# Janet Suzman

Dame Janet Suzman (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who had a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles on television. In her first film, Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), her performance as Empress Alexandra Feodorovna earned her several honours, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Suzman later starred in a wide range of classical and modern drama as well as directing many productions in the UK and South Africa. Suzman appeared in A Dry White Season (1989), a film that examined apartheid.

## Early life

Janet Suzman was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a Jewish family, the daughter of Betty (née Sonnenberg) and Saul Suzman, a wealthy tobacco importer.
Her grandfather, Max Sonnenberg, was a member of the South African parliament, and her aunt was the civil rights and anti-apartheid campaigner Helen Suzman. Suzman was educated at the independent school Kingsmead College, Johannesburg, and at the University of the Witwatersrand.

## Stage career

After training for the stage at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Suzman made her debut as Liz in Billy Liar at the Tower Theatre, Ipswich, in 1962. She became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1963 and started her career there as Joan of Arc in The Wars of The Roses (1962–64). The RSC gave her the opportunity to play many of the Shakespearean heroines, including Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost, Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Ophelia in Hamlet, Kate in The Taming of the Shrew, Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Celia and Rosalind in As You Like It, Lavinia in Titus Andronicus and her Cleopatra, magisterial, ardent and seductive, in 1973, which is said to have been a definitive performance. (An ATV/ITC television production, Antony and Cleopatra, was broadcast in 1974 in the UK and was shown internationally.) Although her stage appearances tended to run naturally towards Shakespeare and the classics, including Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, Chekhov's The Three Sisters, Marlowe, Racine, Gorky and Brecht, she also appeared in plays by Genet, Pinter, Ronald Harwood, Nicholson, Albee and others.

## Films and television

She appeared in many British television drama productions in the 1960s and early 1970s, including Saint Joan (1968), The Three Sisters (1970), Macbeth (1970), Hedda Gabler (1972), Twelfth Night (1973), as Hilda Lessways in Clayhanger (1975), as Lady Mountbatten in Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy (1985) and Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective (1986). Her first film role was in Nicholas and Alexandra (1972), and she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA and the Golden Globe for her portrayal of the Empress Alexandra. This was followed by A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972) opposite Alan Bates. In addition to the 1974 television version of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, she also appeared as "Frosine" in the BBC's Theatre Night 1988 production of The Miser opposite Nigel Hawthorne as "Harpagon" and Jim Broadbent as Maitre Jacques. Another role was that of Frieda Lawrence in Priest of Love (1981).
Suzman has made few films since, including Don Siegel's The Black Windmill (1974), Nijinsky (1980), Peter Greenaway's The Draughtsman's Contract (1982), Federico Fellini's E la Nave Va (And the Ship Sails On 1983), A Dry White Season (1989) with Marlon Brando and Nuns on the Run (1990; a rare comedic role). In 2020 Suzman appeared in the Netflix production of The Crown as the literary agent of Michael Shea, the queen's press secretary. The episode dealt with the rift between Buckingham Palace and Margaret Thatcher over the prime minister's refusal to back Commonwealth sanctions against South Africa. The episode also implied that Mrs Thatcher's stance might have been linked to her son Mark's business interests in South Africa.

## Later activities

In her native South Africa she directed Othello, which was televised, and Brecht's The Good Woman of Setzuan (renamed The Good Woman of Sharpeville) both at the Market Theatre, Johannesburg. She also toured her modern adaptation of Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard – a South African response entitled The Free State. She wrote, starred in and directed this piece with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. Other productions with Suzman as director included A Dream of People at the RSC, The Cruel Grasp at the Edinburgh Festival, Feydeau's No Flies on Mr Hunter (Chelsea Centre, 1992), Death of a Salesman (Theatr Clwyd, 1993), and Pam Gems's The Snow Palace (Tour and Tricycle Theatre, 1998).
In 2002, she returned to the RSC to perform in a new version of The Hollow Crown with Sir Donald Sinden, Ian Richardson and Sir Derek Jacobi. In 2005, she appeared in the West End in a revival of Brian Clark's 1978 play Whose Life Is It Anyway? starring Kim Cattrall. In 2006 she directed Hamlet and in 2007 she played Volumnia in Coriolanus in Stratford-upon-Avon, for which she received excellent notices. In 2010, she appeared in Dream of the Dog, a new South African play, at the Finborough Theatre, London, which subsequently transferred to the West End. Suzman wrote Acting With Shakespeare: Three Comedies, a book based on a series of acting master classes.
In 2014, Suzman was criticized for comments regarding arts participation in the theater. In response to a call by Meera Syal to engage in more diverse audiences, Suzman referred to theater as "a white invention, a European invention. There is, in fact no archaeological evidence to indicate otherwise."

