Maria Eleanor David (born 30 November 1955) is an English actress who has worked on projects in the UK, the US and New Zealand. She won positive reviews for her starring role in the biopic '' Sylvia'', in which she played pioneering educationalist Sylvia Ashton-Warner. David was born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

. She has appeared in several films and television programmes. Her work includes BAFTA-nominated comedy '' Comfort and Joy'' directed by

Bill Forsyth William David Forsyth (born 29 July 1946). known as Bill Forsyth, is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films ''Gregory's Girl'' (1981), '' Local Hero'' (1983) and '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Ma ...

, mini-series ''

Paradise Postponed ''Paradise Postponed'' (1986) is a British 11-episode TV serial based on the 1985 novel by writer John Mortimer. The series covered a span of 30 years of postwar British history, set in a small village. Plot The series explores the mystery of ...

'',

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

's ''

Topsy-Turvy ''Topsy-Turvy'' is a 1999 British musical period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, starring Allan Corduner as Sir Arthur Sullivan and Jim Broadbent as W.S. Gilbert, along with Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville and Ron Cook. The story ...

'' and

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

's film of ''

Pink Floyd The Wall Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

'', in which she played the wife of the main character.

''Sylvia''

In 1984 David travelled to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

to star as Sylvia Ashton-Warner in the biopic '' Sylvia''. Reviewing her performance,

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' commented: "Miss David bears a striking resemblance to the real woman and gives an intelligent, compassionate performance, limited only by the uncomplicated reverence with which the film makers regard their heroine."

"Movie Review: Sylvia (1985): Michael Firth's 'Sylvia'"
''

'', April 11, 1985. ''Village Voice'' critic

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Katav ...

praised the four principal actors and named ''Sylvia'' one of the ten best films of 1985.

Filmography

* ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

'' (1982) - Louise * ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'' (1982) - Rose Maylie * ''

'' (1982) - Pink's wife * '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) - Maddy * '' Sylvia'' (1985) - Sylvia Ashton-Warner * '' 84 Charing Cross Road'' (1987) - Cecily Farr * ''

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase ''The Wolves of Willoughby Chase'' is a children's novel by Joan Aiken, first published in 1962. Set in an alternative history of England, it tells of the adventures of cousins Bonnie and Sylvia and their friend Simon the goose-boy as they thw ...

'' (1989) - Lady Willoughby * ''

Slipstream A slipstream is a region behind a moving object in which a wake of fluid (typically air or mustard) is moving at velocities comparable to that of the moving fluid, relative to the ambient fluid through which the object is churning. The term slip ...

'' (1989) - Ariel * '' Ladder of Swords'' (1989) * ''

White Hunter Black Heart ''White Hunter Black Heart'' is a 1990 American adventure drama film produced, directed by, and starring Clint Eastwood and based on the 1953 book of the same name by Peter Viertel. Viertel also co-wrote the script with James Bridges and Burt Kenn ...

'' (1990) - Dorshka Zibelinsky * ''

The King's Whore ''The King's Whore'' (french: La putain du roi, it, La puttana del re) is a 1990 drama film directed by Axel Corti and starring Timothy Dalton. It was entered into the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Plot Set in the 17th century, an Italian noblem ...

'' (1990) - La Reine * ''

'' (1999) -

Fanny Ronalds Mary Frances Ronalds RRC DStJ (née Carter; August 23, 1839 – July 28, 1916) was an American socialite and amateur singer who is best known for her long affair with the composer Arthur Sullivan in London in the last decades of the nineteenth ...

* '' House of Boys'' (2009) - Emma

Television credits

* '' The Professionals'', (TV series) episode Fugitive, 1980. * '' The Borgias'' (1981, TV Mini-Series) - Sancia * '' Reilly: Ace of Spies'' (1984, TV Mini-Series) - Eugenie * ''

Shroud for a Nightingale ''Shroud for a Nightingale'' is a 1971 detective novel written by PD James in her Adam Dalgliesh series. Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate the death of two student nurses at the hospital nursing s ...

'' (1984, TV Mini-Series) - Jo Fallon * ''

The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the '' Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' i ...

'' (1986) - Mrs St Clair * ''

'' (1986, TV Mini-Series) - Agnes Simcox / Agnes Salter * ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' (1992) - Katriona Brooksby * ''

Rumpole of the Bailey ''Rumpole of the Bailey'' is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer. It starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, a middle-aged London barrister who defended a broad variety of clients, o ...

'' (1992) - Elizabeth Casterini * ''

Ruth Rendell Mysteries ''The Ruth Rendell Mysteries'' is a British television crime drama series, produced by TVS and later by its successor Meridian Broadcasting, in association with Blue Heaven Productions, for broadcast on the ITV network. Twelve series were broa ...

'' (1993) - Alice Fielding in "Vanity Dies Hard" * '' Between the Lines'' (1993) - Penny Shaw * ''

Drop the Dead Donkey ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' is a British television sitcom that was first shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998. It is set in the offices of "GlobeLink News", a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, i ...

'' (1993) - Lady Caroline * ''

The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries ''The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries'' is a British detective television series, broadcast on BBC1, which was adapted from nine of the novels by Dame Ngaio Marsh, featuring the character Chief Inspector Roderick Alleyn. The pilot episode was show ...

'' (1994) - Margaret Ballantyne in "Dead Water" * ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of I ...

'' (2001) - Georgina Canning in “Tainted Fruit” * ''

The Last Detective ''The Last Detective'' is a British TV comedy drama series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV between 7 February 2003 and 31 May 2007, starring Peter Davison as the title character, Detective Constable "Dangerous Davies". The series is based o ...

'' (2002) - Tricia Lloyd * '' The Rotters Club'' (2005) - Ursula Boyd * ''

Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking ''Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking'' is a British television film originally broadcast on BBC One in the UK on 26 December 2004. Produced by Tiger Aspect Productions, it was written by Allan Cubitt and was a sequel to the same ...

'' (2004) - Mary Pentney * ''

Playhouse Presents ''Playhouse Presents'' is an anthology series of self-contained TV plays, made by British broadcaster Sky Arts. The series started airing on 12 April 2012, on Sky Arts 1. Each episode is written by a different writer and stars a different cast. T ...

'' (2013) - Kathleen

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people Actors from Lincolnshire English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses {{UK-tv-actor-1950s-stub