Lucy Briers
Encyclopedia
Lucy Briers is an English actress. She has received critical praise for her many film, television, and stage roles, including the premiere of Best Friends & Butterflies.
and actress Ann Davies. From the age of nine, she knew that she wanted to be an actress.
Briers attended St Paul's Girls' School
, London, from 1978 to 1985; Lancaster University
, studying theatre
and sculpture
; and then a three year acting course at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
. As well as acting, Briers plays both the piano
and flute
.
She married Simon Cox in Oxford in 1995.
. Coincidentally, she appeared in an episode of Game On with Pride and Prejudice cast member Crispin Bonham-Carter
, with Victoria Hamilton
(Pride's Mrs Forster) in a stage production of As You Like It
, and with Tom Hollander
(Mr Collins in the 2005 version) in a stage production of Don Juan
.
On TV, Briers narrated the documentary The Riddle of Pompeii, the series Nurses and Ladette to Lady
.
In 2007 she appeared in Some Kind of Bliss, a new one-woman play by Samuel Adamson
at the Trafalgar Studios
, a role she reprised in the 2008 Brits off Broadway season.
In 2008 she appeared in the BBC drama Einstein and Eddington
and a West End revival of Chekhov's Ivanov.
In 2011 she appeared in BBC Four
's Twenty Twelve as Ian Fletcher's wife. Her features were pixellated, as her character refused to allow herself to appear on screen.
Personal life
Briers is the daughter of actor Richard BriersRichard Briers
Richard David Briers, CBE is an English actor whose career has encompassed theatre, television, film and radio.He first came to prominence as George Starling in Marriage Lines in the 1960s, but it was in the following decade when he played Tom Good in the BBC sitcom The Good Life that he became a...
and actress Ann Davies. From the age of nine, she knew that she wanted to be an actress.
Briers attended St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a senior independent school, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.-History:In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation , which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century...
, London, from 1978 to 1985; Lancaster University
Lancaster University
Lancaster University, officially The University of Lancaster, is a leading research-intensive British university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by Royal Charter in 1964 and initially based in St Leonard's Gate until moving to a purpose-built 300 acre campus at...
, studying theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
; and then a three year acting course at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...
. As well as acting, Briers plays both the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
.
She married Simon Cox in Oxford in 1995.
Career
Briers is best known for playing Mary Bennet in the 1995 BBC TV adaptaion of Pride & PrejudicePride 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...
. Coincidentally, she appeared in an episode of Game On with Pride and Prejudice cast member Crispin Bonham-Carter
Crispin Bonham-Carter
Crispin Bonham-Carter is an English actor and theatre director.Bonham-Carter is a distant cousin of Helena Bonham Carter. He is the son of Peter Bonham-Carter and Clodagh Greenwood. Educated at Glenalmond College, he graduated from the University of St Andrews, Scotland with a degree in classics...
, with Victoria Hamilton
Victoria Hamilton
Victoria Sharp is an English actress who performs under the stage name Victoria Hamilton.-Early life:Hamilton was born on 5 April 1971 in Wimbledon, London, England, and grew up in Godalming, Surrey. She trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.-Career:Hamilton is best known for her...
(Pride's Mrs Forster) in a stage production of As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, and with Tom Hollander
Tom Hollander
Thomas Anthony "Tom" Hollander is a British actor who has appeared in productions such as Enigma, Gosford Park, Cambridge Spies, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean, In the Loop, Valkyrie and Hanna.-Early life:Tom Hollander was born in Bristol and raised in Oxford, Oxfordshire, the son...
(Mr Collins in the 2005 version) in a stage production of Don Juan
Don Juan
Don Juan is a legendary, fictional libertine whose story has been told many times by many authors. El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra by Tirso de Molina is a play set in the fourteenth century that was published in Spain around 1630...
.
On TV, Briers narrated the documentary The Riddle of Pompeii, the series Nurses and Ladette to Lady
Ladette to Lady
Ladette to Lady is a reality based series that first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV in June 2005. The series was produced by UK-based RDF Media....
.
In 2007 she appeared in Some Kind of Bliss, a new one-woman play by Samuel Adamson
Samuel Adamson
Samuel Adamson is an Australian playwright and screenwriter who has lived and worked in the UK since 1991. He was born in Adelaide and lives in London.-Career:...
at the Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios
Trafalgar Studios, formerly The Whitehall Theatre until 2004, is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London....
