Miriam Margolyes

Subsequent credits include Yentl (1983), Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Little Dorrit (1988), I Love You to Death (1990), Immortal Beloved (1994), Balto (1995), Different for Girls, Romeo + Juliet (both 1996), Magnolia, End of Days (both 1999), Being Julia, and Ladies in Lavender (both 2004). She voiced roles in Babe (1995), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Mulan (1998), Happy Feet (2006), Flushed Away (2006), and Early Man (2018). Her other credits include Blackadder (1983–1988), Vanity Fair, Supply & Demand (both 1998), and Doctor Who (2023), as well as the recurring roles of Prudence Stanley in the Australian drama series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (2012–2015), and Sister Mildred in the BBC1 drama series Call the Midwife (2018–2021).[38] On stage, Margolyes toured her one-woman show, Dickens' Women, between 1989 and 2012, which earned her an Olivier Award nomination; starred as Sue Mengers in the Australian premiere of I'll Eat You Last (2014); and originated the role of Madame Morrible in Wicked (West End, 2006; Broadway, 2008). In 2025, she starred in the short film A Friend of Dorothy, which was nominated for the Best Live Action Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards.[2][54][55] Outside of acting, she has fronted various travelogue series and written three memoirs: This Much Is True[48] (2021),[97] Oh Miriam! (2023), and The Little Book of Miriam (2025).[99]

Miriam Margolyes studied at Newnham College, Oxford High School and University of Cambridge. The recorded working language is English. Residence is recorded at London and Kent. Works named in the authority record are Babe. Distinctions recorded are Officer of the Order of the British Empire and Audie Award for Best Female Narrator.

• Name — Miriam Margolyes • Born — 18 May 1941 • Birthplace — Oxford, England • Citizenship — * United Kingdom • Australia (since 2013) • Education — Oxford High School University of Cambridge • Awards — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role • Known for — * The Age of Innocence • Yentl • Harry Potter • End of Days • Occupation — * Actress • comedian • narrator • author • Years Active — 1963–present • Political Party — Labour • Other Party — Workers Revolutionary Party (1970s)[1] • Partner — Heather Sutherland (1968–present) • Website — miriammargolyes.com

Miriam Margolyes was born on 18 May 1941 in Oxford, England,[3] into an Ashkenazi Jewish family of Russian-Jewish and Belarusian-Jewish origins. She is the only child of Joseph Margolyes (1899–1995), a Scottish-born physician and general practitioner from the Strathbungo area of Glasgow,[4] and property developer Ruth[5] (Sandeman; 1905–1974), daughter of a second-hand furniture dealer and auctioneer at Kirkdale, Liverpool, who later relocated to London. The maternal family surname changed from Sandeman to Walters before Margolyes' birth.[7][8] Her maternal great-grandfather, Symeon Sandmann, was born in the Polish town of Margonin, then part of the Kingdom of Prussia, which Margolyes visited in 2013. Her paternal grandfather, Philip Margolyes, was born in the small Belarusian shtetl of Amdur, then in Grodno Governorate, Russian Empire. Margolyes attended Oxford High School and Newnham College, Cambridge.[10] There, in her 20s, she began acting and appeared in productions by the Cambridge Footlights.[11] She represented Newnham College in the first series of University Challenge, where she may have been one of the first people to say "fuck" on British television;[12] she claims to have used the word in frustration on the show in 1963. The word was "bleeped out" for transmission.[13][14]

