Samantha Jane Bond (born 27 November 1961) is an English actress, who is best known for playing
Miss Moneypenny
Miss Moneypenny, later assigned the first names of Eve or Jane, is a fictional character in the James Bond novels and films. She is secretary to M, who is Bond's superior officer and head of the British Secret Intelligence Service ( MI6).
Al ...
in four
James Bond
The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...
films during the
Pierce Brosnan years, and for her role on ''
Downton Abbey
''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...
'' as the wealthy widow
Lady Rosamund Painswick, sister of
Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. She is also known for originating the role of "Miz Liz" Probert in the ''
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, oft ...
'' series. Bond is a member of the
Royal Shakespeare Company. In her television career, she is known for her role as "Auntie Angela" in the sitcom ''
Outnumbered'' and the villain
Mrs Wormwood in the
CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
''
Doctor Who'' spin-off, ''
The Sarah Jane Adventures
''The Sarah Jane Adventures'' is a British science fiction television programme that was produced by BBC Cymru Wales for CBBC, created by Russell T Davies, and starring Elisabeth Sladen. The programme is a spin-off of the long-running BBC ...
''.
Early life
Samantha Bond is the daughter of actor
Philip Bond
Philip J. Bond (born 11 July 1966, in Lancashire) is a British comic book artist, who first came to prominence in the late 1980s on ''Deadline'' magazine, and later through a number of collaborations with British writers for the DC Comics impr ...
and TV producer Pat Sandys, and is the sister of the actress Abigail Bond and the journalist Matthew Bond.
Bond's paternal grandparents were
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
. She was brought up in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, in homes in
Barnes
Barnes may refer to:
People
* Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name)
Places
United Kingdom
*Barnes, London, England
**Barnes railway station
** Barnes Bridge railway station
** Barnes Railway Bri ...
and
St Margarets.
She attended the
Godolphin and Latymer School, and studied acting at the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre.
BOVTS is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama. ...
.
Career
Early career
Bond's first acting role came as a student at age 21, in the original stage production of ''
Daisy Pulls It Off
''Daisy Pulls It Off '' is a comedy play by Denise Deegan. It is an original script. It is a parody of wholesome adventure stories about life in a 1920s girls' English boarding school, in a similar genre to those by Angela Brazil. The original pr ...
'',
Denise Deegan's play about a girls school, which opened at
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
's
Nuffield Theatre in 1983. Her earliest television roles took place the same year: she played Maria Rushworth (née Bertram) in 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. ...
...
''. In 1985, she appeared as Julia Simmons in the BBC's televised adaptation of
series.
Bond's work with the Royal Shakespeare Company (the RSC) began in 1987, when she performed in three of the company's stage productions: ''
'', and ''Lorca's Women''.
'', also at the company's two theatres.