PHILLIPS, Siân 1934-

PERSONAL: Original name, Jane Elizabeth Ailwen Phillips; born May 14, 1934, in Bettws, Wales; daughter of David (a steel worker) and Sally (a teacher; maiden name, Thomas) Phillips; married D. Roy (a professor), 1956 (divorced, 1960); married Peter O'Toole (an actor), 1960 (some sources say 1959; divorced, 1979); married Robin Sachs (an actor), December 24, 1979 (divorced, 1992); children (second marriage): Katie, Pat. Education: Attended Cardiff University; attended Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, beginning 1957. Hobbies and other interests: Watching British soap operas, especially Coronation Street and EastEnders.

ADDRESSES: Agent—Lindy King, PFD, Drury House, 34-43 Russell St., London WC2B 5HA, England; fax: 020 7836 9544.

CAREER: Actress in stage productions, including (as Margaret Muir) The Holiday, touring production, 1957; (as Saint Joan) Saint Joan, Coventry, England, 1958; (as Masha) The Three Sisters, Nottingham, England, 1958; (as Hedda Gabler) Hedda Gabler, Duke of York's Theatre, London, 1959; (as Princess Siwan) King's Daughter, Hampstead Theatre Club, London, 1959; (as Katherine) The Taming of the Shrew, Oxford, England, 1960; (as Julia) The Duchess of Malfi, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London, 1960-61; (as Bertha) Ondine, Royal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, 1960-61; (as Arlow) The Lizard on the Rock, Phoenix Theatre, London, 1961; (as Penelope) Gentle Jack, Queen's Theatre, London, 1961; (as Yolande) Maxibules, Queen's Theatre, 1964; (as Hannah Jelkes) Night of the Iguana, Croydon England, 1964, and Savoy Theatre, London; (as Myra) Ride a Cock Horse, Piccadilly Theatre, London, 1965; (as Ann Whitefield) Man and Superman, New Art Theatre, then Vaudeville Theatre, later Garrick Theatre, all London, 1966; (as strange lady) The Man of Destiny, Mermaid Theatre, London, 1966; (as Edwina) The Burglar, Vaudeville Theatre, 1967; (as Alma Winemiller) Eccentricities of a Nightingale, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, England, 1967; (as Queen Juana) The Cardinal of Spain, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, 1969; (as Ruth Grey) Epitaph for George Dillon, Young Vic Theatre, London, 1972; (as Mrs. Elliot) Alpha Beta, Watford, England, 1973; (as Virginia Woolf) A Nightingale in Bloomsbury Square, Hampstead Theatre Club, 1973; (as Duchess of Strood) The Gay Lord Quex, Albery Theatre, 1975; (as Myra Evans) Spinechiller, Duke of York's Theatre, 1978; (as Mrs. Arbuthnot) A Woman of No Importance, Chichester Theatre Festival, Chichester, England, 1978; (as countess) The Inconstant Couple, Chichester Theatre Festival, 1978; (as Mrs. Clandon) You Never Can Tell, Lyric (Hammersmith) Theatre, London, 1979; Pal Joey, Half Moon Theatre, London, 1980, then Albery Theatre, 1981; (as Mrs. Patrick Campbell) Dear Liar, Mermaid Theatre, 1982; Major Barbara, National Theatre, London, 1983; Love Affair, toured in Britain, 1984; Peg, Phoenix Theatre, 1984; Gigi, Lyric Theatre, London, 1985; Thursday's Ladies, Apollo Theatre, London, 1987; Brel, Donmar Warehouse, London, 1988; (as Claire) Paris Match, Garrick Theatre, 1989; (as Lucy Lucre) Vanilla, Lyric (Hammersmith) Theatre, 1990; (as Mrs. Iselin) The Manchurian Candidate, Lyric (Hammersmith) Theatre, 1991; (as Fanny Church) Painting Churches, Playhouse Theatre, London, 1992; Ghosts, Sherman Theatre and touring production, 1994; The Lion in Winter, touring production, 1994; An Inspector Calls, Royale Theatre, New York, 1995; A Little Night Music, National Theatre, 1995-96; (as Marlene Dietrich) Marlene, toured in Britain, South Africa, Ireland, and France, 1996-98; Vagina Monologues, London, 2001; My Old Lady, Promenade Theater, New York, 2002; performed in her own cabaret show, c. 1999—; also appeared in I Remember Mama.

