Shirley Henderson

Shirley Henderson (born 24 November 1965) is a Scottish actress. Her film roles include Gail in Trainspotting (1996), Jude in the three Bridget Jones films (2001), and Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Her other films include Topsy-Turvy (1999), Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002), Frozen (2005), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008), Anna Karenina (2012), and the Netflix film Okja (2017).

Shirley Henderson
Henderson in 2009
Born	24 November 1965 Forres, Moray, Scotland
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1987–present

Henderson starred opposite Robert Carlyle in the BBC series Hamish Macbeth (1995–97), and played Frances Drummond in the BBC drama Happy Valley (2016). She was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for the Channel 4 miniseries Southcliffe (2013), for the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 2017 film Never Steady, Never Still, and won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role as Elizabeth in the original production of Girl from the North Country.[1]

Early life

Henderson was born in Forres, Moray, and grew up in Kincardine-on-Forth, on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, in Fife.[2][3] As a child, she began singing in local clubs, at charity events, holiday camps and even a boxing contest.[2][4] At age 16, Henderson completed a one-year course at Adam Smith College, resulting in a National Certificate in Theatre Arts.[5] At 17, she moved to London, where she spent three years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1986.[6][7]

Career

Henderson's first television performance was in the leading role of Elizabeth Findlay in the 1987 ITV children's television drama Shadow of the Stone, for which she was cast by Leonard White.[8] Having appeared in theatrical productions in Scotland in 1986 and 1987,[9][10][11] she was directed by Peter Hall at the Royal National Theatre as Fanny Lock in Entertaining Strangers from October 1987 to March 1988,[12] and as Perdita in The Winter's Tale from April to November 1988.[13]

In 1990 she played the title role in Eurydice at the Chichester Festival,[14] and also appeared on television in Wish Me Luck[8] and Casualty.[15] She landed the key role of Isobel in the popular BBC series Hamish Macbeth in 1995.

Henderson then moved into films, playing Morag in Rob Roy (1995) and Spud's girlfriend Gail in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996). She continued her work in the theatre, including many productions at the National Theatre in London. The next year, she appeared in Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy, in she demonstrated her singing skills, and Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland.

Henderson played Jude in all three Bridget Jones films and Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). She co-starred in the British film Close Your Eyes (2002) along with Goran Višnjić and Miranda Otto and played French princess Sophie-Philippine in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).

Henderson pictured in 2009

She played the school matron in Nick Moore's 2008 film Wild Child.[16]

