Maria Eleanor David (born 30 November 1955) is an English actress who has worked on projects in the UK, the US and New Zealand. She won positive reviews for her starring role in the biopic '' Sylvia'', in which she played pioneering educationalist

Sylvia Ashton-Warner Sylvia Constance Ashton-Warner (17 December 1908 – 28 April 1984) was a New Zealand novelist, non-fiction writer, poet, pianist and world figure in the teaching of children. Her ideas for a child-based or organic approach to the teaching of ...

. David was born in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...

. She has appeared in several films and television programmes. Her work includes BAFTA-nominated comedy '' Comfort and Joy'' directed by

Bill Forsyth William David Forsyth (born 29 July 1946). known as Bill Forsyth, is a Scottish film director and writer known for his films '' Gregory's Girl'' (1981), '' Local Hero'' (1983) and '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) as well as his adaptation of the Ma ...

, mini-series '' Paradise Postponed'',

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

's '' Topsy-Turvy'' and

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

's film of '' Pink Floyd The Wall'', in which she played the wife of the main character.

''Sylvia''

In 1984 David travelled to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

to star as

in the biopic '' Sylvia''. Reviewing her performance,

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The 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 ...

'' commented: "Miss David bears a striking resemblance to the real woman and gives an intelligent, compassionate performance, limited only by the uncomplicated reverence with which the film makers regard their heroine."

"Movie Review: Sylvia (1985): Michael Firth's 'Sylvia'"
''

'', April 11, 1985. ''Village Voice'' critic

Andrew Sarris Andrew Sarris (October 31, 1928 – June 20, 2012) was an American film critic. He was a leading proponent of the auteur theory of film criticism. Early life Sarris was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Greek immigrant parents, Themis (née Kat ...

praised the four principal actors and named ''Sylvia'' one of the ten best films of 1985.

Filmography

* ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in London, having ...

'' (1982) - Louise * ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'' (1982) - Rose Maylie * '' Pink Floyd The Wall'' (1982) - Pink's wife * '' Comfort and Joy'' (1984) - Maddy * '' Sylvia'' (1985) -

* ''

84 Charing Cross Road ''84, Charing Cross Road'' is a 1970 book by Helene Hanff, later made into a stage play, television play, and film, about the twenty-year correspondence between the author and Frank Doel, chief buyer of Marks & Co antiquarian booksellers, locate ...

'' (1987) - Cecily Farr * '' The Wolves of Willoughby Chase'' (1989) - Lady Willoughby * '' Slipstream'' (1989) - Ariel * ''

Ladder of Swords A ladder is a vertical or inclined set of rungs or steps used for climbing or descending. There are two types: rigid ladders that are self-supporting or that may be leaned against a vertical surface such as a wall, and rollable ladders, such ...

'' (1989) * '' White Hunter Black Heart'' (1990) - Dorshka Zibelinsky * '' The King's Whore'' (1990) - La Reine * '' Topsy-Turvy'' (1999) - Fanny Ronalds * ''

House of Boys ''House of Boys'' is a 2009 Luxembourgian-German drama film directed and written by Jean-Claude Schlim, starring Layke Anderson, Benn Northover and Udo Kier. The film follows the story of Frank, a gay teenager in the 80s who runs away from his h ...

'' (2009) - Emma

Television credits

* '' The Professionals'', (TV series) episode Fugitive, 1980. * '' The Borgias'' (1981, TV Mini-Series) - Sancia * '' Reilly: Ace of Spies'' (1984, TV Mini-Series) - Eugenie * ''

Shroud for a Nightingale ''Shroud for a Nightingale'' is a 1971 detective novel written by PD James in her Adam Dalgliesh series. Chief Superintendent Adam Dalgliesh of Scotland Yard is called in to investigate the death of two student nurses at the hospital nursing sc ...

'' (1984, TV Mini-Series) - Jo Fallon * ''

The Return of Sherlock Holmes ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes'' is a 1905 collection of 13 Sherlock Holmes stories, originally published in 1903–1904, by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The stories were published in the '' Strand Magazine'' in Britain and ''Collier's'' ...

'' (1986) - Mrs St Clair * '' Paradise Postponed'' (1986, TV Mini-Series) - Agnes Simcox / Agnes Salter * ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' (1992) - Katriona Brooksby * ''

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 ...

'' (1992) - Elizabeth Casterini * '' Ruth Rendell Mysteries'' (1993) - Alice Fielding in "Vanity Dies Hard" * '' Between the Lines'' (1993) - Penny Shaw * ''

Drop the Dead Donkey ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' is a British television sitcom that was first shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 1990 and 1998. It is set in the offices of "GlobeLink News", a fictional TV news company. Recorded close to transmission, ...

'' (1993) - Lady Caroline * '' The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries'' (1994) - Margaret Ballantyne in "Dead Water" * ''

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 ...

'' (2001) - Georgina Canning in “Tainted Fruit” * '' The Last Detective'' (2002) - Tricia Lloyd * '' The Rotters Club'' (2005) - Ursula Boyd * '' Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking'' (2004) - Mary Pentney * '' Playhouse Presents'' (2013) - Kathleen

References

External links

* 1955 births Living people Actors from Lincolnshire English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses {{UK-tv-actor-1950s-stub