Actress in films, including (as Wren; uncredited) The Longest Day, 1962; (as Gwendolyn) Becket, Paramount, 1963; (as Ella) Young Cassidy, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), 1965; (as herself) Other World of Winston Churchill (documentary), 1967; (as Lady Elizabeth More) Laughter in the Dark, [Great Britain], 1968; (as Ursula Mossbank) Goodbye, Mr. Chips, MGM, 1969; (as Dr. Hayden) Murphy's War, Paramount, 1970; (as Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard) Under Milk Wood, Altura Films International, 1973; (as Lady Ripon) Nijinsky, Paramount, 1980; (as Mrs. Henska) The Carpathian Eage, 1980; (as Cassiopeia) Clash of the Titans, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/United Artists (MGM/UA), 1981; (as Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam) Dune, Dino De Laurentis/Universal, 1984; (as Annabella Rock) The Doctor and the Devils, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1985; (as Madame de Volanges) Valmont, Orion, 1989; (as Mrs. Sinico) A Painful Case, [Ireland], 1992; (as Mrs. Archer) The Age of Innocence, Columbia, 1993; Intent to Kill, [Wales], 1994; and (as Mam) House of America, Mayfair Entertainment, 1996.

Actress on television miniseries, including (as Emmeline Pankhurst) Shoulder to Shoulder, British Broadcasting Company (BBC), 1974, then Masterpiece Theatre, Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), 1975; (as Mrs. Patrick Campbell) Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill, 1975; (as Beth Morgan) How Green Was My Valley, BBC, 1975, then Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1976; (as Livia) I, Claudius, BBC, 1976, then Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1977; Crime and Punishment, BBC, 1979, then Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1980; (as Ann Smiley) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, PBS, 1980; (as Mrs. Dalgleish) Barriers, 1980; (as Clementine Churchill) "Churchill: The Wilderness Years," Masterpiece Theatre, PBS, 1981; (as Ann Smiley) Smiley's People, syndicated, 1982; Vanity Fair, Arts & Entertainment (A&E), 1988; (as narrator) Red Empire, 1980; (as Grandmama) Heidi, The Disney Channel, 1993; (as Mrs. Driver) The Borrowers, Turner Network Television (TNT), 1993; (as Mrs. Driver) The Return of the Borrowers, TNT, 1996; (as Queen Eleanor) Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe, A&E, 1997; (as Mathilda Gillespie) The Scold's Bride, 1998; (as narrator/older Lady Emily) Aristocrats, 1999; and (as Grandmother) Attila (also known as Attila the Hun), 2001.

Actress in made-for-television movies, including Eh Joe! 1966; (as the Duchess of Berwich) Lady Windermere's Fan, 1972; (as Charal) Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (also known as Return to Endor), American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. (ABC), 1985; (as Duchess of Windsor) The Two Mrs. Grenvilles, National Broadcasting Company (NBC), 1987; Shadow of the Noose, 1988; Snow Spider, 1988; (as Mrs. Blessington) Dark River (also known as Dark River—A Father's Revenge and Incident at Dark River), 1990; (as Daisy Barnett) The Black Candle, 1991; (as Calypso) The Vacillations of Poppy Carew, 1995; (as Red Queen) Alice through the Looking Glass, 1998; (as narrator) Anaïs Nin: Spy in the House of Love, 1998; (as herself) The Making of "Aristocrats," 1999; (as Meg Lewis) The Magician's House, 1999; (as evil Baroness) Cinderella, 2000; (as Meg Lewis) The Magician's House II, 1999; and (as Ru) Come and Go, 2000.

