 billie honor whitelaw, cbe (born 6 june 1932) is an english actress. she worked in close collaboration with irish playwright samuel beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works.billie whitelaw at new york state writers institute, state university of new york she is also known for her portrayal of mrs baylock, the demonic nanny in the omen. whitelaw was appointed cbe in the 1991 birthday honours list. ==early life== whitelaw was born in coventry, warwickshire, the daughter of frances mary (nÃ©e williams) and gerry whitelaw.billie whitelaw biography she grew up in a working class part of bradford and later attended grange girls' grammar school in bradford. at age 11, she began performing as a child actress on radio programmes, including the part of bunkle, an extrovert prep-schoolboy on children's hour from manchester, and later worked as an assistant stage manager and acted with the repertory company at the prince's theatre in bradford during high school.. ==film career== after training at rada, whitelaw made her stage debut at age 18 in london 1950. she made her film debut in the sleeping tiger (1954), followed by roles in carve her name with pride (1958) and hell is a city (1960). whitelaw soon became a regular in british films of the 1950s and early 1960s. in her early film work she specialized in blowsy blondes and secretaries, but her dramatic range began to emerge by the late 1960s. she starred alongside albert finney in charlie bubbles (1967), a performance which won her a bafta award as best actress in a supporting role. she would win her second bafta as the sensuous mother of college student hayley mills in the psychological study twisted nerve (1969). she continued in film roles including leo the last (1970), start the revolution without me (1970), gumshoe (1971) and the alfred hitchcock thriller frenzy (1972). whitelaw gained international acclaim for her chilling role as mrs. baylock, the evil guardian of the demon child damien in the omen (1976). her performance was considered one of the most memorable of the film, winning her the [[evening standard british film awa
1932_births Alumni_of_the_Royal_Academy_of_Dramatic_Art BAFTA_winners_(people) Best_Supporting_Actress_BAFTA_Award_winners Commanders_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire English_film_actresses English_stage_actresses English_television_actresses English_voice_actresses Living_people People_from_Coventry Royal_National_Theatre_Company_members