## Personal life and honours

In 1969, she married director Trevor Nunn and together they had a son. They divorced in 1986.
Suzman was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2011 Birthday Honours for services to drama.
Suzman holds honorary DLitt degrees from the universities of Warwick, Leicester, London (QMW), Southampton, Middlesex, Kingston, Cape Town, Edge Hill and Buckingham.
She is an Honorary Fellow of the Shakespeare Institute, and was awarded the Pragnell Award for lifetime services to Shakespeare in 2012. She is a patron of the London International Festival of Theatre.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Awards | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1972 | Academy Awards | Best Actress | Nicholas and Alexandra | Nominated |
| 1972 | British Academy Film Awards | Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | Nicholas and Alexandra | Nominated |
| 1972 | Golden Globe Awards | New Star of the Year – Actress | Nicholas and Alexandra | Nominated |
| 1972 | National Society of Film Critics | Best Actress | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Nominated |
| 1973 | New York Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Nominated |
| 1975 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actress | Florence Nightingale / Play of the Month: Hedda Gabler / Antony and Cleopatra / Second House: Athol Fugard | Nominated |
| 1977 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Actress of the Year in a Revival | Hedda Gabler | Nominated |
| 1983 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Actress of the Year in a New Play | Cowardice | Nominated |

## Filmography

| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1964 | Festival (TV series) | Luciana | episode: The Comedy of Errors |
| 1965 | The Wars of the Roses (TV miniseries) | Lady Anne/Joan la Pucelle | chapter: Richard III chapter: Henry VI |
| 1966 | Lord Raingo (TV series) | Delphine | episode: Fear episode: Doubts episode Power episode: The Offer |
| 1966 | Theatre 625 (TV series) | Edith Swan-Neck/Mary | episode: The Family Reunion episode: Conquest: The Leopard and the Dragon episode: Conquest: The Encounter |
| 1970 | Solo (TV series) | Charlotte Brontë | episode: Janet Suzman as Charlotte Brontë |
| 1971 | Nicholas and Alexandra | Alexandra | |
| 1972 | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Sheila | |
| 1968–1972 | BBC Play of the Month (TV series) | Hedda Gabler Lady Macbeth Masha Joan of Arc | episode: Hedda Gabler episode: Macbeth episode: The Three Sisters episode: St. Joan |
| 1974 | The Black Windmill | Alex Tarrant | |
| 1974 | Antony and Cleopatra (TV film) | Cleopatra | |
| 1976 | Clayhanger (TV series) | Hilda Lessways/Hilda Clayhanger | |
| 1976 | Voyage of the Damned | Leni Strauss | |
| 1979 | The House on Garibaldi Street (TV film) | Hedda | |
| 1980 | Nijinsky | Emilia Marcus | |
| 1980 | Escape (TV series) | Wendy Woods | episode: Banned |
| 1981 | Priest of Love | Frieda Lawrence | |
| 1982 | The Draughtsman's Contract | Virginia Herbert | |
| 1983 | And the Ship Sails On | Edmea Tetua | |
| 1984 | The Midsummer Marriage (TV film) | Sosostris | |
| 1984 | The Zany Adventures of Robin Hood (TV film) | Eleanor of Aquitaine | |
| 1985 | Bright Smiler (TV film) | Avon Eve | |
| 1986 | Masterpiece Theatre: Lord Mountbatten – The Last Viceroy | Edwina Mountbatten, Countess Mountbatten of Burma | |
| 1986 | The Singing Detective (TV miniseries) | Nicola | |
| 1988 | Theatre Night (TV series) | Frosine | episode: The Miser |
| 1989 | Revolutionary Witness (TV short) | Theroign de Mericourt | segment: The Woman |
| 1989 | A Dry White Season | Susan du Toit | |
| 1989 | 4 Play (TV series) | Judith | episode: Nobody Here But Us Chickens |
| 1990 | Nuns on the Run | Sister Superior | |
| 1992 | Horizon (TV series) | Narrator | episode: Taking the Credit |
| 1992 | Leon the Pig Farmer | Judith Geller | |
| 1992 | The Secret Agent (TV series) | Margaret, Duchess of Chester | |
| 1993 | Inspector Morse (TV series) | Dr Claire Brewster | episode: Deadly Slumber |
| 1997 | The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (TV series) | Cecily Branksome | episode: Front Seat |
| 2002 | The Windsors – A Royal Family (Documentary) | Narrator | Originally released in 1994 by PBS, updated and re-released in 2002 |
| 2005 | Hiroshima (TV film) | voice | |
| 2006–2007 | Trial & Retribution (TV series) | Winifred Morgan QC | episode: Sins of the Father |
| 2008 | The Color of Magic (TV film) | Ninereeds | |
| 2010 | Midsomer Murders (TV series) | Lady Matilda William | episode: The Sword of Guillaume |
| 2011 | Tinga Tinga Tales (TV series) | Ostrich | |
| 2012 | Sinbad (TV series) | Grandmother/Safia | episode: Homecoming episode: Queen of the Water-Thieves episode: Pilot episode: The Siren |
| 2012 | Labyrinth (TV series) | Esclarmonde | episode: Episode No. 1.2 episode: Episode No. 1.1 |
| 2012 | Moominland Tales: The Life of Tove Jansson (TV film) | Readings | |
| 2013 | Felix | Mrs Cartwright | |
| 2020 | The Crown | Literary agent to Michael Shea | episode: Episode No. 8 Series 4 "48:1" |
| 2023 | Consecration | Mother Superior | |
Reference: "Janet Suzman". IMDb. Retrieved 25 September 2013.