Julia McKenzie
Encyclopedia
Julia McKenzie is an English actress, singer, and theatre director. She is best-known for her performance in Fresh Fields
, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple. McKenzie has also appeared on the stage in both the West End
and on Broadway
, including in several Stephen Sondheim
musicals.
, Middlesex
, England
, the daughter of Kathleen Rowe and Albion McKenzie. She has been married since 1971 to the American actor-director, Jerry Harte.
as Mrs. Lovett
(1994), winning the Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a Musical for each.
For her role in Woman in Mind
, she received the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress. She has also appeared in Follies
as Sally at the Shaftesbury Theatre
in 1987and Into the Woods
as the Witch at the Phoenix Theatre in 1990. She appeared in Side By Side By Sondheim
in the West End in 1976 and on Broadway in 1977,and was nominated for a Tony Award
and a Drama Desk Award
for her performance.
McKenzie appeared in a National Theatre
80th birthday tribute to Sir Laurence Olivier, Happy Birthday, Sir Larry on 31 May 1987 in the presence of Olivier himself.
in the sitcom Maggie and Her (1978–79), and with Gareth Hunt
in That Beryl Marston...! (1981). She went on to greater popularity with British viewers as Hester in Fresh Fields
and the sequel French Fields
in the 1980s opposite Anton Rodgers
, for which she was voted TV Times
Favourite Female Comedy Performance for five consecutive years. She also appeared as Mrs Forthby in Blott on the Landscape
and as a Midsomer villager involved in a series of murders in an episode of Midsomer Murders
. Film credits include Hotel du Lac
, Shirley Valentine
, Bright Young Things
and These Foolish Things
.
In 2007 she was reunited with Anton Rodgers (again as a husband and wife team) in the ITV
comedy You Can Choose Your Friends. In 2007 she co-starred with Michael Gambon
and Judi Dench
in the BBC1 costume drama series Cranford
, playing Mrs. Forrester, a military widow of slender means, very attached to her cow Bessie.
In 2008 she was announced as the replacement for Geraldine McEwan
as ITV's Miss Marple
.
McKenzie noted: "It’s difficult because Agatha Christie wrote her in two ways...First, very much what Geraldine McEwan played: a slight, rather Victorian creature. Then, a little sturdier and tweedier. I chose the latter. A lot of people say they don’t like the tweedier version. But they’re both genuine." Also, she said: "Just about everybody in the world knows about Miss Marple and has an opinion of what she should be like, so I’m under no illusions about the size of the task ahead." McKenzie's first series of Marple comprises A Pocket Full of Rye, Murder is Easy, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, and They Do It with Mirrors. The second series of the show, airing in 2010, includes The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, The Secret of Chimneys, The Blue Geranium, and The Pale Horse.
, The Country Wife
and A Room with a View
. As a director she has staged Stepping Out
, Peter Pan
, Hey, Mr. Producer!, Steel Magnolias
, Putting It Together
and A Little Night Music
.
She also recorded an audio book of Lewis Carroll
's Through the Looking Glass.
Fresh Fields
Fresh Fields is a British situation comedy written by John T. Chapman and produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1984 and 1986. The show is well remembered for its opening titles featuring a silhouette of a person in a rocking chair....
, but to current television audiences, she is best known for her role as Miss Marple in Agatha Christie's Marple. McKenzie has also appeared on the stage in both the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
, including in several Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
musicals.
Personal life
She was born Julia Kathleen McKenzie in EnfieldMunicipal Borough of Enfield
Enfield was a local government district in Middlesex, England from 1850 to 1965.The parish of Enfield adopted the Public Health Act 1848 in 1850, and formed a local board of health of 12 members to govern the area. The local board's area was reconstituted by the Local Government Act 1894, and...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, 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 daughter of Kathleen Rowe and Albion McKenzie. She has been married since 1971 to the American actor-director, Jerry Harte.
