Siân Phillips

For the folk musician, see Sian Phillips (musician).

Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips (/ʃɑːn/ SHAHN), is a British actress from Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Wales. Her early career consisted primarily of stage roles, including the title roles in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. In the 1960s, she started taking on more roles in television and film. She is particularly known for her performance as Livia in the 1976 BBC television series I, Claudius, for which she was awarded a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society award. She was nominated for a Tony Award and Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Marlene Dietrich in Marlene.

Dame Siân Phillips DBE
Phillips in 2022
Born	Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips (1933-05-14) 14 May 1933 (age 91) Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Wales, United Kingdom
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1944–present
Spouses	Don Roy ​ ​ (m. 1956; div. 1959)​ Peter O'Toole ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1979)​ Robin Sachs ​ ​ (m. 1979; div. 1991)​
Children	2, including Kate O'Toole

Early life

Phillips was born on 14 May 1933 in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, the daughter of Sally (née Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker who became a policeman.^[1] She is a Welsh-speaker: in the first volume of her autobiography Private Faces (1999) she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio.^[2][3]

Phillips attended Pontardawe Grammar School and originally was known there as Jane, but her Welsh teacher called her Siân, the Welsh form of Jane.^[4][5] Later she read English and Philosophy at University College Cardiff.

Phillips graduated from the University of Wales in 1955. She entered RADA with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson.^[6][7] She won the Bancroft Gold Medal for Hedda Gabler and was offered work in Hollywood when she left RADA.^[8] While still a student, she was offered three film contracts to work for an extended period of time in the United States, but she declined, preferring to work on stage.^[9]

Career

Early career

Phillips began acting professionally at the age of 11 with the Home Service of BBC Radio in Wales. At the same age she won her first speech-and-drama award for her performance at the National Eisteddfod held at Llandybïe in 1944, where she and a school friend played the parts of two elderly men in a dramatic duologue.

She made her first British television appearance at 17 and won a Welsh acting award at 18. In 1953, while still a student at University College, Cardiff she worked as a newsreader and announcer for the BBC in Wales and toured Wales in Welsh-language productions of the Welsh Arts Council.^[7][8][4]

From 1953 to 1955, Phillips was a member of the BBC Repertory Company and the National Theatre Company and toured Wales performing Welsh and English plays for the Welsh Arts Council. For the Nottingham Playhouse in 1958, she was Masha in Three Sisters. She performed as Princess Siwan in Saunders Lewis's The King's Daughter at the Hampstead Theatre Club in 1959 and as Katherine in Taming of the Shrew for the Oxford Playhouse in 1960. She was Princess Siwan again in the BBC's production of Siwan: The King's Daughter alongside Peter O'Toole with Emyr Humphrys as producer. It was broadcast on BBC One (Wales only) on 1 March 1960.^[10] From October 1958 to April 1959, she was compere of the Land of Song (Gwlad y Gân) monthly programme at TWW (Television Wales and the West) Channel 10 with baritone Ivor Emmanuel.^[11]

She made her first appearance on the London stage in 1957 when she appeared in Hermann Sudermann's Magda for RADA.^[12] Magda, about an opera diva, was her first real success in London. The play did well and benefited her career greatly; although she was only a student at the time, she was the first since Sarah Bernhardt to play the role.^[13]

In 1957, Phillips performed the title role in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.^[14][3][15] West End opening at The Duke of York's Theatre, December 3, 1957, with Fredrik Ohlsson as Tesman. They also performed at Det Nye Teatret in Oslo and at The Vanbrugh, RADA . Many sources consider this her London stage debut but she actually did Magda before Hedda Gabler.^[9] In September 1958, she was performing as Margaret Muir in John Hall's The Holiday at Oxford New Theatre.^[14]

In May 1958, Phillips performed as Joan in a production of Shaw's Saint Joan by Bryan Bailey, at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, which had opened just six weeks before. An observer described her performance: "Sian Phillips' portrayal of Joan defies the law of averages, since, after seeing Siobhan McKenna in the 1955 Arts Theatre production, I reckoned it impossible to equal within half a century. Like the Irish girl, the Welsh girl is perfect.... 'This girl doesn't act Joan – she is Joan.' In short, perfection."^[16]

She was Julia in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1960–1961 version of The Duchess of Malfi.^[3] Her Royal Shakespeare Company performances are:

• Julia in The Duchess of Malfi: at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre (Stratford, 30 November 1960, opening night).
• Julia in The Duchess of Malfi: at the Aldwych Theatre (London, 15 December 1960, opening night)
• Bertha in Ondine: at the Aldwych Theatre (London, 12 January 1961, opening night)
• Miss Havisham in Great Expectations: at Royal Shakespeare Company (Stratford, 6 December 2005).^[17]

Later film and television

Phillips at Wilton's Music Hall in London in 2011

Her long career has included many films and television programmes, but she is perhaps best known for starring as Livia in the popular BBC adaptation of Robert Graves's novel I, Claudius (BBC2, 1976), for which she won the 1977 BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress, and for many appearances on the original run of Call My Bluff. She also appeared opposite her then-husband Peter O'Toole and Richard Burton in Becket (1964); as Ursula Mossbank in the musical film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), again starring O'Toole; once more opposite O'Toole in Murphy's War (1971); as Emmeline Pankhurst in the TV mini-series Shoulder to Shoulder (1974); as Clementine Churchill in Southern Television's Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) starring Robert Hardy; as Lady Ann, the unfaithful wife of Alec Guinness's character George Smiley, in the BBC1 espionage dramas Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) and Smiley's People (1982), adapted from John le Carré's eponymous novels; in Nijinsky (1980); and as the queen Cassiopeia in Clash of the Titans (1981).