Actress in television series, including (as Queen Boudicca) Warrior Queen, 1977; Off to Philadelphia in the Morning, 1977; Sean O'Casey, RTV, 1980; Emelyn's Moon, 1991; The Chestnut Soldier, 1991; Perfect Scoundrels, 1991; Tonight at 8:30, 1991; recurring guest star on Nikita, 1997. Appeared in television specials, including Heartbreak House, 1977; The Oresteia of Aeschylus, 1978; How Many Miles to Babylon? 1982; George Barrow, 1983; Pyramid, PBS, 1988; Backstage at Masterpiece Theatre: A Twentieth-Anniversary Special, PBS, 1991; "Hands across the Sea," "Ways and Means," and "The Astonished Heart,"

Collins Meets Coward, A&E, 1992; Royal Television Annual Lecture, 1992; Nearest and Dearest (musical), 1994; and Sian Phillips: A Broadcast from Home (documentary), 2002; also appeared in The Achurch Papers and Language and Landscape. Recorded CD of her cabaret act; reader of books on tape. Former announcer for British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC).

Welsh College of Music and Drama, former governor, vice president.

MEMBER: British Arts Council (member, drama committee), Gorsedd of Bards, Saint David's Trust (former governor).

AWARDS, HONORS: Bancroft Gold Medal, Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts; British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards, for How Green Was My Valley and I, Claudius; Royal Television Society Award, for I, Claudius; New York Critics' Award and Critics Circle Award, for Good-bye, Mr. Chips; Commander of the British Empire, 2000; honorary fellow, Cardiff University, Welsh College of Music and Drama, Trinity College Carmarthen, and National Polytechnic of Wales.

WRITINGS:

Siân Phillips' Needlepoint, Elm Tree Books (London, England), 1987.

Private Faces (autobiography), Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 1999.

Public Places (autobiography), Hodder & Stoughton (London, England), 2001, published as Public Places: My Life in the Theatre, with Peter O'Toole, and Beyond, Faber & Faber (New York, NY), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: A travel book.

SIDELIGHTS: Siân Phillips has been one of the great performers in British theater, for many years. The Welsh-born Phillips—who grew up speaking only Welsh and learned English by listening to the radio—first fell in love with the theater at age six, when her grandmother took her to see a pantomime show in Swansea, Wales. Phillips's mother insisted that she get her college degree before becoming an actress, and Phillips complied, studying English and philosophy at Cardiff University. However, she held down a job announcing the news on a British Broadcasting Corp. (BBC) radio station at the same time. Finally, after earning her degree, Phillips moved to London to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. She won the Bancroft Gold Medal, a prestigious prize for students at the academy, and quickly went on to appear in several notable theater productions.

Not long after Phillips graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, she married actor Peter O'Toole and had two daughters. For the next twenty years, Phillips was better known as Mrs. O'Toole than as an actress in her own right, although she remained a steady presence on to the stage and screen. Towards the end of her marriage to O'Toole, Phillips appeared in the television role that defines her career for most Britons: playing Augustus Caesar's conniving wife Livia in the epic miniseries I, Claudius.

After Phillips and O'Toole divorced in 1979, Phillips married another actor, the much-younger Robin Sachs. Not long after those two divorced in 1992, Phillips's career took off again. For several years, Phillips toured the world in Marlene, a one-woman show about the life of famous German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich. This show, which was written specifically for Phillips, led to a slight career change for the now-sixty-something actress: she became a cabaret singer. Phillips toured in her own cabaret show, Falling in Love Again, and recorded a CD of the act.

