# Pam Ferris

Pamela Ferris (born 11 May 1948) is a Welsh actress. She has starred in numerous British television series, including Connie (1985), The Darling Buds of May (1991–1993), Where the Heart Is (1997–2000), Rosemary & Thyme (2003–2006), and Call the Midwife (2012–2016). For her role as Peggy Snow in Where the Heart Is, Ferris was nominated three times for Most Popular Actress at the National Television Awards. Ferris is best known to younger audiences for her role as Miss Agatha Trunchbull in the film Matilda (1996).
Ferris also portrayed Marge Dursley in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Miriam in Children of Men (2006), Mrs. Bevan in Nativity! (2009) and Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger (2012), voiced Mrs. Bennett / Aunty Betty in Ethel & Ernest (2016) and played Mrs. Faulkner in Tolkien (2019).
In theatre, her performance as Phoebe Rice in The Entertainer at The Old Vic in London saw her nominated for the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role.

## Early life

Ferris was born on 11 May 1948 in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, to a Welsh mother and an English father who was serving in the Royal Air Force. After her parents returned to the United Kingdom, Ferris spent her childhood in the Aberkenfig area, near Bridgend in Wales. Her father, Fred Ferris, was a policeman, and her mother, Ann Perkins, worked in her family's bakery business.

## Career

Ferris performed in her younger years at the Mercury Theatre in Auckland, and later with various regional companies in the UK. She played motherly Ma Larkin in the ITV series The Darling Buds of May, which ran from 1991 to 1993. She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1991, when she was surprised by Michael Aspel while recording an episode of The Darling Buds of May at Yorkshire Television in Leeds. She has also acted in a succession of television dramas, including Meantime, in which she played the Cockney mother of Phil Daniels and Tim Roth, Connie, Hardwicke House, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Where the Heart Is, and Paradise Heights. From 2003 to 2006, she played the gardening sleuth Laura Thyme in Rosemary & Thyme, starring opposite Felicity Kendal.
Her roles in costume dramas include parts in television adaptations of Middlemarch, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Our Mutual Friend, The Turn of the Screw, Pollyanna, and Jane Eyre.
In 1996, Ferris portrayed the brutish, authoritarian school headmistress Miss Agatha Trunchbull in Matilda (a role played by male actors in the stage musical version).
In 2004, she played the foul-mouthed Marge Dursley in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. In 2006, Ferris took on the role of Miriam, a motherly British activist, in Children of Men. She voiced Mrs. Bennett/Aunty Betty in the animated biographical film Ethel & Ernest, which was broadcast on BBC One on 26 December 2016, and played Mrs. Faulkner in Tolkien (2019). She has also acted in productions for BBC Radio 4.
Her career in the theatre has included parts in Royal Court Theatre and National Theatre productions. In 2007, she played Phoebe Rice in a revival of John Osborne's The Entertainer at London's Old Vic Theatre. In 2007, Ferris took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history. In 2008, she played Mrs. General in a BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Little Dorrit. From 2009 to 2010, she appeared in the final series of the BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey as Cath Smith. In 2010, she made a guest appearance in the sitcom Grandma's House. From 2012 to 2016, Ferris played the part of Sister Evangelina in the series Call the Midwife. In June and July 2015, Ferris was the guest of Sarah Walker on BBC Radio 3's Essential Classics.

## Personal life

In 1986, Ferris married actor Roger Frost. She lives in Elham, Kent, England. In a 2012 interview with The Guardian Ferris said, "I was obsessed with work in my youth. It's why I didn't get married until I was 38 and the reason I didn't have kids. Not having children isn't a sadness in my life, though. I know I wouldn't have been a half-bad mother, but that's what happened. There's no regretting it."