• Illustration — Margolyes reading Oliver Twist in 2006 With her versatile voice, Margolyes first gained recognition as a voice artist. In the 1970s, she recorded a soft-porn audio titled Sexy Sonia: Leaves from my Schoolgirl Notebook.[18] In 1972, she played alongside Tony Robinson in the educational TV show Sam on Boffs' Island. She performed most of the supporting female characters in the dubbed Japanese action TV series Monkey. She also worked with the theatre company Gay Sweatshop and provided voiceovers in the Japanese TV series The Water Margin.[19][20] In 1974, she appeared with Kenneth Williams and Ted Ray in the BBC Radio 2 comedy series The Betty Witherspoon Show.[21] Margolyes's first major film role was as Elephant Ethel in Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977). In the 1980s, she made appearances in Blackadder opposite Rowan Atkinson: these roles include the Spanish Infanta in The Black Adder, Lady Whiteadder in Blackadder II, and Queen Victoria in Blackadder's Christmas Carol. In 1986, she played a major supporting role in the BBC drama The Life and Loves of a She-Devil. She won the 1989 LA Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Flora Finching in the film Little Dorrit (1988). On American television, she headlined the short-lived 1992 CBS sitcom Frannie's Turn.[22] In 1994, she won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs Mingott in Martin Scorsese's The Age of Innocence (1993). Margolyes played the dental nurse to Steve Martin's dentist in the 1986 film Little Shop of Horrors. In her 2023 memoir Oh Miriam: Stories from an Extraordinary Life, Margolyes said Martin was "undeniably brilliant, but horrid to me" during the film.[24] Martin responded that "My memory is that we had a good communication as professional actors. But when it is implied that I harmed her or was in some way careless about doing the stunts, I have to object".[25] In 1989, Margolyes co-wrote and performed a one-woman show, Dickens' Women, in which she played 23 characters from Dickens' novels.[26] In 2005, she hosted a ten-part BBC Four documentary, Dickens in America, which retraced Dickens's 1842 journey across the United States of America.[27] Margolyes played Aunt Sponge and voiced the Glow-Worm in James and the Giant Peach (1996). She played the Nurse in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996). She voiced the rabbit character in the animated commercials for Cadbury's Caramel bars[28] and provided the voice of Fly the dog in the Australian-American family film Babe (1995).[29] She played Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and again in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). In a 2011 interview on The Graham Norton Show, Margolyes said she got on well with Maggie Smith, but bluntly admitted that she "didn't like the one that died", referring to Richard Harris.[30] In 2024, she enraged adult Harry Potter fans by stating, "I worry about Harry Potter fans because they should be over that by now. It was 25 years ago, and it's for children."[31] Fans responded on X, one saying "Nobody has a right to try and shame people into not enjoying something they harmlessly enjoy." Louis Chilton wrote in The Independent that "Margolyes does have that right. Don't we all? And what's a bit of shame every now and then between friends[32]?" In 2004, Margolyes played Peg Sellers, the mother of Peter Sellers, in the Golden Globe-winning film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Margolyes was one of the original cast of the London production of the musical Wicked opposite Idina Menzel in 2006, playing Madame Morrible, a role she reprised on Broadway in 2008.[35] In 2009, she appeared in a new production of Endgame by Samuel Beckett at the Duchess Theatre in the West End.[36] Margolyes voiced Mrs Plithiver, a blind snake, in the 3D-animated-epic film Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole (2010). In 2011, she recorded a narrative for the album The Devil's Brides by klezmer musician-ethnographer Yale Strom.[37] Margolyes played the recurring character Prudence Stanley in the Australian-based TV series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries from 2012 to 2015. In 2014, she voiced Nana in the Disney Junior animated series Nina Needs to Go[39]! In January 2016, Margolyes appeared in The Real Marigold Hotel, a travel documentary in which a group of eight celebrities travelled to India to see whether retirement would be more rewarding there than in the UK.[40] The series was reprised for two Christmas Specials, The Real Marigold On Tour, from Florida and Kyoto.[41] She narrated the 2016 ITV documentary about Lady Colin Campbell entitled Lady C and the Castle.[42] In December 2017, Margolyes appeared in the second season of The Real Marigold On Tour to Chengdu and Havana.[43] She appeared in the first episode of the third series, in which she travelled to St Petersburg with Bobby George, Sheila Ferguson and Stanley Johnson. • Illustration — Margolyes in Edinburgh in August 2025 during the Q&A session after her show Margolyes and Dickens: More Best Bits In January 2018, Margolyes hosted a three‑part BBC series titled Miriam's Big American Adventure, highlighting citizens of the United States and the issues facing the country.[44] She voiced Queen Oofeefa in the film Early Man.[45] Margolyes portrayed Mother Mildred in the BBC One drama Call the Midwife from 2018 until 2021.[46] She played Miss Shepherd in a 2019 production of The Lady in the Van for the Melbourne Theatre Company in Melbourne in Australia.[47] In October 2021, she played Lillian opposite Helen Monks in the BBC Radio 4 sitcom Charlotte and Lillian, where she introduced her autobiography This Much Is True. On 5 November, she appeared on BBC One's The Graham Norton Show, where she discussed the book, explaining that it was written only because she "was paid an enormous amount of money". On 16 September, the book was published by Hachette Books.[49] In April 2022, Margolyes was the subject of the BBC documentary Miriam Margolyes: Up for Grabs in the Imagine... series, where she was interviewed by Alan Yentob.[50] She appeared on BBC Radio 4's The Museum of Curiosity in February 2023. Her hypothetical donation to this imaginary museum was "Charles Dickens and all his works".[51] In November 2023, Margolyes appeared as the voice of The Meep in "The Star Beast", the first of three Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials.[52] In 2025, she performed as a solo entertainer in her show Margolyes and Dickens: More Best Bits at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. That same year, she starred in A Friend of Dorothy, which was nominated for Best Live Action Short Film at the 98th Academy Awards.

