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Maggie Steed

Maggie Steed (born Margaret Baker; 1 December 1946) is an English actress and comedian.

Career[edit]

After studying drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, Steed left the theatre for several^[quantify] years.^{[citation needed]} She stated: "Actresses in those days had to be 'dolly birds' and I was just Margaret Baker from Plymouth, tall with very gappy teeth, so I became a secretary instead. It was only years later, when I'd grown up politically and become interested in theatre, that I started again and ended up at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre with Clive Russell and Sue Johnston."^[1] Steed has performed with the Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and with Belt and Braces, the political theatre troupe run by Gavin Richards as well as working as a comedian in alternative cabaret.

She was one of the first women to become involved in the alternative comedy scene when it sprang into existence in 1979, and performing at the Comedy Store, with the group Alternative Cabaret and elsewhere. Her material was personal and confessional. For example, in a routine performed at an Alternative Cabaret show at the Elgin pub on 27 March 1980, she talked about the difficulties posed by taking the contraceptive pill: "So you wake up in the morning, look at the packet, what do you find? Ha ha ha ha! You've taken next Wednesday's! [murmur of laughter] And today's Thursday! And it's gonna leave a whole week you're gonna spend taking yesterday's pills – today. [laughter] And you get to the weekend, you get pissed a couple of times – and come Tuesday, you've got five pills . [laughter] Staring at you in the face, accusingly. [laughter] So you take them out, you know, and – grind 'em up [laughter] – and you have 'em on your toast for breakfast. [laughter]"^[2]

Her first major television role was playing Rita Moon in the series Shine on Harvey Moon. She played Margaret Crabbe in Pie in the Sky and Phyllis Woolf in Born and Bred. Her television credits include appearances on Fox, Minder, Sensitive Skin and Jam & Jerusalem.^[3]

In 2008, Steed appeared on tour in Michael Frayn's comedy Noises Off as Mrs Clackett, produced by the Ambassador Theatre Group, which included the New Victoria Theatre, Woking. The cast included Sophie Bould, Colin Baker and Jonathan Coy. In 2010 she appeared in the short film The Miserables, and the following year onstage in a comedy duo role with actress Jackie Clune in a production of The Belle's Stratagem.^[4]

In April 2017, it was announced that Steed was joining the cast of EastEndersasJoyce Murray.^[5] It was announced in March 2018 that her character had been written out of the series and subsequently would be killed off.^[6]

Political activism[edit]

Steed was active in the Campaign Against Racism in the Media. She appeared in an edition of the BBC's Open Door series on 1 March 1979 (with Stuart Hall) entitled "It Ain't Half Racist, Mum", criticising British television's discussion and representation of immigration and racial stereotypes.^[7]

She helped write and perform in the comedy benefit concert An Evening for Nicaragua, at the Shaftesbury Theatre, which was shown on British television in 1983. The cast included Ben Elton, Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Emma Thompson and Rik Mayall.^[8]Steed visited Nicaragua in 1982 with Andy de la Tour.^[8]

Film[edit]

Television[edit]

• Coronation Street – as Ellen Smith (1970)
• Shine on Harvey Moon – as Rita Moon (1982)
• Minder – "Broken Arrow" episode as Sherry (1982)
• The Young Ones – "Demolition" (1982) and "Sick" (1984)
• Victoria Wood As Seen on TV – "The Making of Acorn Antiques" as Marion Clune (Producer) (1985)
• Intimate Contact – Becca Crichton (1987)
• Lovejoy – "One Born Every Minute" episode as Joanna (1991)
• Red Dwarf – "Quarantine" episode as Dr. Hildegarde Lanstrom (1992)
• Lipstick on Your Collar – as Aunt Vickie (1993)
• Martin Chuzzlewit – as Mrs. Todgers (1994)
• Pie in the Sky – as Margaret Crabbe (1994–1997)
• Inspector Morse – "Death Is Now My Neighbour" episode as Angela Storrs (1997)
• Let Them Eat Cake – as Madame Vigée-Lebrun (1999)
• Midsomer Murders – the episodes "Judgement Day" as Rosemary Furman (2000), "Left For Dead" as Lynne Fox (2008) and "Schooled in Murder" as Sylvia Mountford (2013)
• Foyle's War – "The White Feather" episode as Margaret Ellis (2002)
• French and Saunders – several episodes (1998 and 2004)
• Born and Bred – Phyllis Woolf (2002–2005)
• Sensitive Skin as Veronica Dorkins (2005–2007)
• Jam & Jerusalem (2006–2009) – Eileen
• New Tricks – "Dockers" episode as Rose Dyer (2006)
• My Family as Mrs Philbin (2008)
• Lark Rise to Candleford – Mrs Herring (2009)
• Whites – Celia (2010)
• 32 Brinkburn Street (2011) – Elizabeth
• Stella (2012) – Meg
• Chewing Gum (2015–2017) – Esther
• EastEnders (2017–2018) – Joyce Murray, 54 episodes
• Father Brown – "The Whistle in the Dark" episode as Dorothy Parnell (2019)
• Elizabeth Is Missing – Elizabeth (2019)
• Ten Percent – Stella Hart (2022)
• Sister Boniface Mysteries – Vivienne Bonham-Crane (2023)

Theatre[edit]

• The Heiress – as Aunt Lavinia (National Theatre) (2000)
• The Importance of Being Earnest – as Lady Bracknell (2005)
• Relative Values – as the Countess of Marshwood (Salisbury Playhouse production) (2005)
• The History Boys – replaced Frances de la Tour as Mrs. Lintott (National Theatre) (2006)
• Noises Off – as Dotty Otley (UK Touring Production) (2008)
• Hay Fever – as Judith Bliss (West Yorkshire Playhouse) (2010)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• Maggie SteedatIMDb
• "The Miserables", at IMDb
• "Theatre: Debut – Maggie Steed" Interview by David Benedict in The Independent (London), 22 March 2000
• The History Boys on Broadway Archived 4 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine
• "Review: Relative Values" at bbc.co.uk