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1983 | Meantime | Mavis |
| 1996 | Matilda | Miss Agatha Trunchbull |
| 2002 | Death to Smoochy | Tommy Cotter |
| 2004 | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban | Marge Dursley |
| 2006 | Children of Men | Miriam |
| 2009 | Nativity! | Mrs. Bevan |
| 2009 | Telstar | Mrs. Violet Shenton |
| 2009 | Malice in Wonderland | The Duchess |
| 2012 | The Raven | Mrs. Bradley |
| 2012 | Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger | Mrs. Bevan |
| 2013 | Saving Santa | Mrs. Claus |
| 2016 | Ethel & Ernest | Mrs. Bennett / Aunty Betty (voice) |
| 2018 | Holmes & Watson | Queen Victoria |
| 2019 | Tolkien | Mrs. Faulkner |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1971 | BBC Play of the Month | Puck and Fairie | Episode: “A Midsummer Night's Dream” |
| 1984 | Dramarama | Dorothy | Episode: “Dodger, Bonzo and the Rest” |
| 1985 | The Bill | Mrs. Draper | Episode: “Death of a Cracksmen” |
| 1985 | Connie | Nesta | 13 episodes |
| 1986 | Ladies in Charge | Charlie | Episode: “Double Act” |
| 1987 | Hardwicke House | Ms. Crabbe | 2 episodes broadcast, 5 unaired and all 7 uploaded to YouTube in 2019. |
| 1987 | Lizzie's Pictures | Grace | 3 episodes |
| 1987 | Dramarama | Anne Bailey | Episode: “Peter” |
| 1987 | Casualty | Linda | Episode: “The Raid” |
| 1988 | The Fear | Brenda | Episode: “#1.1” |
| 1988 | Valentine Park | Mrs. Fox | Episode: “A Rose By Any Other Name” |
| 1988 | South of the Border | Brenda | Episode: “#1.6” |
| 1989 | All Change | Maggie Oldfield | Episode: “The Bosom of the Family” |
| 1990 | Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit | Mrs. Arkwright | 3 episodes |
| 1990 | A Sense of Guilt | Magdalen Parry | 3 episodes |
| 1991–1993 | The Darling Buds of May | Florence "Ma" Larkin | 20 episodes |
| 1992 | Mr Wakefield's Crusade | Mad Marion | 2 episodes |
| 1992 | Cluedo | Mrs. White | 6 episodes |
| 1992 | Performance | Mrs. Bryant | Episode: “Roots” |
| 1993 | Comedy Playhouse | Matron | Episode: “Once in a Lifetime” |
| 1994 | Middlemarch | Mrs. Dollop | 3 episodes |
| 1994 | The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends | Aunt Pettitoes (voice) | Episode: “The Tale of Pigling Bland” |
| 1994 | The Rector's Wife | Eleanor Ramsay | 2 episodes |
| 1995 | Screen Two | Alice Hartley | Episode: “Mrs Hartley and the Growth Centre“ |
| 1996 | Wycliffe | Pat Trethowan | Episode: “Last Judgment” |
| 1996 | The Tenant of Wildfell Hall | Mrs. Markham | 2 episodes |
| 1997–2000 | Where the Heart Is | Peggy Snow | 36 episodes |
| 1998 | Our Mutual Friend | Mrs. Boffin | 4 episodes |
| 1999 | The Turn of the Screw | Mrs Grose | Television film |
| 2001 | Linda Green | Norma Fitts | Episode: “Victim Support” |
| 2002 | Paradise Heights | Marion Eustace | 6 episodes |
| 2003 | Clocking Off | Pat Fletcher | 6 episodes |
| 2003–2006 | Rosemary & Thyme | Laura Thyme | 22 episodes |
| 2004 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Elspeth McGillicuddy | Episode: “4:50 from Paddington” |
| 2006 | Jane Eyre | Grace Poole | 4 episodes |
| 2007 | Lilies | Alice Bird | Episode: “The Serpent” |
| 2008 | Little Dorrit | Mrs. Hortensia General | 9 episodes |
| 2009, 2024 | Gavin & Stacey | Catherina "Cath" Smith | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Grandma's House | Deborah Adler | Episode: “The Day Simon Announced He Was in Control of the Universe” |
| 2011 | Midsomer Murders | Liz Tomlin | Episode: “Echoes of the Dead” |
| 2011 | Luther | Baba | 3 episodes |
| 2012–2016 | Call the Midwife | Sister Evangelina | 36 episodes |
| 2020 | Urban Myths | Madame Gaudin | Episode: “Les Dawson’s Parisienne Adventure” |
| 2021 | Beauty and the Beast: A Comic Relief Pantomime for Christmas | Marie | |

### Theatre

| Year | Play | Role | Venue | Notes |
| 1972 | Gas Light | Bella Manningham | Ipswich Arts Theatre, Ipswich | |
| 1972 | Murder in the Cathedral | Woman of Canterbury | Ipswich Arts Theatre, Ipswich | |
| 1972 | Gamma Gurton's Needle | Dame Chat | Ipswich Arts Theatre, Ipswich | |
| 1972 | Captain Pugwash | Cannibal | Ipswich Arts Theatre, Ipswich | |
| 1974 | Time and Time Again | Anna | Ipswich Arts Theatre, Ipswich | |
| 1979 | Bleak House | Lady Dedlock | Royal Court Theatre, London | with Shared Experience |
| 1979 | Cymbeline | Imogen | Royal Court Theatre, London | with Shared Experience |
| 1984 | The Luckey Chance | Various roles | Royal Court Theatre, London | with Women's Playhouse Trust |
| 1985 | The Grace of Mary Traverse | Mrs. Temptwell | Royal Court Theatre, London | |
| 1988 | Roots | Mrs. Bryant | Cottesloe Theatre, London | |
| 1991 | The Seagull | Irina Nikolayevna Arkadina | UK Tour | with Oxford Stage Company |
| 1994 | The Queen and I | Queen Elizabeth II | Leicester Haymarket Theatre - Leicester, Royal Court Theatre - London & UK Tour | with Out of Joint Theatre Company |
| 1994 | Road | Brenda/Helen/Joe's Mum/Mr and Mrs Bald | Leicester Haymarket Theatre - Leicester, Royal Court Theatre - London & UK Tour | with Out of Joint Theatre Company |
| 2002 | Closing Time | Vera | Royal National Theatre, London | |
| 2004 | Notes on Falling Leaves | Mother | Royal Court Theatre, London | |
| 2007 | The Entertainer | Phoebe Rice | The Old Vic, London | |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 1996 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Matilda | Nominated |
| 1997 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Actress | Where the Heart Is | Nominated |
| 1998 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Actress | Where the Heart Is | Nominated |
| 2000 | National Television Awards | Most Popular Actress | Where the Heart Is | Nominated |
| 2003 | Michael Elliott Trust Awards | Actress of the Year | — | Won |
| 2005 | Evening Standard Theatre Awards | Best Actress | Notes on Falling Leaves | Nominated |
| 2008 | Clarence Derwent Awards | Best Female in a Supporting Role | The Entertainer | Won |
| 2008 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Performance in a Supporting Role | The Entertainer | Nominated |