• Illustration — Margolyes shortly after being presented with her Australian citizenship certificate by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, 2013 Margolyes spent many years living for long periods in Australia,[56] and became an Australian citizen on Australia Day 2013 while retaining her British citizenship. She identifies as lesbian,[57] and referred to herself as a "dyke" live on national television and in front of Australian prime minister Julia Gillard in 2013.[58] Since 1968, she has been in a relationship with Heather Sutherland,[59] an Australian retired professor of Indonesian studies. On 26 June 2013, Sutherland and Margolyes entered into a civil partnership.[60] As of 2012, they were dividing their time between homes in London and Kent in England, Robertson, New South Wales in Australia, and Montisi in Italy.[61] In November 2023, Margolyes revealed on The Graham Norton Show that she and Sutherland had never lived together but she wanted to do so as they were now both old and did not have much time left. She had been living in London and Sutherland had been living in Amsterdam for a while.[65]

Margolyes has spoken openly about several health challenges in later life. She has been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a condition that causes narrowing of the spinal canal and affects mobility. As a result, she uses mobility aids, including walking sticks, a walker, and a mobility scooter, and is registered as disabled.[66] She also suffers from osteoarthritis, which contributes to chronic pain in her legs, hands, and back, and has undergone knee replacement surgery on her left knee.[67] In May 2023, she underwent a transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI), a minimally invasive heart procedure in which her aortic valve was replaced with one made from the tissue of a cow's heart.[68][69] In July 2025, Margolyes responded to renewed media speculation about her health, following earlier claims that she had said in an interview she was "probably going to die within the next five or six years, if not before". In a video message, she dismissed claims that she was "at death's door" as "bollocks", affirming she was "very much alive" and preparing to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[70][71] In August 2025, during an interview with the Daily Mails Weekend magazine, Margolyes expressed support for assisted dying, stating she would consider it if a stroke left her unable to speak, doubly incontinent or cognitively impaired.[73]

Margolyes is a patron of My Death My Decision, a UK organisation that seeks to legalise medical assisted suicide if that is a person's persistent wish.[74] She is a supporter of Sense (the National Deafblind and Rubella Association), and was the host at the first Sense Creative Writing Awards, held at the Charles Dickens Museum in London in December 2006, where she read works written by deafblind people.[75] She is also a campaigner for the respite care charity Crossroads.[76]

