Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She did extensive work with 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 opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

and the National Theatre, as well as in film and television. In 2020, she was listed at No. 29 on ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It was launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is Ireland's leading n ...

'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. She was made an Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 2001. She won both the 1990 and

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for roles in the plays ''

Electra Electra, also spelt Elektra (; ; ), is one of the most popular Greek mythology, mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''Electra (Sophocles play), Electra'' by Sophocles and ''Ele ...

'', ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, 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 Wil ...

'', '' The Good Person of Szechwan'' (1990), and '' Machinal'' (1994) and received a further three Olivier Award nominations for her roles in ''Mephisto'' (1986), '' Hedda Gabler'' (1992), and ''

Happy Days ''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marsha ...

'' (2008). She made her Broadway debut playing the title role in ''

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; ; ) is the daughter of Aeëtes, King Aeëtes of Colchis. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, an accomplished "wiktionary:φαρμακεία, pharmakeía" (medicinal magic), and is often depicted as a high- ...

'' (2002) for which she earned a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She returned to Broadway in the Colm Tóibín play '' The Testament of Mary'' (2013). In film, she played Petunia Dursley in the ''Harry Potter'' film series (2001–2010). Other notable film roles include in '' My Left Foot'' (1989), ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for influence. Persuasion can influence a person's beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviours. Persuasion is studied in many disciplines. Rhetoric studies modes of persuasi ...

'' (1995), ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The firs ...

'' (1996), '' The Tree of Life'' (2011), '' Colette'' (2018), ''

Ammonite Ammonoids are extinct, (typically) coiled-shelled cephalopods comprising the subclass Ammonoidea. They are more closely related to living octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish (which comprise the clade Coleoidea) than they are to nautiluses (family N ...

'' (2020), and '' Enola Holmes'' (2020). Her television roles include

Hedda Hopper Elda Furry (May 2, 1885February 1, 1966), known professionally as Hedda Hopper, was an American gossip columnist and actress. At the height of her influence in the 1940s, more than 35 million people read her columns. A strong supporter of the Hous ...

in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

film '' RKO 281'' (1999), and Marnie Stonebrook in the HBO series '' True Blood'' (2011). She played Carolyn Martens in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

series '' Killing Eve'' (2018–22), for which she received the 2019 BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as two

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

nominations. For her role as a counselor in '' Fleabag'' (2019), she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nomination. She starred in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

series '' Baptiste'' (2021), and the

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

series '' Andor'' (2022).

Early life

Shaw was born Fiona Mary Wilson on 10 July 1958 in

Cobh Cobh ( ,), known from 1849 until 1920 as Queenstown, is a seaport town on the south coast of County Cork, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. With a population of 14,148 inhabitants at the 2022 census of Ireland, 2022 census, Cobh is on the south si ...

County Cork County Cork () is the largest and the southernmost Counties of Ireland, county of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, named after the city of Cork (city), Cork, the state's second-largest city. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster ...

, Ireland, the daughter of physicist Mary T. Wilson (née Flynn, born 1927) and

ophthalmic surgeon Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...

Denis Joseph Wilson (1922–2011), who wed in 1952. They maintained a home in Montenotte. Her father was of half English descent. The second of four children, she has an older brother, John, and two younger brothers, Mark and Peter, the latter of whom was killed in a car accident aged 18. She attended secondary school at Scoil Mhuire in Cork, and received her degree in philosophy at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) () is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork (city), Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of three Queen's Universit ...

. Shaw studied at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

(RADA) in London, graduating in 1982 with an Acting (RADA Diploma). On joining Equity, she had to change her name because they already had a member named Fiona Wilson. She adopted the surname Shaw, which was her grandmother's maiden name, also doing so in tribute to

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

Career

Theatre

In 1983, she starred as Julia in the National Theatre production of Richard Brinsley 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 List of Maverick ...

'' (1983). Her theatrical roles include Celia in ''

'' (1984), Madame de Volanges in '' Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' (1985), Katherine in ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'' (1987), Lady Franjul in '' The New Inn'' (1987), Young Woman in '' Machinal'' (1993), for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress. Shaw notably played the male lead in '' Richard II'', directed by Deborah Warner in 1995. She performed T. S. Eliot's poem '' The Waste Land'' as a one-person show at the Liberty Theatre in New York to great acclaim in 1996, winning the

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been c ...

for her performance. Winnie in ''

'' (2007), and the title roles in ''

'' (1988), '' The Good Person of Sechuan'' (1989), '' Hedda Gabler'' (1991), '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1998) and ''

'' (2000). In 2009, Shaw collaborated with Deborah Warner again, taking the lead role in

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Among his stage work, he is most known for ''Angels in America'', which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, as well as its subsequent acclaime ...

's translation of

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

's '' Mother Courage and Her Children''. In a 2002 article for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', Rupert Christiansen described their professional relationship as "surely one of the most richly creative partnerships in theatrical history." Other collaborations between the two women include productions of Brecht's ''The Good Woman of Szechuan'' and Ibsen's '' Hedda Gabler'', the latter was adapted for television. In 2010, Shaw appeared in ''The Waste Land'' at Wilton's Music Hall, and in a National Theatre revival of '' London Assurance''. In November 2010, Shaw starred in

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's '' John Gabriel Borkman'' at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin alongside Alan Rickman and Lindsay Duncan. The play was also staged in New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2011. In 2012, Shaw appeared in the National Theatre revival of '' Scenes from an Execution'' by Howard Barker. The world's largest solo theatre festival, United Solo, recognised her performance in '' The Testament of Mary'' on Broadway with the 2013 United Solo Special Award.

