Judy Parfitt

More notable credits include: Mildred Layton in the 1984 ITV television series The Jewel in the Crown, for which she received her first BAFTA award nomination; Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1980 television serial version of Pride and Prejudice; Vera Donovan in the 1995 film adaptation of Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne; and as Maria Thins in the 2003 film Girl with a Pearl Earring, for which she earned another BAFTA award nomination for Best Supporting Actress; and as Sister Monica Joan in the BBC drama series Call the Midwife, (2012-2026).

• Name — Judy Parfitt • Birth Name — Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt • Born — 7 November 1935 • Birthplace — Sheffield, Yorkshire, England • Occupation — Actress • Education — Royal Academy of Dramatic Art • Children — 1 • Years Active — 1954–present

Parfitt was born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire in 1935 to Catherine Josephine (née Caulton) and Lawrence Hamilton Parfitt. As a teenager, she attended Notre Dame High School for Girls and later trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1953.

Parfitt began her career in theatre in 1954, appearing in a production of Fools Rush In at the Amersham Repertory Company. In 1968, Parfitt appeared in the Hammer television film Journey to The Unknown, opposite Joseph Cotten and hosted by Joan Crawford. In 1978, Parfitt appeared opposite Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright and Frank Finlay in the episode "Saturday, Sunday, Monday" of Laurence Olivier Presents. In 1981 she created the role of Eleanor in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Peter Nichols' Passion Play. In 1984 she played Deidre in Jack Rosenthal's The Chain. In 1987, she appeared in Maurice. Two of her most notable past roles are Mildred Layton in The Jewel in the Crown (1984), for which she received her first BAFTA nomination, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1980 TV serial version of Pride and Prejudice. In 1995, she appeared in Dolores Claiborne playing the protagonist's domineering former employer who is dying in present-time, but is seen as a vibrant, glowing woman in flashback sequences. Parfitt has appeared in some American television shows, beginning with her regular role as Snow White's Stepmother, Evil Queen Lillian "Lily" White in the series The Charmings. Parfitt's real-life husband Tony Steedman guest-starred as Santa Claus in The Charmings' second season Christmas special. She appeared on an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1989, and as the mother of Dr Elizabeth Corday (played by Alex Kingston) on several episodes of ER in 2002. In 1998, she played the role of Queen Marie in Ever After: A Cinderella Story. Parfitt played Lady Mount-Temple in the biopic film Wilde, alongside Stephen Fry, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Jones in 1997. In 2003, she played Maria Thins in Girl with a Pearl Earring, which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Parfitt played the domineering American dowager, Mrs van Schuyler, opposite David Suchet, James Fox, Frances de la Tour and David Soul in a feature-length episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot in the 2004 edition of Death on the Nile. In 2008, she appeared as the primary villainess in Little Dorrit, as the cruel Mrs Clennam, alongside Alun Armstrong, Sue Johnston and Matthew Macfadyen. At Christmas 2011, she appeared in a small role similar to that which she portrayed in Little Dorrit as Aunt Chastity along with Una Stubbs and Phyllida Law in The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff. In 2012, Parfitt began appearing in the BBC TV series Call the Midwife as Sister Monica Joan, an elderly nun in early stages of dementia. Sister Monica Joan's strong educational background and knowledge of classical literature are often used in the programme as a way of reflecting on the unfolding drama. Her character died in the season 15 finale, which aired in March 2026 when Parfitt was at the age of 90. Parfitt has also recently appeared in BBC's spy tale, The Game; a film, Hello Carter; a Radio 4 show, Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups; and Jessica Hynes's suffragette sitcom Up the Women.

