Fidelis Morgan (born 8 August 1952) is an English actress and writer. She has acted with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, the National Theatre, in repertory in various British cities and in the West End transfer of

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

's ''

The Vortex ''The Vortex'' is a play in three acts by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The play depicts the sexual vanity of a rich, ageing beauty, her troubled relationship with her adult son, and drug abuse in British society circles after the ...

''. She has written stage plays based on the novels ''

Pamela Pamela may refer to: *''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'', a novel written by Samuel Richardson in 1740 *Pamela (name), a given name and, rarely, a surname *Pamela Spence, a Turkish pop-rock singer. Known as her stage name "Pamela" * MSC ''Pamela'', ...

'' and ''

Hangover Square ''Hangover Square'' is a 1941 novel by English playwright and novelist Patrick Hamilton. It follows the schizophrenic alcoholic George Harvey Bone and his tortured love for Netta Longdon in the months leading up to the Second World War. Subtit ...

''. Her non-fiction writing includes ''The Female Wits'', the first study of female playwrights of the

Restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

stage and biographies of women from the 17th and 18th centuries including

Charlotte Charke Charlotte Charke (née Cibber, also Charlotte Secheverell, aka Charles Brown) (13 January 1713 – 6 April 1760) was an English actress, playwright, novelist, autobiographer, and noted cross-dresser. She acted on the stage from the age of 17, ...

. Her novels include the Countess Ashby dela Zouche series of historical crime mysteries including ''The Rival Queens''.

Life and career

Morgan was born in a gypsy caravan that stood in a corner of the grounds of the ancient Abbey of

Amesbury Amesbury () is a town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It is known for the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge which is within the parish. The town is claimed to be the oldest occupied settlement in Great Britain, having been first settle ...

, halfway between

Stonehenge Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...

and

Woodhenge Woodhenge is a Neolithic Class II henge and timber circle monument within the Stonehenge World Heritage Site in Wiltshire, England. It is north-east of Stonehenge, in Durrington parish, just north of the town of Amesbury. Discovery Woodheng ...

. Her parents were displaced Liverpudlians, and her father found work as a dentist in Amesbury; her mother was a painter.Morgan, Fidelis
Fidelis Morgan official website
, 2008, accessed 20 January 2012 Morgan's family moved several times when she was a child, but she was brought up mostly in Liverpool. She studied at the

Birmingham University , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

, receiving a degree there in the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts.

Acting

Fidelis Morgan at Cambridge Union Society Spring Wordfest

As an actress, Morgan appeared on stage with the

, the National Theatre, repertory in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

as well as spending many years as a regular company member of the Glasgow

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 ...

including playing the role of Clara Hibbert at Citizens Theatre, and in the West End transfer, of

's ''

''."Fidelis Morgan"
''Debrett's People of Today'', accessed 20 January 2012 On television, she has been seen in '' As Time Goes By'', ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a British ...

'', ''Dead Gorgeous'' and ''Mr Majeika''. She has also directed a number of theatre productions including at some of the United Kingdom's most prestigious

drama schools A drama school, stage school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution (such as the Drama section at the Juilliard School); which specializes in the pr ...

. She was nominated Best Actress of the Year 1984 in the 30 December 1984 edition of ''The Observer'' for her work at Glasgow's

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 ...

. She returned to Glasgow's

in October 2011 for "An Audience with Celia Imrie" as the host.

Novels and non-fiction

Morgan's novels include the Countess Ashby dela Zouche series of historical crime mysteries: ''Unnatural Fire'' (2000), ''The Rival Queens'' (2001), ''The Ambitious Stepmother'' (2002) and ''Fortune's Slave'' (2004). ''The Rival Queens'' was nominated for a Lefty Award for "the most humorous mystery novels published in the U.S. in 2002" by

Left Coast Crime Left Coast Crime is an annual conference organised by mystery fiction fans for mystery fiction fans, first held in San Francisco in 1991. It is concerned with western North American region mysteries, but the conference itself travels worldwide, ha ...

