Penny Downie
Penny Downie (born 1954) is an Australian actress known for her stage and television appearances in the United Kingdom.
Penny Downie | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954 (age 66–67) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1976–present |
Professional career
She began her career in Australia, initially in Brisbane at Twelfth Night Theatre and Brisbane Arts Theatre. Downie was a student of theatre director, Joan Whalley. She trained at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Sydney. After graduation she appeared in TV series such as The Box, Bellbird, The Sullivans, Prisoner and Learned Friends.
She moved to the United Kingdom in the early 1980s. In 1984 when she appeared as Dee Rogers in the Minder episode "If Money Be the Food of Love, Play On". Other UK TV credits include: Inspector Morse, Kavanagh QC, The Cazalets, The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, Spooks, Trial & Retribution, New Street Law, Poirot, The Ice House, Lost for Words and New Tricks.
She also appeared in The Girl in the Cafe, alongside Bill Nighy, Kelly Macdonald and Anton Lesser.
She is also an accomplished stage actress. She is an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company where she has played roles such as Lady Anne in Richard III in the 1984 production featuring Antony Sher in the lead, and Hermione and Perdita in The Winter's Tale. She appeared in the premiere of Nick Dear's play The Art of Success in Stratford in 1986 and later at the Barbican Theatre, London, alongside Michael Kitchen and Simon Russell Beale.[1]
In 2008, she played opposite David Tennant and Patrick Stewart as Gertrude, in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet which was subsequently adapted for BBC television and aired in late 2009.[2][3] Downie played the title character in Euripides' Helen at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 2009.
In 2009, she played Mrs. Pienaar in the Clint Eastwood film Invictus.
In 2013, she appeared as Rev Mother Augustine in the Father Brown episode "The Bride of Christ". Downie also played the title role in A Storm in a Flower Vase, a play based on the life of Constance Spry, which held its West End debut at the Arts Theatre.[4]
In 2014, Downie starred in an episode of Suspects as Fiona Sullivan, and appeared as Lady Sinderby, mother of Atticus Aldridge, in series five of Downton Abbey.[5]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Bellbird | Kelly Jamison | TV series (unknown episodes: 1976-1977) |
| The Sullivans | Patty Spencer Sullivan | TV series (unknown episodes) | |
| 1977 | The Box | Ronnie Heatherton | TV series (2 episodes) |
| 1979 | Skyways | Miranda | TV series (1 episode: "George and the Hooker") |
| 1980 | Prisoner | Kerry Vincent | TV series (12 episodes) |
| 1982 | Crosstalk | Cindy | |
| 1983 | Learned Friends | TV series (unknown episodes) | |
| 1984 | Minder | Dee Rogers | TV series (1 episode: "If Money Be the Food of Love, Play On") |
| 1985 | Wetherby | Chrissie | |
| 1986 | C.A.T.S Eyes | Barbara Dashley | TV series (1 episode: "Powerline") |
| 1987 | Lionheart | Madelaine | |
| 1988 | Campaign | Sarah Copeland | TV mini-series (6 episodes) |
| A Taste for Death | Inspector Kate Miskin | TV mini-series (6 episodes) | |
| 1991 | Screen One | Sheila | TV series (1 episode: "Ex") |
| Stanley and the Women | Susan Duke | TV mini-series | |
| 1992 | Underbelly | Barbara Manning | TV series (4 episodes) |
| 1993 | Inspector Morse | Nurse Wendy Hazlitt | TV series (1 episode: "Deadly Slumber") |
| 1994 | Paradise | Linda | TV movie |
| 1995 | The Governor | Christina Knatchbull | TV series (1 episode: "Episode #1.4") |
| 1996 | Madson | Anderton | TV series (1 episode: "Episode 6") |
| 1997 | The Ice House | Phoebe Maybury | TV movie |
| Food of Love | Mary | ||