Television and film

In 1984, Shaw played Miss Morrison in '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' episode '' The Adventure of the Crooked Man.'' She appeared in '' My Left Foot'' (1989), '' Mountains of the Moon'' (1990), ''

Three Men and a Little Lady ''Three Men and a Little Lady'' is a 1990 American comedy film directed by Emile Ardolino. It is the sequel to the 1987 film '' Three Men and a Baby''. Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson reprise the leading roles. In its opening ...

'' (1990), '' Super Mario Bros.'' (1993), '' Undercover Blues'' (1993), ''

'' (1995), ''

'' (1996), '' The Butcher Boy'' (1997), '' The Avengers'' (1998), '' Gormenghast'' (2000), and five of the ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'' films in which she played Petunia Dursley,

's repressed maternal aunt. Shaw had a brief but key role in Brian DePalma's '' The Black Dahlia'' (2006). Shaw appeared in season four of the American TV show '' True Blood''. Shaw's character, Marnie Stonebrook, has been described as an underachieving palm reader who is spiritually possessed by an actual witch. Fiona Shaw BAM 2011-01-16

In 2013, she starred as Catherine Greenshaw in '' Agatha Christie's Marple'' episode "Greenshaw's Folly". In 2018, Shaw began portraying Carolyn Martens, the head of

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

's Russia-focused branch, in

BBC America BBC America is an American basic cable network that is owned by AMC Networks. The channel primarily airs sci-fi and action series and films, as well as selected programs from the BBC (such as its nature documentary series). Unlike the BBC's ...

's '' Killing Eve''. For her performance, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Television Series. Later the same year, she played a senior MI6 officer in '' Mrs Wilson''. For her role as a counselor in Phoebe Waller-Bridge series '' Fleabag'' (2019) she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series nomination. In 2020, she was listed at No. 29 on ''

'' list of Ireland's greatest film actors. Shaw starred in the ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

'' Andor'' as the titular character's adoptive mother, Maarva Andor. For her work in ''Andor'', Shaw was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. In October 2022, Shaw was awarded an AudioFile Magazine Earphone Award for her performance of ''The Bullet That Missed'', the third book in

Richard Osman Richard Osman (born 28 November 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, and novelist. He is the creator and former co-presenter of the BBC One television quiz show ''Pointless''. He has presented the BBC Two quiz shows ''Two Tribes ( ...

's '' The Thursday Murder Club'' series. In 2024, she portrayed Rose Aguineau, a woman with a mysterious past who aids the protagonists, in season 4 of ''

True Detective ''True Detective'' is an American Anthology series, anthology Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Nic Pizzolatto for the premium cable network HBO. The series premiered on January 12, 2014, and ...

''.

Personal life

Shaw is a lesbian, although she had been in two long-term relationships with men before realising her sexual orientation, stating "It was a shock. I was full of self-hatred and thought I would come back into the fold shortly. But I just didn't." From 2002 to 2005, Shaw was the partner of English actress

Saffron Burrows Saffron Burrows (born 22 October 1972) is a British and American actress who has appeared in films such as '' Circle of Friends,'' '' Wing Commander,'' '' Deep Blue Sea,'' '' Gangster No. 1,'' '' Enigma,'' ''Troy,'' '' Reign Over Me'', and '' Th ...

. She met Sri Lankan economist Sonali Deraniyagala after reading Deraniyagala's memoir, and they married in 2018. Shaw lives in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...

, having previously lived in nearby Primrose Hill, "within earshot of

London Zoo London Zoo, previously known as ZSL London Zoo or London Zoological Gardens and sometimes called Regent's Park Zoo, is the world's oldest scientific zoo. It was opened in London on 27 April 1828 and was originally intended to be used as a colle ...

". Shaw was raised Catholic, and in January 1997, she spent two weeks with the Tyburn Nuns at their convent.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Other projects

* '' When Love Speaks'' (2002, EMI Classics): "It is thy will thy image should keep open" * ''

Simon Schama Sir Simon Michael Schama ( ; born 13 February 1945) is an English historian and television presenter. He specialises in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history, and French history. He is a professor of history and art history at Columbia Uni ...

's John Donne'': 2009

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
World Theatre
– ''Working in the Theatre Seminar'' video at

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

.org, January 2002
Fiona Shaw
interviewed by Sophie Elmhirst in ''New Statesman'', September 2009
Fiona Shaw (director)
on Operabase {{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Fiona Living people 1958 births 20th-century Irish actresses 21st-century Irish actresses 21st-century Irish LGBTQ people Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Alumni of University College Cork Audiobook narrators Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners Drama Desk Award winners Honorary commanders of the Order of the British Empire Irish expatriates in England Irish people of English descent Irish opera directors Irish film actresses Irish lesbian actresses Irish Shakespearean actresses Irish stage actresses Irish television actresses Irish theatre directors Irish voice actresses Irish women theatre directors Laurence Olivier Award winners LGBTQ Roman Catholics People from Cobh People educated at Scoil Mhuire, Cork Royal Shakespeare Company members Theatre World Award winners