Margaret Tyzack
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Margaret Maud Tyzack (9 September 193125 June 2011) was an English actress. Her television roles included ''
The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vici ...
'' (1967) and ''
I, Claudius ''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Roma ...
'' (1976). She won the 1970 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
serial ''
The First Churchills ''The First Churchills'' is a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. It stars John Neville as the duke and Susan Hampshire as the duchess, was writt ...
'', and the 1990
Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. The ...
for ''
Lettice and Lovage ''Lettice and Lovage'' is a comical and satirical play by Peter Shaffer.''A Dictionary of Writers and their Works'' (2 ed.) (2012) Oxford University Press; It is centered around a flamboyant tour guide who loves to embellish the history behind a ...
'', opposite
Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
. She also won two
Olivier Awards The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known as ...
—in 1981 as Actress of the Year in a Revival and in 2009 as Best Actress in a Play. Her film appearances included '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968), ''
A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...
'' (1971), ''
Prick Up Your Ears ''Prick Up Your Ears'' is a 1987 British film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the 1978 biography by John Lahr. The film stars Gar ...
'' (1987) and ''
Match Point ''Match Point'' is a 2005 psychological thriller film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, and Penelope Wilton. In the film, Rhys Meyers' charac ...
'' (2005).


Early life

Tyzack was born in
Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...
, England, the daughter of Doris (née Moseley) and Thomas Edward Tyzack.Margaret Tyzack Biography (1931–2011)
/ref> She grew up in
West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
(now
Greater London Greater may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality (mathematics), inequality *Greater (film), ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record *Greater (song), "Greate ...
). She attended the all-girls' St Angela's Ursuline School,
Newham The London Borough of Newham is a London borough created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963. It covers an area previously administered by the Essex county boroughs of West Ham and East Ham, authorities that were both abolished by the ...
, and was a graduate of
RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...
.