, a role she reprised in the 2008 Brits off Broadway season.
In 2008 she appeared in the BBC drama Einstein and Eddington
Einstein and Eddington
Einstein and Eddington is a British single drama produced by Company Pictures and the BBC, in association with HBO. It featured David Tennant as British scientist Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, and Andy Serkis as Albert Einstein...
and a West End revival of Chekhov's Ivanov.
In 2011 she appeared in 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....
's Twenty Twelve as Ian Fletcher's wife. Her features were pixellated, as her character refused to allow herself to appear on screen.
Select Credits
- Behud (Beyond Belief) (2010), Joanne Stevenson – stage
- Bedroom Farce (2009), Jan – stage
- Some Kind of Bliss (2008), Rachel – stage
- Sexual Perversity in ChicagoSexual Perversity in ChicagoSexual Perversity in Chicago is a play written by David Mamet that examines the sex lives of two men and two women in the 1970's. The play is filled with profanity and regional jargon that reflects the working-class language of Chicago. The characters' relationships become hindered by the caustic...
(2008), Joan – stage - Some Kind of Bliss (2007), Rachel – stage
- DoctorsDoctors (BBC Soap Opera)Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
- Flying Solo (2007), Emma Fleet
- Rough CrossingsRough CrossingsRough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution is a history book and television series by Simon Schama.This gives an account of the history of thousands of enslaved African Americans who escaped to the British cause during the American War of Independence...
(2007), Mrs Staniland – TV - Ship of Fools (2007), various characters – stage
- Silent WitnessSilent WitnessSilent Witness is a BBC crime thriller series focusing on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in February 1996, the series is still airing to the present day, with a fifteenth series expected to air in January 2012. The series was...
- Peripheral Vision (2007), Darlow
- Great News (2007), Marion
- Bonkers
- Episode #1.3 (2007), Polly Cope
- Catch (2006), Andrea/Carol – stage
- Children of MenChildren of MenChildren of Men is a 2006 science fiction film loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2027, two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in England, where the last...
(2006), TV Reporter – feature filmFeature filmIn the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie... - The Voysey InheritanceThe Voysey InheritanceThe Voysey Inheritance is a play written by the English dramatist Harley Granville-Barker. Originally written in 1905, it was revived at the National Theatre in 2006.It is currently in the public domain.- See also :*...
(2006), Honor – stage - The Shadow Box (2005), Beverley – stage
- Broken NewsBroken NewsBroken News is a comedy programme shown on BBC Two in autumn 2005 and in Australia on SBS-TV from the 17 July 2006. The show poked fun at the world of 24-hour rolling news channels. The title of the show is a play on the phrase "Breaking News". It had six thirty-minute episodes...
- Crime and Bolivian Crisis (2005), Sam Henman, Bullet Points Presenter
- The Last Waltz Season
- Rose Bernd (2005), Frau Grolsch – stage
- Musik (2005), Else – stage
- The Sold Gold Cadillac (2004), Amelia – stage
- BodiesBodies (TV series)Bodies is a BAFTA-nominated British television medical drama produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. Created by Jed Mercurio, the series began in 2004 and is based on his book Bodies. The first series debuted on BBC Three as the channel at this time was trying to break out into hour-long...
- Episode #1.6 (2004), Nicola Quinn
- Poirot
- The Hollow (2004), Beryl Collins
- Cloud NineCloud Nine (play)Cloud Nine is a two-act play written by British playwright Caryl Churchill after workshops with the Joint Stock Theatre Company in late 1978 and first performed at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, on 14 February 1979....
(2004), Edward/ Betty – stage - Electra (2003), Electra – stage
- Perks (2003), Sarah Tidewell
- Teeth 'n' Smiles (2002), Laura – stage
- Prince William (2002), Tiggy Legge-BourkeTiggy Legge-BourkeAlexandra Shân "Tiggy" Legge-Bourke MVO was nanny, later companion, to Prince William of Wales and his brother Prince Harry, and a personal assistant to Charles, Prince of Wales, between 1993 and 1999...
- Helen West
- Shadow Play (2002), Gemma Harding
- The BillThe BillThe Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
- Long Shadows: Part 1 (2001), Helen Thompkins
- Don JuanDom JuanDom Juan or The Feast with the Statue is a French play by Molière, based on the legend of Don Juan. Molière's characters Dom Juan and Sganarelle are the French counterparts to the Spanish Don Juan and Catalinón, characters who would later become familiar to opera goers as Don Giovanni and Leporello...