Small-screen appearances have included playing Marie Melmotte in The Way We Live Now (2001); Catherine of Braganza in Charles II: The Power and The Passion (2003); Charlotte in Dirty Filthy Love (2004); Ursula Blake in the Doctor Who episode "Love & Monsters" (2006); Emmeline Fox in The Crimson Petal and the White (2011); DS Angela Young in Death in Paradise (2011); and Meg Hawkins in Treasure Island (2012). She played Karen, the lead role, opposite John Simm in Channel 4's Everyday and Meme Kartosov in Anna Karenina.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1992	Salt on Our Skin	Mary		[17][15]
1995	Rob Roy	Morag		[8]
1996	Trainspotting	Gail		[8]
1998	Speak Like a Child	Woman in Dream	Uncredited	[15]
1999	Topsy-Turvy	Leonora Braham	Nominated – London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year	[8][18]
	Wonderland	Debbie Phillips		[8]
2000	The Claim	Annie		[8]
2001	Bridget Jones's Diary	Jude		[8]
2002	The Girl in the Red Dress	Gaynor		[8]
	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Moaning Myrtle		[8]
	Doctor Sleep	Detective Janet Losey		[15]
	Once Upon a Time in the Midlands	Shirley		[8]
	24 Hour Party People	Lindsay Wilson	Nominated – London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year	[8][19]
	Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself	Alice	Nominated – British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor/Actress	[15][20]
	Villa des Roses	Ella	Nominated – British Independent Film Award for Best Actress	[8][21]
2003	American Cousins	Alice		[8]
	Intermission	Sally		[8]
	Fishy	Glenda Sands		[8]
	AfterLife	Ruby		[8]
2004	Yes	Cleaner		[8]
	Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason	Jude		[8]
2005	A Cock and Bull Story	Susannah/Shirley Henderson	aka Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story	[8]
	The Girl in the Red Dress	Gaynor	Short	[8]
	Frozen	Kath Swarbrick	BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress in a Scottish Film Marrakech International Film Festival: Best Actress	[8][22][23]
	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Moaning Myrtle		[8]
2006	Marie Antoinette	Aunt Sophie		[8]
	Ma Boy	Ali		[8]
2007	I Really Hate My Job	Alice		[8]
2008	Wild Child	Matron		[8]
	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day	Edythe DuBarry		[8]
2009	Life During Wartime	Joy Jordan	Nominated – Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast	[8][24]
2010	Meek's Cutoff	Glory White		[8]
	The Nutcracker in 3D	The Nutcracker	Voice	[8]
2011	A Portentous Death	Ros		[15]
2012	Everyday	Karen Feguson		[8]
	Anna Karenina	opera house wife		[8]
2013	The Look of Love	Rusty Humphries		[8]
	In Secret	Suzanne		[8]
	Filth	Bunty Blades	Nominated for British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor/Actress	[8][25]
2015	Tale of Tales	Imma		[8]
	Urban Hymn	Kate Linton		[8]
2016	Bridget Jones's Baby	Jude		[8]
2017	T2 Trainspotting	Gail		[8]
	Okja	Jennifer		[8]
	Never Steady, Never Still	Judy	Nominated – Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress	[8][26]
2018	Stan & Ollie	Lucille Hardy		[8]
2019	Greed	Margaret		[8]
	Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker	Babu Frik	Voice	[8]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1987	Shadow of the Stone	Elizabeth Findlay	6 episodes	[8]
1990	Wish Me Luck	Sylvie	5 episodes	[8]
	Casualty	Denise	1 episode	[15]
1991	Dreaming	Pauline	TV movie	[8]
	Clarissa	Sally	3 episodes	[15]
	The Advocates	Andrea	3 episodes	[8]
1994	The Bill	Kelly Rogers	1 episode	[15]
1995	Lloyds Bank Film Challenge: You Know My Story	Diane		[15]
1995–97	Hamish Macbeth	Isobel Sutherland	20 episodes	[15]
1997	Bumping the Odds	Lynette	TV movie	[8]
2000	Animated Tales of the World: The Green Man of Knowledge		voice	[15]
2001	The Way We Live Now	Marie Melmotte	4 episodes Nominated – Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor – Female	[15][27]
	In a Land of Plenty	Anne Marie	10 episodes	[15]
2003	Charles II: The Power and The Passion	Catherine of Braganza	4 episodes	[8]
2004	Dirty Filthy Love	Charlotte	TV movie Nominated – Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor – Female	[8][27]
2005	ShakespeaRe-Told	Katherine Minola	The Taming of the Shrew	[15]
	E=Mc2 (also known as Einstein's Big Idea)	Mileva Maric	1 episode	[8]
2006	Doctor Who	Ursula Blake	Episode: "Love & Monsters"	[8]
2007	Wedding Belles	Kelly	TV movie	[8]
2008	Agatha Christie's Marple: Murder Is Easy	Honoria Waynflete		[8]
2009	May Contain Nuts	Alice Chaplin	2 episodes	[15]
2011	The Crimson Petal and the White	Emmeline Fox	3 episodes	[28]
	Death in Paradise	DS Angela Young		[29]
	The Gruffalo's Child	The Gruffalo's Child		[30]
2012	Treasure Island	Meg Hawkins	TV movie	[8]
2013	Southcliffe	Claire Salter	Nominated – BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress	[31][32]
	Bob Servant	Kirsty		[33]
2014	Jamaica Inn	Hannah		[8]
2016	Happy Valley	Frances Drummond	Series 2	[8]
2018	The ABC Murders	Rose Marbury	3 Part TV series	[34]
2020	The Nest	Siobhan	5 Part TV series	[35]
2020	Worzel Gummidge	Saucy Nancy		[32]