Another popular role was that of the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam in David Lynch's Dune (1984) and Charal from Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985). She also appeared in seasons 2 and 4 (1998 and 2000) of the Canadian TV series La Femme Nikita as Adrian, the renegade founder of the powerful Section One anti-terrorist organisation. In 2001, she appeared as herself in Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.^[18] and in Ballykissangel as faith healer Consuela Dunphy in Episode 7 ('One Born Every Minute' or 'Getting Better All the Time'). Her most recent film is The Gigolos (2006) by Richard Bracewell, in which she played Lady James. In 2010, she appeared in New Tricks in the episode "Coming out Ball" and in 2011 she appeared in the episode "Wild Justice" in the fifth season of the television series Lewis. In 2017, she played Lady Yvette Bristow in the TV series Strike. In 2022, she appeared in the series McDonald & Dodds. In 2024, Phillips portrayed Enid Meadows in the Doctor Who episode "73 Yards".^[19][20]

Other work

Phillips's West End credits include Marlene (in which she portrayed Marlene Dietrich), Pal Joey, Gigi and A Little Night Music. She has also appeared on the American stage in Marlene.

Her National Theatre performances have included playing the roles of Lady Britomart in Major Barbara at the Lyttelton Theatre (18 October 1982, opening night); Madam Armfeldt in A Little Night Music at the Olivier Theatre (18 September 1995, opening night); Hope in In Bed With Magritte (1 December 1995, opening night);^[21] and Madame Neilsen in "Les Blancs" at the Olivier Theatre in 2016.^[22]

She provided spoken-word backing to a track on Rufus Wainwright's 2007 album Release the Stars and appeared live with him at the Old Vic Theatre in London on 31 May/1 June 2007. In 2009 Phillips starred in London's West End production of Calendar Girls. Phillips played Juliet opposite Michael Byrne's Romeo in Juliet and her Romeo at the Bristol Old Vic from 10 March to 24 April 2010.^[23]

In January 2011, she appeared in a new cabaret show, Crossing Borders, at Wilton's Music Hall in London. One review said: "Her cabaret shows are always of the more traditional type. She's had a long and very impressive career, and her show followed its progression, with backstage anecdotes about the people she's met and worked with along the way. It may not be edgy, but it's a truly delightful evening, by a truly delightful performer, in a truly delightful venue."^[24]

In 2015, she played the lead character Fania Fénelon in the Arthur Miller stage version of Playing for Time at Sheffield Theatres.^[25]

In 2024, Phillips reflected on her life and career, for the first time, in Siân Phillips at 90, broadcast on BBC One on 1 March. The documentary includes Philips recounting, with candour, the difficulties in the later part of her marriage to O'Toole, which culminated in the ultimatum that she should leave the family home, without their two children, within the space of four hours.^[26][27][28]

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref
1969	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Nominated
1970	National Society of Film Critics	Best Supporting Actress	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Won
1976	BAFTA TV Award	Best Actress	I, Claudius and How Green Was My Valley	Won
1977	Royal Television Society	Best Performance	I, Claudius	Won
1980	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Musical	Pal Joey	Nominated
1996	Olivier Award	Best Supporting Performance in a Musical	A Little Night Music	Nominated
1998	Olivier Award	Best Actress in a Musical	Marlene	Nominated
1999	Tony Award	Best Actress in a Musical	Marlene	Nominated	[29]
2001	BAFTA Cymru (Wales)	Special Award	Siân Phillips	Won
2013	Olivier Award	Best Supporting Performance in a Musical	Cabaret	Nominated

In January 2018, Phillips was recognised for her career spanning more than 70 years at the BBC Audio Drama Awards, and was given a Radio Lifetime Achievement Award.^[30]

Honours

Phillips was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.^[31][32]

Since 2005, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Cymru (BAFTA in Wales) has presented the Tlws Sian Phillips Award to a Welshman or woman who has made a significant contribution in either a major feature film or network television programme.^[33][34]

In 2024, she and Judi Dench became the first female members of the Garrick Club.^[35]

Personal life

Phillips's first husband was Donald Roy, a post-graduate student at the University of Wales, who later established the Drama Department at the University of Hull^[36] and after whom the University Theatre is named.^[37] They were married in 1956 and divorced in 1959.^[38]

Already pregnant with their first child, Phillips married Peter O'Toole in December 1959. They had two daughters, ^[39][40] including Kate O'Toole. The couple divorced in 1979, and Phillips wrote about this tempestuous period of her life in Public Places, the second volume of her autobiography.

