Penelope Wilton

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

88

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

  • Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

    Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

  • BBC Play of the Month

    BBC Play of the Month

  • Pride & Prejudice

    Pride & Prejudice

  • An Audience with...

    An Audience with...

  • Performance

    Performance

  • Performance

    Performance

  • Downton Abbey: A New Era

    Downton Abbey: A New Era

  • Shaun of the Dead

    Shaun of the Dead

  • Match Point

    Match Point

  • After Life

    After Life

  • Kavanagh Q.C.

    Kavanagh Q.C.

  • The BFG

    The BFG

  • The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

    The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

  • The French Lieutenant's Woman

    The French Lieutenant's Woman

  • Downton Abbey

    Downton Abbey

  • The Whistle-Blower

    The Whistle-Blower

  • Judi Dench: Our National Treasure

    Judi Dench: Our National Treasure

  • Operation Mincemeat

    Operation Mincemeat

  • The Secret Rapture

    The Secret Rapture

  • Cry Freedom

    Cry Freedom

  • Carrington

    Carrington

  • Clockwise

    Clockwise

  • Belle

    Belle

  • Five Days

    Five Days

  • Falling

    Falling

  • Summerland

    Summerland

  • The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

    The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • C.A.T.S. Eyes

    C.A.T.S. Eyes

  • Iris

    Iris

  • Visitation

    Visitation

  • National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage

    National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage

  • Tom's Midnight Garden

    Tom's Midnight Garden

  • Wives and Daughters

    Wives and Daughters

  • The Tale of Beatrix Potter

    The Tale of Beatrix Potter

  • The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

    The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

  • Blame It on the Bellboy

    Blame It on the Bellboy

  • Alice Through the Looking Glass

    Alice Through the Looking Glass

  • The History Boys

    The History Boys

  • The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

    The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • The Borrowers

    The Borrowers

  • Celebration

    Celebration

  • Comedy Connections

    Comedy Connections

  • Laughterhouse

    Laughterhouse

  • Harold Pinter: A Celebration

    Harold Pinter: A Celebration

  • Ever Decreasing Circles

    Ever Decreasing Circles

  • South Riding

    South Riding

  • The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

    The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

  • The Passion

    The Passion

  • Victoria & Albert

    Victoria & Albert

  • Zoo

    Zoo

  • Murder Is Easy

    Murder Is Easy

  • Able's Will

    Able's Will

  • Fing!

    Fing!

  • Othello

    Othello

  • Brief Encounters

    Brief Encounters

  • Eternal Beauty

    Eternal Beauty

  • Dead Hot

    Dead Hot

  • Rockaby

    Rockaby

  • Bob & Rose

    Bob & Rose

  • Talking Heads

    Talking Heads

  • Margot

    Margot

  • The Return of the Borrowers

    The Return of the Borrowers

  • Half Broken Things

    Half Broken Things

  • Pasmore

    Pasmore

  • Country

    Country

  • Brexit Shorts: The End

    Brexit Shorts: The End

  • The Girl

    The Girl

  • Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale

    Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale

  • Mrs. Warren's Profession

    Mrs. Warren's Profession

  • Calendar Girls

    Calendar Girls

  • Landscape

    Landscape

  • Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale

    Downton Abbey Celebrates the Grand Finale

  • The Norman Conquests

    The Norman Conquests

  • Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

    Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings

  • Screaming

    Screaming

  • Talking Heads 2

    Talking Heads 2

  • The Tale of Beatrix Potter

    The Tale of Beatrix Potter

  • The Deep Blue Sea

    The Deep Blue Sea

  • Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion

    Doctor Who: The Christmas Invasion

  • Joseph Andrews

    Joseph Andrews

  • Lucky Jim

    Lucky Jim

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

    All the World's a Screen: Shakespeare on Film