Geraldine James
Geraldine James, OBE (born 6 July 1950) is an English film and television actress. Biography. Early life and family. James was born in Maidenhead, Berkshire, to a cardiologist father. She was educated at Downe House, a girls' independent school in Newbury, Berkshire. After graduating from the Drama Centre London in 1973, she began her career in repertory theatre. On 17 January 1977, she met her husband, Joseph Blatchley, at a party. Acting. James has been nominated four times for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress; for "Dummy" (1977), "The Jewel in the Crown" (1984), "Band of Gold  (1995) and The Sins" (2000). For her role as Portia in the 1989 Broadway revival of "The Merchant of Venice", she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play. She also won the Volpi Cup for Best Actress at the 1989 Venice Film Festival for "She's Been Away". Her film credits include "Gandhi" (1982), "The Tall Guy" (1989), "Sherlock Holmes" (2009), "Alice in Wonderland" (2010), "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (2011), and "45 Years" (2015). Since 2017, she has starred in the  Netflix series "Anne with an E" as Marilla Cuthbert, and in the 2019 film "Downton Abbey" as Queen Mary. Theatre director Peter Hall said that James ranks amongst the great English classical actresses.