Celia Bannerman (born 3 June 1944) is an English actress and director.

Career

Bannerman was born at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and trained at the

London Drama Centre Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint Martins, a constitu ...

. She started her professional career with Ralph Richardson as Dolly in Bernard Shaw's '' You Never Can Tell'' and Lucy in Sheridan's ''

The Rivals ''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 episode of the T ...

'' followed by Cecily in "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London. She played Lady Anne in "Richard III", Katherine in "Perkin Warbeck" and Mrs Galy Gay in "Man is Man" at the RSC. She played a number of major television roles early on in her acting career notably

Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circu ...

in '' Pride and Prejudice'' (1967), Cecily in ''

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 ...

'' and Lady Diana Newbury in '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. She starred in the films ''

The Tamarind Seed ''The Tamarind Seed'' is a 1974 romantic thriller drama film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. Based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Evelyn Anthony, the film is about a British Home Office ...

'' (1974), ''Biddy'' (1983) for which she received an award from Moscow Film Festival, ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Cl ...

'' (1987) and ''

The Land Girls ''The Land Girls'' is a 1998 film directed by David Leland and starring Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh and Ann Bell. It is based on the 1995 novel ''Land Girls'' by Angela Huth. The title refers to the real-li ...

'' (1998). Bannerman was Associate Director at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a f ...

directing ''The Price'', ''Translations'', ''Quartermaine's Terms'', ''The White Devil'', ''Good Fun'' and ''La Ronde''. At Stratford East she directed, ''Sleeping Beauty'' and ''The Proposal.'' She was the Staff Director at the Royal National Theatre on ''The Passion'', ''Larkrise'', ''Fruits of Enlightenment'' and ''Strife''. She also devised and directed a programme of erotic poetry called ''Making Love'', and was the first woman to direct a play at the National Theatre, ''Lies in Plastic Smiles'' devised by the company and written by

Gawn Grainger Gawn Grainger (born 12 October 1937) is a British actor, playwright and screenwriter. Early life Some sources indicate he was born in Glasgow, Scotland on 12 October 1937. He is the son of Charles Neil Grainger and his wife Elizabeth (née Gal ...

. In the West End she directed ''September Tide'' at the

Comedy Theatre The Harold Pinter Theatre, known as the Comedy Theatre until 2011,

, ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at the

Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park Regent's Park Open Air Theatre is an open-air theatre in Regent's Park in central London. The theatre Established in 1932, Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre is one of the largest theatres in London (1,256 seats) and is situated in Queen Mary� ...

, ''Jack and the Beanstalk'' at the Shaw Theatre and three world premieres ''Beached'', ''Sinners and Saints'' and ''Bet Noir'' at the

New Vic The New Vic Theatre is a purpose-built theatre in the round in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. The theatre opened in 1986, replacing a converted cinema, the Victoria Theatre in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent. History In the early 1960s, Stephen ...

and

Warehouse Theatre The Warehouse Theatre was a professional producing theatre in the centre of Croydon, England. Based in an oak-beamed Victorian former cement warehouse, it had 100 seats. The theatre closed in 2012 following withdrawal of funding and the disco ...

. Bannerman has a long association with Sands Films starting by playing "Biddy" in Christine Edzards's film "Biddy" followed by setting up Edzard's first big feature film "Little Dorrit" and casting the 200 actors. "Little Dorrit" was nominated for Oscars and won the LA Film Critics Award. Also for Sands Films she cast "The Fool", "As You Like It" and "A Dangerous Man: Lawrence after Arabia" which won an Emmy for Best Drama. She has been a Dialect Coach and a Children's Acting Coach on several movies including '' Seven Years in Tibet'', '' Two Brothers'', ''

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas ''The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas'' is a 2006 Holocaust novel by Irish novelist John Boyne. Much like the process he undertakes when writing most of his novels, Boyne has said that he wrote the entire first draft in two and a half days, without ...

'' and ''

Nanny McPhee ''Nanny McPhee'' is a 2005 comedy drama fantasy film based on the Nurse Matilda character by Christianna Brand. It was directed by Kirk Jones, coproduced by StudioCanal, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, Working Title Films, Three Strange Angel ...

''.

Family

She is married to Edward Klein. Parents Hugh Bannerman and Hilda Bannerman, née Diamond. Brother Julian Bannerman.

Filmography

References

External links

*
Celia Bannerman - Acting & Dialogue Coach

Celia Bannerman
Aveleyman)
Spotlight
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bannerman, Celia English television actresses English film actresses English film directors English television directors 1944 births Living people British women television directors