Her third husband was actor Robin Sachs, who was 17 years her junior. Their relationship began in 1975. They were married on Christmas Eve 1979, shortly after her divorce from O'Toole. Phillips and Sachs divorced in 1991.^[38]

Her great aunt was the Welsh evangelist Rosina Davies.^[41]

She is a patron of the Bird College of Dance, Music & Theatre Performance, based in Sidcup, Greater London.

Her two volumes of autobiography – Private Faces and Public Places – were published in 1999 and 2001, respectively.^[38]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1962	The Longest Day	WRNS Officer (Women's Royal Naval Service)
1964	Becket	Gwendolen
1965	Young Cassidy	Ella
1969	Laughter in the Dark	Lady Pamela More
	Goodbye, Mr. Chips	Ursula Mossbank
1971	Murphy's War	Hayden
	Under Milk Wood	Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard
1980	Nijinsky	Lady Ripon
1981	Clash of the Titans	Cassiopeia
1984	Dune	Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
1985	The Doctor and the Devils	Annabella Rock
1989	Valmont	Madame de Volanges
1993	The Age of Innocence	Mrs. Archer
1997	House of America	Mam
2006	The Gigolos	Baroness James
2012	Love Song	Maggie
2016	Checkmate	Prosperity
2017	Hochelaga, Land of Souls	Sarah Walker
2018	Voyageuse	Erica	Voice
	Miss Dalí	Anna Maria
2019	Be Happy!	Maria
2020	Dream Horse	Maureen
	Summerland	Margaret Corey
	A Christmas Carol	Narrator / Grandmother	[42]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Television Playwright	Alice Blackwell	Episode: "A Game for Eskimos"
1958	Granite	Judith	TV film
1959	A Quiet Man	Megan	TV film
1959	BBC Sunday Night Theatre	Countess Else von Dietlof	Episode: "Treason"
1959	ITV Television Playhouse	Barbara	Episode: "The Breaking Point"
1960	Siwan the Kings Daughter	Siwan	TV film
1961	Theatre Night	Bertha	Episode: "Onedine"
1963	It Happened Like This	Paula	Episode: "Coincidence"
1963	Drama 61-67	Carole Blair	Episode: "Drama '63: This Is Not King's Cross"
1964	Espionage	Anna	Episode: "A Free Agent"
1974	Shoulder to Shoulder	Emmeline Pankhurst
1975	How Green Was My Valley	Beth Morgan
1976	I, Claudius	Livia
1978	Off to Philadelphia in the Morning	Lina Van Elyn
1979	Barriers	Mrs Dalgleish
1979	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Ann Smiley
1981	Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years	Clementine Churchill
1982	Smiley's People	Ann Smiley
1985	Ewoks: The Battle for Endor	Charal	TV film
1987	A Killing on the Exchange	Isobel Makepeace
1987	The Two Mrs. Grenvilles	Duchess of Windsor
1991	The Chestnut Soldier	Nain
1992	The Borrowers	Mrs. Driver
1993	Heidi	Frau Sesemann
1998	Alice through the Looking Glass	Red Queen	TV film
1998	The Scold's Bridle	Mathilda Gillespie	BBC TV Drama
1999	Aristocrats	Narrator / Older Lady Emily Lennox	TV Mini Series
2001	Ballykissangel	Consuela Dunphy	Episode: "Getting Better All the Time"
2003	The Last Detective	Vera Dulciman	Episode: "Moonlight"
2003	Arena	Narrator	Episode: "Alec Guinness: A Secret Man"
2005	The Murder Room	Marie Strickland	2 episodes
2006	Midsomer Murders	Lady Annabel Butler	Episode: "Vixen's Run"
2007	Kitchen	Morag White	TV film
2007	Holby City	Lily Sinclair	Episode: "Something's Gotta Give"
2008	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Mrs. Upward	Episode: "Mrs McGinty's Dead"
2008	Shortland Street	Vivienne Lindstrom	2 episodes
2010	Missing	Beth Murphy	Episode: #2.7
2010	New Tricks	Lady Elizabeth Linden Warner	Episode: "Coming Out Ball"
2011	Lewis	Adele Goffe	Episode: "Wild Justice"
2013	Playhouse Presents	May	Episode: "Gifted"
2014	Under Milk Wood	Mrs. Pugh	TV film
2017	Casualty	Bridget Haas	Episode: "Reap the Whirlwind - Part One"
2017	Strike	Lady Yvette Bristow	2 episodes
2018	Doctors	Joan Bartlett	Episode: "Face-Off"
2020–2021	Keeping Faith	Judge Owens	4 episodes
2021	Silent Witness	Beattie Elleston	2 episodes
2022	McDonald & Dodds	Agnes Gillian	Episode: "Belvedere"
2023	Good Omens	Mrs. Henderson	Episode: #2.4
2023	The Chelsea Detective	Grandma Dix	Episode: #2.3
2024	Doctor Who	Enid Meadows	Episode: "73 Yards"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom	Boddly	Voice
2020	World of Warcraft: Shadowlands	Overseer Kah-Delen	Voice