Emma Thompson
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| Date of Birth | 15 April 1959 |
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Emma Thompson(born 15 April 1959) is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. She first came to prominence in 1987 in two BBC TV series,Tutti FruttiandFortunes of War. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedyThe Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British dramaHowards End. The following year Thompson garnered dual Academy Award nominations, as Best Actress forThe Remains of the Dayand as Best Supporting Actress forIn the Name of the Father.In 1995, Thompson scripted and starred inSense and Sensibility, a film adaptation of the Jane Austen novel of the same name , which earned her an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role among other awards . Other notable film and television credits have included theHarry Potterfilm series,Wit(2001),Love Actually(2003),Angels in America(2003),Nanny McPhee(2005),Stranger than Fiction(2006),Last Chance Harvey(2008),An Education(2009), andNanny McPhee and the Big Bang(2009).Thompson is a patron of the Refugee Council and president of the Teaching Awards .
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| Wiki | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Thompson |
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| Country | United_Kingdom |
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Emma Thompson Biography
See also
- List of awards and nominations received by Emma Thompson
Further reading
- Hewison, Robert (1984).Footlights! A Hundred Years of Cambridge Comedy. Methuen, London. ISBN 0-413-56050-3 .
- Branagh, Kenneth (1989).Beginning. St. Martin's Press, New York. ISBN 0-312-05822-5 .
- Shuttleworth, Ian (1994).Ken and Em. Headline Book Publishing, London. ISBN 0-7472-1225-2 .
- Nickson, Chris (1997).Emma: The Many Facets of Emma Thompson. Taylor Publishing. ISBN 0878339655 .
Personal life
While at Cambridge, Thompson was romantically involved with actor Hugh Laurie ,a fellow Footlights member and an undergraduate at Selwyn College , just across the road from Newnham. Thompson continues her friendship with Laurie.
She married actor Kenneth Branagh on 20 August 1989. They acted together several times, in the TV seriesFortunes of War, and in hit movies such asDead Again,Henry VandMuch Ado About Nothing. They divorced in October 1995.
Thompson married actor Greg Wise in 2003 in Dunoon , Scotland, where she has a second home.The couple have a daughter, Gaia Romilly, born in 1999. In 2003, the couple informally adopted a 16-year-old Rwandan refugee named Tindyebwa Agaba. They successfully resisted his deportation back to Rwanda , his family having been killed in the genocide .
Controversy
At a visit to Exeter University in November 2010 for a lecture titled 'All Africans Now', Thompson stated that Nick Griffin , leader of the British National Party would "love Exeter. He would feel very comfortable here", in reference to Exeter University's low number of ethnic minority students. Her remarks were responded to by from Exeter Conservative councillor, Jeff Coates, who said "It's a very strange accusation to make. For heaven's sake, this is a country on the north-west fringes of Europe".
Thompson came in for criticism for a comment onThe Late Late Showon US television in August 2010, regarding residents of the Isle of Wight's attitude to homosexuals, remarking that they 'stone homosexuals'.Thompson later apologised, stating that her comments were meant to refer to the Isle of Man instead.
Activism
Environmental work
Thompson is a supporter of Greenpeace . It was announced on 13 January 2009 that, with three other members of the organisation, she had bought land near the village of Sipson , under threat from a proposed third runway for Heathrow Airport .It was hoped that possession of the land, half the size of a football pitch, would make it possible to prevent the government from carrying through its plan to expand the airport.
Bought for an undisclosed sum from a local land owner, the plot was to be split into small squares and sold across the globe. Thompson said, "I don't understand how any government remotely serious about committing to reversing climate change can even consider these ridiculous plans. It's laughably hypocritical. That's why we've bought a plot on the runway. We'll stop this from happening even if we have to move in and plant vegetables."
Political and religious views
Thompson has said of her religious and political views: "I'm an atheist ; I suppose you can call me a sort of libertarian anarchist . I regard religion with fear and suspicion. It's not enough to say that I don't believe in God. I actually regard the system as distressing: I am offended by some of the things said in the Bible and the Qur'an and I refute them."Despite this, she says that the guiding moral principles, ethical principles and much of the philosophy of Christianity is very good and that she celebrates Christmas .She told the BBCAndrew Marr Showin March 2010 that she had been a member of the Labour Party "all my life."Thompson is also a Palestinian human rights activist, having been a member of the British-based ENOUGH! coalition that seeks to end the "Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip and West Bank."
Infringement Accusation
In 2011, playwright, Gregory Murphy, accused Emma Thompson of misappropriating his Off-Broadway and West End theatre 2009 play and subsequent screenplay, "The Countess," about the bizarre " love triangle " between John Ruskin , Effie Gray and John Everett Millais .Murphy asserts that copies of his play and screenplay were sent to her and her husband, Greg Wise , through a mutual friend. After obtaining a copy of a screenplay titled, "Effie", credited to Thompson and Wise, Murphy contacted the film's producers, noting that "Effie" was distinctly related to Murphy's own screenplay in its "time-frame, character development, structure and tone."