Theatre
In London's West End her performing credits include Guys and Dolls as Miss Adelaide (1982) and Sweeney ToddSweeney Todd (musical)
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
as Mrs. Lovett
Mrs. Lovett
Mrs. Lovett is a fictional character appearing in many adaptations of the story Sweeney Todd. She is most commonly referred to as Nellie, although Margery, Maggie, Sarah, Shirley, Wilhemina and Claudetta are other names she has been given. First appearing in the penny dreadful serial The String of...
(1994), winning the Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a Musical for each.
For her role in Woman in Mind
Woman In Mind
Woman in Mind is the 32nd play by English playwright, Alan Ayckbourn. It was premiered at the Stephen Joseph Theatre In The Round, Scarborough, in 1985. Despite pedestrian reviews by many critics, strong audience reaction resulted in a transfer to London's West End...
, she received the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress. She has also appeared in Follies
Follies
Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. The story concerns a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies," a musical revue , that played in that theatre between the World Wars...
as Sally at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
in 1987and Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
as the Witch at the Phoenix Theatre in 1990. She appeared in Side By Side By Sondheim
Side By Side By Sondheim
Side by Side by Sondheim is a musical revue featuring the songs of Broadway and film composer Stephen Sondheim. Its title is derived from the song "Side by Side by Side" from Company.-History:...
in the West End in 1976 and on Broadway in 1977,and was nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
and a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for her performance.
McKenzie appeared in a 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...
80th birthday tribute to Sir Laurence Olivier, Happy Birthday, Sir Larry on 31 May 1987 in the presence of Olivier himself.
Television
On television, McKenzie co-starred with Irene HandlIrene Handl
-Life:Irene Handl was born in Maida Vale, London, the daughter of an Austrian banker father and French mother. She took to acting at the relatively advanced age of 36, and studied at the acting school run by the sister of Dame Sybil Thorndike...
in the sitcom Maggie and Her (1978–79), and with Gareth Hunt
Gareth Hunt
Alan Leonard Hunt was an English actor, known as Gareth Hunt, best remembered for playing the footman Frederick Norton in Upstairs, Downstairs and Mike Gambit in The New Avengers.-Early life:...
in That Beryl Marston...! (1981). She went on to greater popularity with British viewers as Hester in Fresh Fields
Fresh Fields
Fresh Fields is a British situation comedy written by John T. Chapman and produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1984 and 1986. The show is well remembered for its opening titles featuring a silhouette of a person in a rocking chair....
and the sequel French Fields
French Fields
French Fields is a British situation comedy. It ran for 19 episodes from 1989-1991. It was written by John T. Chapman and Ian Davidson and was produced by Thames Television for ITV....
in the 1980s opposite Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers
Anton Rodgers was an English actor and occasional director. He performed on stage, in film and in television dramas and sitcoms.-Life and career:...
, for which she was voted TV Times
TV Times
TVTimes is a television listings magazine published in the United Kingdom by IPC Media, a subsidiary of Time Warner. It is known for its access to television actors and their programmes. In 2006 it was refreshed for a more modern look, increasing its emphasis on big star interviews and soaps...
Favourite Female Comedy Performance for five consecutive years. She also appeared as Mrs Forthby in Blott on the Landscape
Blott on the Landscape
Blott on the Landscape is a novel written in 1975 by Tom Sharpe. It was adapted into a 6-part television series for the BBC in 1985.-Plot:The story revolves around the proposed construction of a motorway through Cleene Gorge in rural South Worfordshire...
and as a Midsomer villager involved in a series of murders in an episode of Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders
Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...
. Film credits include Hotel du Lac
Hotel du Lac
Hotel du Lac is a 1984 Booker Prize winning novel by English writer Anita Brookner.-Plot:Romantic novelist Edith Hope is staying in a hotel on the shores of Lake Geneva, where her friends have advised her to retreat following an unfortunate incident...
, Shirley Valentine
Shirley 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:...
, Bright Young Things
Bright Young Things
Bright Young Things is a 2003 British drama film written and directed by Stephen Fry. The screenplay, based on the 1930 novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, provides satirical social commentary about the Bright Young People: young and carefree London aristocrats and bohemians, as well as society in...
and These Foolish Things
These Foolish Things (film)
These Foolish Things is a 2005 film based on Noel Langley's novel There's a Porpoise Close Behind us and directed by Julia Taylor-Stanley. It stars Zoe Tapper, David Leon, Lauren Bacall, Anjelica Huston and Julia McKenzie. The drama was largerly filmed on location in Bristol, Cheltenham and...