| 1998 | A Certain Justice | Venetia Aldridge | TV series (unknown episodes) |
| Crime and Punishment | Katerina | TV movie | |
| 1999 | Lost for Words | Aileen Longden | TV movie |
| Kavanagh QC | Mrs. Rosalind McEnery | TV series (1 episode: "Previous Convictions") | |
| 2000 | The House of Mirth | Judy Trenor | |
| 2001 | The Cazalets | Margot "Sid" Sidney | TV series (6 episodes) |
| 2003 | Trust | Anita Matteo | TV series (1 episode: "Spilt Milk") |
| Byron | Lady Judith Milbanke | TV movie | |
| 2004 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Dr. Tessa Jellicoe | TV series (1 episode: "If Wishes Were Horses") |
| Spooks | Prosecution QC | TV series (1 episode: "Episode #3.6") (uncredited) | |
| Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking | Judith Massingham | TV movie | |
| 2005 | Timewatch | Caecilia | TV series documentary (1 episode: "Murder in Rome") |
| Falling | Hazel | TV movie | |
| The Girl in the Café | Ruth | TV movie | |
| Murder in Suburbia | Zenith | TV series (1 episode: "Golden Oldies") | |
| All About George | Evelyn | TV series (6 episodes) | |
| Trial & Retribution | Mrs Thorpe | TV series (1 episode: "The Lovers: Part 1") | |
| Murder in Rome | Caecilia | TV movie | |
| 2006 | Judge John Deed | Moira Blackthorn | TV series (1 episode: "My Daughter, Right or Wrong") |
| Agatha Christie's Poirot | Frances Cloade | TV series (1 episode: "Taken at the Flood") | |
| New Street Law | Honor Scammell | TV series (14 episodes: 2006-2007) | |
| 2007 | The Commander: Fraudster | Jane Griffith | TV movie |
| 2008 | New Tricks | Diane King | TV series (1 episode: "Communal Living") |
| 2009 | Invictus | Mrs Pienaar | |
| Hamlet | Gertrude | TV movie | |
| 2010 | Doctors | Jessica Boyd/Maisie Padkin | TV series (2 episodes: 2010-2014) |
| 2011 | Waking the Dead | Bonnie Yorke | TV series (2 episodes: "Solidarity") |
| Silk | Helen Guthrie | TV series (1 episode: "Episode #1.6") | |
| The Shadow Line | Caroline Monroe | TV mini-series (1 episode: "Episode #1.4") | |
| W.E. | Dr. Vargas | ||
| Law & Order: UK | Rachel Mathesson | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 2012 | Vera | Veronica | TV series (1 episode: "Silent Voices") |
| Threesome | Judge | TV series (1 episode: "I Don't") | |
| 2013 | Ripper Street | Flora Gable | TV series (1 episode: "The King Came Calling") |
| Father Brown | Rev Mother Augustine | TV series (1 episode: "The Bride of Christ") | |
| Silent Witness | Anne Percival | TV series (1 episode: "True Love Waits: Part 2") | |
| Girl on a Bicycle | Margaret | ||
| Breathless | Penny | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 2014 | Suspects | Fiona Sullivan | TV series (1 episode: "Alone") |
| Siblings | Dr. Barker | TV series (1 episode: "Intern School") | |
| Downton Abbey | Lady Sinderby | TV series (4 episodes) | |
| 2016 | London Has Fallen | Home Secretary Rose Kenter | |
| The Secret Agent | Lady Blackwood | TV series (3 episodes) | |
| Jackie | Janet Lee | ||
| 2017 | Back | Ellen | TV series (6 episodes) |
| 2019 | Absentia | Valerie Chandris | TV series (3 episodes) |
| The Crown | Alice, Duchess of Gloucester | TV series | |
| 2020 | The Jester from Tranyslvania | Mrs. Pennington | post-production |
References
- http://theatricalia.com/play/m1/the-art-of-success/production/24d retrieved 25 January 2014
- Billen, Andrew (21 August 2008). "Fit for a prince - Hamlet Production". New Statesman. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- "BBC Two - Hamlet". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- Prendergast, Lara (12 September 2013). "A Storm in a Flower Vase: Constance Spry spruces up centrestage". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- http://shows.stv.tv/downton-abbey/latest/288369-james-faulkner-penny-downie-and-catherine-steadman-for-downton-abbey/
External links
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