018-08-13 |
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King Lear | Goneril | 2018-05-28 |
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The Children Act | Fiona Maye | 2018-08-01 |
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Johnny English Strikes Again | Prime Minister | 2018-09-13 |
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Beauty and the Beast | Mrs. Potts | 2017-03-16 |
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The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) | Maureen Meyerowitz | 2017-10-13 |
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Sea Sorrow | Self | 2017-11-08 |
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To the Ends of the Earth | Narrator (voice) | 2016-10-29 |
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Die vielen Gesichter der Emma Thompson | Elle-Même | 2016-11-20 |
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The Doubt Machine: Inside the Koch Brothers' War on Climate Science | Narrator (voice) | 2016-10-31 |
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Bridget Jones's Baby | Dr Rawlings | 2016-09-14 |
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Alone in Berlin | Anna Quangel | 2016-02-15 |
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The Legend of Barney Thomson | Cemolina | 2015-07-24 |
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Sainsbury's: Mog's Christmas Calamity | Narrator (voice) | 2015-12-01 |
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A Walk in the Woods | Catherine Bryson | 2015-09-02 |
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Burnt | Dr. Rosshilde | 2015-10-02 |
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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Lovett | 2014-09-26 |
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The Love Punch | Kate Jones | 2014-01-13 |
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The Real Mary Poppins | Self | 2014-01-17 |
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Effie Gray | Lady Eastlake | 2014-03-08 |
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Men, Women & Children | Narrator (voice) | 2014-10-17 |
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Beautiful Creatures | Mrs. Lincoln / Sarafine Duchannes | 2013-02-13 |
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Saving Mr. Banks | P.L. Travers | 2013-11-29 |
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Walking the Dogs | The Queen | 2012-05-31 |
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Brave | Elinor (voice) | 2012-06-21 |
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Men in Black 3 | Agent O | 2012-05-23 |
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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 | Sybill Trelawney | 2011-07-12 |
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When Harry Left Hogwarts | Self | 2011-11-11 |
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Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang | Nanny McPhee | 2010-03-26 |
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Fry and Laurie Reunited | Self | 2010-11-24 |
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The Song of Lunch | She | 2010-10-08 |
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Locating the World of Sense & Sensibility | Self | 2009-03-17 |
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Elegance & Simplicity: The Wardrobe of Sense & Sensibility | Self | 2009-03-17 |
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An Education | Headmistress | 2009-10-29 |
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The Boat That Rocked | Charlotte | 2009-04-01 |
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A Very Quiet Man | Self | 2009-03-17 |
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A Sense of Character | Self | 2009-03-17 |
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Brideshead Revisited | Lady Marchmain | 2008-07-25 |
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Last Chance Harvey | Kate Walker | 2008-12-25 |
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Stephen Fry: 50 Not Out | Self | 2007-08-11 |
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I Am Legend | Dr. Alice Krippin | 2007-12-12 |
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Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Sybill Trelawney | 2007-07-08 |
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Stranger Than Fiction | Karen Eiffel | 2006-09-09 |
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Nanny McPhee | Nanny McPhee | 2005-10-21 |
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A Tribute To Ismail Merchant | Self (archive footage) | 2005-10-30 |
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Nos Bastidores de Hollywood | Self (archive footage) | 2005-03-01 |
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Sybill Trelawney | 2004-05-31 |
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Love Actually | Karen | 2003-09-07 |
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Imagining Argentina | Cecilia Rueda | 2003-09-13 |
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Treasure Planet | Captain Amelia (voice) | 2002-11-26 |
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Wit | Vivian Bearing | 2001-02-09 |
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Love & Loyalty: The Making of 'The Remains of the Day' | Self | 2001-10-22 |
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The Remains of the Day: The Filmmaker's Journey | Self | 2001-01-01 |
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Blind Loyalty, Hollow Honor: England's Fatal Flaw | Self | 2001-01-01 |
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Maybe Baby | Druscilla | 2000-06-02 |
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Judas Kiss | FBI Agent Sadie Hawkins | 1998-09-16 |
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Junket Whore | Self | 1998-10-12 |
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Primary Colors | Susan Stanton | 1998-03-20 |
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The Winter Guest | Frances | 1997-12-27 |
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Hospital! | Elephant Woman | 1997-03-30 |
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Sense and Sensibility | Elinor Dashwood | 1995-12-13 |
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Carrington | Dora Carrington | 1995-05-25 |
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My Father the Hero | Isabel (uncredited) | 1994-02-04 |
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The Blue Boy | Marie Bonnar | 1994-07-02 |
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Junior | Dr. Diana Reddin | 1994-11-22 |
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Much Ado About Nothing | Beatrice | 1993-05-07 |
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The Remains of the Day | Miss Kenton | 1993-11-05 |
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In the Name of the Father | Gareth Peirce | 1993-12-12 |
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Peter's Friends | Maggie Chester | 1992-09-18 |
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Howards End | Margaret Schlegel | 1992-03-13 |
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Rabbit Ears - The White Cat | Narrator (voice) | 1991-09-14 |
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Dead Again | Margaret Strauss / Grace | 1991-08-23 |
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Impromptu | Duchess D'Antan | 1991-04-12 |
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Tin Fish | 1990-04-24 | |
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Henry V | Katherine | 1989-10-05 |
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The Winslow Boy | Catherine Winslow | 1989-04-30 |
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Look Back in Anger | Alison Porter | 1989-12-28 |
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The Tall Guy | Kate | 1989-02-01 |
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Royal Variety Performance 1984 | 1984-11-25 | |
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Slags | Young Woman | 1984-02-11 |
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The Cellar Tapes | various | 1982-05-20 |
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James Ivory: In Search of Love and Beauty | Self | |
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How to Stop a Nuclear War | Narrator (voice) | |
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Hear Me Roar | Elizabeth Butler-Sloss |