.
In 2007 she was reunited with Anton Rodgers (again as a husband and wife team) in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
comedy You Can Choose Your Friends. In 2007 she co-starred with Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon
Sir Michael John Gambon, CBE is an Irish actor who has worked in theatre, television and film. A highly respected theatre actor, Gambon is recognised for his roles as Philip Marlowe in the BBC television serial The Singing Detective, as Jules Maigret in the 1990s ITV serial Maigret, and as...
and Judi Dench
Judi Dench
Dame Judith Olivia "Judi" Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA is an English film, stage and television actress.Dench made her professional debut in 1957 with the Old Vic Company. Over the following few years she played in several of William Shakespeare's plays in such roles as Ophelia in Hamlet, Juliet in Romeo...
in the BBC1 costume drama series Cranford
Cranford (TV series)
Cranford is a British television series directed by Simon Curtis and Steve Hudson. The teleplay by Heidi Thomas was adapted from three novellas by Elizabeth Gaskell published between 1849 and 1858: Cranford, My Lady Ludlow, and Mr Harrison's Confessions...
, playing Mrs. Forrester, a military widow of slender means, very attached to her cow Bessie.
In 2008 she was announced as the replacement for Geraldine McEwan
Geraldine McEwan
Geraldine McEwan is an English actor with a diverse history in theatre, film, and television. From 2004 to 2009 she appeared as Miss Marple, the Agatha Christie sleuth, for the series Marple.-Background:...
as ITV's Miss Marple
Miss Marple
Jane Marple, usually referred to as Miss Marple, is a fictional character appearing in twelve of Agatha Christie's crime novels and in twenty short stories. Miss Marple is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur detective. She is one of the most famous...
.
McKenzie noted: "It’s difficult because Agatha Christie wrote her in two ways...First, very much what Geraldine McEwan played: a slight, rather Victorian creature. Then, a little sturdier and tweedier. I chose the latter. A lot of people say they don’t like the tweedier version. But they’re both genuine." Also, she said: "Just about everybody in the world knows about Miss Marple and has an opinion of what she should be like, so I’m under no illusions about the size of the task ahead." McKenzie's first series of Marple comprises A Pocket Full of Rye, Murder is Easy, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, and They Do It with Mirrors. The second series of the show, airing in 2010, includes The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side, The Secret of Chimneys, The Blue Geranium, and The Pale Horse.
Other work
She is a radio performer with a long list of credits, including Blithe SpiritBlithe 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...
, The Country Wife
The Country Wife
The Country Wife is a Restoration comedy written in 1675 by William Wycherley. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. The title itself contains a lewd pun...
and A Room with a View
A Room with a View
A Room with a View is a 1908 novel by English writer E. M. Forster, about a young woman in the repressed culture of Edwardian England. Set in Italy and England, the story is both a romance and a critique of English society at the beginning of the 20th century...
. As a director she has staged Stepping Out
Stepping Out (play)
Stepping Out is a play written by Richard Harris in 1984. It was produced in the West End, London, where it received the Evening Standard Comedy of the Year Award, and on Broadway, New York.-Plot:...
, Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
, Hey, Mr. Producer!, Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias
Steel Magnolias is a 1989 American comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross that stars Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Dolly Parton, Daryl Hannah and Julia Roberts....
, Putting It Together
Putting It Together
Putting it Together is a musical revue showcasing the songs of Stephen Sondheim. Drawing its title from a song in Sunday in the Park with George, it was devised by Sondheim and Julia McKenzie...
and A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music
A Little Night Music is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler. Inspired by the Ingmar Bergman film Smiles of a Summer Night, it involves the romantic lives of several couples. Its title is a literal English translation of the German name for Mozart's Serenade...
.
She also recorded an audio book of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's Through the Looking Glass.