Theatre

Dates	Title	Role	Venue	Notes	Ref.
10 October–November 1986	The Grand Edinburgh Fire Balloon		Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh		[9]
December 1986–January 1987	A Wildcat Christmas Carol	Tiny Tim	Kilmarnock		[10]
April 1987	The Threepenny Opera	Lucy Brown	Dundee Repertory Theatre		[11][36]
9 October 1987–26 March 1988	Entertaining Strangers	Fanny Lock	Royal National Theatre, London	director: Peter Hall	[37][12]
28 April–24 November 1988	The Winter's Tale	Perdita	Royal National Theatre, London	director: Peter Hall	[13]
March 1989	My Mother Said I Never Should	Rosie	Royal Court Theatre, London	author: Charlotte Keatley, director: Michael Attenborough	[38][39]
7 June–28 July 1990	Eurydice	Eurydice	Festival Theatre, Chichester	director: Michael Rudman	[14]
1 August–5 September 1992	The Life of Stuff	Evelyn	Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh	director: John Mitchell	[40]
Opened 19 April 1993	Lion in the Streets	Isobel	Hampstead Theatre, London	author: Judith Thompson, director: Matthew Lloyd	[41]
8–30 October 1993	Romeo and Juliet	Juliet	Citizens Theatre, Glasgow	director: Giles Havergal	[42]
23 March–2 April 1994	The Mill on the Floss	Maggie Tulliver	New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich (followed by tour)	author: George Eliot, directors: Nancy Meckler, Polly Teale	[43]
27 April–20 May 1995	The Maiden Stone	Mary	Hampstead Theatre, London	author: Rosa Munro, director: Matthew Lloyd	[44][45]
10–20 September 1997	The House of Bernarda Alba	Stuart Davids	The Tramway, Glasgow	author: Federico García Lorca, director: Stuart Davids	[46]
9 November–10 December 1997	Shining Souls	Mandy	Old Vic, London		[47][48]
22 November−18 December 1999	Anna Weiss	Lynn	Whitehall Theatre, London	author: Mike Cullen, director Michael Attenborough	[49]
8 July-7 October 2017	Girl from the North Country	Elizabeth Laine	Old Vic, London	director: Conor McPherson Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical	[50][1][51]
30 December 2017–24 March 2018	Girl from the North Country	Elizabeth Laine	Noël Coward Theatre, London	director: Conor McPherson	[52]