(2001), Charlotte – stage - Spike (2001), Verity – stage
- BeastBeast (TV series)Beast is a BBC One sitcom based in a veterinary surgery. Two series of six episodes each were made, with the first broadcast in early 2000 and the second in early 2001...
- Frightening Shorts (2000), Briony's Friend
- Keepers (2000), Maggie – stage
- The Winter's TaleThe Winter's TaleThe Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, some modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some critics, among them W. W...
(2000), Paulina/ Dorcas – stage - As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
(2000), Phebe – stage - All That Trouble We Had (1999), Margo – stage
- Wives and DaughtersWives and Daughters (1999 miniseries)Wives and Daughters is a 1999 four part BBC serial adapted from the novel Wives and Daughters: An Everyday Story by Victorian author Elizabeth Gaskell...
(1999), Lady Alice - DangerfieldDangerfield (TV series)Dangerfield is a British drama series about a small town doctor / police surgeon, which ran for 6 series, between 1995 and 1999. Originally Nigel Le Vaillant played the central role , but this character later left the series, the focus switching to his replacement, played by Nigel Havers.The BBC...
- The Lost Boy (1998), Adele Griffiths
- Imogen's Face (1998), Janet
- Unfinished Business
- Episode #1.3 (1998), Policewoman
- Game On
- Episode #3.4 (1998), Lulu
- Emma (1998), Jane Fairfax – stage
- OthelloOthelloThe Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
(1998), DesdemonaDesdemonaDesdemona is a character in William Shakespeare's play Othello.Desdemona may also refer to:People* Desdemona , a soprano role in the 1816 opera Otello by Gioachino Rossini...
– stage - Henry IV Parts I&II (1996), Lady Percy/Doll Tearsheet – stage
- The EntertainerThe Entertainer (play)The Entertainer is a three act play by John Osborne, first produced in 1957. His first play, Look Back in Anger, had attracted mixed notices but a great deal of publicity. Having depicted an "angry young man" in the earlier play, Osborne wrote, at Laurence Olivier's request,about an angry middle...
(1996), Jean – stage - Pride and PrejudicePride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
, Mary Bennet - The 10 PercentersThe 10 PercentersThe Ten Percenters was a British television comedy series, broadcast on ITV, which began as a pilot in 1993 , and was followed by two series which were shown in 1994 and 1996...
- Feud (1994), Sarah
- The Brittas EmpireThe Brittas EmpireThe Brittas Empire is a British sitcom created and originally written by Richard Fegen and Andrew Norriss. Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre....
- Two Little Boys (1993), Wendy
- Mystery!Mystery!Mystery! is an episodic television series that debuted in 1980 in the USA. It airs on PBS and is produced by WGBH...
- Unnatural Causes (1993), Liz Marley
- The TempestThe TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
(1993), Miranda – stage - Syme (1993) – stage
- The Venetian TwinsThe Venetian TwinsThe Venetian Twins is a 1747 play by Carlo Goldoni, based on Plautus's Menaechmi. Recent productions include one at the Watermill Theatre and a 1993 production directed by Michael Bogdanov for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The play has also been adapted and staged as a 1979 Australian two-act...
(1993), Rosura – stage - The Blackheath Poisonings, Maid (1992)
- Fooling About (1992), Miranda/ Princess – stage
- BoonBoon (TV series)Boon is a British television drama and modern-day western series starring Michael Elphick, David Daker, and later Neil Morrissey. It was created by Jim Hill and Bill Stair and filmed by Central Television for ITV...
- MacGuffin's Transputer (1992), Maggie, Temp Secretary
- ScreamingScreamingA scream, shout, shriek, hoot, holler, vociferation, yell, outcry, or bellow is a loud vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal folds with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalization...
(1992), Jennifer - Red DwarfRed DwarfRed Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
- HoloshipHoloship"Holoship" is the first episode of series 5 of the science fiction sit-com Red Dwarf Series V and the twenty fifth in the series run. It was first broadcast on the British television channel BBC2 on 20 February 1992. Written by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, and directed by Juliet May...
(1992), Harrison
- Holoship
- A Masculine EndingA Masculine EndingA Masculine Ending is a novel by Joan Smith. It was first published in 1987 by British firm Faber and Faber.-1992 Television Adaptation :The story was adapted for television in 1992...
(1992), Student