HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Sara Kestelman (born 12 May 1944) is an English actress. She is known for her role as
Lady Frances Brandon Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (née Lady Frances Brandon; 16 July 1517 – 20 November 1559), was an English noblewoman, the second child and eldest daughter of King Henry VIII's younger sister, Princess Mary, and Charles Brandon, 1st Duke ...
,
Lady Jane Grey Lady Jane Grey ( 1537 – 12 February 1554), later known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as the "Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553. Jane was ...
's mother, in the 1986 film '' Lady Jane'', as well as for providing the voice of
Kreia Kreia is a fictional character and party member in Obsidian Entertainment's '' Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords''. She is a blind Force-sensitive who forms a "bond" with the player character, the Jedi Exile, through th ...
in '' Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords''.


Life and career

Kestelman was born in London, the daughter of Dorothy Mary (née Creagh), a dress designer, and Morris Kestelman, an artist. Her father was Jewish, from a family from Russia. In 1994, she won a
Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
Theatre Award for her performance as Fraulein Schneider in ''
Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
'' in the London revival of the show. She has performed with 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 ...
and 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 ...
. Kestelman joined the latter in 1968 but left in 1973 when she had her first film role in ''
Zardoz ''Zardoz'' is a 1974 science fantasy film written, produced, and directed by John Boorman and starring Sean Connery and Charlotte Rampling. It depicts a post-apocalyptic world (which Boorman says, in the audio commentary, may or may not be ma ...
''. In 1982, she played
Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...
. Kestelman wrote a book of poetry, ''A Two Hander'', with
Susan Penhaligon Susan Penhaligon (born 3 July 1949) is a British actress and writer known for her role in the drama series ''Bouquet of Barbed Wire'' (1976), and for playing Helen Barker in the sitcom '' A Fine Romance'' (1981–1984). She appeared in the so ...
. It was published by The Do-Not Press in 1996. She voiced the character Kreia in the video game ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords''.


Filmography


Film


TV


Documentaries

*''Reputations'' – Wiesenthal and Lord Kitchener *''
Horizon The horizon is the apparent line that separates the surface of a celestial body from its sky when viewed from the perspective of an observer on or near the surface of the relevant body. This line divides all viewing directions based on whether i ...
'' – Beyond a Joke


