# Susannah Harker

Susannah Harker (born Susannah Owens; 26 April 1965) is an English film, television, and theatre actress. She was nominated for a BAFTA TV Award in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in House of Cards. She played Jane Bennet in the 1995 TV adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.

## Early life and education

Harker was born in London. She is the daughter of actor Richard Owens and actress, Polly Adams. She and her younger sister, Caroline, were brought up as Catholics and educated at an independent convent boarding school run by nuns in Sussex, and at the Central School of Speech and Drama in North London.

## Acting career

Harker has acted in both contemporary and classic works, on stage, in movies and in TV series. In 1990–91 she appeared alongside Clive Owen in Chancer, and as the journalist Mattie Storin in the original House of Cards. She later played Dinah Morris in the 1991 adaptation of Adam Bede. She starred as Jane Bennet in the 1995 TV adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. She is featured as Emma Fitzgerald, the love interest of Superintendent Tyburn (Trevor Eve) in the BBC TV series, Heat of the Sun (1998). In 2003 she played Clare Keightley in the audio version of the Doctor Who adventure Shada, alongside Paul McGann.
On stage in 2005, she appeared in Simon Stephens's play On the Shore of the Wide World at the Royal National Theatre. In 2008, she played Gwendoline in Charles Wood's Jingo at the Finborough Theatre, where the London Evening Standard reviewed her performance, saying "Susannah Harker, an actress who should appear more often in our major playhouses, is in beautifully crisp form as Gwendoline."
She played Sapphire in Big Finish Productions' audio revival of Sapphire & Steel, in three series of plays released on CD between 2005 and 2008. In December 2011 Harker appeared in the BBC drama Young James Herriot. In 2012 she returned to the stage, playing the role of Sue in a London production of Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party. During early 2014 she starred in the Gate Theatre, Dublin production of The Vortex by Noël Coward.
She has also worked in radio. In 2015, she played Miss Ella Rentheim in a BBC Radio 4 production of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman. She played Kris in Radio 4’s 2021 drama Barred written by Thandi Lubimbi and Richard Kurti.

## Personal life

Harker is a great-great-granddaughter of Joseph Harker, an artist and theatrical scene designer.
She was married to Iain Glen from 1993 to 2004; they have one son. She was later in a relationship with Paul McGann from 2006 to 2008.
Harker's sisters, Nelly Harker and Caroline Harker, are also actresses.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1985 | Burke & Wills | Bessie Wills | |
| 1987 | White Mischief | Young girl | |
| 1987 | The Lady's Not for Burning | Alizon Eliot | |
| 1989 | A Dry White Season | Suzette du Toit | |
| 1991 | The Crucifer of Blood | Irene St. Claire | |
| 1996 | Surviving Picasso | Marie-Therese | |
| 2001 | Intimacy | Susan, Jay's wife | |
| 2001 | Trance | Sarah Lamb | |
| 2001 | Offending Angels | Paris | |
| 2007 | Always Crashing in the Same Car | Mary Booth | Short |
| 2008 | The Calling | Sister Ambrose | |
| 2012 | Notes from the Underground | Lonely Lady | |
| 2017 | A Caribbean Dream | Titania/Head of Housekeeping | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1988 | The Fear | Linda | 5 episodes |
| 1988 | Troubles | Angela Spencer | |
| 1990–1991 | Chancer | Joanna Franklyn | 14 episodes |
| 1990 | House of Cards | Mattie Storin | 4 episodes |
| 1991 | Adam Bede | Dinah Morris | |
| 1994 | The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes | Adelaide Savage | Episode: "The Dying Detective" |
| 1994 | Faith | Holly Moreton | 4 episodes |
| 1995 | Pride and Prejudice | Jane Bennet | 6 episodes |
| 1998 | Heat of the Sun | Emma Fitzgerald | 3 episodes |
| 1998 | Ultraviolet | Dr Angela Marsh | 6 episodes, TV mini-series |
| 2001 | Murder in Mind | Barbara Davie | |
| 2002 | Waking the Dead | Clare Delaney | 2 episodes |
| 2006 | Perfect Parents | Alison | TV film |
| 2009 | Midsomer Murders | Matilda Simms | 1 episode, The Black Book |
| 2010 | Moving On | Anne | 1 episode, Sauce for the Goose |
| 2011 | Young James Herriot | Lady Verity Muirhead | 1 episode |
| 2012 | New Tricks | Elizabeth Clayton | 1 episode, Old School Ties |
| 2017 | Grantchester | Veronica Stone | 1 episode |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 2003 | Three Sisters | Masha | Playhouse Theatre, London |
| 2005 | On the Shore of the Wide World | | Royal National Theatre |
| 2008 | Jingo | Gwendoline | Finborough Theatre |
| 2017 | The Blinding Light | Siri | Jermyn Street Theatre |