Julie Walters
Julia Mary Walters,
OBE (born
22 February,
1950) is a
British actress, mainly associated with comedy and character roles. She ranked first in a poll to find Britain's most popular actress.
Born in
Smethwick,
West Midlands,
England of
Irish Catholic descent, Walters first became known as the occasional partner of comedienne
Victoria Wood. Their series,
Wood and Walters, appeared on television in 1982, and they have continued to perform together frequently over the years. One of Julie Walters' best-known roles is as "Mrs Overall" in Wood's spoof
soap opera,
Acorn Antiques.
Her first serious acting role on TV was in the classic
Boys from the Blackstuff in
1980, and she broke into films with her sensational
Academy Award nominated and
BAFTA Best Actress award winning performance opposite
Michael Caine in
Educating Rita (1983), a role she had created on the
West End stage.
Julie Walters has won numerous acting awards, and was made an
OBE in 1999 for her services to the theatre. In 2001, she won a
Laurence Olivier award for her performance in
Arthur Miller's
All My Sons.
She received her second BAFTA for her supporting role as the ballet teacher in
Billy Elliot (2000). She often plays older women, and, in 2002, she won the BAFTA Television Best Actress award for her performance as
Paul Reiser's mother in
My Beautiful Son. Walters also played
Molly Weasley in
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001),
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002),
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) and will reprise her role in the upcoming
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007).
In 2004 Walters starred as a widow determined to make some good come out of her husband's death from cancer in
Calendar Girls, which also starred
Helen Mirren and
Ciarán Hinds; in 2005, Walters again starred as an inspirational real-life figure in
Ahead of the Class.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (
2007)
Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy Three part TV series (2006)
*Driving Lessons (2006)
*Wah-Wah (2005)
*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
*Calendar Girls (2003)
*Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
*Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001)
*Billy Elliot (2000)
*Oliver Twist (1999) (miniseries)
*Titanic Town (film) (1998)
*Dinnerladies (1998) (TV series)
*Intimate Relations (1996)
*Sister My Sister (1994)
*Buster (1988)
*G.B.H. (1991) (TV series)
*Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
*Personal Services (1987)
*Talking Heads (1987) (miniseries)
*Acorn Antiques (1986) (TV series)
*Educating Rita (1983)
*Boys from the Blackstuff'' (
1982) (
miniseries)