Career

Tyzack was noted for her classical stage roles, having joined 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 ...
to play Vassilissa in
Maxim Gorky Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Макси́мович Пешко́в;  – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky (russian: Макси́м Го́рький, link=no), was a Russian writer and social ...
's ''
The Lower Depths ''The Lower Depths'' (russian: На дне, translit=Na dne, literally: ''At the bottom'') is a play by Russian dramatist Maxim Gorky written in 1902 and produced by the Moscow Arts Theatre on December 18, 1902 under the direction of Konstantin ...
'' in 1962, and had major roles in their 1972 Roman Season as Volumnia in ''
Coriolanus ''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ye ...
'', Portia in ''
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
'' and Tamora in ''
Titus Andronicus ''Titus Andronicus'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen ...
''. She appeared in another Gorky play, as Maria Lvovna in ''
Summerfolk ''Summerfolk'' (russian: Дачники, translit=Dachniki) is a play by Maxim Gorky written in 1904 and first published in 1905 by Znaniye (''1904 Znaniye Anthology'', book Three), in Saint Petersburg.
RSC 1974''. In 1977 she joined the acting company of the
Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, where she played Mrs Alving in Ibsen's '' Ghosts'', Queen Margaret in ''
Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
'' and the Countess of Roussillon in '' All's Well That Ends Well''. In a feature of Stratford's 1977 season,
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 d ...
writer
Richard Eder Richard Gray Eder (August 16, 1932 – November 21, 2014) was an American film reviewer and a drama critic. Life and career For 20 years, he was variously a foreign correspondent, a film reviewer and the drama critic for ''The New York Times''. ...
noted "One of the main excitements was the discovery of Margaret Tyzack ..her work here has been a revelation". Tyzack had been engaged on short notice by the Festival when Canadian actress
Kate Reid Daphne Katherine Reid (4 November 1930 – 27 March 1993) was an English-born Canadian stage, film, and television actress. She played more than one thousand roles, most notably onstage in '' Death of a Salesman'', in the 1980 film ''Atlantic C ...
dropped out, which initially spurred some protests from Canadian nationalists. Theatre critic Robert Cushman later wrote that had the protests succeeded "Canadian audiences would have been deprived of three great performances", noting of her performance in Richard III: "there can never have been a better (Queen) Margaret".Robert Cushman, Stratford Festival of Canada. Fifty Seasons at Stratford. Madison Press Books. She played the Countess role again for 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 ...
on Broadway in 1983. She received her first Olivier award as Actress of the Year in a Revival in 1981 for the National Theatre revival of ''
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...
'' in which she played Martha, replacing
Joan Plowright Joan Ann Olivier, Baroness Olivier, (née Plowright; born 28 October 1929), professionally known as Dame Joan Plowright, is an English retired actress whose career has spanned over seven decades. She has won two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony ...
who was ill,. In 1990, she won the
Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. The ...
for her role as Lotte Schoen in the play ''
Lettice and Lovage ''Lettice and Lovage'' is a comical and satirical play by Peter Shaffer.''A Dictionary of Writers and their Works'' (2 ed.) (2012) Oxford University Press; It is centered around a flamboyant tour guide who loves to embellish the history behind a ...
'', in which she appeared in both the London and
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
productions opposite Dame
Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
. The American
Actors' Equity The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a book ...
initially refused permission for Tyzack to join the New York production, but Smith refused to appear without Tyzack because of the "onstage chemistry" she believed the two women had created in their roles.Bruce Webe
"Margaret Tyzack, Award-Winning Actress, Dies at 79"
''New York Times'', 27 June 2011
In 1994, she played Sybil Birling in the
Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
production of ''
An Inspector Calls ''An Inspector Calls'' is a play written by English dramatist J. B. Priestley, first performed in the Soviet Union in 1945 and at the New Theatre in London the following year. It is one of Priestley's best-known works for the stage and is c ...
''. In 2008, she was acclaimed for her portrayal of Mrs St Maugham in a revival of
Enid Bagnold Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, (27 October 1889 – 31 March 1981) was a British writer and playwright known for the 1935 story ''National Velvet''. Early life Enid Algerine Bagnold was born on 27 October 1889 in Rochester, Kent, daughte ...
's ''
The Chalk Garden ''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...
'' at the
Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...
, London, for which she won the Best Actress award in the Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and the Olivier award for Best Actress in a Play in 2009. In 2009, she also appeared alongside
Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
in '' Phedre'' at the
Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...
. She appeared in two films directed by
Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, his films, almost all of which are adaptations of nove ...
: '' 2001: A Space Odyssey'' (1968) and ''
A Clockwork Orange ''A Clockwork Orange'' may refer to: * ''A Clockwork Orange'' (novel), a 1962 novel by Anthony Burgess ** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (film), a 1971 film directed by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel *** ''A Clockwork Orange'' (soundtrack), the film ...
'' (1971). Tyzack also appeared in ''
Ring of Spies ''Ring of Spies'' (also known as ''Ring of Treason'') is a 1964 British spy film directed by Robert Tronson and starring Bernard Lee, William Sylvester and Margaret Tyzack. It is based on the real-life case of the Portland Spy Ring, whose activit ...
'' (1964), ''
The Whisperers ''The Whisperers'' is a 1967 British drama film directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Edith Evans. It is based on the 1961 novel by Robert Nicolson. Although the fictional setting of the film is not named, it was mainly shot on location in the ...
'' (1967), '' A Touch of Love'' (1969), ''
