Amanda Dorothy Cary Elwes (born 25 July 1964) is an English actress.

Personal life

Amanda Elwes and her twin sister Lydia were born to Timothy Cyprian George Thomas Elwes, of East End Farm, Seale, Surrey, and his first wife Lorna, daughter of Captain Ian Archibald de Hoghton Lyle, Black Watch, of the family of the

Lyle baronets There have been three baronetcies created for members of the Lyle family, all in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. One creation is extant as of 2010. The Lyle Baronetcy, of Greenock in the County of Renfrew, was created in the Baronetage of ...

of Glendelvine. Actor Cary Elwes and his brother, producer

Cassian Elwes Cassian Cary Elwes (born 7 August 1959) is a British independent film producer and talent agent. Early life and education Cassian Elwes was born on 7 August 1959 in London, England. He is the son of Dominic Elwes, a portrait painter, and Tessa ...

, are her first cousins. In 1992, Elwes married music promoter Matthew Austin.

Career

Elwes started her acting career training at the Central School of Speech and Drama. She first acted on stage in the early 1980's and among her theatre roles are as Mary Crawford in Mansfield Park (Sheffield Crucible), Lucy in '' Woman in Mind'' at the Windsor Theatre Royal, Lady Windermere in '' Lady Windermere's Fan'' (1993-94, at numerous theatres, including Theatre Royal, Bath and Birmingham Repertory Theatre) and Emma in

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...

's play '' Betrayal'' at the

Citizens Theatre The Citizens Theatre, in what was the Royal Princess's Theatre, is the creation of James Bridie and is based in Glasgow, Scotland as a principal producing theatre. The theatre includes a 500-seat Main Auditorium, and has also included various s ...

in Glasgow from March 30th to April 22nd 1995. She made her first screen appearance in a commercial for

After Eight After Eight Mint Chocolate Thins, often referred to as simply "After Eights", are a brand of mint chocolate covered sugar confectionery. They were created by Rowntree Company Limited in the UK in 1962 and have been manufactured by Nestlé sin ...

mints in 1987, along with former theatre colleague

Adam Morris Adam Morris (also known as Wayne Morris) is a British stage and screen actor whose most notable roles have been Robin Hood (or Robin of Kensington) in the television comedy series ''Maid Marian and Her Merry Men'', and more recently, Philip Nor ...

, and two years later she won her first TV role in an episode of the TV detective series '' Bergerac'' in January 1989. Very quickly she gained notice in a number of successful new shows that year, including episodes in '' Agatha Christie's Poirot'' and '' Campion'' and the following year she appeared in another hit series, the hugely popular '' Jeeves and Wooster'' as Angela Travers. Another notable role was in 1991 as Marjorie Fisher in ''

A Perfect Hero ''A Perfect Hero'' is a 1991 TV drama serial set in World War II England. It was produced by Havahall Pictures in association with LWT for ITV and first broadcast at 9:00pm on Friday 17 May 1991 and ran for six episodes. It was broadcast in the ...

'' alongside

Nigel Havers Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1951) is an English actor. His film roles include Lord Andrew Lindsay in the 1981 British film ''Chariots of Fire'', which earned him a BAFTA nomination; as Dr. Rawlins in the 1987 Steven Spielberg war drama ...

, and she continued to be very busy in 1992 with appearances in '' A Touch of Frost'', '' Miss Marple'' and a big role in the TV movie Tattle Tale alongside Hollywood stars

C. Thomas Howell Christopher Thomas Howell (born December 7, 1966) is an American actor. He has starred in the films '' Soul Man'', '' The Hitcher'', '' Grandview U.S.A.'', ''Red Dawn'', ''Secret Admirer'' and '' The Outsiders''. He has also appeared in '' Gett ...

and Ally Sheedy. By the end of the year Elwes married music producer Matthew Austin. Although Elwes continued to appear on screen in such shows as ''

The Riff Raff Element The Riff Raff Element is a 1990s British television series written by Debbie Horsfield and directed by Jeremy Ancock for BBC One. The series was nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series in 1994. Plot The basic pl ...

'' (1993) and ''

Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...

'' (1994), after this her workload dropped off considerably. It was during her run on stage in Lady Windermere's Fan in the West End in 1994 that Elwes began to have second thoughts about acting. Discovering she was five months pregnant with her first child and wanting a more child friendly career, a fellow actress learned of her love of flowers and encouraged her to set up a floristry business. Helped financially, she eventually founded Amanda Austin Flowershttps://amandaaustinflowers.co.uk/about/ in 1998, and in 2011 her twin sister Lydia joined her in running the business. Although she continued to act sporadically on screen - including a notable role in the children's drama True Tilda in 1997 - her last screen appearance was in the ITV series ''

Rosemary & Thyme ''Rosemary & Thyme'' is a British television cosy mystery thriller series starring Felicity Kendal and Pam Ferris as gardening detectives Rosemary Boxer and Laura Thyme. The show began on ITV in 2003. The third series ended in August 2007. T ...

'' in 2004, after which she seemed to have retired from acting for now.

Television

References

1964 births English television actresses Living people {{UK-tv-actor-1960s-stub