Margolyes's political activism started at university. "I came from a very middle-class Jewish background, always Tory-voting", she later said. However, in the 1970s, she joined the Workers Revolutionary Party with other actors and Equity members, including Vanessa Redgrave, Frances de la Tour, and Tom Kempinski. Margolyes is a member of the Labour Party and is registered to vote in Vauxhall. In August 2015, she was a signatory to a letter criticising The Jewish Chronicles reporting of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's alleged associations with antisemites.[77] In November 2019, she endorsed the Labour Party in the UK general election because of their policies on the National Health Service.[78] Later in the month, along with other public figures, she signed a letter supporting Corbyn and describing him as a "beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia, and racism in much of the democratic world".[80] Margolyes was very critical of the British Government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. She considered it "a public scandal" and "a disgrace". With the Prime Minister hospitalised suffering from COVID-19, Margolyes said "I had difficulty not wanting Boris Johnson to die."[81] In her 2020 ABC series Almost Australian, Margoyles interviewed the Sistergirls of the Tiwi Islands, a transgender group of indigenous Australians. Margoyles can be seen telling the group "to be a woman you're gonna have to get rid of all that stuff [referring to facial hair] but I get whiskers on my chin and I have to pluck them out with tweezers because that's what women do," before being told by one of the indigenous members "you know, in our culture we respect that person regardless of the look. We don't look on the outside, it's the inside that you have to change." Margolyes responded "I apologise, now I understand."[82] In a 2022 interview with Radio Times, Margolyes questioned the usefulness of attacks on J. K. Rowling despite disagreeing with Rowling's stance on trans people, commenting that "There is a spectrum and people can be anywhere along that. There isn't one answer to all these trans questions".[83] In November 2023, Margolyes said during another appearance on The Graham Norton Show that her position had changed after a discussion with Zoe Terakes, a trans Australian actor, and that she no longer believed that grammar was paramount over making someone happy by using their preferred pronouns.[84] On 15 October 2022, after being interviewed by Justin Webb about the recently deceased Robbie Coltrane on BBC Radio 4's Today, she commented to the presenters that she had never expected to be in a seat that had just been vacated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt. She said, live on air, "When I saw him there I just said, 'You've got a hell of a job, the best of luck', and what I really wanted to say was 'Fuck you, you bastard[85]!'" She was herself shaken by the blunder, explaining to a researcher as she left the studio that she thought the mics were off at the time of the comment.[87] She is a signatory of Jews for Justice for Palestinians.[88] Margolyes said, "What I want to try to do is to get Jewish people to understand what's really going on, and they don't want to hear it. If you speak to most Jews and say, 'Can Israel ever be in the wrong?' they say, 'No. Our duty as Jews is to support Israel whatever happens.' And I don't believe that. It is our duty as human beings to report the truth as we see it."[89] On 6 April 2024, a video by Margolyes was published by the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) criticising the Israeli government for its ongoing invasion of the Gaza Strip and calling on Jews to "shout, beg, scream" for a ceasefire. In her 2.5 minute video she said:[90] The Campaign Against Antisemitism described these comments as "repugnant" and "anti-Jewish venom". It said it would write to the Honours Forfeiture Committee and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and urge them to revoke her honours.[92] Jewish author and activist Andrew Feinstein said Margolyes is "a Jew who believes that ‘Never Again' applies to all humanity and speaks up about the reality that Israel does not represent us. She speaks truth to power in the best Jewish tradition".[93] Margolyes said "I'm not antisemitic, I'm anti-killing children. I am criticising the Israeli government. But I am also criticising the Jewish people in the UK, the community that I belong to, which is not coming out in support of me. I just want people not to kill each other".[94] In June 2025 Margolyes again endorsed a JCA campaign over Palestinians facing starvation calling on the Australian Government to sanction Israel.[95]

Author and comedian David Walliams says he used Margolyes as a model for the title character in his children's book Awful Auntie after an argument with her during a stage production, though he stressed that he has nothing against her and is a fan of her work.[101]

