Alison Steadman
Encyclopedia
Alison Steadman OBE
(born 26 August 1946) is an English
actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party
and Candice Marie in Nuts in May
for the director Mike Leigh
, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective
, Pride and Prejudice and Gavin and Stacey. In 1992 she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as Mari in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
.
, Merseyside
, England
, the youngest of three sisters, the daughter of Marjorie (née Evans), who died of cancer
, and George Percival Steadman, who worked for Plessey
, an electronics firm, as a production controller.
, followed by East 15 Acting School
, to which she secured a place in the autumn of 1966, where she first met Mike Leigh
, during her second year.
, Steadman worked in various regional repertory theatres, starting at Lincoln, where her first role was that of the seductive schoolgirl Sandy in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She created the role of the monstrous Beverly in Mike Leigh
's Abigail's Party
, which she reprised with the original cast on television. Steadman also appeared in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
, Entertaining Mr Sloane
, Hotel Paradiso, and others in locations as diverse as the Royal Court
, the Theatre Royal
, the Old Vic
, the Hampstead Theatre
, the Nottingham Playhouse
, the Everyman Liverpool
and the National Theatre
. She starred as Elmire in the 1983 RSC
production of Molière
's Tartuffe
, which was adapted for BBC television. In 2010, Steadman was cast as Madame Arcati in a revival of Noël Coward
's Blithe Spirit
, which was scheduled for a national tour from November 2010 to March 2011.
, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
, Confetti, Clockwise
, P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
, Wilt
, A Private Function
, Life Is Sweet
and Topsy Turvy.
as Betty, Grumpy Old Women
, Stressed Eric
, Let Them Eat Cake
, The Singing Detective
, No Bananas, The Caucasian Chalk Circle
, Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years
as Pauline Mole, opposite James Bolam
in the television film The Missing Postman
and Pride and Prejudice
as Mrs. Bennet. In 1991 she also appeared as Lauren Patterson in Gone to the Dogs
, which was then followed up by Gone to Seed.
Television productions directed by Leigh in which she has appeared include Nuts in May
, Hard Labour
and Abigail's Party
. She also appeared in the BBC
comedy The Worst Week of My Life
. From 2007 to 2010 she appeared in the BBC
comedy Gavin & Stacey
as Pamela. She was also in Fanny Hill
on BBC Four
in 2007.
Steadman starred with Myra Frances
in Girl, a 1974 BBC play, containing the first lesbian kiss on British television.
, Castle's on the Air and The Worst Show on the Wireless, in both the latter of which she played the over-protective mother to Eli Woods
' long-suffering Bunty/Precious. From 1982 to 1984 she joined Eli Woods
and Eddie Braben
(Morecambe and Wise
's scriptwriter) in the UK radio show The Show with No Name for the 13 episodes, in what can be described as an updated version of Round the Horne
comedy sketch show. More recently, since 2002, she has starred as Mrs Naughtie in the series Hamish and Dougal
. In December 2009, she starred in the late Mike Stott's 'My Mad Grandad' on BBC Radio 4
.
, director Mike Leigh drove over to Liverpool to see Ted Whitehead's play The Foursome, (Steadman was in the Liverpool Everyman cast), and asked Steadman to be in his film. "During the preparation of the film, Mike and Alison, as they both say, 'got together.' " They married in 1973 and had two sons, Toby in February 1978 and Leo in August 1981. They separated in 1995 and divorced in 2001.
Steadman's present partner
is Michael Elwyn and she lives in Highgate
, London.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 26 August 1946) is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actress. She established her career with roles such as Beverley in Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party is a play for stage and television written and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the 1970s...
and Candice Marie in Nuts in May
Nuts in May
Nuts in May is a television film devised and directed by Mike Leigh, originally broadcast as part of the BBC's Play for Today series on 13 January 1976. It is the comical story of a nature-loving and rather self-righteous couple's exhausting battle to enjoy what they perceive to be the idyllic...
for the director Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
, to whom she was once married. In addition to her stage and radio work, she has had lead roles in The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective is a BBC television miniseries written by Dennis Potter, which stars Michael Gambon, and was directed by Jon Amiel. The six episodes were "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It"....