Acting
- (London debut) Maggie May, Adelphi Theatre, 1966
- Gloria, Mame, Drury Lane Theatre, London, 1969
- Girl in owl coat, Promises, Promises, Prince of Wales Theatre, London, 1970
- April, Company, Her Majesty's Theatre, London, 1971
- Cowardy CustardCowardy CustardCowardy Custard is a musical revue and was one of the last Noël Coward shows staged during his life. It was devised by Gerard Frow, Alan Strachan and Wendy Toye. A book, also titled Cowardy Custard, was published in connection with the revue, similarly celebrating the Coward image.The biographical...
, Mermaid Theatre, London, 1973 - Cole, Mermaid Theatre, 1974
- (New York debut) Side by Side by Sondheim, Music Box Theatre, New York City, 1977
- Norman Conquests, 1978
- Ten Times Table, 1979
- Miriam Dervish, Outside EdgeOutside EdgeOutside Edge is a play by Richard Harris about a cricket team trying to win a game of cricket whilst sorting out their various marital problems.-Plot:...
, Queens Theatre, 1979 - Lily, On the Twentieth Century, Her Majesty's Theatre, 1980
- Maggie Hobson, Hobson's Choice, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, London, 1981
- Anna Kopecka, Schweyk in the Second World War, Olivier/National Theatre, London, 1982
- Miss Adelaide, Guys and Dolls, Olivier/National Theatre, 1982
- Susan, Woman in Mind, Vaudeville Theatre, London, 1986
- Sally Plummer, Follies, Shaftesbury Theatre, London, then West End Theatre, New York City, 1987
- Happy Birthday, Sir Larry, Olivier Theatre, National Theatre, 31 May 1987
- Witch, Into the Woods, Phoenix Theatre, London, 1990
- Sweeney Todd, National Theatre, London, 1994
- Kafka's Dick, Piccadilly Theatre, 1998
- Fuddy Meers, Arts Theatre, 2004
- The Philadelphia Story, Old Vic, 2005
Directing
- Stepping Out, Duke of York's Theatre, London, 1984
- Just So, Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, Berkshire, England, 1989
- Steel Magnolias, Lyric Theatre, London, 1989
- Putting It Together, Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I, New York City, 1993
- (With Bob Avian) Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh, Lyceum Theater, London, 1998
- A Little Night Music, Tokyo, 1999
Filmography
- Dick Deadeye, or Duty DoneDick Deadeye, or Duty DoneDick Deadeye, or Duty Done is a 1975 British animated film musical, based on the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan.The comically convoluted plot is a pastiche of many in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon, particularly Trial by Jury, The Sorcerer,...
(1975) - The Wildcats of St. Trinian's (1980)
- Shirley ValentineShirley Valentine (film)Shirley Valentine is a 1989 British/American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay by Willy Russell is based on his 1986 one-character play of the same title.-Plot:...
(1989) - Vol-au-ventVol-au-vent (film)Vol-au-vent is a 1996 British comedy film directed by John McKenzie and starring Dennis Waterman, Julia McKenzie and Lisa Coleman. An upper-middle class wedding is interrupted by three jewel thieves on the run from the law.-Cast:...
(1996) - Bright Young ThingsBright Young ThingsBright Young Things is a 2003 British drama film written and directed by Stephen Fry. The screenplay, based on the 1930 novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, provides satirical social commentary about the Bright Young People: young and carefree London aristocrats and bohemians, as well as society in...
(2003) - These Foolish ThingsThese Foolish Things (film)These Foolish Things is a 2005 film based on Noel Langley's novel There's a Porpoise Close Behind us and directed by Julia Taylor-Stanley. It stars Zoe Tapper, David Leon, Lauren Bacall, Anjelica Huston and Julia McKenzie. The drama was largerly filmed on location in Bristol, Cheltenham and...
(2006) - Notes on a ScandalNotes on a Scandal (film)Notes on a Scandal is a 2006 British psychological thriller film, adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Zoë Heller. The screenplay was written by Patrick Marber and the film was directed by Richard Eyre. Many parts of the film were shot in Islington Arts and Media School...
(2006) - Agatha Christie: The Pale Horse (BBC/PBS/WGBH TV) (2011)