Siân Phillips
Acting
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips DBE (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a Welsh actress, author and singer. Phillips was the daughter of Sally (née Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman. She is a Welsh-speaker and in the first volume of her autobiography, "Private Faces", she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio. She attended Pontardawe Grammar School and later read English and Philosophy at University College Cardiff, graduating in 1955. She entered RADA in LOndon, England with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson. She went on to win the prestigious Bancroft Gold Medal for Hedda Gabler and was offered work in Hollywood when she left RADA. While still a student she was offered three film contracts, entailing her to work for an extended period of time in the United States; but she declined, preferring to work on stage instead.
TV Shows(46)
Emperor: Rise & Fall of a Dynasty
Narrator
2024
Doctor Who
Enid Meadows
2024
Remembers…
Self
2022
The Chelsea Detective
Grandma Dix
2022
Wonders of the Celtic Deep
Self - Narrator
2021
A Year in the Beacons
Narrator
2021
McDonald & Dodds
Agnes Gillian
2020
Good Omens
Mr. Henderson
2019
Playhouse Presents
May
2012
The Last Detective
Vera Dulciman
2003
Attila
Grandmother
2001
The Magician's House
Meg Lewis
1999
The Scold's Bridle
Mathilda
1998
Arthouse
Self - Commentary
1997
Midsomer Murders
Lady Annabel Butler
1997
La Femme Nikita
Adrian
1997
Ivanhoe
Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine
1997
Silent Witness
Beattie Elletson
1996
The Return of the Borrowers
Mrs. Driver
1993
Heidi
Frau Sesemann
1993
The Sherman Plays
Self - Introduction
1993
The Borrowers
Mrs. Driver
1992
Perfect Scoundrels
Mother Aloysius
1990
Red Empire
Narrator (voice)
1990
Shadow of the Noose
Lady Scott
1989
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Mrs. Laura Upward
1989
Vanity Fair
Matilda Crawley
1987
A Killing on the Exchange
Isobel Makepeace
1987
The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
Duchess of Windsor
1987
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
Clementine Churchill
1981
Hammer House of Horror
Mrs. Henska
1980
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Ann Smiley
1979
Crime and Punishment
Katerina Ivánovna
1979
Tales of the Unexpected
Hermione
1979
Warrior Queen
Queen Boudicca
1978
I, Claudius
Livia
1976
How Green Was My Valley
Beth Morgan
1975
Shoulder to Shoulder
Emmeline Pankhurst
1974
Playhouse
Janet Achurch
1974
ITV Playhouse
May Bartram
1967
BBC Play of the Month
Anna Voinitseva
1965
Espionage
Anna
1963
Drama 61-67
Carole Blair
1961
Armchair Theatre
1956
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee
1956
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Lady Lavery
1951
Movies(68)
Richard Burton: Wild Genius
Self
2025
Apple Cider Vinegar
Voice
2024
Alec Guinness: A Class Act
self
2024
Siân Phillips at 90
Self
2023
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Self
2022
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
Self
2022
National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood
Mrs Utah Watkins / Polly Garter / Mrs Beyon
2021
Dream Horse
Maureen
2021
A Christmas Carol
Grandmother / narrator (voice)
2020
Summerland
Margaret Corey
2020
National Theatre Live: Les Blancs
Madame Neilsen
2019
Time & Again
Eleanor
2019
Be Happy!
2019
Nureyev
Narrator
2018
To Provide All People
Patient
2018
Miss Dalí
Anna Maria Dalí
2018
Voyageuse
Erica
2018
Hochelaga, Land of Souls
Sarah Walker
2017
Aberfan: The Green Hollow
2016
Under Milk Wood
Mrs. Pugh
2014
A Picture of London
Narrator
2012
Lovesong
Maggie
2012
The Mountain That Had To Be Painted
Narrator
2011
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
Self
2007
The Murder Room
Marie Strickland
2004
Still: Here/Now
Self
2003
Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film
Self - Ru (archive footage)
2003
Stalin: Inside the Terror
Narrator
2003
I, Claudius: A Television Epic
Self
2002
Cinderella: The ITV Pantomime
Evil Baroness
2000
Come and Go
Ru
2000
Aristocrats
Narrator/Older Lady Emily Lennox
1999
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Red Queen
1998
The Scold's Bridle
Mathilda Gillespie
1998
House of America
Mam
1997
The Mousehole Cat
Narrator
1995
The Vacillations of Poppy Carew
Calypso
1995
The Age of Innocence
Mrs. Archer
1993
The Chestnut Soldier
Nain Griffiths
1991
The Black Candle
Daisy Barnett
1991
Emlyn's Moon
Nain Griffiths
1990
Dark River
Mrs. Blessington
1990
Valmont
Madame de Volanges
1989
David Macaulay: Pyramid
Mersyankh (voice)
1989
The Snow Spider
Nain Griffiths
1988
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Charal
1985
The Doctor and the Devils
Annabella Rock
1985
Dune
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
1984
How Many Miles to Babylon?
Mrs Alicia Moore
1982
Clash of the Titans
Cassiopeia
1981
Carpathian Eagle
Mrs. Henska
1980
Nijinsky
Lady Ripon
1980
Heartbreak House
Hesione Hushabye
1977
The Achurch Letters
Janet Achurch
1977
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill
Mrs. Patrick Campbell
1974
Under Milk Wood
Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard
1972
Platonov
Anna
1971
Murphy's War
Hayden
1971
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Ursula Mossbank
1969
Laughter in the Dark
Lady Pamela More
1969
Thief
Woman
1968
It’s Dearer After Midnight
Jo
1968
Eh, Joe?
Voice
1966
Young Cassidy
Ella
1965
Becket
Gwendolen
1964
Don Juan in Hell
Dona Ana
1962
The Longest Day
WRNS Officer (uncredited)
1962
Frank and Percy