Michelle Dockery
Encyclopedia
Michelle Dockery is an English actress of stage and screen. She has become best known for her role as Lady Mary Crawley in the ITV drama series Downton Abbey
. She made her television debut in Fingersmith in 2005.
, Dockery was educated at the Chadwell Heath Foundation School
in Chadwell Heath
, now known as Chadwell Heath Academy. She was trained at the Finch Stage School and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, graduating in 2004. Michelle was a member of the National Youth Theatre
and made her professional debut in His Dark Materials
at the Royal National Theatre
later that year. In 2006, she was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for her performance as Dina Dorf in Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre. She made her television debut as Betty in Fingersmith in 2005.
She appeared in Burnt by the Sun
at the National Theatre for which she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards
for her performance as Eliza Doolittle
in Peter Hall's
production of Pygmalion
at the Theatre Royal, Bath
which toured the UK and transferred to The Old Vic on May 7, 2008, and for the same production was nominated Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards 2008
In 2008, she played Kathryn in Channel 4
's The Red Riding Trilogy and played the guest lead of tormented rape victim Gemma Morrison in BBC`s Waking the Dead
. In 2009, she appeared in the two-part Cranford
Christmas special for the BBC
, and starred as the lead character in a modernised BBC adaptation of The Turn of the Screw
.
' series Downton Abbey
, which was screened on ITV between September and November 2010 alongside Maggie Smith
(who played her grandmother). She was nominated for a Southbank Award in January for Best Breakthrough Performance in a TV drama. At the same time, she played Ophelia
in Hamlet
at the Crucible Theatre
alongside John Simm
. A second series of Downton Abbey was shown in 2011, and a third has been commissioned for broadcast in September 2012.
, who played her mother in Downton Abbey.
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
. She made her television debut in Fingersmith in 2005.
Acting career
She is the youngest of three daughters of Michael from Athlone, Ireland, who worked his way up from driving a van to becoming a surveyor, and Lorraine from Stepney, East London. Born and raised in Romford, EssexRomford
Romford is a large suburban town in north east London, England and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan...
, Dockery was educated at the Chadwell Heath Foundation School
Chadwell Heath Foundation School
Chadwell Heath Academy is an all ability, academy school located in Chadwell Heath in the London Borough of Redbridge. The school has approximately 1200 pupils on roll, including 300 in the Sixth Form...
in Chadwell Heath
Chadwell Heath
Chadwell Heath is a place in the London Borough of Redbridge and the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, both in Greater London. It is north-east of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...
, now known as Chadwell Heath Academy. She was trained at the Finch Stage School and the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, graduating in 2004. Michelle was a member of the National Youth Theatre
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre is a registered charity in London, Great Britain, committed to creative, personal and social development of young people through the medium of creative arts....
and made her professional debut in His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials (play)
His Dark Materials is a play written by British playwright Nicholas Wright adapted from the Phillip Pullman fantasy novel trilogy of the same title. The production premiered in the Royal National Theatre's Olivier Theatre, London, in 2003...
at the Royal 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...
later that year. In 2006, she was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award for her performance as Dina Dorf in Pillars of the Community at the National Theatre. She made her television debut as Betty in Fingersmith in 2005.
She appeared in Burnt by the Sun
Burnt by the Sun
Burnt by the Sun is a 1994 film by Russian director and actor Nikita Mikhalkov. The film depicts the story of a senior Red Army officer and his family during the Great Purge of the late 1930s in the Stalinist Soviet Union...
at the National Theatre for which she received an Olivier Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She won second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards
Ian Charleson Awards
The Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre...
for her performance as Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Doolittle
Eliza Sophie Caird , better known by her stage name Eliza Doolittle, is an English singer–songwriter from London, who signed to the Parlophone record label in October 2008. Her debut self-titled album, Eliza Doolittle was released on 12 July 2010, where it debuted at number 3 in the UK...
in Peter Hall's
Peter Hall
Sir Peter Reginald Frederick Hall, CBE is an English theatre and film director. Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company and directed the National Theatre , and has been prominent in defending public subsidy of the arts in Britain.-Early years:Hall was born at Bury St...
production of Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)
Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of...
at the Theatre Royal, Bath
Theatre Royal, Bath
The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is over 200 years old. It is one of the more important theatres in the United Kingdom outside London, with capacity for an audience of around 900....
which toured the UK and transferred to The Old Vic on May 7, 2008, and for the same production was nominated Best Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards 2008
In 2008, she played Kathryn in Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's The Red Riding Trilogy and played the guest lead of tormented rape victim Gemma Morrison in BBC`s Waking the Dead
Waking the Dead (TV series)
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
. In 2009, she appeared in the two-part 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...
Christmas special for 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...
, and starred as the lead character in a modernised BBC adaptation of The Turn of the Screw
The Turn of the Screw (TV 2009)
The Turn of the Screw is a 2009 British television film directed by Tim Fywell, and loosely based on the 1898 novel of the same name by Henry James.-Plot:...
.
Downton Abbey (2010-11)
Dockery came to particular public prominence in 2010 when she played Lady Mary Crawley in Julian FellowesJulian Fellowes
Julian Alexander Kitchener-Fellowes, Baron Fellowes of West Stafford, DL , known as Julian Fellowes, is an English actor, novelist, film director and screenwriter, as well as a Conservative peer.-Early life:...
' series Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an...
, which was screened on ITV between September and November 2010 alongside Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE , better known as Maggie Smith, is an English film, stage, and television actress who made her stage debut in 1952 and is still performing after 59 years...