Phillips writes about all of this in her two-volume autobiography, Private Faces and Public Places. In the first volume, she talks about her childhood in Wales and her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, ending when she first met O'Toole; the second volume primarily deals with her marriage to O'Toole. In fact, her impetus to write the books was hearing that O'Toole was planning to write his own autobiography. Phillips wanted the opportunity to tell her own side of the story of their marriage. "I didn't for a moment think O'Toole would be ungenerous or cruel," Phillips said in an interview with E. Jane Dickson of the Independent Sunday, "but I didn't think he would be truthful either. I didn't think he would remember well enough. . . . I thought, 'I'll just write my own book and leave it in the drawer. My daughters can find it when I'm dead and gone, and they'll know my story.' And then, I don't know how it happened, but a friend mentioned it to a friend, and suddenly there was this lovely editor, and I had a deal for two-volume autobiography."

As it turned out, O'Toole's biography stopped before his marriage to Phillips, but Phillips's books proved to be quite popular. "Phillips is an intelligent woman, and a truly good writer," Lynne Truss wrote in a review of Public Places for the London Sunday Times. "This autobiography is no stream of celebrity consciousness, or list of unforgettable stage successes that readers have trouble remembering. Phillips's story is about a place and its people: the tough, timeless, beautiful world of the Welsh mountains," Janet Watts stated of Private Faces in the London Sunday Times.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Contemporary Theatre, Film, and Television, Volume 19, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1998.

periodicals

American Record Guide, February, 1983, Richard Traubner, review of Pal Joey, pp. 87-88.

Back Stage, July 3, 1981, Phil Strassberg, "The Arizona Film Fillups," p. 26; April 23, 1999, David A. Rosenberg, review of Marlene, p. 41; June 23, 2000, John Hoglund, "Falling in Love Again," p. 13; October 18, 2002, Victor Gluck, review of My Old Lady, p. 48.

Birmingham Post (Birmingham, England), January 22, 2001, Terry Grimley, interview with Phillips, p. 12; September 1, 2001, Simon Evans, review of Public Places, p. 52.

Chatelaine, February, 1990, Gina Mallet, review of Valmont, p. 12.

Daily Telegraph (London, England), August 18, 2001, Lynn Barber, review of Public Places, p. 4; July 6, 2002, review of Public Places, p. 4.

Daily Variety, January 7, 2002, Steven Oxman, review of My Old Lady, pp. 607; October 4, 2002, Charles Isherwood, review of My Old Lady, p. 20.

Encounter, December, 1987, Edward Pearce, review of Thursday's Ladies, p. 69.

Entertainment Weekly, April 23, 1999, review of Marlene, p. 54.

Evening Times (Glasgow, Scotland), February 20, 1997, Ian Black, "Falling in Love Again with Siân," p. 36.

Express (London, England), September 24, 2002, John Triggs, interview with Phillips, p. 33.

Guardian (London, England), October 3, 1997, Justina Hart, interview with Phillips, p. 7; September 15, 2001, Peter Kingston, review of the audio version of Public Places, p. 11; October 26, 2001, Amy Fleming, interview with Phillips, p. 19.

Hollywood Reporter, January 8, 2002, Jay Reiner, review of My Old Lady, pp. 27-28.

Independent (London, England), April 21, 1997, Deborah Ross, "Life Is a One-Woman Show," p. 15; October 4, 1997, Liese Spencer, review of House of America, p. 18; July 29, 2001, E. Jane Dickson, interview with Phillips, p. 12; August 13, 2002, Damian Barr, review of Public Places, p. 11.

Independent Sunday (London, England), December 29, 1996, "How We Met: Siân Phillips and Sean Mathias," p. 50; April 6, 1997, Siân Phillips, "Five Days in the Life of Siân Phillips," p. 23; December 5, 1999, Jonathan Myerson, review of Private Faces, p. 4.

Los Angeles Magazine, July, 1986, review of IRemember Mama, p. 47.

Los Angeles Times, December 20, 2001, Hugh Hart, review of My Old Lady, p. F51.

Maclean's, January 24, 1983, review of Smiley'sPeople, p. 55.

Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, December, 1981, Baird Searles, review of Clash of the Titans, pp. 89-91.

Mirror (London, England), October 3, 2000, Nicola Tallant, "O'Toole Laughs at Wife's Poison Book," p. 24.

Nation, December 18, 1982, Richard Gilman, review of Major Barbara, p. 666.

News of the World (London, England), November 29, 1998, Matthew Benns, review of Alice Through the Looking Glass, p. 7.

New Statesman, August 15, 1980, Christopher Edwards, review of Pal Joey, p. 22; October 2, 1981, William Boyd, review of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, p. 26; March 5, 1982, William Boyd, review of How Many Miles to Babylon? pp. 31-32; September 27, 1985, Benedict Nightingale, review of Gigi, p. 43; September 18, 1987, Victoria Radin, review of Thursday's Ladies, pp. 26-27; July 24, 1998, Andrew Billen, review of Anaïs Nin: Spy in the House of Love, p. 42.

Newsweek, July 6, 1981, David Ansen, review of Clash of the Titans, pp. 75-76.

New York, April 21, 1997, John Leonard, review of Ivanhoe, pp. 62-63; October 14, 2002, "Femmes and Fortune," pp. 80-81.

New Yorker, December 24, 1984, Pauline Kael, review of Dune, pp. 74-76.

New York Times, January 15, 1983, Walter Goodman, review of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, pp. 11, 48; January 16, 1983, Drew Middleton, review of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, p. H31; April 18, 1997, John J. O'Connor, review of Ivanhoe, p. B18; April 12, 1999, Ben Brantley, review of Marlene, p. B5; June 9, 2000, Stephen Holden, "Balancing Warmth with Reserve As She Sings of Love," p. B36; October 7, 2002, Bruce Weber, review of My Old Lady, p. B5.

Observer (London, England), July 29, 2001, Geraldine Bedell, review of Public Places, p. 3.

Scotsman (Edinburgh, Scotland), August 15, 2000, Jackie McGlone, "Like Father like Daughter," p. 2.

Spectator, October 7, 1995, Sheridan Morley, review of A Little Night Music, pp. 59-60; April 19, 1997, Sheridan Morley, review of Marlene, pp. 50-51; November 6, 1999, John Bowen, review of Private Faces, pp. 61-62.

Sunday Times (London, England), November 10, 1996, review of Marlene, p. 3; June 1, 1997, Pamela Coleman, interview with Phillips, p. 16; October 17, 1999, Janet Watts, review of Private Faces, p. 42; June 25, 2000, Terry Keane, review of Public Places, p. 13; August 5, 2001, Lynne Truss, review of Public Places, p. 36.

Times (London, England), April 15, 2000, Tom Bishop, "Retail Therapy Adds a Sparkle," p. 4.

Times Educational Supplement, May 25, 1990, John James, review of Vanilla, p. B19; April 18, 1997, Pamela Coleman, "More than a Physical Attraction," p. B28.

Times Literary Supplement, April 26, 1991, Mick Imlah, review of Tonight at 8.30, p. 17; August 2, 1991, Hugh Brogan, review of The Manchurian Candidate, p. 16; October 19, 2001, William McEvoy, review of Public Places, p. 30.

Variety, December 4, 1985, review of Dune, p. 16; review of Ewoks: The Battle for Endor, pp. 75-76; November 15, 1989, review of Valmont, p. 20; January 14, 2002, Steven Oxman, review of My Old Lady, p. 59.

Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), October 3, 2001, "Siân Phillips Reveals Her Larger-than-Life Story," p. 12; March 23, 2002, review of Siân Phillips: A Broadcast from Home, p. 34; July 13, 2002, Dean Powell, review of Public Places, p. 14; February 10, 2003, Rob Driscoll, interview with Phillips, p. 11.

online

PFD,http://www.pfd.co.uk/ (February 14, 2003), "Siân Phillips."*