, Pride and Prejudice and Gavin and Stacey. In 1992 she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as Mari in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright. Sam Mendes directed stars Jane Horrocks and Alison Steadman at the Royal National Theatre before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End....
.
Early life
Steadman was born in LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, Merseyside
Merseyside
Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the youngest of three sisters, the daughter of Marjorie (née Evans), who died of cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
, and George Percival Steadman, who worked for Plessey
Plessey
The Plessey Company plc was a British-based international electronics, defence and telecommunications company. It originated in 1917, growing and diversifying into electronics. It expanded after the second world war by acquisition of companies and formed overseas companies...
, an electronics firm, as a production controller.
Education
Steadman was educated at Childwall Valley High School for Girls, a state grammar school in the Liverpool suburb of ChildwallChildwall
Childwall is a suburb of Liverpool, Merseyside, England and a Liverpool City Council Ward. It is located to the south of the city, bordered by Gateacre, Wavertree, Belle Vale, Broadgreen, Bowring Park and Mossley Hill...
, followed by East 15 Acting School
East 15 Acting School
East 15 is a British drama school in Debden, Loughton, Essex. At the main campus, Loughton, it occupies an 18th century mansion, Hatfields, and has its own theatre, the Corbett, which is adjacent. The Corbett Theatre is an adaptation of a 15th-century barn...
, to which she secured a place in the autumn of 1966, where she first met Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
, during her second year.
Stage work
Having left the East 15 Acting School in LoughtonLoughton
Loughton is a town and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex. It is located between 11 and 13 miles north east of Charing Cross in London, south of the M25 and west of the M11 motorway and has boundaries with Chingford, Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell and Buckhurst Hill...
, Steadman worked in various regional repertory theatres, starting at Lincoln, where her first role was that of the seductive schoolgirl Sandy in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She created the role of the monstrous Beverly in Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
's Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party is a play for stage and television written and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the 1970s...
, which she reprised with the original cast on television. Steadman also appeared in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice
The Rise and Fall of Little Voice is a 1992 play written by English dramatist Jim Cartwright. Sam Mendes directed stars Jane Horrocks and Alison Steadman at the Royal National Theatre before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in London's West End....
, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a play by Tennessee Williams. One of Williams's best-known works and his personal favorite, the play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1955...
, Entertaining Mr Sloane
Entertaining Mr Sloane
Entertaining Mr Sloane is a play by the English playwright Joe Orton. It was first produced in London at the New Arts Theatre on 6 May 1964 and transferred to the West End's Wyndham's Theatre on 29 June 1964.-Plot summary:Act 1...
, Hotel Paradiso, and others in locations as diverse as the Royal Court
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
, the Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal
Theatre Royal is the name of many theatres, especially in the United Kingdom. The name was once an indication that the theatre was a patent theatre, with a Royal Patent without which performances of serious drama would be illegal.United Kingdom:...
, the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
, the Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre
Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage and Belsize Park, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. In 2009 it celebrates its 50 year anniversary.The original theatre was...
, the Nottingham Playhouse
Nottingham Playhouse
The Nottingham Playhouse is a theatre in Nottingham, England. It was first established as a repertory theatre in the 1950s when it operated from a former cinema. Directors during this period included Val May and Frank Dunlop.-The building:...
, the Everyman Liverpool
Everyman Theatre
The Everyman Theatre stands at the north end of Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside, England. Established in 1964 in a former cinema, it encouraged local talent and played a part in the development of new artistes and writers. The theatre was rebuilt between 1975 and 1977, and was closed again for...
and the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
. She starred as Elmire in the 1983 RSC
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
production of Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
, which was adapted for BBC television. In 2010, Steadman was cast as Madame Arcati in a revival of Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Blithe Spirit
Blithe Spirit (play)
Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
, which was scheduled for a national tour from November 2010 to March 2011.