(who played her grandmother). She was nominated for a Southbank Award in January for Best Breakthrough Performance in a TV drama. At the same time, she played Ophelia
Ophelia
Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet.-Plot:...
in Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
at the Crucible Theatre
Crucible Theatre
The Crucible Theatre is a theatre built in 1971 and located in the city centre of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. As well as theatrical performances, it is home to the most important event in professional snooker, the World Snooker Championship....
alongside John Simm
John Simm
John Simm is an English stage and screen actor. In recent years he is best known for his roles as Sam Tyler in the detective drama Life on Mars and as The Master in the revival of the science fiction series Doctor Who, but he has also starred in many highly acclaimed award-winning television...
. A second series of Downton Abbey was shown in 2011, and a third has been commissioned for broadcast in September 2012.
Singer
Dockery is also a jazz singer. She sang at the 50th Anniversary of Ronnie Scott's Jazz club in London and has occasionally sung with Sadie and the Hotheads, a band formed by Elizabeth McGovernElizabeth McGovern
-Early life:McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois, the daughter of Katharine Wolcott , a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor. Her paternal grandfather was adventurer William Montgomery McGovern and her maternal great-grandfather was U.S. diplomat...
, who played her mother in Downton Abbey.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Fingersmith | Betty | TV series |
| 2006 | Hogfather | Susan/Death of Rats | TV movie |
| 2007 | Consent | TV movie | |
| Dalziel and Pascoe Dalziel and Pascoe (BBC TV series) Dalziel and Pascoe is a popular British television crime drama based on the Dalziel and Pascoe books by Reginald Hill, which was first broadcast in March 1996. It is set in Yorkshire, and is about two detectives... |
Aimee Hobbs | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| 2008 | Poppy Shakespeare Poppy Shakespeare Poppy Shakespeare is a novel about mental illness by Clare Allan. It tells the story of day patients at a mental health hospital. The central characters are Poppy Shakespeare, a new patient, and "N", a long term patient. Poppy arrives at the hospital strongly asserting that she is sane and... |
Dawn | TV movie |
| Heartbeat | Sue Padgett | TV series (1 episode: "Take Three Girls") | |
| 2009 | Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974 Red Riding Red Riding is a television adaptation of English author David Peace's Red Riding Quartet. Published between 1999 and 2002, the quartet comprises the novels Nineteen Seventy-Four , Nineteen Seventy-Seven , Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three... |
Kathryn Taylor | TV movie |
| Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1983 Red Riding Red Riding is a television adaptation of English author David Peace's Red Riding Quartet. Published between 1999 and 2002, the quartet comprises the novels Nineteen Seventy-Four , Nineteen Seventy-Seven , Nineteen Eighty and Nineteen Eighty-Three... |
Kathryn Taylor | TV movie | |
| The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler is a 2009 television film directed by John Kent Harrison. The film is a co-production between United States and Poland companies... |
Ewa Rozenfeld | TV movie | |
| Waking the Dead Waking the Dead (TV series) Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series... |
Gemma Morrison | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| Cranford Return to Cranford Return to Cranford is the two-part second season of a British television series directed by Simon Curtis. The teleplay by Heidi Thomas was based on material from two novellas and a short story by Elizabeth Gaskell published between 1849 and 1863: Cranford, The Moorland Cottage and The Cage at... |
Erminia Whyte | TV mini-series (2 episodes) | |
| The Turn of the Screw The Turn of the Screw (TV 2009) The Turn of the Screw is a 2009 British television film directed by Tim Fywell, and loosely based on the 1898 novel of the same name by Henry James.-Plot:... |
Ann | TV movie | |
| 2010 | Spoiler | Goth Girl | short |
| Downton Abbey Downton Abbey Downton Abbey is a British television period drama series, produced by NBC Universal-owned British media company Carnival Films for the ITV network. The series is set during the late Edwardian era and the First World War on the fictional estate of Downton Abbey in Yorkshire, and features an... |
Lady Mary Crawley | TV series (15 episodes: 2010-2011) | |
| Shades of Beige | Jodie | short | |
| 2011 | Hanna Hanna (film) Hanna is a 2011 European-American action thriller film directed by Joe Wright. The film stars actress Saoirse Ronan as the title character with Eric Bana and Cate Blanchett... |
False Marissa | |
| 2012 | Anna Karenina |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Awards and nominations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | His Dark Materials | Jessie/ understudy Lyra | National Theatre | |
| 2005 | Henry IV Parts I & II | Carrier | ||
| The UN Inspector | Female activist | |||
| Pillars of the Community | Dina | Nominated—Ian Charleson Award Ian Charleson Awards The Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre... - Best Actress |
||
| 2007 | Dying for It | Kleopatra | Almeida Theatre | |
| Pygmalion | Eliza Doolittle | UK tour | Ian Charleson Award Ian Charleson Awards The Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre... - Best Actress Nominated—Evening Standard Award - Best Newcomer |
|
| 2008 | Uncle Vanya | Yelena | UK Tour | |
| Pygmalion | Eliza Doolittle | Old Vic Theatre | Ian Charleson Award Ian Charleson Awards The Ian Charleson Awards is a British theatrical award to reward the best classical stage performances in Britain by actors aged under 30. It is named in memory of the late actor Ian Charleson and is run by the Sunday Times newspaper and the National Theatre... - Best Actress Nominated—Evening Standard Award - Best Newcomer |
|
| 2009 | Burnt By The Sun | Maroussia | National Theatre | Nominated—Olivier Award - Best Supporting Actress |
| 2010 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Crucible Theatre, Sheffield |