Annette Crosbie

Annette Crosbie, OBE (born 12 February 1934) is a Scottish actress.[1] In 1970, she appeared in an episode of Callan, “Amos Green must live”, as Mrs May Coswood. She is known for her role as Margaret Meldrew in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000). She twice won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, for The Six Wives of Henry VIII in 1971 and Edward the Seventh in 1976, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for the 1976 film The Slipper and the Rose. Her other film appearances include The Pope Must Die (1991), Shooting Fish (1997), Calendar Girls (2003) and Into the Woods (2014).

Annette Crosbie OBE
Born	(1934-02-12) 12 February 1934 Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1959–present
Spouse(s)	Michael Griffiths ​ ( m. 1966; div. 1985)
Children	2, including Selina Griffiths

Early life and career

Crosbie was born in Gorebridge, Midlothian, Scotland, to Presbyterian parents who disapproved of her becoming an actress.[2] Nevertheless, she joined the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School while still in her teens. Her big break came in 1970 when she was cast as Catherine of Aragon in the BBC television series The Six Wives of Henry VIII, for which she won the 1971 BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress. In 1973, she starred alongside Vanessa Redgrave in the BBC serial A Picture of Katherine Mansfield.

In 1975, Crosbie made a similar impact as another queen, Queen Victoria, in the ITV period drama Edward the Seventh, for which she won the 1976 BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress. She played Cinderella's fairy godmother in The Slipper and the Rose, which was chosen as the Royal Film Première for 1976. In that film, Crosbie sang the Sherman Brothers' song, "Suddenly It Happens". Crosbie voiced the character of Galadriel in Ralph Bakshi's animated movie, The Lord of the Rings, filmed in 1978. In 1980, she played the abbess in Hawk the Slayer. In 1986, she appeared as the vicar's wife in Paradise Postponed.[1]

Crosbie's next major role was as Margaret Meldrew, the long-suffering wife of Victor Meldrew (Richard Wilson) in the BBC sitcom One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000) for which she is best known. She also played Janet, the housekeeper to Dr. Finlay, in the 1993–96 revival of A. J. Cronin's popular stories. She also had a poignant role in the thriller The Debt Collector (1999).

Crosbie's other roles include playing the monkey-lover Ingrid Strange in an episode of Jonathan Creek (1997), Edith Sparshott in An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1997–2001), and Jessie in the film Calendar Girls (2003).

In 2008 she appeared in a BBC adaptation of Little Dorrit. In 2009 she played Sadie Cairncross in the BBC television series Hope Springs.[1] In 2010, Crosbie appeared in the Doctor Who episode "The Eleventh Hour" and in an episode of New Tricks. In 2014 Crosbie appeared in the movies What We Did on Our Holiday and Into the Woods. In 2015 she appeared in a BBC adaptation of Cider with Rosie. In 2016 she appeared in the new film version of Dad's Army. In 2019 she appeared in an episode of Call the Midwife.

Honours

Crosbie was awarded the Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1998 New Year Honours for services to Drama.[3]

Personal life

Crosbie was previously married to Michael Griffiths, the father of her son Owen and daughter Selina who is also an actress.[4]

She is a campaigner for greyhound welfare.[5] Since 2003, she has been President of the League Against Cruel Sports.[6]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965	Sky West and Crooked	Mrs. White
1972	Follow Me!	Miss Framer
1976	The Slipper and the Rose	Fairy Godmother
1976	Mr Smith	Anon
1978	The Lord of the Rings	Lady Galadriel of Lothlorien	Voice
1980	Hawk the Slayer	Abbess
1984	Ordeal by Innocence	Kirsten Lindstrom
1991	Chernobyl: The Final Warning	Dr. Galina Petrovna
1991	The Pope Must Die	Mother Superior
1992	Leon the Pig Farmer	Dr. Johnson
1995	Solitaire for 2	Mrs Dwyer
1997	Shooting Fish	Mrs Cummins
1999	The Debt Collector	Lana
2003	Calendar Girls	Jessie
2014	What We Did on Our Holiday	Doreen
2014	Into the Woods	Granny
2016	Dad's Army	Cissy Godfrey
	Eat Locals	Alice

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1965–1968	Theatre 625	Various	4 episodes
1970	The Six Wives of Henry VIII	Catherine of Aragon	Episode: "Catherine Aragon"
1970	Callan	May Coswood	Episode: "Amos Green must live".
1973	A Picture of Katherine Mansfield	Various	5 episodes
1973	Special Branch	Sarah Lovett	Episode: "The Other Man"
1975	Churchill's People	Elizabeth Rush	Episode: "March On, Boys!"
	Edward the Seventh	Queen Victoria	10 episodes
1978	Lillie	Henrietta Labouchere	TV serial, 2 episodes
1983	Crown Court	Mrs Owen	Episode: "Mother's Boy" (Part 1)
1984	East Lynne	Cornelia	TV film
1986	Paradise Postponed	Dorothy Simcox	TV mini-series, 10 episodes
1986–1989	Screenplay	Mrs Holders / Cynthia	3 episodes
1987	Taggart	Maggie Davidson	Episode: "Funeral Rites"
1989	Take Me Home	Liz	3 episodes
1989	Summer's Lease	Connie Tapscott	2 episodes
1990–2000	One Foot in the Grave	Margaret Meldrew	41 episodes plus Comic Relief sketches in 1993 (voice only) and 2001
1992	Heartbeat	Penelope Stirling	Episode: "Old, New, Borrowed, Blue"
1993–1996	Doctor Finlay	Janet MacPherson	27 episodes
1995–1996	Screen Two	Dr Elizabeth MacKay / Meg Kelso	2 episodes
1997	Jonathan Creek	Dr Ingrid Strange	Episode: "The House Of Monkeys"
1999	Oliver Twist	Mrs Bedwin	4 episodes
2001	Waking the Dead	Moira Bowen	2 episodes: ”The Blind Beggar”
2004	Black Books	Moo-Ma	Episode: "Moo-Ma and Moo-Pa"
2005	Midsomer Murders	Amelia Plummer	Episode: "Sauce for the Goos"
2008	Little Dorrit	Mr F's Aunt	6 episodes
2009	Hope Springs	Sadie Cairncross	8 episodes
2010	Doctor Who	Mrs Angelo	Episode: "The Eleventh Hour"
−2010	New Tricks	Miss Jones	Episode: "Coming Out Ball (New Tricks)"
2015	The Vicar of Dibley	Reverend Mavis Pipkin	Episode: "The Bishop of Dibley"
2017	Henry IX	Charlotte, The Queen Mother	4 episodes
2019	Call the Midwife	Clarice Millgrove	Series 8 Episode 2
2020	After Life	Rosemary	Season 2 Episode 1

References

1. Annette Crosbie filmography at the Bfi database Archived 15 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine accessed 7 January 2016.
2. Unipro Limited. "Interview: Annette Crosbie". Blockbuster.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2009.
3. United Kingdom list: "No. 54993". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 30 December 1997. pp. 1–28.
4. "Annette Crosbie OBE". edinburgh-places.co.uk. Retrieved 23 November 2018.
5. "BBC Inside Out – Postcode lottery". Bbc.co.uk. 24 February 2003. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
6. About Annette Crosbie | Annette Crosbie's Blog

External links

• Annette Crosbie on IMDb
• Annette Crosbie at British Comedy Guide