Eileen Atkins facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dame Eileen Atkins DBE
Atkins in 2023
Born	Eileen June Atkins (1934-06-15) 15 June 1934 (age 91) Clapton, London, England
Education	Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1953–present
Spouse(s)	Julian Glover ​ ​ (m. 1957; div. 1966)​ Bill Shepherd ​ ​ (m. 1978; died 2016)​

Dame Eileen June Atkins, born on June 15, 1934, is a famous English actress. She has been acting in plays, movies, and TV shows since 1953. In 2008, she won a BAFTA TV Award and an Emmy Award for her role in the TV series Cranford. She has also won three Olivier Awards, which are big awards for theatre. She won for Best Supporting Performance in 1988 and Best Actress for The Unexpected Man (1999) and Honour (2004). She was given the special title of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990. Later, in 2001, she became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).

Atkins joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1957. She made her first appearance on Broadway in New York in 1966 in The Killing of Sister George. For this role, she was nominated for a Tony Award, a top award for theatre in the US. She received three more Tony Award nominations later in her career. She also performed in many other plays, including The Tempest (1962) and Medea (1985).

Eileen Atkins helped create two popular TV shows: Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1975) and The House of Elliot (1991–1994). She worked on these with fellow actress Jean Marsh. Atkins also wrote the script for the 1997 movie Mrs Dalloway. Her many movie roles include Gosford Park (2001), Cold Mountain (2003), and Robin Hood (2010).

Early Life and Education

Eileen Atkins was born on June 15, 1934, in a hospital in Lower Clapton, east London. Her mother, Annie Ellen, was a barmaid, and her father, Thomas Arthur Atkins, read gas meters. Eileen was the third child in her family. When she was born, her family moved to a council home in Tottenham.

When Eileen was three, a Romani woman told her mother that Eileen would be a famous dancer. Her mother quickly enrolled her in dance classes. Eileen studied dancing from age 3 to about 16, even though she didn't always like it. From age 7 to 15, during the last years of World War II, she danced in clubs for money. She was known as "Baby Eileen." She also performed for American soldiers in London.

At one point, someone noticed her Cockney accent. Her mother was upset, but speech lessons were too expensive. Luckily, a woman helped pay for Eileen to go to Parkside Preparatory School. Eileen has said that the school's principal, Miss Dorothy Margaret Hall, helped her grow as a person. After Parkside, she went to The Latymer School, a grammar school in Edmonton, London.

By age 12, she was a professional in panto shows. A teacher named Ernest J. Burton helped her get rid of her Cockney accent for free. He also introduced her to the plays of William Shakespeare. She studied with him for two years.

When Eileen was about 14, she met a famous actor named Robert Atkins. She had seen his play King John and wrote to him, saying she could act better than one of the child actors. Robert Atkins invited her to meet him. He told her to go to drama school and come back when she was older.

Eileen wanted to go to a drama school called RADA but didn't get a scholarship. So, she went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama for three years to study teaching. However, she also took drama classes and acted in plays. She graduated from Guildhall in 1953.

Early Career in Theatre

Right after leaving Guildhall in 1953, Eileen Atkins got her first acting job with Robert Atkins. She played Jaquenetta in Love's Labour's Lost at the same Regent's Park Open Air Theatre where she had first seen his play. She also worked briefly as an assistant stage manager at the Oxford Playhouse. She was part of acting groups that performed at Billy Butlin's holiday camps. It took nine years for her to start working steadily as an actress.

Atkins joined the Guild Players Repertory Company in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, in 1952. Her first London stage appearance was in 1953. She often found inspiration from the life and work of writer Virginia Woolf. She played Woolf on stage in A Room of One's Own and Vita and Virginia. She also wrote the script for the 1997 movie Mrs. Dalloway, based on Woolf's novel.

Atkins joined the Stratford Memorial Theatre Company in 1957. She also performed with the Old Vic theatre company in 1961–62.

Film and Television Roles

Eileen Atkins appeared in the BBC series Hilda Lessways in 1959. In 1960, she played Joan of Arc in the Shakespeare production An Age of Kings.

As mentioned, Atkins helped create the popular TV series Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–75) with Jean Marsh. She couldn't act in it herself because of other commitments. They also created the BBC series The House of Eliott (1991–93).

Atkins has appeared in many films and TV shows. These include Smiley's People (1982), Oliver Twist (1982), Cold Comfort Farm (1995), and Madame Bovary (2000).

In 2007, Atkins starred with Judi Dench and Michael Gambon in the BBC drama Cranford. Her performance earned her the 2008 BAFTA Award for best actress and an Emmy Award. In 2009, she played Nurse Edwina Kenchington in the comedy Psychoville. She also played Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 2010 movie Robin Hood, starring Russell Crowe.

Atkins and Jean Marsh were part of a new BBC version of Upstairs, Downstairs in 2010–11. Marsh played Rose again, and Atkins played Maud, Lady Holland. In 2011, Atkins joined the cast of the ITV series Doc Martin, playing the main character's aunt, Ruth Ellingham. She stayed with the show until it ended in 2022.

Atkins has played Queen Mary twice: in the 2002 TV film Bertie and Elizabeth and in the 2016 Netflix series The Crown.

In 2018, Atkins was in a British documentary called Nothing Like a Dame. It showed conversations between her and other famous actresses like Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Joan Plowright. Critics praised the film for being very funny.

Radio Work

In September 2016, Atkins had a guest role in the BBC Radio 4 show The Archers. She played Jacqui, a juror who helped acquit a character named Helen Titchener.

Personal Life

Eileen Atkins was married to actor Julian Glover from 1957 until their divorce in 1966. She married her second husband, Bill Shepherd, on February 2, 1978. Bill Shepherd passed away on June 24, 2016.

In 1997, she wrote the script for the movie Mrs Dalloway. The film received good reviews but did not make much money. This caused financial problems for Atkins and her husband, who had invested in it. She has said that this experience made her realize she needed to keep working.

In 1995, Atkins was diagnosed with breast cancer and received treatment. She has since recovered. During the COVID-19 lockdown, while living alone, Atkins (at age 87) finished writing her autobiography called Will She Do?. She also read a shorter version of it on BBC Radio 4.

Honours and Awards

Eileen Atkins has received many honours for her acting. She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1990. In 2001, on her 67th birthday, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her contributions to drama.

In 2010, Oxford University gave her an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. She is also an Honorary Fellow at St Hugh's College, Oxford. In 2005, City University London also gave her an honorary Doctor of Arts degree. She was added to the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1998.

Theatre Awards

Tony Awards

Drama Desk Awards

Olivier Awards

Film and Television Awards

See also

In Spanish: Eileen Atkins para niños