References

1. Mayo, Douglas (9 April 2018). "Olivier Awards 2018 – The Winners". britishtheatre.com. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018.
2. Gilbey, Ryan (5 December 2003). "Shirley Henderson: The rise of little voice". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009.
3. "'The Way We Live Now': Who's Who: Marie Melmotte — Shirley Henderson". Public Broadcasting Service. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016.
4. Neill, Heather (20 December 2013). "Mistress of the roles". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
5. Shimmon, Katie (13 January 2004). "College days: Shirley Henderson, actress". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017.
6. McLean, Gareth (6 November 2004). "Shirley, by degrees". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017.
7. "Acting graduates include..." Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 2007. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008.
8. "Shirley Henderson". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 30 September 2020. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
9. "Theatre News". The Stage. 9 October 1986. p. 16.
10. Moore, John (15 January 1987). "Seasonal Shows: Kilmarnock: A Wildcat Christmas Carol". The Stage. p. 16.
11. "Regional". The Stage. 9 April 1987. p. 26.
12. "Record: Entertaining Strangers". Royal National Theatre Archives. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
13. "Record: The Winter's Tale". Royal National Theatre Archives. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
14. "Cast list, Eurydice (1990)". Chichester Festival Theatre. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
15. "Henderson, Shirley (1965–)". screenonline.org.uk. British Film Institute. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
16. Woods, Judith (15 March 2016). "Happy Valley's Shirley Henderson: 'I didn't realise I was that terrifying'". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
17. Nesselson, Lisa (14 May 1993). "Salt on Our Skin". Variety. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
18. Neill, Heather (20 December 2013). "Mistress of the roles". The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
19. Jury, Louise (3 January 2003). "And this year's winner is ... unlikely to be a home-grown screen star". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
20. "Shirley Henderson". bifa.film. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
21. Oddy, Jane (31 October 2002). "Scots movie stars' sweet night- Newcomers' gritty drama scoops top awards at bash". Daily Record. Scotland. pp. 14–15.
22. "British actress Shirley Henderson holds". gettyimages.co.uk. 19 November 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
23. Lyons, Beverley; Bennett, Cath (14 November 2005). "The Razz: Stars Dazzle at the BAFTAs – Scots gather for awards". Daily Record. Scotland. pp. 16–17.
24. "2010 Winners and nominees". Gotham Independent Film Awards. Archived from the original on 19 February 2017. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
25. Kit, Borys (26 November 2013). "James McAvoy's 'Filth' Lands at Magnolia". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
26. "Shirley Henderson". Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Archived from the original on 28 December 2020. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
27. "Winners". rts.org.uk. Royal Television Society. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
28. "The Crimson Petal and the White[06/04/2011] (2011)". bfi.org.uk. British Film Institute. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
29. "Death in Paradise: Series 1 – Episode 6: An Unhelpful Aid". Radio Times. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
30. "The Gruffalo's Child". BBC One. Archived from the original on 16 October 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
31. "Cast interviews: Shirley Henderson – Claire Salter". Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
32. Christie, Janet (19 December 2020). "Shirley Henderson stars in Mackenzie Crook's Worzel Gummidge TV film on Christmas Eve". The Scotsman. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
33. "Kirsty". BBC. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
34. Martin, Laura (28 December 2018). "ABC Murders cast: who stars with John Malkovich in the Poirot BBC drama?". The Independent. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
35. English, Paul (22 March 2020). "Shirley Henderson on sexism, mental health and her new BBC drama". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
36. Smith, Charles (7 May 1987). "Dundee: The Threepenny Opera". The Stage. p. 12.
37. "Theatre Week". The Stage. 15 October 1987. p. 8.
38. "Uptown". Hayes & Harlington Gazette. 1 March 1989. p. 26.
39. Armistead, Claire (4 March 1989). "Arts: Review of 'My Mother Said I never should' at the Royal Court". Financial Times. p. XXVII.
40. "Theatre Week". The Stage. 30 July 1992. p. 10.
41. "Production News". The Stage. 1 April 1993. p. 10.
42. "Production News". The Stage. 7 October 1993. p. 12.
43. "Theatre Week". The Stage. 17 March 1994. p. 10.
44. "Production news". The Stage. 6 April 1995. p. 47.
45. Munro, Rosa (10 May 1996). "Oh, how could you treat a poor Maiden so?". The Independent. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
46. "Aiming high, but falling short". The Independent. 15 September 1997. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
47. "Theatre Week". The Stage. 6 November 1997. p. 55.
48. "Reviews: Theatre One wedding, whose funeral?". The Independent. 12 November 1997. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
49. "Archive page for Anna Weiss". Albemarle-London.com. Archived from the original on 13 December 2010. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
50. "Girl From the North Country Review". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
51. "Olivier Awards 2018: Winners in full". BBC News. 9 April 2018. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
52. "Girl From the North Country, Noël Coward Theatre, review". The Daily Telegraph. 11 January 2018. Archived from the original on 18 March 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2018.

External links

• Shirley Henderson at IMDb
• Shirley Henderson at Hamilton Hodell Talent Management