Film
Steadman has appeared in many films, including Shirley ValentineShirley Valentine
Shirley Valentine is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad.-Plot:...
, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is a 1988 British adventure comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam, starring John Neville, Sarah Polley, Eric Idle, Jonathan Pryce, Oliver Reed, Uma Thurman, and Robin Williams.-Plot:...
, Confetti, Clockwise
Clockwise (film)
Clockwise is a 1986 British comedy film starring John Cleese. It was directed by Christopher Morahan, written by Michael Frayn and produced by Michael Codron. The film was co-produced by Moment Films and Thorn EMI Screen Entertainment...
, P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang is a television film first shown on Channel 4 on its second night, 3 November, 1982.Written by Jack Rosenthal as part of his First Love series, it is a simple coming-of-age film set in a grammar school in the outer London suburbs of the early 1950s...
, Wilt
Wilt (film)
Wilt is a 1989 movie adaptation by LWT of the Tom Sharpe novel of the same name. The story follows the comic misadventures of the eponymous Henry Wilt as he is accused of the murder of his wife when she suddenly goes missing after a party at a friend's house where they have a very public...
, A Private Function
A Private Function
A Private Function is a 1984 British comedy film starring Michael Palin and Maggie Smith. The film was predominantly filmed in Ilkley and Ben Rhydding, West Yorkshire. The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival....
, Life Is Sweet
Life Is Sweet (film)
Life Is Sweet is a 1991 British film directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent, Alison Steadman, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks and Timothy Spall. Leigh's third cinematic film, it was his most commercially successful title at the time of its release...
and Topsy Turvy.
Television
Steadman's television work includes Fat FriendsFat Friends
Fat Friends is an ITV drama , following a group of overweight people, their laughter and pain and addresses the absurdities of dieting in our modern age. The drama looks at people and how they relate to one another and use body weight as an excuse for all sorts of failings in their relationships,...
as Betty, Grumpy Old Women
Grumpy Old Women
For the live show, see Grumpy Old Women LiveGrumpy Old Women is a British television series, continuing in the same vein as its predecessor, Grumpy Old Men. Both programmes are shown on BBC Two. The first two series were narrated by Alison Steadman, and the third by Judith Holder...
, Stressed Eric
Stressed Eric
Stressed Eric is a British/American/New Zealand cartoon series that was produced by Absolutely Productions for the BBC Two television channel in the United Kingdom and the Television New Zealand. The series revolves around Eric Feeble, a middle class man who is always stressed, because of his...
, Let Them Eat Cake
Let Them Eat Cake (TV series)
Let Them Eat Cake is a British sitcom that aired on BBC One in 1999. Starring Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, it is one of the few programmes in which French and Saunders have appeared which they did not create themselves.-Plot:...
, The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective
The Singing Detective is a BBC television miniseries written by Dennis Potter, which stars Michael Gambon, and was directed by Jon Amiel. The six episodes were "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It"....
, No Bananas, The Caucasian Chalk Circle
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
The Caucasian Chalk Circle is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a better mother than its natural parents....
, Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years
Adrian Mole: the Cappuccino Years (TV series)
Adrian Mole: the Cappiccino Years is a television series aired by the BBC in 2001. The series was based on the book from the Adrian Mole series, The Cappuccino Years.-Premise:...
as Pauline Mole, opposite James Bolam
James Bolam
James Christopher Bolam, MBE is a British actor, best known for his roles as Jack Ford in When the Boat Comes In, Trevor Chaplin in The Beiderbecke Trilogy, Terry Collier in The Likely Lads and its sequel Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, Roy Figgis in Only When I Laugh, Dr Arthur Gilder in...
in the television film The Missing Postman
The Missing Postman
The Missing Postman is a two-part comedy drama originally broadcast on BBC One on the consecutive evenings of 29 March and 30 March 1997. Adapted from the Mark Wallington novel, it received the award for Best BBC Comedy Drama at the British Comedy Awards in 1997.-Synopsis:When Clive Peacock is...
and Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice (1995 TV serial)
Pride and Prejudice is a six-episode 1995 British television drama, adapted by Andrew Davies from Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice. Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth starred as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Produced by Sue Birtwistle and directed by Simon Langton, the serial was a BBC...
as Mrs. Bennet. In 1991 she also appeared as Lauren Patterson in Gone to the Dogs
Gone to the Dogs (TV series)
Gone to the Dogs is a comedy-drama television miniseries that aired in 1991 in the UK. It starred Alison Steadman, Jim Broadbent, Harry Enfield, Warren Clarke and Sheila Hancock and told the story of a group of people involved in the business of racing greyhounds...
, which was then followed up by Gone to Seed.
Television productions directed by Leigh in which she has appeared include Nuts in May
Nuts in May
Nuts in May is a television film devised and directed by Mike Leigh, originally broadcast as part of the BBC's Play for Today series on 13 January 1976. It is the comical story of a nature-loving and rather self-righteous couple's exhausting battle to enjoy what they perceive to be the idyllic...
, Hard Labour
Hard Labour (film)
Hard Labour is a 1973 television film, directed by Mike Leigh and produced by Tony Garnett which aired as part of the BBC anthology series Play for Today. The film stars Liz Smith in her first major role. The film is the most clearly drawn in all Leigh's work from the background in Higher and...
and Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party
Abigail's Party is a play for stage and television written and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the 1970s...
. She also appeared in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy The Worst Week of My Life
The Worst Week of My Life
The Worst Week of My Life is a British comedy television series, first broadcast on BBC One between March and April 2004. A second series was aired between November and December 2005 and a three-part Christmas special, The Worst Christmas of My Life was shown during December 2006...
. From 2007 to 2010 she appeared in the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
comedy Gavin & Stacey
Gavin & Stacey
Gavin & Stacey is a British comedy television series. A romantic comedy-drama, the show follows the long-distance relationship of Gavin from Billericay in Essex, England, and Stacey from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The writers of the show, actors James Corden and Ruth Jones, also...
as Pamela. She was also in Fanny Hill
Fanny Hill (2007 serial)
Fanny Hill is a BBC adaptation of John Cleland's controversial novel, Fanny Hill, written by Andrew Davies and directed by James Hawes. This is the first television adaptation of the novel...
on BBC Four
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British television network operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation and available to digital television viewers on Freeview, IPTV, satellite and cable....
in 2007.
Steadman starred with Myra Frances
Myra Frances
Myra Frances is a British actress.In the 1974 Second City Firsts episode "Girl", Frances performed, with Alison Steadman, the first lesbian kiss on British television....
in Girl, a 1974 BBC play, containing the first lesbian kiss on British television.
Radio
On radio, Steadman's talent for mimicry and character voices was given full rein in shows such as Week EndingWeek Ending
Week Ending... was a satirical radio current affairs sketch show, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, usually on Friday evenings. It was devised by writer/producers Simon Brett and David Hatch, and was originally hosted by Nationwide presenter Michael Barratt.The show's title was always announced as...
, Castle's on the Air and The Worst Show on the Wireless, in both the latter of which she played the over-protective mother to Eli Woods
Eli Woods
Eli Woods is an English comedian and comic actor, born in Stockton-on-Tees, possibly best known for his work with stage comedian Jimmy James , and particularly for his part in the famous 'elephant-in-the-box' routine. Woods's birth name is actually Jack Casey.Jimmy James developed his famous act...
' long-suffering Bunty/Precious. From 1982 to 1984 she joined Eli Woods
Eli Woods
Eli Woods is an English comedian and comic actor, born in Stockton-on-Tees, possibly best known for his work with stage comedian Jimmy James , and particularly for his part in the famous 'elephant-in-the-box' routine. Woods's birth name is actually Jack Casey.Jimmy James developed his famous act...
and Eddie Braben
Eddie Braben
Eddie Braben is a comedy writer and performer who has provided material for such figures as David Frost and Ronnie Corbett, and who is most famous for having written for Ken Dodd and Morecambe and Wise....
