Imogen Stubbs

Imogen Stubbs (born 20 February 1961) is an English actress and writer.

Imogen Stubbs
Born	(1961-02-20) 20 February 1961 (age 63) Rothbury, Northumberland, England
Education	St Paul's Girls' School Westminster School Exeter College, Oxford Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Trevor Nunn ​ ​ (m. 1994; sep. 2011)​
Children	2

Her first leading part was in Privileged (1982), followed by A Summer Story (1988).

Her first play, We Happy Few, was produced in 2004. In 2008 she joined Reader's Digest as a contributing editor and writer of fiction.

Early life

Imogen Stubbs was born in Rothbury,^[1] Northumberland, lived briefly in Portsmouth, Hampshire, where her father was a naval officer, and then moved with her parents to London, where they lived on a vintage river barge on the Thames. She was educated at Cavendish Primary School, then at two independent schools: St Paul's Girls' School and Westminster School, and then Exeter College, Oxford,^[2] gaining a First Class degree.^[3]

Her acting career started at Oxford, where she played Irina in a student production of Three Sisters at the Oxford Playhouse. After graduating, she enrolled at RADA, and while there had her first professional work, playing Sally Bowles in Cabaret at the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich.^[4] In 1982 she also appeared in her first film, Privileged.

Stubbs graduated from RADA in the same class as Jane Horrocks^[5] and Iain Glen, and later became an Associate Member of RADA.

Career

In the 1980s Stubbs achieved success on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, notably as Desdemona in Othello, which was directed by Trevor Nunn. Other stage work includes Saint Joan at the Strand Theatre and Heartbreak House at the Haymarket, and in 1997 she played in a London production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

In 1988, Stubbs was a notable Ursula Brangwen in a BBC serialization of The Rainbow, and in 1993 and 1994 had the title role in Anna Lee. She played Lucy Steele in Sense and Sensibility (1995).

In July 2004, Stubbs's play We Happy Few, directed by Trevor Nunn and starring Juliet Stevenson and Marcia Warren, opened at the Gielgud Theatre, London, after a try-out in Malvern.^[6] In September 2008 Reader's Digest announced that she had joined the magazine as a contributing editor and writer of adventure stories.^[7]

Personal life

In 1994, Stubbs married Trevor Nunn.^[8] The couple have two children:^[9] a son and a daughter, Ellie Nunn, who is also an actress.^[10] In April 2011, Stubbs announced that she and her husband were separating.^[11] Her partner is Jonathan Guy Lewis.^[2][3]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Privileged	Imogen
1986	Nanou	Nanou
1988	A Summer Story	Megan David
1989	Erik the Viking	Princess Aud
1991	True Colors	Diana Stiles
1991	The Wanderer	Narrator	Voice
1994	A Pin for the Butterfly	Mother
1995	Jack and Sarah	Sarah
1995	Sense & Sensibility	Lucy Steele
1996	Twelfth Night	Viola
2003	Collusion	Mary Dolphin
2004	Dead Cool	Henny
2011	Babysitting	Mrs. Wollenberg	Short
2014	Insomniacs	Alice	Short
2016	Stake Out	Sally	Short
2017	Kew Gardens	Isabella	Short, post-production
2018	London Unplugged	Isabella	Anthology film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	The Browning Version	Mrs. Gilbert	TV film
1988	The Rainbow	Ursula Brangwen	TV miniseries
1988	Deadline	Lady Romy Burton	TV film
1990	Fellow Traveller	Sarah Atchison	In the Screen Two series
1990	Relatively Speaking	Ginny Whittaker	TV film
1990	Pasternak	Lara / Olga (voice)	TV film
1990	Theatre Night	Desdemona	"Othello"
1992	Sandra, c'est la vie	Marie	TV film
1992	Performance	Helen Banner	"After the Dance"
1993	Anna Lee: Headcase	Anna Lee	TV film
1994	Anna Lee	Anna Lee	Main role
1996	1914–1918	(voice)	"Total War"
1997	Screen Two	Suzie	"Mothertime"
2000	Blind Ambition	Annie Thomas	TV film
2000	Big Kids	Sarah Spiller	Main role
2001	Lee Evans: So What Now?	Chloe	"Sofa So Good"
2002	Township Opera	Narrator	TV film
2005	Casualty	Chloe Greer	"Running out of Kisses"
2006	Agatha Christie's Marple	Mona Symmington	"The Moving Finger"
2006	Brief Encounters	Sonia	"Semi-Detached"
2009	New Tricks	Lotte Davenport	"Shadow Show"
2010	The Adventures of Daniel	Mrs. Wallace	TV film
2011	Injustice	Gemma Lawrence	"1.4", "1.5"
2012	Doctors	Miranda Payne	"High-Flyer"
2012	Parents	Isabelle Hopkins	"1.3"
2012	Switch	Esme	"1.6"
2017	Holby City	Evelyn Chapman	"It Has to be Now"
2018	Death in Paradise	Valerie O'Toole	"7.3"
2021	Midsomer Murders	Tamara Deddington	"21.3 – The Sting of Death"
2023	The Crown	Anne Tennant, Baroness Glenconner	Season 6, episode 8: "Ritz"

