Born in Ramsgate during the 1940s, Brenda Bottle was
the youngest of nine in a poor but close family. She
left school to work as a secretary for British Rail,
where she met her husband. But by the age of
twenty-seven, the marriage was over. Brenda left her job
and with the little she had saved, enrolled at Guildford
Drama School. And so her life as an actress began. One
of Britain's best-loved actresses, Brenda Blethyn has
dazzled in a vast number of roles, including her
performances as downtrodden Cynthia in Mike Leigh's
SECRETS AND LIES and as the man-eating Mari Hoff in
LITTLE VOICE, for which she received Oscar nominations.
On stage, television and film she has worked with our
greatest writers and directors -- Alan Bennett, Tom
Stoppard, Sam Mendes, Peter Hall -- and actors --
including Michael Caine, Jude Law, Julie Walters, Brad
Pitt, Ewan McGregor and John Hurt. Brenda is one of
Britain's finest character actresses, famous for playing
her roles with social realism and warmth, wit and humour
-- characters her audience empathise with. She has the
same warmth and humour off screen too; a wonderfully
down-to-earth person with a fascinating history.Told
with sparkling wit and engaging honesty, MIXED FANCIES
is the compelling story of her journey from the Plains
of Waterloo to the National Theatre and on to
television, Hollywood and stardom. |
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