Zoë Wanamaker (born 13 May 1949) is an American-born British actress who has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2001 by Queen Elizabeth II. She has received numerous accolades including a Laurence Olivier Award and nominations for three BAFTA Awards, and four Tony Awards.
A nine-time Olivier Award nominee, she won for Once in a Lifetime (1979) and Electra (1998). She has also received four Tony Award nominations for her work on Broadway; for Piaf (1981), Loot (1986), Electra (1999), and Awake and Sing! (2006).
She has acted in the films Wilde (1997), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), and My Week with Marilyn (2011). She was twice nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress, for Prime Suspect (1991) and Love Hurts (1992–1994). She portrayed Susan Harper in the sitcom My Family (2000–2011), and appeared in the ITV dramas Agatha Christie's Poirot (2005–2013), Mr Selfridge (2015), and Girlfriends (2018).
Early life Zoë Wanamaker was born in New York City on 13 May 1949,Zoe Wanamaker profile , FilmReference.com. Retrieved 10 January 2014. the daughter of Canadian actress and radio performer Charlotte Holland and American actor, film director, and radio producer Sam Wanamaker (born Samuel Wattenmacker). Her father was of Ukrainian-Jewish descent, although she had a secular and non-observant upbringing. The BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?, broadcast on 24 February 2009, revealed that her paternal grandfather Maurice Wanamaker (originally Manus Watmacher) was a tailor from Mykolaiv."'Madam Hooch' rides her broomstick in from Odessa: Actress Zoë Wanamaker offers a glimpse into her family history"
Whilst working in the United Kingdom in 1952, Wanamaker's father found out he had been blacklisted in Hollywood. Her parents therefore decided to remain in the UK. She was educated at the independent King Alfred School in Hampstead and at Sidcot School, a Quaker boarding school in Winscombe, Somerset. Zoe attended Hornsey College of Art for the Pre-Diploma Course before going on to study acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Career Stage Wanamaker's career started in the theatre. From 1976 to 1984 she was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She won an Olivier Award for her 1979 performance in Once in a Lifetime and a second for Sophocles' Electra in 1998. In 1985, she played Verdi's wife Giuseppina Strepponi in the original production of After Aida. She appeared on stage playing the part of Beatrice opposite Simon Russell Beale as Benedick in the National Theatre's production of Much Ado About Nothing. She has received Tony Award nominations for her performances in Piaf, Loot, Electra, and Awake and Sing!.
In 1997, Wanamaker was the first person to speak on the stage of the newly completed replica theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, on London's South Bank.BBC Entertainment: My Family – Did You Know? This was in recognition of the role played by her father in founding the new theatre. She subsequently became Honorary President of the Globe.Shakespeare's Globe Press Release, 24 February 2012
From May to October 2010, Wanamaker appeared in Arthur Miller's All My Sons as Kate Keller at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in London.
Wanamaker appeared in Terence Rattigan's All On Her Own from 24 October 2015 until 13 January 2016 at the Garrick Theatre. The work is a one-woman play that preceded Rattigan's Harlequinade, which she also appeared in, each night as part of a never-before-seen double bill.Zoë Wanamaker and John Dagleish To Appear In Harlequinade , London Theatre Direct. Quoted: 27 July 2015 In 2016 she appeared in the world premiere production of Elegy at the Donmar Warehouse.
She returned to the Broadway stage in the 2023 Sharr White memory play Pictures From Home alongside Nathan Lane and Danny Burstein. The play is adapted from photographer Larry Sultan's photo memoir of the same name.
Screen Starting in the early 1980s, Wanamaker began performing on screen, most notably in a number of critically acclaimed television productions, such as the BBC Television production Edge of Darkness; she was nominated for a BAFTA Award for her portrayal of the love interest of a suspected serial killer in the first instalment of the Granada series Prime Suspect.
Television series have included Paradise Postponed (as Charlotte Fanner-Titmuuss, 1986) and Love Hurts (1992–94) with Adam Faith. She appeared with Wendy Hiller in The Countess Alice in 1992, playing a rebellious woman searching for the truth about her past in war-torn Germany. She played Clarice, one of the dim-witted twin sisters of Lord Groan in Gormenghast (2000), a BBC television adaptation of Mervyn Peake's trilogy. She played Madam Hooch in the film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001). She did not reprise the role in the rest of the sequels, accusing the producers of underpaying their actors.
Wanamaker portrayed Susan Harper in the BBC situation comedy My Family from 2000 to 2011. She voiced a CGI character named Lady Cassandra in the Doctor Who episode "The End of the World" (2005), and reprised the role (also appearing in the flesh this time) in the episode "New Earth" (2006). Wanamaker lent her voice to the 2008 Xbox 360 game Fable II as the blind Seeress Theresa, who guides the playing character throughout the game. She returned to voice Theresa again in Fable III in 2010, and again in 2012 for Fable: The Journey.
She played Ariadne Oliver in six episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot. In 2011, she played Paula Strasberg in Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn, which depicts the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the Showgirl starring Marilyn Monroe and Laurence Olivier. In 2015, she joined the cast of Mr. Selfridge as Princess Marie, the Russian mother-in-law of Rosalie Selfridge/Bolotoff. In 2021, she played Baghra, Alina Starkov's strict teacher and knowing adviser in Shadow and Bone.
Honours Wanamaker was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2001 New Year Honours for services to drama. She also received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia on 19 July 2012.University of East Anglia website
Public advocacy Wanamaker has been a patron of the UK charity Tree Aid, since 1997. Tree Aid enables communities in Africa's drylands to fight poverty and become self-reliant, while improving the environment. In 2006 Wanamaker recorded a successful Radio 4 appeal for the charity.