(Morecambe and Wise
Morecambe and Wise
Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, usually referred to as Morecambe and Wise, or Eric and Ernie, were a British comic double act, working in variety, radio, film and most successfully in television. Their partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984...
's scriptwriter) in the UK radio show The Show with No Name for the 13 episodes, in what can be described as an updated version of Round the Horne
Round the Horne
Round the Horne was a BBC Radio comedy programme, transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The series was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman - with others contributing to later series after Feldman returned to performing — and starred Kenneth Horne, with Kenneth...
comedy sketch show. More recently, since 2002, she has starred as Mrs Naughtie in the series Hamish and Dougal
Hamish and Dougal
Hamish and Dougal are two characters from the long-running BBC Radio 4 "antidote to panel games", I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue played by Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden, who later went on to have their own Radio 4 series, You'll Have Had Your Tea: The Doings of Hamish and Dougal.-History:One of the...
. In December 2009, she starred in the late Mike Stott's 'My Mad Grandad' on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
.
Personal life
In 1972, and in Manchester to shoot his television film Hard LabourHard Labour (film)
Hard Labour is a 1973 television film, directed by Mike Leigh and produced by Tony Garnett which aired as part of the BBC anthology series Play for Today. The film stars Liz Smith in her first major role. The film is the most clearly drawn in all Leigh's work from the background in Higher and...
, director Mike Leigh drove over to Liverpool to see Ted Whitehead's play The Foursome, (Steadman was in the Liverpool Everyman cast), and asked Steadman to be in his film. "During the preparation of the film, Mike and Alison, as they both say, 'got together.' " They married in 1973 and had two sons, Toby in February 1978 and Leo in August 1981. They separated in 1995 and divorced in 2001.
Steadman's present partner
Domestic partnership
A domestic partnership is a legal or personal relationship between two individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are neither joined by marriage nor a civil union...
is Michael Elwyn and she lives in Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
, London.
Awards and recognition
- Invested as Officer of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
in 1999 - Nominated for Best Actress by BAFTA for Fat FriendsFat FriendsFat Friends is an ITV drama , following a group of overweight people, their laughter and pain and addresses the absurdities of dieting in our modern age. The drama looks at people and how they relate to one another and use body weight as an excuse for all sorts of failings in their relationships,...
in 2001 - Nominated for Best Actress by BAFTA for The Singing DetectiveThe Singing DetectiveThe Singing Detective is a BBC television miniseries written by Dennis Potter, which stars Michael Gambon, and was directed by Jon Amiel. The six episodes were "Skin", "Heat", "Lovely Days", "Clues", "Pitter Patter" and "Who Done It"....
in 1987 - Awarded Best Actress by the US National Society of Film CriticsNational Society of Film CriticsThe National Society of Film Critics is an American film critic organization. As of December 2007 the NSFC had approximately 60 members who wrote for a variety of weekly and daily newspapers.-History:...
for Life Is SweetLife Is Sweet (film)Life Is Sweet is a 1991 British film directed by Mike Leigh, starring Jim Broadbent, Alison Steadman, Claire Skinner, Jane Horrocks and Timothy Spall. Leigh's third cinematic film, it was his most commercially successful title at the time of its release...
in 1992 - Awarded the Olivier for Best Actress for The Rise and Fall of Little Voice in 1993
- Nominated for the Olivier for Best Actress for The Memory of WaterThe Memory of WaterThe Memory of Water is a comedy written by English playwright Shelagh Stephenson, first staged at Hampstead Theatre in 1996.-Vi:Vi is the mother of the three sisters and whose funeral they are together for. She was a glamorous woman when younger, with whom all the men of the village were enamoured...
in 1998