, California, in 2003. Her non-fiction work includes ''The Female Wits'', the first study of female playwrights of the

stage and biographies of charismatic female figures from the 17th and 18th centuries including

Plays and teleplays

Morgan's stage plays include adaptations of famous novels,

Samuel Richardson Samuel Richardson (baptised 19 August 1689 – 4 July 1761) was an English writer and printer known for three epistolary novels: ''Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded'' (1740), '' Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady'' (1748) and ''The History of ...

's ''

'' and Patrick Hamilton's ''

'' (

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

, 1990, and the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

, London, in 2008).''Hangover Square''
Finborough Theatre website, 2008, accessed 20 January 2012 For her work on ''Pamela'' for

Shared Experience Shared Experience is a British theatre company.
Its current joint

, Morgan was nominated Most Promising Playwright in Plays and Players (1985). She collaborated with

Lynda La Plante Lynda La Plante, CBE (born Lynda Titchmarsh; 15 March 1943) is an English author, screenwriter and former actress, best known for writing the ''Prime Suspect'' television crime series. Early life Lynda La Plante was born Lynda Titchmarsh on ...

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's ''Killer Net''.

Bibliography

;Non-fiction * ''The Female Wits'', Virago] (1981) * ''A Woman of No Character'', Faber (1986) * ''Bluff Your Way in Theatre'', Ravette (1986) * ''The Well Known Trouble-maker'', Faber and Faber, Faber (1988) * ''A Misogynist's Source Book'',

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

(1989) * ''Women Playwrights Of The Restoration'', Dent Everyman (1991) * ''The Female Tatler'', Dent Everyman (1992) * ''The Years Between'', Virago (1994) * ''Wicked!'',

Virago A virago is a woman who demonstrates abundant masculine virtues. The word comes from the Latin word ''virāgō'' ( genitive virāginis) meaning vigorous' from ''vir'' meaning "man" or "man-like" (cf. virile and virtue) to which the suffix ''-ā ...

(1996) * ''Like a Charm'' (Century) collaboration with other crime writers and edited by Karen Slaughter (2004) ;Fiction * ''My Dark Rosaleen''

Heinemann Heinemann may refer to: * Heinemann (surname) * Heinemann (publisher), a publishing company * Heinemann Park, a.k.a. Pelican Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States See also * Heineman * Jamie Hyneman James Franklin Hyneman (born Se ...

(1994) * ''Unnatural Fire''

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

(2000) * ''The Rival Queens'' HarperCollins (2001) * ''The Ambitious Stepmother'' HarperCollins (2002) * ''Fortune’s Slave'' HarperCollins (2004) ;Short stories * "The Actress & The Thief", BBC Radio 4, 1995 * "The Creep", ''Image Magazine'' (Eire), October 1995 * "Dead At The Wheel", ''Magazine of Architectural Symposium Pontresina'', 2001 * "Down and Dirty", ''Like A Charm'' by

Karin Slaughter Karin Slaughter (born January 6, 1971) is an American Crime fiction, crime writer. She has written 21 novels, which have sold more than 40 million copies and have been published in 120 countries. Her first novel, ''Blindsighted'' (2001), was pub ...

(ed.) (Century, February 2004) * Contributions to ''Encyclopedia of British Women's Writing 1900-1950'' (

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains off ...

, 2006 ;Plays * ''Pamela'' with

Giles Havergal Giles Pollock Havergal CBE (born 9 June 1938, in Edinburgh) is a theatre director and actor, opera stage director, teacher, and adaptor. He was artistic director of Glasgow's Citizens Theatre from 1969 until he stepped down in 2003, one of the tri ...

1985 * ''Hangover Square'' 1990 * ''Fragments From the Life of Marie Antoinette'' 1996

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, Fidelis 1952 births English stage actresses English television actresses English dramatists and playwrights English crime fiction writers Living people Politicians from Liverpool