Skip to main content
Brenda Blethyn profile
Actor

Brenda Blethyn

Acting

Career Snapshot

Explained

These indicators come from TMDB. They are relative signals, not review ratings.

Acting credits

91

Prolific

Very extensive acting filmography.

TMDB popularity

2.1

Low visibility

TMDB internal trend index. Higher usually means more searches and page activity now.

Movies: 58Series: 33Crew credits: 1

TMDB ID: 4154

IMDb ID: nm0000950

Known for: Acting

Born: February 20, 1946

Age: 80

Place of birth: Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK

Gender: Female

Adult content flag: No

Career span: 1944 - 2026

Years active: 83

Average TMDB rating: 6.55

Wikidata: Q229952

Also known as

Brenda Anne Bottle • 布蘭達·布蕾辛 • برندا بلثین

Other jobs

Writer (1)

Biography

Brenda Anne Blethyn is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television, and film. Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and a Golden Lion, and has earned a Theater World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work. Born into a working class home in Ramsgate, Kent, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming. In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups; then, after a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-living sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made her real cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews. Blethyn has since appeared in an eclectic range of films, including independent comedies such as Saving Grace (2000), Plots with a View (2002) and Clubland (2007), music-themed films like Little Voice (1998) and Beyond the Sea (2004) and big-budget dramas such as Pride & Prejudice (2005) and Atonement (2007). In addition, Blethyn has appeared in television productions including The Buddha of Suburbia (1993), Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001), Belonging (2004) and War and Peace (2007). Her most recent leading role in TV drama is the title role in Vera (2011), playing Detective Chief Inspector Vera Stanhope.

Photos

Brenda Blethyn photo
Brenda Blethyn photo
Brenda Blethyn photo
Brenda Blethyn photo
Brenda Blethyn photo
Sponsored
Series

Series

Series credits linked with Brenda Blethyn.

A Woman of Substance poster
8.7

A Woman of Substance

as Older Emma Harle • 8 eps

2026 Series
Kate & Koji poster
6.0

Kate & Koji

as Kate • 12 eps

2020 Series
Playhouse Presents poster
6.0

Playhouse Presents

as Nina • 1 eps

2012 Series
Vera poster
7.5

Vera

as DCI Vera Stanhope • 56 eps

2011 Series
War and Peace poster
6.2

War and Peace

as Márja Dmitrijewna Achrosímowa • 4 eps

2007 Series
The Graham Norton Show poster
7.2

The Graham Norton Show

as Self • 1 eps

2007 Series
The One Show poster
4.4

The One Show

as Self - Guest • 1 eps

2006 Series
The New Adventures of Old Christine poster
7.1

The New Adventures of Old Christine

as Angela Kimble • 1 eps

2006 Series
Between The Sheets poster
4.5

Between The Sheets

as Hazel Delany • 6 eps

2003 Series
V Graham Norton poster
5.0

V Graham Norton

as Self • 1 eps

2002 Series
Anne Frank: The Whole Story poster
7.4

Anne Frank: The Whole Story

as Auguste Rottgen-van Pels • 2 eps

2001 Series
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit poster
7.9

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

as Linnie Malcolm • 1 eps

1999 Series
So Graham Norton poster
6.3

So Graham Norton

as Self - Guest • 1 eps

1998 Series
The Frank Skinner Show poster
7.5

The Frank Skinner Show

as Self • 2 eps

1995 Series
Outside Edge poster
7.5

Outside Edge

as Miriam Dervish • 22 eps

1994 Series
The Buddha of Suburbia poster
5.8

The Buddha of Suburbia

as Margaret Amir • 4 eps

1993 Series
GMTV poster
5.6

GMTV

as Self • 1 eps

1993 Series
HBO First Look poster
4.9

HBO First Look

as self • 1 eps

1992 Series
Maigret poster
7.1

Maigret

1 eps

1992 Series
All Good Things poster

All Good Things

as Shirley Frame • 6 eps

1991 Series
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story poster
4.5

Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story

as Ticki Tocquet • 6 eps

1989 Series
This Morning poster
5.0

This Morning

as Self • 1 eps

1988 Series
The Storyteller poster
8.2

The Storyteller

as Storyteller's Wife • 1 eps

1988 Series
The Play on One poster
6.0

The Play on One

as Miss A • 1 eps

1988 Series