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1965 — Theatre 625 — Rita — Episode: "Enter Solly Gold" • 1967 — Crossroads — Mrs Perkins — 3 episodes • ITV Play of the Week — Heidi — Episode: "The English Climate" • Boy Meets Girl — Maria — Episode: "Flight of the Kingfisher" • 1968 — Dixon of Dock Green — Anna — Episode: "An Ordinary Man" • 1969 — Thirty-Minute Theatre — Voice — Episode: "The Boat to Addis Ababa" • ITV Playhouse — Kathie — Episode: "The Ha Ha" • 1972 — A Place in the Sun — Maid — Episode: "Achilles Heel" • Jackanory Playhouse — The Witch — Episode: "The Wily Wizard and the Wicked Witch" • 1972–73 — Words and Pictures — Various Voices — 20 episodes • 1973 — Doctor in Charge — Doris — Episode: "Men without Women" • 1974 — World of Laughter — Various parts — 6 episodes • Fall of Eagles — Anna Vyrubova — Episode: "Tell the King the Sky is Falling" • 1975 — The Girls of Slender Means — Jane Wright — 3 episodes • 1976 — Christmas Box — Mrs Kaplan — Television film • Angels — June Morris — 2 episodes • Kizzy — Mrs Doe — 2 episodes • The Glittering Prizes — Olive Wise — TV serial • The Water Margin — Voice — English dub of Japanese series • 1976, 1982 — Crown Court — Marilyn Munro; Mrs King — 2 episodes • 1977 — Play for Today — Veronica — Episode: "The Thin Edge of the Wedge" • Spasms — Rose Finn — Television film • 1978 — Monkey — Voice — English dub of Japanese series Saiyûki 52 episodes • 1980 — The Lost Tribe — Queenie — TV serial • Tales of the Unexpected — Mary Burge — Episode: "Fat Chance" • 1981 — Take a Letter, Mr Jones — Maria — 6 episodes • A Kick Up the Eighties — Various roles — 3 episodes • The History Man — Melissa Tordoroff — 3 episodes • 1983 — The Black Adder — Infanta Maria Escalosa of Spain — Episode: "The Queen of Spain's Beard" • 1984 — Freud — Baroness — TV serial • 1985 — Oliver Twist — Mrs Corney — TV serial • Honour, Profit and Pleasure — Elephant and Castle — Television film • 1986 — The Life and Loves of a She-Devil — Nurse Hopkins — 2 episodes • Blackadder II — Lady Whiteadder — Episode: "Beer" • A Little Princess — Miss Amelia — 6 episodes • Scotch and Wry — Various — Television film • 1987 — Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story — Elsa Maxwell — Television film • 1988 — Blackadder's Christmas Carol — Queen Victoria — Television Special • Mr Majeika — Wilhelmina Worlock — 2 episodes • 1989 — Murderers Among Us — Mrs Rajzman — Television film • 1990 — Orpheus Descending — Vee Talbot • The Finding — Poll • Screen Two — Nellie — Episode: "Old Flames" • 1991 — Tonight at 8.30 — Mrs Wadhurst — 2 episodes • 1992 — Stalin — Nadezhda Krupskaya — Television film • Frannie's Turn — Frannie Escobar — 6 episodes • 1993 — The Comic Strip Presents... — Mother — Episode: "Demonella" • 1994 — Just William — Miss Polliter — Episode: "William's Busy Day" • Moonacre — Old Elspeth — 6 episodes • 1995 — Cold Comfort Farm — Mrs Beetle — Television film • 1997 — The IMAX Nutcracker — Sugar Plum — Short film • The Phoenix and the Carpet — Cook — BBC TV serial • The Place of Lions — Miss Cole — Television film • 1998 — Vanity Fair — Miss Crawley — TV serial • The First Snow of Winter — Sean McDuck — Voice; UK version • Supply & Demand — Chief Superintendent Edna Colley — TV serial • 1998, 2001 — Rugrats — Shirley Finster — Voice; 3 episodes • 2000 — Dharma & Greg — Chloe — Episode: "Midwife Crisis" • 2004 — Agatha Christie's Marple — Mrs Price-Ridley — Episode: The Murder at the Vicarage • The Life and Death of Peter Sellers — Peg Sellers — Television film, HBO • 2005 — Wallis & Edward — Bessie Merryman — Television film • Inconceivable — Malva — Episode: "Balls in Your Court" • 2006 — Jam & Jerusalem — Mrs Midge — Season 2, Episode 6 • 2008 — Kingdom — Henny — Episode 2.04 • 2009 — The Sarah Jane Adventures — Leef Slitheen-Blathereen — Voice; 2 episodes • 2010 — Tinga Tinga Tales — Giraffe and Squirrel — Voice; Recurring Role • Merlin[104] — Grunhilda — Episode: "The Changeling" • 2011 — Doc Martin — Shirley — Episode: Born with a Shotgun • 2012–15 — Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries — Prudence Elizabeth Stanley — 12 episodes • 2013 — Hebburn — Millie — Christmas special • 2014 — Nina Needs to Go! — Nana Sheila — Voice; 15 episodes • Trollied — Rose — Series 4 • 2016 — Plebs — Iona — Episode: "The Cupid" • 2016–17 — Bottersnikes & Gumbles — Weathersnike — 3 episodes • 2016–18 — Rake — Huntley-Brown — 3 episodes • 2017 — Bucket — Mim — 4 episodes • Family Guy — Right Eyeball — Voice; Episode: "Emmy-Winning Episode" • 2018–21 — Call the Midwife — Sister Mildred/Mother Mildred — 7 episodes • 2019 — 101 Dalmatian Street — Bessie — Voice; Episode: "A Summer to Remember" • 2020 — The Windsors — Queen Victoria — Episode: #3.1[105] • 2021 — Apple & Onion — Queen Victoria Sponge — Voice; Episode: "For Queen and Country" • 2022 — Dog Squad — Sylvie — Voice; 3 episodes[106] • 2023 — Doctor Who — The Meep — Voice; "The Star Beast" • Hilda — Astrid — Voice; 4 episodes • Mog's Christmas — Aunt — Voice[107]

