Celia Imrie

Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952 ) is an English actress and author.

Imrie was born on 15 July 1952 in Guildford, Surrey, the fourth of five children of Diana Elizabeth Blois (née Cator) and David Andrew Imrie, a radiologist.

Her father was from Glasgow, Scotland.

Imrie is the ten-times-great granddaughter of the infamous Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset.

Imrie was educated at Guildford High School, an independent school for girls in her home town of Guildford, followed by the Guildford School of Acting.

In the United Kingdom she is known for her work with Victoria Wood, including Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1985–1987), the sitcom dinnerladies (1998–2000), Acorn Antiques: The Musical!, for which she won the 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, and The Diplomat (2023).

It was on the latter show in 1985 that she first played the part of Miss Babs, owner of Acorn Antiques, a parody of the low-budget British soap opera Crossroads.

Imrie's film credits include Nanny McPhee, Hilary and Jackie (playing Iris du Pré), and the 1997 film The Borrowers, in which she played Homily Clock.

Other films include Bridget Jones's Diary, Calendar Girls, Highlander, and as Fighter Pilot Bravo 5 in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.

In the 2000 miniseries of Gormenghast, she played Lady Gertrude.

She is best known for her film roles, including the Bridget Jones film series, Calendar Girls (2003), Nanny McPhee (2005), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015), The English dub of The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales... (2017), Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), Malevolent (2018) and for the FX TV series Better Things (2016-2022).

She also appeared in the 2005 BBC television drama Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle, where she played the role of a teacher taking an unruly party of pupils on a day-trip to Salisbury Cathedral.

In 2005 she received very positive reviews for her US stage debut in Unsuspecting Susan.

These sketches became such a British institution that in 2005 Wood turned the show into Acorn Antiques: The Musical!, a West End musical, starring most of the original cast.

Imrie won an Olivier Award in 2006 for her performance.

The character is known for her frequent parodic flirtations with the customers and her interactions with the housekeeper, Mrs Overall (portrayed by Julie Walters).

In 2007 she appeared in St Trinian's.

Imrie's television credits include Bergerac,The Nightmare Man, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Casualty, Absolutely Fabulous, The Darling Buds of May and Upstairs, Downstairs.

She starred alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst in the BBC sitcom After You've Gone (2007–2008), and in the ITV1 drama Kingdom (2007–2009) with Stephen Fry.

Her part in After You've Gone has, whilst being critically acclaimed, been described as "criminally squandered".

In early 2007, she narrated the book Arabella, broadcast over two weeks as the Book at Bedtime.

In 2009 she appeared in Plague Over England in the West End, a play about John Gielgud, and received positive reviews for her performance.

That same year, she appeared in the world premiere of Robin Soans' Mixed Up North, directed by Max Stafford-Clark.

In 2010, she appeared alongside Robin Soans in a production of Sheridan's The Rivals.

In 2013, she guest-starred in the BBC's Doctor Who, playing the villainous Miss Kizlet in "The Bells of Saint John".

Her debut novel Not Quite Nice was published by Bloomsbury in 2015, had six weeks in the Sunday Times Top Ten, was cited by The Times as a 'delicious piece of entertainment', and also reached number 5 in the Apple ibook chart and 8 in Amazon's book chart.

In May 2016, she made her US television debut in the DC action-adventure series Legends of Tomorrow.

In September 2016 she began starring as Phyllis in the FX series Better Things.

In 2021, Imrie took over as narrator of the BBC's Talking Pictures.

Her second novel, Nice Work (If You Can Get It), was published in 2016; and her third, Sail Away, was published in February 2018.

As part of the cast of the 2018 film Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again, Imrie achieved her first UK Top 40 single alongside Lily James with a cover of the ABBA song "When I Kissed the Teacher", which reached number 40 in August 2018.

Imrie lives in London and in Nice, France.

She has a son, Angus Imrie, with the actor Benjamin Whitrow, but has said that she "hated the idea of marriage", describing it as a "world of cover-up and compromise".

Imrie narrated during the ceremonial event held to mark the 75th anniversary of D-day at Portsmouth in 2019.

Imrie's radio work includes parts in BBC Radio 4's No Commitments and Bleak Expectations.

She appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in October 2019.

Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "A half-burnt candle".

Imrie is perhaps best known in the United Kingdom for her frequent collaborations with Victoria Wood, with whom she appeared in TV programmes such as the sitcom dinnerladies and sketch show Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV.

Her next work, A Nice Cup of Tea, was published in 2019.

Her fifth novel, Orphans of the Storm, was published in 2021.