The Legacy The Legacy may refer to: * '' Le Legs'' or ''The Legacy'', a play by Pierre de Marivaux * The Legacy (professional wrestling), a former professional wrestling faction in World Wrestling Entertainment * ''The Legacy'' (album), an album by Testament ...
'' (1978), ''
The Quatermass Conclusion ''Quatermass'' (also known as ''Quatermass IV'', or ''The Quatermass Conclusion'' for its intended international theatrical release) is a 1979 British television science fiction serial. Produced by Euston Films for Thames Television, it was bro ...
'' (1979), '' Mr. Love'' (1985), ''
Prick Up Your Ears ''Prick Up Your Ears'' is a 1987 British film, directed by Stephen Frears, about the playwright Joe Orton and his lover Kenneth Halliwell. The screenplay was written by Alan Bennett, based on the 1978 biography by John Lahr. The film stars Gar ...
'' (1987), ''
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), ''
Mrs Dalloway ''Mrs. Dalloway'' is a novel by Virginia Woolf, published on 14 May 1925, that details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional upper-class woman in post-First World War England. It is one of Woolf's best-known novels. The working ...
'' (1997), ''
Bright Young Things __NOTOC__ The Bright Young Things, or Bright Young People, was a nickname given by the tabloid press to a group of Bohemianism, Bohemian young Aristocracy (class), aristocrats and socialites in 1920s London. They threw flamboyant costume party, f ...
'' (2003), and the
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
films ''
Match Point ''Match Point'' is a 2005 psychological thriller film written and directed by Woody Allen and starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Mortimer, Matthew Goode, Brian Cox, and Penelope Wilton. In the film, Rhys Meyers' charac ...
'' (2005) and ''
Scoop Scoop, Scoops or The scoop may refer to: Objects * Scoop (tool), a shovel-like tool, particularly one deep and curved, used in digging * Scoop (machine part), a component of machinery to carry things * Scoop stretcher, a device used for casualt ...
'' (2006). However, it was as a television actress that Tyzack became a household name. She is remembered for her leading roles in
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television productions. She came to notice as Winifred, Soames's sister, in the well received BBC adaptation of
Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize ...
's ''
The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vici ...
'' in 1967, a series shown internationally. She portrayed the character of Gladys King in
Dennis Potter Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...
's ''The Bone Grinder'' (1968), a metaphor for the decline of the
British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...
and rise of American power in the post-war world. Tyzack played Queen Anne in ''
The First Churchills ''The First Churchills'' is a BBC serial from 1969 about the life of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and his wife, Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough. It stars John Neville as the duke and Susan Hampshire as the duchess, was writt ...
''; Bette in ''
Cousin Bette ''La Cousine Bette'' (, ''Cousin Bette (given name), Bette'') is an 1846 novel by French author Honoré de Balzac. Set in mid-19th-century Paris, it tells the story of an unmarried middle-aged woman who plots the destruction of her extended fami ...
''; and
Antonia Antonia may refer to: People * Antonia (name), including a list of people with the name * Antonia gens, a Roman family, any woman of the gens was named ''Antonia'' * Antônia (footballer) * Antônia Melo Entertainment * ''Antonia's Line'', or ...
, mother of the Emperor Claudius, in ''
I, Claudius ''I, Claudius'' is a historical novel by English writer Robert Graves, published in 1934. Written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius, it tells the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the early years of the Roma ...
''. She also played Clotilde Bradbury-Scott in the BBC adaptation of the
Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
story '' Nemesis'' in 1987 in
Miss Marple Miss Marple is a fictional character in Agatha Christie's crime novels and short stories. Jane Marple lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective. Often characterized as an elderly spinster, she is one of Ch ...
. In the 1990s, she played a major role in ''
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" bookend segments filmed in Wilmington, Nort ...
'' television series as the young
Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise based on the adventures of Dr. Henry Walton "Indiana" Jones, Jr., a fictional professor of archaeology, that began in 1981 with the film '' Raiders of the Lost Ark''. In 1984, a prequel, '' Th ...
' strict
Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
-educated tutor, Miss Helen Seymour. In the 2000s, she made two appearances in ''
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 ...
''. In 2011, she joined the cast of soap opera ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
'', playing
Lydia Simmonds Lydia Simmonds is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', initially played by Margaret Tyzack and then by Heather Chasen. She is the maternal grandmother of Ricky (Sid Owen) and Janine Butcher (Charlie Brooks). She made h ...
. On 13 April 2011, it was announced that for personal reasons she had departed ''EastEnders'' and that her role had been recast to
Heather Chasen Heather Jean Chasen (20 July 1927 – 22 May 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in soap operas; playing Valerie Pollard in the ITV soap opera, '' Crossroads'', from 1982 to 1986 and guest roles in '' Doctors'', '' Holby ...
as a result of the nature of the large storyline needing to continue.


Honours

Tyzack was appointed
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) in the 1970 Birthday Honours and
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours, both for services to drama.


Personal life

Tyzack married
mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...
Alan Stephenson in 1958 and together they had one son, Matthew. Tyzack died on 25 June 2011, at the age of 79. Her agent said she was thought to have been suffering with cancer.


Filmography


Discography

* Jerome Kern: ''Show Boat'', conducted by John McGlinn, EMI, 1988


References


External links

* *
Selected performances in Theatre Archive, University of Bristol

Obituary in ''The Guardian''


{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyzack, Margaret 1931 births 2011 deaths Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses Laurence Olivier Award winners People from West Ham Royal Shakespeare Company members English Shakespearean actresses Tony Award winners