Theatre

*''
The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...
'' ~ (Library Theatre, Manchester, England) *''
The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...
'' ~ (Library Theatre, Manchester, England) *''
The Physicists ''The Physicists'' (german: Die Physiker) is a satiric drama/ tragic comedy written in 1961 by Swiss writer Friedrich Dürrenmatt. The play was mainly written as a result of the Second World War and many advances in science and nuclear technolo ...
'' ~ (Library Theatre, Manchester, England) *''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'' ~ 1970 – Titania (Royal Shakespeare Theatre) *''Enemies'' ~ 1971 – (Aldwych Theatre, London, England) *''Macbeth'' ~ 1972 – Lady Macbeth (Birmingham Rep. England) *''Marquise of Keith'' ~ 1974 – Mona/Anna (Aldwych Theatre, London, England) *'' Bedroom Farce'' ~ 1977 – (National Theatre, Lyttelton Theatre, London, England) *'' State of Revolution'' ~ 1977 – Kollontai (Repertory Theatre, Birmingham/The Lyttelton Theatre, London, England) *''Twelve Repertoire Leaflets'' ~ 1978 – (National Theatre, London, England) *''The Double Dealer'' ~ 1978/9 – (Olivier Theatre, London, England) *''
As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'' ~ 1979 – Rosalind (National Theatre, London, England) *''
Undiscovered Country ''Undiscovered Country'' is a 1979 Tom Stoppard play first produced at the Olivier Theatre in London. The play is an adaptation of ''Das Weite Land'' by the Austrians, Austrian playwright Arthur Schnitzler, which focuses on 1890s Vienna, Viennese ...
'' ~ 1979 – (Olivier Theatre, London, England) *''
The Fruits of Enlightenment ''The Fruits of Enlightenment'', aka ''Fruits of Culture'' (1889-90, pub. 1891) is a play by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. It satirizes the persistence of unenlightened attitudes towards the peasants amongst the Russian landed aristocracy. In 1891 ...
'' ~ 1979 – Lady with the Monocle (Royal National Theatre, London, England) *''Eleven Repertoire Leaflets'' ~ 1979 – *''Nine Repertoire Leaflets'' ~ 1980 – (National Theatre, London, England) *''
Childe Byron ''Childe Byron'' is a 1977 play by Romulus Linney about the strained relationship between the poet, Lord Byron, and his daughter, Ada Lovelace. Of Linney's more than sixty plays, ''Childe Byron'' is one he identified as holding a "deeply persona ...
'' ~ 1981 – (
Young Vic The Young Vic Theatre is a performing arts venue located on The Cut, near the South Bank, in the London Borough of Lambeth. The Young Vic was established by Frank Dunlop in 1970. Kwame Kwei-Armah has been Artistic Director since February 201 ...
, London, England) *''Macbeth'' ~ 1982 – (Royal Shakespeare Company, England) *''Love for Love'' ~ 1985 – (Lyttelton Theatre, London, England) *''Repertoire Leaflet'' ~ 1985/6 – (National Theatre, London, England) *''
The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with music ...
'' ~ 1986 – (Olivier Theater, London, England) *''Four Repertoire Leaflets'' ~ 1986 – (Royal National Theatre, London, England) *'' The American Clock'' ~ 1986 – (Royal National Theatre, London, England) *''
Dalliance ''Dalliance'' is a play by Tom Stoppard, based on Arthur Schnitzler's play ''Liebelei''. ''Dalliance'' was first performed at the Lyttelton Theatre, London, on 27 May 1986. It was directed by Peter Wood, with music by Andre Previn. It starred ...
'' ~ 1986 – (Lyttelton Theatre, London, England) *''
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 ...
'' ~ 1988 – (West End, London, England) *''
Point Valaine ''Point Valaine'' is a play by Noël Coward. It was written as a vehicle for Alfred Lunt and his wife Lynn Fontanne, who starred together in the original Broadway production in 1934. The play was not seen in Britain until 1944 and was not staged ...
'' ~ 1991 – Linda Valaine (Minerva Studio, Chichester, UK) (see Actor Connections – Theatre) *''
Cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
'' ~ 1993 – Fraulein Schneider (Donmar Warehouse, London, England) *''
Fiddler on the Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...
'' ~ 1994 – (London Palladium,London, England) *''
Three Tall Women ''Three Tall Women'' is a two-act play by Edward Albee, written in 1990, which won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Albee's third Pulitzer. Characters * A: A is a 92-year-old woman. She is thin, autocratic, proud, and wealthy, with "encroachi ...
'' ~ 1995 – (
Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...
, London, England) *''
Nine 9 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 9 or nine may also refer to: Dates * AD 9, the ninth year of the AD era * 9 BC, the ninth year before the AD era * 9, numerical symbol for the month of September Places * Nine, Portugal, a parish in the ...
'' ~ 1996 – (Donmar Warehouse, London, England) *''
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
'' ~ 1998 –
Margrethe Bohr Margrethe Nørlund Bohr (7 March 1890–21 December 1984) was the Danish wife of and collaborator, editor and transcriber for physicist Niels Bohr who received the Nobel Prize. She also influenced her son, Nobel Prize winner Aage Bohr. Biograph ...
(The Duchess Theatre, ; West End, London, England) *''Maria Marten or Murder in the Red Barn and Victorian Music Hall'' ~ 1999 – Dame Marten (Britten Theatre, London, England) *''All About Me'' ~ 2001 – one woman show (Royal National Theatre, the Firebird Cafe in New York, the Royal Academy of Art) *''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' ~ 2001 – Queen Gertrude (Wilbur Theatre, Boston, MA, US) *''Bitter Fruits of Palestine'' ~ 2002 – (
Barons Court Theatre Barons Court Theatre is a small theatre of 52 cinema-style seats located in the basement of ''The Curtains Up'' public house in Comeragh Road in West London. Founded in 1991, the Barons Court Theatre features a programme of short-run plays and aft ...
, London, England) *''The Shape of Metal'' ~ 2003 – Nell Jeffrey (
Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...
, Dublin, Ireland) *'' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' ~ 2008 (Cambridge Arts Theatre; West End, London, England) *''
Torch Song Trilogy ''Torch Song Trilogy'' is a collection of three plays by Harvey Fierstein rendered in three acts: ''International Stud'', ''Fugue in a Nursery'', and ''Widows and Children First!'' The story centers on Arnold Beckoff, a Jewish homosexual, drag ...
'' ~ 2012 – Mrs Backoff (
Menier Chocolate Factory The Menier Chocolate Factory is a 180-seat off-West End theatre, which comprises a restaurant, bar and rehearsal rooms. It is located in a former 1870s Menier Chocolate, Menier Chocolate Company factory at 53 Southwark Street, a major street in ...
, London) *''
The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures ''The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures'' is a 2009 play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The title was inspired by George Bernard Shaw's '' The Intelligent Woman's Guide to Socialism and C ...
'' – 2016 – Clio – (
Hampstead Theatre Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in South Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing, supporting and developing the work of new writers. Roxana Silbert has been the artistic director since ...
) *''
The Lady in the Van ''The Lady in the Van'' is a 2015 British comedy-drama film directed by Nicholas Hytner, and starring Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings, based on the memoir of the same name created by Alan Bennett. It was written by Bennett, and it tells the (most ...
'' - 2017 -
Margaret Fairchild Margaret Mary Fairchild (4 January 1911 – 28 April 1989), also known as Mary Teresa Sheppard, Miss Shepherd and M T Sheppard, was a British homeless woman who is the title character in the 2015 film ''The Lady in the Van'' by Alan Bennett in w ...
/Miss Shepherd - (
Theatre Royal, Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audien ...
)


Audio books

*''
King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...
'' ~ 2002 – Regan *''Mill on the Floss'' *''Proto Zoe'' *''Quarantine'' *''The Siege'' *''When I Lived in Modern Times'' *''Full House''


Radio

*''Full House'' (read and adapted) *'' Baldi''


Video games

*''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords'' ~ 2004 – voice of
Kreia Kreia is a fictional character and party member in Obsidian Entertainment's '' Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords''. She is a blind Force-sensitive who forms a "bond" with the player character, the Jedi Exile, through th ...
*'' Shattered Union'' ~ 2005 – Narrator (voice)


Awards, honours and nominations

*Australian Film Institute *Nom 1977 Best Actress in a Lead Role for Break of Day *Clarence Derwent Award *Rec'd 1994 Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for Cabaret *Irish Times ESB Awards *Nom 2004 for The Shape of Metal *Laurence Olivier Theatre Award *Rec'd 1994 Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for Cabaret


References


External links

*
Ex Memoria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kestelman, Sara 1944 births Living people Academics of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Actresses from London English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English people of Russian-Jewish descent