Susannah Harker (born Susannah Owens; 26 April 1965) is an English film, television, and theatre actress. She was nominated for a

BAFTA TV Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards, are presented in an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in ...

in 1990 for her role as Mattie Storin in ''

House of Cards A house of cards (also known as a card tower or card castle) is a structure created by stacking playing cards on top of each other, often in the shape of a pyramid. "House of cards" is also an expression that dates back to 1645 meaning a struc ...

''. She played

Jane Bennet The Bennet (surname), Bennet family is a fictional family created by the English novelist Jane Austen in her 1813 novel ''Pride and Prejudice''. The family consists of Mr and Mrs Bennet and their five daughters: Jane, Mary, Catherine, Lydia, an ...

in the 1995 TV adaptation of ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

.''

Early life and education

Harker was born in London. She is the daughter of actor Richard Owens and actress, Polly Adams. She and her younger sister, Caroline, were brought up as Catholics and educated at an independent convent boarding school run by nuns in Sussex, and at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, commonly shortened to Central, is a drama school founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for ...

in North London.

Acting career

Harker has acted in both contemporary and classic works, on stage, in movies and in TV series. In 1990–91 she appeared alongside

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

in ''

Chancer ''Chancer'' is a British television crime drama serial, produced by Central Independent Television for ITV, that first broadcast on 6 March 1990. Starring Clive Owen in the title role of Stephen Crane, ''Chancer'' tells the story of a likable c ...

'', and as the journalist Mattie Storin in the original ''

''. She later played Dinah Morris in the 1991 adaptation of ''Adam Bede''. She starred as

in the 1995 TV adaptation of

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

's ''

.'' She is featured as Emma Fitzgerald, the love interest of Superintendent Tyburn (

Trevor Eve Trevor John Eve (born 1 July 1951) is an English actor. In 1979, he gained fame as the eponymous lead in the detective series '' Shoestring'' (1979-1980) and is also known for his role as Detective Superintendent Peter Boyd in the long-running B ...

) in the BBC TV series, '' Heat of the Sun'' (1998). In 2003 she played Clare Keightley in the audio version of the ''Doctor Who'' adventure '' Shada'', alongside

Paul McGann Paul John McGann ( ; born 14 November 1959) is an English actor. He came to prominence for portraying Percy Toplis in the television serial '' The Monocled Mutineer'' (1986), then starred in the dark comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987), which wa ...

. On stage in 2005, she appeared in

Simon Stephens Simon Stephens (born 6 February 1971) is a British-Irish playwright, musician and Professor of Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. Having taught on the Young Writers' Programme at the Royal Court Theatre for many years, he is ...

's play '' On the Shore of the Wide World'' at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

. In 2008, she played Gwendoline in Charles Wood's ''Jingo'' at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world p ...

, where the

London Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free of charge in London, England. It is print ...

reviewed her performance, saying "Susannah Harker, an actress who should appear more often in our major playhouses, is in beautifully crisp form as Gwendoline." She played Sapphire in

Big Finish Productions Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and radio drama, audio plays (released straight to compact disc and for download in MP3 and m4b format) based, primarily, on science fiction properties. These include ''Doctor Who'' ...

' audio revival of '' Sapphire & Steel'', in three series of plays released on CD between 2005 and 2008. In December 2011 Harker appeared in the BBC drama '' Young James Herriot''. In 2012 she returned to the stage, playing the role of Sue in a London production of

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

's ''

Abigail's Party ''Abigail's Party'' is a play for stage and television, devised and directed in 1977 by Mike Leigh. It is a suburban situation comedy of manners, and a satire on the aspirations and tastes of the new middle class that emerged in Britain in the ...

.'' During early 2014 she starred in the Gate Theatre, Dublin production of ''

The Vortex ''The Vortex'' is a play in three acts by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The play depicts the sexual vanity of a rich, ageing beauty, her troubled relationship with her adult son, and drug abuse in British society circles after the ...

'' by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

. She has also worked in radio. In 2015, she played Miss Ella Rentheim in a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

production of

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 ''John Gabriel Borkman'' is a 1896 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was his penultimate work. Plot The Borkman family fortunes have been brought low by the imprisonment of John Gabriel who used his position as a bank manager to ...

''. She played Kris in Radio 4’s 2021 drama ''Barred'' written by Thandi Lubimbi and Richard Kurti.

Personal life

Harker is a great-great-granddaughter of Joseph Harker, an artist and theatrical scene designer. She was married to

Iain Glen Iain Alan Sutherland Glen (born 24 June 1961) is a Scottish actor. He has appeared as Dr. Alexander Isaacs/Tyrant in three films of the Resident Evil (film series), ''Resident Evil'' film series (2004–2016) and as Ser Jorah Mormont, Jorah Morm ...

from 1993 to 2004; they have one son. She was later in a relationship with

from 2006 to 2008. Harker's sisters, Nelly Harker and Caroline Harker, are also actresses.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harker, Susannah 1965 births Living people Actresses from London Actors from the London Borough of Camden English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses

Susannah ''Susannah'' is an opera in two acts by the American composer Carlisle Floyd, who wrote the libretto and music while a member of the piano faculty at Florida State University. Floyd adapted the story from the Apocryphal tale of Susannah and the ...

McGann family English radio actresses People from Hampstead