Felicity Montagu

Felicity Jane Montagu (born 12 September 1960) is an English actress.[1] She is best known for playing Lynn Benfield, the long-suffering assistant of Alan Partridge.

Felicity Montagu
Born	12 September 1960 Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1985–present
Spouse(s)	Alan Nixon (1984–2006; divorced)
Children	2

Early life

Montagu was born in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, to Lieutenant-Colonel John Drogo Montagu (1916–2013), whose great-great-grandfather Admiral George Montagu was great-great-grandson of Hon. James Montagu (d. 1665), who, in his turn, was the third son of Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester.[2] She attended Loughborough University and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career

Film

Montagu's reputation in comedy character parts was enhanced by her performance in Bridget Jones's Diary as Perpetua, Bridget's unpleasant colleague. She also appeared in the 2006 film Confetti as highly strung magazine editor Vivien Kay-Wylie. She appeared in the film I Want Candy in which she plays the mother of an ambitious teenager. She appeared in How to Lose Friends & Alienate People (2008). In 2013, she reprised her role as Lynn Benfield for the Alan Partridge film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. and Mrs Mainwaring in the 2016 Dad's Army film.[3] In 2016, Montagu reprised her role as Miss Adolf from the Hank Zipzer series in the TV movie Hank Zipzer's Christmas Catastrophe.

Television

In 2004 and 2005, Montagu starred in ITV comedy drama Doc Martin as Caroline Bosman, the radio presenter of Radio Portwenn. She co-starred as Lynn, the faithful but put-upon personal assistant, in I'm Alan Partridge, and as the huge-breasted, raunchy vicar's wife Sue in Nighty Night. In 2006, she took the leading role of housewife and gang queen Barbara Du Prez in the offbeat comedy series Suburban Shootout. Her other television credits include Mapp and Lucia, The Bill ('Furthers'; 1991) Health and Efficiency, Wish Me Luck, Tumbledown, Harry Enfield's Television Programme, 2point4 Children, A Touch of Frost, My Life as a Popat, Johnny and the Bomb, Peak Practice, The Queen's Sister, Coogan's Run, Doc Martin, Lead Balloon, Alexei Sayle's Stuff, Skins, Hank Zipzer, M.I. High, The End of the F***ing World, and Sally4Ever. In 2020, she appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Masterchef.[4]

Theatre

After graduating from drama school Montagu was cast in the Terry Johnson play Unsuitable for Adults at the Bush Theatre. She went on to work at the Royal Court Theatre and the Royal National Theatre. After a long hiatus due to her screen work, Montagu returned to the stage when she starred as Melanie alongside Rowan Atkinson in the 2013 West End production of Quartermaine's Terms at Wyndham's Theatre.[5] In 2017 she appeared at the Liverpool Playhouse in a stage adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice as Mrs Bennet alongside Matthew Kelly as Mr Bennet.

Radio

Montagu has also been a regular voice on a range of comedy programmes on BBC Radio 4 since the mid-1980s. Her credits include Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, Delve Special, Ayres on the Air, Dial M For Pizza, Old Harry's Game, The Million Pound Radio Show, Revolting People, and No Commitments.

Personal life

Montagu married Alan Nixon in 1984. They divorced in 2006. The couple have two children, Olivia (born 1990) and Luke (born 10 Aug 1996). Felicity and Olivia worked together in 2016 in the BBC Radio 4 series Guilt Trip, where they played a fictional mother and daughter.[5]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Bridget Jones's Diary	Perpetua
2003	Blackball	Astronomer
2004–2005	Nighty Night	Sue	Two series, 10 episodes
2006	Confetti	Vivien
2007	I Want Candy	Val, Joe's Mum
2008	How to Lose Friends & Alienate People	Clipboard Nazi
2013	Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa	Lynn Benfield
2015	Two Down	Mrs. Hannon
2016	Dad's Army	Elizabeth Mainwaring
2017	The End of the F***ing World	Petrol station manager
2019	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Quince
2020	Resistance	Mrs. Garner
2020	Miss Marx	Helene Demuth

References

1. Maltin, Leonard (2008-08-05). Leonard Maltin's 2009 Movie Guide. Penguin. pp. 275–. ISBN 9780452289789. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
2. "Felicity Jane Montagu". thepeerage.com. 12 August 2011. Retrieved 13 December 2017.
3. Murphy, Amy (26 October 2014). "Dad's Army film: First photos of Catherine Zeta Jones, Toby Jones and Bill Nighy released". the Independent.
4. Darvill, Josh (2020-06-28). "Celebrity MasterChef 2020 line up of celebrity contestants revealed". TellyMix. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
5. Groves, Nancy (15 September 2016). "Pride and Partridge: Felicity Montagu's comedy gold with Coogan and Austen". the Guardian.

External links

• Felicity Montagu at IMDb
• Felicity Montagu at British Comedy Guide