Thompson asserts that she has never seen "The Countess", read its screenplay, or ever received a copy from the mutual friend, who is willing to testify that he never gave her a copy. She maintains that all similarities between "Effie" and "The Countess" are simply the result of them being based on the same historical events.
Thompson met with Murphy at her home in an attempt to reach an agreement, and there followed over a number of months discussion of a possible writer's credit on the film and payment to Murphy. However no settlement could be reached to the satisfaction of both parties.
Thompson is expected to go into production on "Effie" in August 2011. However, she must "be able to demonstrate that there is no validity to Mr. Murphy's claim of infringement" to close the financing for the film.
Career
Thompson's earliest television appearances included the comedy sketch showAlfresco, broadcast in 1983 and 1984 (as well as its three-part pilotThere's Nothing to Worry About, shown in 1982), which also featured Ben Elton , Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie . Also in 1984 she guested alongside Fry and Laurie in the episode "Bambi" of the sitcomThe Young Ones, playing Miss Money-Sterling. Her breakthrough began in 1987 with her role as red-haired rock guitarist Suzi Kettles in the cult TV seriesTutti Frutti. This was followed by acclaim for the BBC seriesFortunes of Warin which she starred with her then future husband, Kenneth Branagh . For these two 1987 roles she won a BAFTA for Best Actress. In 1988, she starred in and wrote the eponymousThompsoncomedy sketch series for BBC1; the series was not successful with audiences or critics. Described inTime Outmagazine as "very clever-little-me-ish",[citation needed]it has never been repeated in Britain despite her Oscar successes, and Thompson has not returned to the sketch comedy field.
Thompson's first major film role was in Richard Curtis 's romantic comedyThe Tall Guy(1989) co-starring Jeff Goldblum . Her career took a more serious turn with a series of critically acclaimed performances and films, beginning withHowards End(1992), for which she received an Oscar for best actress ; the part of Gareth Peirce , the lawyer for the Guildford Four , inIn the Name of the Father;The Remains of the Dayopposite Anthony Hopkins ; and as the British painter Dora Carrington in the filmCarrington.
Thompson won her next Oscar in 1996, for best adapted screenplay for her adaptation of Jane Austen 'sSense and Sensibility, a film directed by Ang Lee , in which she also played the Oscar-nominated lead role opposite Hugh Grant . She has said that she keeps both of her award statues in her downstairs bathroom, citing embarrassment at placing them in a more prominent place.
Thompson's recent television work has included a starring role in the 2001 HBO dramaWit, in which she played a dying cancer patient, and 2003'sAngels in America, playing multiple roles, including one of the titular angels . Her Emmy Award was as a guest star in a 1997 episode of the showEllen;in this episode she played a fictionalised parody of herself: a closeted lesbian more concerned with the media finding out she is actually American. She also appeared in an episode ofCheersin 1992 titled "One Hugs, the Other Doesn't".
More recently, Thompson appeared in supporting roles such as Sybill Trelawney inHarry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanandHarry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In 2002, she voiced Captain Amelia in Disney 'sTreasure Planet, an adaptation ofTreasure Island. She also appeared in the 2003 comedyLove Actually. The filmNanny McPhee, adapted by Thompson from Christianna Brand'sNurse Matildabooks, was first released in October 2005. Thompson worked on the project for nine years, having written the screenplay and starred alongside her mother (who has a cameo appearance). In the filmStranger than Fictionshe plays an author planning on killing her main character, Harold Crick, who turns out to be a real person. Most recently, Thompson made a short uncredited cameo as a doctor introducing the cure for cancer in the form of measles in the latest film adaptation ofI Am Legend, and starred inLast Chance Harveyopposite Dustin Hoffman , Eileen Atkins and Kathy Baker . In 2009, she appeared inAn EducationandThe Boat That Rocked, the new Richard Curtis film, which also starred Gemma Arterton , Philip Seymour Hoffman , January Jones , Kenneth Branagh , Bill Nighy , Nick Frost , Jack Davenport and Rhys Ifans .
Thompson reprised her role as Sybill Trelawney inHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.She will also voice Queen Elinor in the upcoming 2012 Pixar filmBrave.[citation needed]
Early life
Thompson was born in Paddington , London, England. Her father was the actor Eric Thompson , best known for having written and narratedThe Magic Roundabout, shown on BBC children's television in the 1960s and 1970s. Her mother is the Scottish actress Phyllida Law . Thompson's younger sister is actress Sophie Thompson . Thompson has spent part of her life in Scotland and has stated that she "feel[s] Scottish".
