Penelope Wilton

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

86

Gender

Female

Birthday

1946-06-03 (79 years old)

Place of Birth

Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK

Penelope Wilton

Biography

Dame Penelope Alice Wilton DBE(born 3 June 1946) is an English actress. She was formerly married to fellow actor Sir Ian Holm, and as she has not remarried, she retains her married style of Lady Holm. Wilton is known for starring opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–1989), playing Homily in The Borrowers (1992) and The Return of the Borrowers(1993), and for her role as the widowed Isobel Crawley in the ITV drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015). She also played the recurring role of Harriet Jones in Doctor Who (2005–2008) and Anne in Ricky Gervais' Netflix dark comedy After Life.  Wilton has had an extensive career on stage, receiving six Olivier Award nominations. She was nominated for Man and Superman (1981), The Secret Rapture (1988), The Deep Blue Sea(1994), John Gabriel Borkman (2008) and The Chalk Garden (2009) before winning the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Actress for Taken at Midnight. Her film appearances include Clockwise (1986), Cry Freedom (1987), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Calendar Girls (2003), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Match Point (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), The Girl (2012), The BFG (2016) and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2023). Description above from the Wikipedia article Penelope Wilton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

  • Doctor Who

    Doctor Who

  • Doctor Who

    Doctor Who

  • Downton Abbey

    Downton Abbey

  • Play for Today

    Play for Today

  • Pride & Prejudice

    Pride & Prejudice

  • BBC Play of the Month

    BBC Play of the Month

  • An Audience with...

    An Audience with...

  • Shaun of the Dead

    Shaun of the Dead

  • Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

    Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

  • After Life

    After Life

  • The BFG

    The BFG

  • Kavanagh Q.C.

    Kavanagh Q.C.

  • Performance

    Performance

  • Performance

    Performance

  • Downton Abbey: A New Era

    Downton Abbey: A New Era

  • Zoo

    Zoo

  • Iris

    Iris

  • Cry Freedom

    Cry Freedom

  • Victoria & Albert

    Victoria & Albert

  • Pasmore

    Pasmore

  • Belle

    Belle

  • Operation Mincemeat

    Operation Mincemeat

  • Match Point

    Match Point

  • Clockwise

    Clockwise

  • Downton Abbey

    Downton Abbey

  • Carrington

    Carrington

  • Eternal Beauty

    Eternal Beauty

  • C.A.T.S. Eyes

    C.A.T.S. Eyes

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

    The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

  • The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

    The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

  • National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage

    National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage

  • Othello

    Othello

  • Blame It on the Bellboy

    Blame It on the Bellboy

  • Five Days

    Five Days

  • Falling

    Falling

  • Country

    Country

  • The Girl

    The Girl

  • Wives and Daughters

    Wives and Daughters

  • Celebration

    Celebration

  • Laughterhouse

    Laughterhouse

  • Rockaby

    Rockaby

  • The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

    The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

  • The Borrowers

    The Borrowers

  • Talking Heads 2

    Talking Heads 2

  • The French Lieutenant's Woman

    The French Lieutenant's Woman

  • Calendar Girls

    Calendar Girls

  • The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

    The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

  • All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film

    All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film

  • Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

    Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

  • The Passion

    The Passion

  • Ever Decreasing Circles

    Ever Decreasing Circles

  • Comedy Connections

    Comedy Connections

  • The History Boys

    The History Boys

  • The Tale of Beatrix Potter

    The Tale of Beatrix Potter

  • Summerland

    Summerland

  • Murder Is Easy

    Murder Is Easy

  • Alice Through the Looking Glass

    Alice Through the Looking Glass

  • Tom's Midnight Garden

    Tom's Midnight Garden

  • Able's Will

    Able's Will

  • Judi Dench: Our National Treasure

    Judi Dench: Our National Treasure

  • Half Broken Things

    Half Broken Things

  • The Whistle-Blower

    The Whistle-Blower

  • Margot

    Margot

  • Visitation

    Visitation

  • The Return of the Borrowers

    The Return of the Borrowers

  • Bob & Rose

    Bob & Rose

  • The Secret Rapture

    The Secret Rapture

  • Harold Pinter: A Celebration

    Harold Pinter: A Celebration

  • Brief Encounters

    Brief Encounters

  • Dead Hot

    Dead Hot

  • South Riding

    South Riding

  • Talking Heads

    Talking Heads

  • The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

    The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

  • Mrs. Warren's Profession

    Mrs. Warren's Profession

  • Screaming

    Screaming

  • Brexit Shorts: The End

    Brexit Shorts: The End

  • Landscape

    Landscape

  • Joseph Andrews

    Joseph Andrews

  • The Norman Conquests

    The Norman Conquests

  • The Deep Blue Sea

    The Deep Blue Sea

  • Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale

    Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • Lucky Jim

    Lucky Jim

  • The Tale of Beatrix Potter

    The Tale of Beatrix Potter

  • Fing!

    Fing!