In 1963, Parfitt married actor Tony Steedman in Harrow, Middlesex. He died in 2001. The couple had a son.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1962 — The Avengers — Miss Ellis — Episode: "Bullseye" • 1962 — Z-Cars — June Clifford — Episode: "Information Received" • 1963 — The Odd Man — Lisa Kapp — Episode: "Portrait of Caroline" • 1963 — The Avengers — Brenda Paterson — Episode: "The White Elephant" • 1963 — The Sentimental Agent — Sally Clare — Episode: "The Height of Fashion" • 1965 — Public Eye — Marion Hordern — Episode: "But the Joneses Never Get Letters" • 1965 — Undermind — Marion Gordon — Episode: “The New Dimension” • 1965 — Out of the Unknown — Marie — Episode: "Time in Advance" • 1965 — The Wednesday Play — Dorothy Gorbet — Episode: "Tomorrow, Just You Wait" • 1965 — Z-Cars — Christina Haines — Episode: "But the Crying..." • 1967 — The Saint — Anne Liskard — Episode: "The Persistent Patriots" • 1967 — The Avengers — Vesta — Episode: "Escape in Time" • 1967 — Adam Adamant Lives! — Ireyna — Episode: "Black Echo" • 1967 — Les Misérables — Mme. Thenardier — 5 episodes • 1967 — Angel Pavement — Lilian Matfield — 4 episodes • 1968 — Dixon of Dock Green — Mary Dewar — Episode: "The Attack" • 1968 — The Avengers — Loris — Episode: "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?" • 1969 — Journey to the Unknown — Faith Wheeler — Episode: "Do Me a Favor and Kill Me" • 1970 — Villette — Lucy Snowe — 5 episodes • 1971 — Shadows of Fear — Episode: "The Death Watcher" • 1973 — Play for Today — Episode: "Like the Filmstar" • 1973 — The Protectors — Lena Hayden — Episode: "Lena" • 1974 — Shoulder to Shoulder — Lady Constance Lytton — Episode: "Lady Constance Lytton" • 1975 — Crown Court — Pauline Fanshawe — Episode: "The Healing Hand: Part 1" • 1976–82 — Crown Court — Gillian Forrest QC — 16 episodes • 1978 — Rumpole of the Bailey — Anna Aspen — Episode: "Rumpole and the Honourable Member" • 1978 — Laurence Olivier Presents — Unknown episodes • 1979 — Malice Aforethought — Julia Bickleigh — 2 episodes • 1980 — Pride and Prejudice — Lady Catherine de Bourgh — 2 episodes • 1980 — A Tale of Two Cities — Madame Defarge — 7 episodes • 1981 — Yes Minister — Betty Oldham — Episode: "A Question of Loyalty" • 1984 — The Jewel in the Crown — Mildred Layton — 9 episodes Nominated—BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress • 1986 — Mr Pye — Miss Dredger — 4 episodes • 1987–88 — The Charmings — Queen Lillian White — 21 episodes • 1989 — Murder, She Wrote — Peggy Brooks — Episode: "From Russia...with Blood" • 1992 — The Blackheath Poisonings — Harriet Collard — 3 episodes • 1993 — The Alleyn Mysteries — Lady O'Callaghan — Episode: "The Nursing Home Murder" • 1993 — Eye of the Storm — Martha Tabbert — 6 episodes • 1997 — Holding the Baby — Margaret — Episode: "#1.7" • 1998 — Berkeley Square — Lady Harmonsworth — Episode: "Ladybird, Ladybird" • 1999 — Midsomer Murders — Angela Wentworth — Episode: "Death's Shadow" • 2000, 2001 — ER — Isabelle Corday — Episodes: “Abby Road”, “Be Still My Heart” and "April Showers" • 2001 — Murder in Mind — Margaret Collins — Episode: "Mercy" • 2004 — Agatha Christie's Poirot — Miss Van Schuyler — Episode: "Death on the Nile" • 2004 — The Long Firm — Lady Ruth Thursby — Episode: "Teddy's Story" • 2005 — Funland — Mercy Woolf — 11 episodes • 2008 — Heartbeat — Lady Veronique — Episode: "Danse Macabre" • 2008 — Little Dorrit — Mrs. Clennam — 12 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film • 2008 — Midsomer Murders — Caroline Halsey — Episode: "Days of Misrule" • 2009 — Jonathan Creek — Constance Gessler — Episode: "The Grinning Man" • 2012–2026 — Call the Midwife — Sister Monica Joan — 102 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film • 2012 — The Syndicate — Maureen — Episode: "#1.2" • 2012 — Vera — Maggie — Episode: "A Certain Samaritan" • 2013 — Agatha Christie's Marple — Cicely Beauclerk — Episode: "Greenshaw's Folly" • 2013 — Up the Women — Myrtle — Series regular • 2015 — The Game — Hester Waterhouse — 5 episodes