Education
 | Thisbiographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources . Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourcedmust be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful.(February 2011) |
Thompson went to Camden School for Girls and then read English at Newnham College at the University of Cambridge where she was a member (along with fellow actors Stephen Fry , Hugh Laurie and Tony Slattery ) and vice-president of the university's comedy troupe, the Footlights . Her acting talent was so impressive that agent Richard Armitage signed her to a contract while she was still two years away from graduation. Thompson graduated from Cambridge in 1980. Shortly afterward, she came to fame with a leading role opposite Robert Lindsay in the Leicester Haymarket Theatre's production of the musicalMe and My Girl, which had just been rescripted by Stephen Fry.
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Emma Thompson Film & Dramas & Discography
Film
- Sources for Awards:Evening Standard British Film Awards–IMDB: Emma Thompson Awards
Television
Theatre
The following is a partial list of Thompson's theatre credit:
- 1982 – Appeared inNot the Nine O'Clock News– UK tour.
- 1982 – Co-wrote and appeared inBeyond the Footlights–Lyric Hammersmith, London.
- 1984 – Wrote and starred in the one woman showShort Vehicle–Edinburgh Festival.
- 1984/5 – PlayedSallyin theHaymarket Theatre, Leicesterproduction of the musicalMe and My Girl, co-starring withRobert Lindsay. The show then successfully transferred to theAdelphi Theatre, London. (The book forMe and My Girlwas adapted byStephen Fry)
- 1989 – PlayedAlisoninLook Back in AngerbyJohn Osborne–Lyric Shaftesbury, London.
- 1990 – PlayedThe FoolinShakespeare'sKing LearandHelenainA Midsummer Night's Dream– International tour.
Emma Thompson External Link
- Rick Fulton (12 October 2005). "It's nanny McMe". http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16236943&method=full&siteid=66633&headline=it-s-nanny-mcme-name_page.html. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
- Thomas, Liz. "'Innits' and aints' drive me insane! Emma Thompson hits out at teenagers' sloppy English after visit to her old school". http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1315774/Emma-Thompson-hits-teenagers-sloppy-English.html. Retrieved 22 October 2011.
- "Movie & TV News – WENN". IMDb.com. 17 January 2006. http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2006-01-17. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Awards and Nominations: Emma Thompson. Retrieved on: 2012-01-21.
- "Clémence Poésy confirms Emma Thompson's Deathly Hallows reprisal". This is South Wales. 19 March 2010. http://www.snitchseeker.com/harry-potter-news/cl-mence-po-sy-confirms-emma-thompsons-deathly-hallows-reprisal-71643/. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- Tim Walker 9:56 pm GMT 12 Jan 2009 (12 January 2009). "The Telegraph, January 2009". The Daily Telegraph (UK). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/4224331/Hugh-Lauries-elemental-about-Emma-Thompson.html. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
- "It'S Nanny Mcme". The Daily Record. 12 October 2005. http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=16236943&method=full&siteid=66633&headline=it-s-nanny-mcme-name_page.html. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- Alison Boshoff (7 March 2008). "The young refugee who was adopted by a famous actress". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/showbiz/showbiznews.html?in_article_id=528573&in_page_id=1773. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
- Anita Singh (6 November 2009). "http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6514846/Exeter-is-a-lovely-place-for-the-BNP-says-actress-Emma-Thompson.html". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/6514846/Exeter-is-a-lovely-place-for-the-BNP-says-actress-Emma-Thompson.html. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- Anita Singh (13 August 2010). "Emma Thompson criticised for gay-stoning joke on Isle of Wight". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/7944565/Emma-Thompson-criticised-for-gay-stoning-joke-on-Isle-of-Wight.html. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- Anita Singh (10 September 2010). "Emma Thompson: Sorry, I meant to say they stone gays on the Isle of Man". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/7993507/Emma-Thompson-Sorry-I-meant-to-say-they-stone-gays-on-the-Isle-of-Man.html. Retrieved 29 November 2011.
- "Protesters buy up Heathrow land". London: BBC News. 13 January 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7825169.stm. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
- "Celebs buy Heathrow expansion land". pa.press.net. MSN News UK. 13 January 2009. http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/article.aspx?cp-documentid=12726578&icid=toptodayuk. Retrieved 18 January 2009.[dead link]
- Cornwell, Jane (15 October 2008). "Acting on outspoken beliefs". The Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,24497883-15803,00.html. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- Allen, Jenny. "Between Friends". Good Housekeeping. http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/family/celebrity-interviews/maggie-gyllenhaal-emma-thompson-interview-3. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
- "Andrew Marr show interview". BBC News. 28 March 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8590095.stm. Retrieved 30 March 2010.
- "Emma Thompson bids for Palestinian Rights". Electronicintifada.net. http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6451.shtml. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
- Owen Bowcott (9 February 2011). "Emma Thompson's Effie Facing Copyright Fight". The Guardian (London). http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/feb/09/emma-thompson-effie-copywright. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
- Gregory Murphy (24 April 2011). "The Day I Sat in Emma Thompson's Kitchen and Accused Her of Stealing My Movie". Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1379933/The-day-I-sat-Emma-Thompsons-kitchen-accused-stealing-movie.html. Retrieved 9 May 2011.
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