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Company
1985	Cabaret	Sally Bowles	Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
1985	The Boyfriend	Polly Browne	Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich
1986	The Rover	Helena	Swan Theatre, Stratford
1986	Two Noble Kinsmen	Gaoler's daughter	The Other Place, Stratford
1987	Richard II	Queen Isabel	Swan Theatre, Stratford
1989	Othello	Desdemona	The Other Place, Stratford[12]
1992	Heartbreak House	Ellie	Theatre Royal, Haymarket
1994	Saint Joan	Joan	Strand Theatre
1994	Uncle Vanya	Yelena	Chichester Festival
1996	A Streetcar Named Desire	Stella	Theatre Royal, Haymarket
1998	Closer	Anna	Lyric Theatre, London
1998	Betrayal	Emma	National Theatre
2001	The Relapse	Amanda	National Theatre
2002	Three Sisters	Masha	Theatre Royal, Bath (and tour)
2003	Mum's the Word	Linda	Albery Theatre
2004	Hamlet	Gertrude	The Old Vic
2006	Duchess of Malfi	Duchess	West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds
2008	Scenes from a Marriage	Marianne	Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
2009	Alphabetical Order	Lucy	Hampstead Theatre
2010	The Glass Menagerie	Amanda	Shared Experience
2011	Private Lives	Amanda	Manchester Royal Exchange
2011	Little Eyolf	Rita	Jermyn Street Theatre, London
2011	Salt, Root and Roe	Menna	Trafalgar Studios, London[13][14][15][16]
2012	Orpheus Descending	Lady	Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester[17][18]
2013	Third Finger, Left Hand	Niamh	Trafalgar Studios, London
2013	Strangers on a Train	Elsie	Gielgud Theatre, London[19]
2014	Little Revolution	Sarah / various	Almeida Theatre, London[20]
2014	The Hypochondriac	Beline	Touring,[21]
2015	Communicating Doors	Ruella	Menier Theatre, London[22]
2016	Things I Know to be True	Fran Price	Frantic Assembly
2018	The Be All and End All	Charlotte	York Theatre Royal[2]
2022	Clybourne Park	Bev/Kathy	Park Theatre
2023	The Children	Rose	Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds[3]
2023	Three Acts of Love	Dr Fiona McGill	Live Theatre, Newcastle[23]

Other projects and contributions

• When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) – Shakespeare's "Sonnet 21" ("So it is not with me as with that Muse")

References

1. Edmonds, Mark (31 March 2013), "The world's fastest interview", The Sunday Times Magazine, p. 7
2. Weale, Sally (20 April 2018). "Imogen Stubbs laments 'awful treadmill' of UK education system". The Guardian.
3. Harvey, Chris; Stubbs, Imogen (25 February 2023). "'It's become less and less acceptable to age' – The Saturday Interview: The actress tells Chris Harvey about her bohemian childhood on a boat, marriage to her former husband director Trevor Nunn and her distaste for plastic surgery". Daily Telegraph.
4. Barnett, Laura (9 March 2010). "Imogen Stubbs, actor". The Guardian. London. p. G2-23.
5. Pelley, Rich (30 November 2023). "Jane Horrocks: 'I'd love to be a baddie in a Tarantino movie'". The Guardian.
6. Taylor, Paul (6 July 2004). "We Happy Few". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 September 2008.^{[dead link]}
7. Carter, Meg (15 September 2008). "Digest revamped". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
8. Montague-Smith, Patrick (1970). Debrett's Correct Form. Headline. pp. 76–77. ISBN 0-7472-0658-9.
9. "Nunn, Sir Trevor (Robert)". Who's Who. Oxford, England: A & C Black. 2011.
10. Taylor, Interviews by Jeremy (10 January 2018). "Relative Values: the actress Imogen Stubbs, and her daughter, Ellie Nunn". The Times. London. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
11. "Imogen Stubbs and Sir Trevor Nunn separate after 21 years". The Daily Telegraph. London. 25 April 2011. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
12. Dickson, Andrew (11 July 2016). "Willard White on playing Othello: 'I broke down – I considered walking away'". The Guardian.
13. "Stubbs, Imogen Mary, (Lady Nunn)". Who's Who. Oxford, England: A & C Black. 2011.
14. Trowbridge, Simon (2008). "Imogen Stubbs". Stratfordians: a biographical dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford, England: Editions Albert Creed. p. 475. ISBN 978-0-9559830-1-6.
15. Gardner, Lynn (8 March 2011). "Private Lives – review". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
16. Coveney, Michael (9 May 2011). "Little Eyolf, Jermyn Street Theatre, London". The Independent. Retrieved 28 May 2011.
17. "The Stage / Listings / Orpheus Descending". Retrieved 27 October 2012.
18. "Autumn – the Royal Exchange Theatre". Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
19. "Strangers on a Train, Based on Novel, to Star Laurence Fox and Jack Huston at London's Gielgud Theatre". playbill.com. Playbill. 20 September 2013. Archived from the original on 17 January 2014. Retrieved 16 January 2014.
20. "Cast, Little Revolution, Almeida Theatre". Archived from the original on 6 September 2014. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
21. "Theatre Royal Bath – What's On". Theatre Royal Bath. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2018.
22. Lawrence, Ben. "Communicating Doors, Menier Chocolate Factory". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
23. Fisher, Mark (8 December 2023). "Three Acts of Love review – pain and pleasure in a trio straight from the heart". The Guardian.

External links

• Imogen Stubbs at IMDb