Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
May 14, 1933
Place of Birth:
Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Glamorgan, Wales
Social Media
Siân Phillips
Biography
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips DBE (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a Welsh actress, author and singer.
Phillips was the daughter of Sally (née Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman. She is a Welsh-speaker and in the first volume of her autobiography, "Private Faces", she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio.
She attended Pontardawe Grammar School and later read English and Philosophy at University College Cardiff, graduating in 1955. She entered RADA in LOndon, England with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson. She went on to win the prestigious Bancroft Gold Medal for Hedda Gabler and was offered work in Hollywood when she left RADA. While still a student she was offered three film contracts, entailing her to work for an extended period of time in the United States; but she declined, preferring to work on stage instead.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Apple Cider Vinegar | Voice |
| 2024 | Alec Guinness: A Class Act | self |
| 2023 | Siân Phillips at 90 | Self |
| 2022 | Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba | Self |
| 2022 | Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends | Self |
| 2021 | National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood | Mrs Utah Watkins / Polly Garter / Mrs Beyon |
| 2021 | Dream Horse | Maureen |
| 2020 | A Christmas Carol | Grandmother / narrator (voice) |
| 2020 | Summerland | Margaret Corey |
| 2019 | Be Happy! | |
| 2019 | Time & Again | Eleanor |
| 2019 | National Theatre Live: Les Blancs | Madame Neilsen |
| 2018 | Voyageuse | Erica |
| 2018 | Miss Dalí | Anna Maria Dalí |
| 2018 | To Provide All People | Patient |
| 2018 | Nureyev | Narrator |
| 2017 | Hochelaga, Land of Souls | Sarah Walker |
| 2016 | Aberfan: The Green Hollow | |
| 2014 | Under Milk Wood | Mrs. Pugh |
| 2012 | A Picture of London | Narrator |
| 2012 | Lovesong | Maggie |
| 2011 | The Mountain That Had To Be Painted | Narrator |
| 2007 | The 50 Greatest Television Dramas | Self |
| 2004 | The Murder Room | Marie Strickland |
| 2003 | Stalin: Inside the Terror | Narrator |
| 2003 | Still: Here/Now | Self |
| 2002 | I, Claudius: A Television Epic | Self |
| 2000 | Come and Go | Ru |
| 2000 | Cinderella: The ITV Pantomime | Evil Baroness |
| 1999 | Aristocrats | Narrator/Older Lady Emily Lennox |
| 1998 | The Scold's Bridle | Mathilda Gillespie |
| 1998 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | Red Queen |
| 1997 | House of America | Mam |
| 1995 | The Vacillations of Poppy Carew | Calypso |
| 1995 | The Mousehole Cat | Narrator |
| 1993 | The Age of Innocence | Mrs. Archer |
| 1991 | The Chestnut Soldier | Nain Griffiths |
| 1991 | The Black Candle | Daisy Barnett |
| 1990 | Emlyn's Moon | Nain Griffiths |
| 1990 | Red Empire | Narrator (voice) |
| 1990 | Dark River | Mrs. Blessington |
| 1989 | Valmont | Madame de Volanges |
| 1989 | David Macaulay: Pyramid | Mersyankh (voice) |
| 1988 | The Snow Spider | Nain Griffiths |
| 1985 | Ewoks: The Battle for Endor | Charal |
| 1985 | The Doctor and the Devils | Annabella Rock |
| 1984 | Dune | Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam |
| 1982 | How Many Miles to Babylon? | Mrs Alicia Moore |
| 1981 | Clash of the Titans | Cassiopeia |
| 1980 | Nijinsky | Lady Ripon |
| 1980 | Carpathian Eagle | Mrs. Henska |
| 1977 | Heartbreak House | Hesione Hushabye |
| 1977 | The Achurch Letters | Janet Achurch |
| 1974 | Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill | Mrs. Patrick Campbell |
| 1972 | Under Milk Wood | Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard |
| 1971 | Murphy's War | Hayden |
| 1971 | Platonov | Anna |
| 1969 | Goodbye, Mr. Chips | Ursula Mossbank |
| 1969 | Laughter in the Dark | Lady Pamela More |
| 1968 | It’s Dearer After Midnight | Jo |
| 1968 | Thief | Woman |
| 1966 | Eh, Joe? | Voice |
| 1965 | Young Cassidy | Ella |
| 1964 | Becket | Gwendolen |
| 1962 | Don Juan in Hell | Dona Ana |
| 1962 | The Longest Day | WRNS Officer (uncredited) |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Doctor Who | Enid Meadows |
| 2024 | Emperor: Rise & Fall of a Dynasty | Narrator |
| 2022 | The Chelsea Detective | Grandma Dix |
| 2021 | A Year in the Beacons | Narrator |
| 2021 | Wonders of the Celtic Deep | Self - Narrator |
| 2020 | McDonald & Dodds | Agnes Gillian |
| 2019 | Good Omens | Mr. Henderson |
| 2003 | The Last Detective | Vera Dulciman |
| 2001 | Attila | Grandmother |
| 1999 | The Magician's House | Meg Lewis |
| 1999 | The Magician's House | Meg Lewis / Lutra the Otter (voice) |
| 1998 | The Scold's Bridle | Mathilda |
| 1997 | La Femme Nikita | Adrian |
| 1997 | Arthouse | Self - Commentary |
| 1997 | Ivanhoe | Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine |
| 1997 | Midsomer Murders | Lady Annabel Butler |
| 1996 | Silent Witness | Beattie Elletson |
| 1993 | The Return of the Borrowers | Mrs. Driver |
| 1993 | Heidi | Frau Sesemann |
| 1992 | The Borrowers | Mrs. Driver |
| 1990 | Perfect Scoundrels | Mother Aloysius |
| 1989 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Mrs. Laura Upward |
| 1989 | Shadow of the Noose | Lady Scott |
| 1987 | The Two Mrs. Grenvilles | Duchess of Windsor |
| 1987 | Vanity Fair | Miss Matilda Crawley |
| 1982 | Smiley's People | Lady Ann Smiley |
| 1981 | Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years | Clementine Churchill |
| 1980 | Hammer House of Horror | Mrs. Henska |
| 1979 | Tales of the Unexpected | Hermione |
| 1979 | Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy | Ann Smiley |
| 1979 | Crime and Punishment | Katerina Ivanovna |
| 1978 | Warrior Queen | Queen Boudicca |
| 1976 | I, Claudius | Livia |
| 1976 | I, Claudius | Livia Drusilla |
| 1975 | How Green Was My Valley | Beth Morgan |
| 1974 | Shoulder to Shoulder | Emmeline Pankhurst |
| 1956 | Tony Awards | Self - Nominee |
| 1951 | Hallmark Hall of Fame | Lady Lavery |