She is a patron of Dignity in Dying, the Lymphoedema Support Network, Youth Music Theatre UK and of the Young Actors' Theatre, Islington. She is also one of the honorary patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard. Wanamaker also supports Survival International's campaign to save the threatened native tribes in Brazil.
In August 2014, Wanamaker was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.
Wanamaker is one of nine presidents of Better Planet Education.Better Planet Education: Presidents
Personal life Wanamaker lived for many years with fellow Royal Shakespeare Company actor David Lyon. In November 1994, she married the Scottish actor, playwright and screenwriter Gawn Grainger, who died on 17 May 2025.
Wanamaker holds both British and American citizenship, having become a British citizen in 2000.
Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released Film YearFilmRoleNotes1988The Raggedy RawneyElle1997WildeAda LeversonSwept from the SeaMary Foster2001Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneMadame Hooch2004Five Children and ItMartha2010It's a Wonderful AfterlifeMrs. Goldman2011My Week with MarilynPaula Strasberg
Television YearTV SeriesRoleNotes1971ITV Sunday Night DramaSallyEpisode Turn of the Year: Sally for the KeepsTake Three GirlsJackie1973Late Night TheatreAliceEpisode The Eagle has LandedBetween the WarsAda AbbottEpisode The Silver MaskITV Sunday Night TheatreLorna GreenEpisode Lorna and TedSpy TrapMurielEpisode Sale of Work1974Jennie: Lady Randolph ChurchillPearl CraigieTV Miniseries (1 episode) A Perfect Darling1975The Confederacy of WivesCorinnaTV filmVillage HallShirley ChatsfieldEpisode Miss Health and BeautyCrown CourtJoan Carmichael1 episode1977A Christmas CarolBelleTV film1978BBC Play of the MonthLucille/DorindaDanton's Death / The Beaux' StratagemThe Devil's CrownBerengaria of Navarre3 episodes1981Strike: The Birth of SolidarityAline PienkowskaTV film1982BaalSophieInside the Third ReichAnnemarie Kempf1983Richard IIILady AnneEnemies of the StateZdena Tomin1985Edge of DarknessClemmyTV Miniseries (3 episodes)1986Paradise PostponedCharlie FannerTV Mini-series (8 episodes)1987Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton StoryJean KennerlyTV filmTales of The UnexpectedMargaret Smythe1 episode Skeleton in the Cupboard1988Once in a LifetimeMay DanielsTV film1989The Dog It was That DiedBlidebeckBall-Trap on the Cote SauvageSarah Marriot1990Theatre NightEmiliaEpisode Othello1991Inspector MorseEmma PickfordEpisode Fat ChancePrime SuspectMoyra HensonTV Miniseries (2 episodes)1992Screen Two: Memento MoriOlive ManneringTV filmScreenplay: The Countess AliceConnieShakespeare: The Animated TalesLady MacbethEpisode MacbethThe Blackheath PoisoningsCharlotte CollardTV Miniseries (3 episodes)1992–1994Love HurtsTessa Piggot/Carver30 episodes1995PerformanceMrs HolroydEpisode The Widowing of Mrs. HolroydThe English WifeCarolina GriveauTV film1997A Dance to the Music of TimeAudrey MclintickTV mini-series (2 episodes)Great PerformancesPrologue/HerselfEpisode Henry V at Shakespeare's Globe1999The Magical Legend of the LeprechaunsMary MuldoonTV miniseriesDavid CopperfieldMiss Jane MurdstoneTV miniseries2000GormenghastClarice GroanTV Mini-Series (3 episodes)2000–2011My FamilySusan HarperMain role. 114 episodes2001Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino YearsTania Braithwaite6 episodes 2005Agatha Christie's MarpleLetitia BlacklockEpisode A Murder is AnnouncedA Waste of ShameCountess of PembrokeBBC Four film2005–2013Agatha Christie's PoirotAriadne Oliver6 feature-length episodes: Cards on the Table (2005) Mrs McGinty's Dead (2008) Third Girl (2008) Hallowe'en Party (2010) Elephants Can Remember (2013) Dead Man's Folly (2013)2005, 2006Doctor WhoCassandra2 episodes: "The End of the World" and "New Earth"2006Johnny and the BombMrs Tachyon2 episodes2007The Old Curiosity ShopMrs JarleyTV film2013Wodehouse in ExileEthel Wodehouse2015Mr SelfridgePrincess Marie10 episodes2017BabsJoan LittlewoodTV film2018Inside No. 9PaulaEpisode: "And the Winner Is..."GirlfriendsGail Stanley6 episodes2018–2021BritanniaQueen AntediaMain role (10 episodes)2019Killing EveHelen JacobsenEpisode: "Desperate Times"Worzel GummidgeLady Bloomsbury BartonEpisode: "The Green Man"2021–2023Shadow and BoneBaghraMain role (11 episodes)2022The Man Who Fell to EarthWatt2 episodes2023The CleanerLucilleEpisode: "The Statue"Black OpsCelia Herrington3 episodes2024Criminal RecordMaureen5 episodes Inside No. 9 Party Guest Episode: "Plodding On"2025–present Bergerac Charlie Hungerford Main role (6 episodes) Professor T. Zelda Radclyffe Supporting role
Video games YearVideo gameRoleNote2008Fable IITheresa2010Fable IIITheresa2012Fable: The JourneyTheresa2018Harry Potter: Hogwarts MysteryMadam Hooch
Theatre