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Emma Thompson

Emma Thompson

Actor · b. 1959 · Paddington, London, England, UK

Dame Emma Thompson (born April 15, 1959) is a British actress and screenwriter. Her work spans over four decades of screen and stage, and her accolades include two Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Primetime Emmy Award. In 2018, she was made a dame (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for her contributions to drama. Born to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law, Thompson was educated at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she became a member of the Footlights troupe and appeared in the comedy sketch series Alfresco (1983–1984). In 1985, she starred in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, which was a breakthrough in her career. In 1987, she became famous for her performances in two BBC series, Tutti Frutti and Fortunes of War, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her work on both series. In the early 1990s, she often collaborated with then-husband, actor and director Kenneth Branagh in films such as Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Much Ado About Nothing (1993). Thompson won the BAFTA Award and the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the Merchant-Ivory period drama Howards End (1992). In 1993, she received two Academy Award nominations—Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress—for the respective roles of the housekeeper of a grand household in The Remains of the Day and a lawyer in In the Name of the Father, becoming one of the few actors to achieve this feat. Thompson wrote and starred in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay—making her the only person in history to win Oscars for both acting and writing—and once again won the BAFTA. Further critical acclaim came for her roles in Primary Colors (1998), Love Actually (2003), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Late Night (2019), and Good Luck to You, Leo Grande (2022). Other notable film credits include the Harry Potter series (2004–2011), Nanny McPhee (2005), Stranger than Fiction (2006), An Education (2009), Men in Black 3 (2012) and the spin-off Men in Black: International (2019), Brave (2012), Beauty and the Beast (2017), Cruella (2021), and Matilda the Musical (2022). Her television credits include Wit (2001), Angels in America (2003), The Song of Lunch (2010), King Lear (2018) and Years and Years (2019). She portrayed Mrs. Lovett in a Lincoln Center production of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street in 2014. Authorised by the publishers of Beatrix Potter, Thompson has also written three Peter Rabbit children's books.

Movies24

  • Movie7.9

    The Sheep Detectives

    2026 · 1.7K votes

  • Movie8.0
  • Movie8.1
  • Movie7.7
  • Movie7.0

    Beauty and the Beast

    2017 · 16K votes

  • Movie7.0

    Brave

    2012 · 14K votes

  • Movie7.2

    I Am Legend

    2007 · 17K votes

  • Movie7.6

    Treasure Planet

    2002 · 4.7K votes

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    Cruella

    2021 · 10K votes

  • Movie6.3
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    Men in Black 3

    2012 · 11K votes

  • Movie7.1

    Love Actually

    2003 · 7.6K votes

  • Movie5.9

    Men in Black: International

    2019 · 5.5K votes

  • Movie7.4

    Sense and Sensibility

    1995 · 1.9K votes

  • Movie6.6

    Dolittle

    2020 · 4K votes

  • Movie6.3
  • Movie6.3
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    Burnt

    2015 · 3.6K votes

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    Dead of Winter

    2025 · 478 votes

  • Movie6.4

    Bridget Jones's Baby

    2016 · 3.1K votes

  • Movie6.8
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    Nanny McPhee

    2005 · 3.3K votes

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    Saving Mr. Banks

    2013 · 3.6K votes

Series24

  • TV7.5
  • TV6.1
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  • TV5.1
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    The Simpsons

    1989 · 11K votes

  • TV6.2

    The Kelly Clarkson Show

    2019 · 73 votes

  • TV4.3

    The View

    1997 · 113 votes

  • TV6.9

    Saturday Night Live

    1975 · 527 votes

  • TV7.2

    The Graham Norton Show

    2007 · 290 votes

  • TV5.6

    LIVE with Kelly and Mark

    1988 · 51 votes

  • TV7.3
  • TV5.4
  • TV7.6

    Cheers

    1982 · 713 votes

  • TV5.2

    Leute heute

    1997 · 5 votes

  • TV5.6

    The Ellen DeGeneres Show

    2003 · 179 votes

  • TV5.8

    GMTV

    1993 · 14 votes

  • TV7.9

    QI

    2003 · 289 votes

  • TV6.4

    The Tony Danza Show

    2004 · 8 votes

  • TV5.6

    Wetten, dass..?

    1981 · 24 votes

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    The Oscars

    1953 · 84 votes

  • TV7.1

    Screen Two

    1985 · 7 votes

  • TV6.1

    Ellen

    1994 · 58 votes

  • TV
  • TV5.2

    The Jonathan Ross Show

    2011 · 24 votes