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2005 — Dickens in America — Herself — 10 episodes • 2016 — The Real Marigold Hotel — BBC documentary series • 2018 — Miriam's Big American Adventure — BBC documentary series • 2019 — Miriam's Dead Good Adventure — BBC documentary series • 2020 — Miriam's Big Fat Adventure — BBC documentary series • Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian — ABC documentary series • 2021, 2022 — Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland — C4 documentary series[108] • 2022 — Miriam Margolyes: Up for Grabs — An Alan Yentob imagine... documentary for BBC[109] • Miriam Margolyes Australia Unmasked — ABC documentary series[110] • Miriam's Dickensian Christmas — C4 documentary[111] • 2023 — Irish Road Trip with Miriam Margolyes — SBS documentary series[112] • Lady Gregory: Ireland's First Social Influencer — RTÉ documentary series[113] • 2024 — Impossibly Australian — ABC documentary series[114] • Miriam Margolyes: A New Australian Adventure — BBC documentary series[115] • 2025 — Miriam Margolyes Discovers New Zealand — BBC documentary series[116] • 2026 — Miriam Margolyes Made Me Me — BBC documentary[117] Notes • The Thief and the Cobbler (1993) – the voice of the Maiden from Mombasa (original version only; the character was not heard at all in the re-edited versions and another actor was never available in all the re-edited versions) • The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) – Peg Sellers – note this film was shown in cinemas in the UK, Ireland, and Australia – it aired on cable television on the HBO network in the US.

• Year — Title — Role — Venue • 1970 — Fiddler on the Roof — Matchmaker — UK Tour • 1972 — Threepenny Opera — Nelly — Piccadilly Theatre, London • 1974 — Canterbury Tales — Wife of Bath — Bristol Old Vic • 1975 — Kennedy's Children — Performer — Arts Theatre, London • 1976 — The White Devil — Zanche the Moor — Old Vic Theatre, London • 1978 — Cloud Nine — Performer — Joint Stock/Royal Court Tour • 1979 — Flaming Bodies — Psychiatrist — ICA • 1984 — 84 Charing Cross Road — Helen Hanff — Colchester • 1985–87 — Gertrude Stein and a Companion — Gertrude Stein — Edinburgh Festival Hampstead Theatre Australian Tour • 1986 — Man Equals Man — Widow Begbick — Almeida Theatre, London • 1988 — Orpheus Descending — Vee Talbot — Theatre Royal Haymarket, London • 1989–91 — Dickens' Women — Performer — Edinburgh Festival Hampstead Theatre Duke of York's Theatre, London • 1993 — She Stoops to Conquer — Mrs Hardcastle — Queen's Theatre, London • 1995 — The Killing of Sister George — June Buckridge — Ambassadors Theatre, London • 1999 — The Cherry Orchard — Madame Ranevskaya — Theatre Royal, York • 2001 — Romeo and Juliet — Nurse — Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles • The Vagina Monologues — Performer — Arts Theatre, London • 2003 — The Way of the World — Lady Wishfort — Sydney Theatre Company • 2004 — Blithe Spirit — Madame Arcati — Melbourne Theatre Company • 2006 — The Importance of Being Earnest — Miss Prism — Ahmanson Theater, Los Angeles Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York • Wicked — Madame Morrible — Apollo Victoria Theatre, London • 2008 — George Gershwin Theater, New York • 2009 — Realism — Performer — Melbourne Theatre Company • Endgame — Nell — Duchess Theatre, London • 2010 — Me and My Girl — The Duchess — Crucible Theatre, Sheffield • 2011 — A Day in the Death of Joe Egg — Grace — Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow • 2012 — Dickens' Women — Performer — World Tour • 2014 — Neighbourhood Watch — Ana — Adelaide State Theatre • I'll Eat You Last — Sue Mengers — Melbourne Theatre Company • 2015 — The Importance of Being Miriam — Performer — Australian Tour • 2017 — Madame Rubinstein — Helena Rubinstein — Park Theatre, London • 2019 — The Lady in the Van — Miss Shepherd — Melbourne Theatre Company • Sydney & The Old Girl — Nell Stock — Park Theatre, London • 2024 — White Rabbit Red Rabbit — Performer — @sohoplace, London[118] • 2025 — Margolyes and Dickens: More Best Bits — Performer — Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh International Conference Centre[119]

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2021 — Wallace & Gromit: The Big Fix Up — B.E.R.Y.L • 2023 — Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway

Miriam Margolyes is recorded as having studied at Newnham College, Oxford High School and University of Cambridge. Recognition and collections. Margolyes received Officer of the Order of the British Empire and Audie Award for Best Female Narrator.