Born
Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips
Occupation
Actress
Years active
1944–present
Spouses
Don Roy
(m. 1959; div. 1979)
(m. 1979; div. 1991)Children
2, including Kate O'Toole
Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips DBE (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips (/ʃɑːn/ SHAHN), is a Welsh actress. Her early career consisted primarily of stage roles, including the title roles in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler and George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. In the 1960s, she started taking on more roles in television and film. She is particularly known for her performance as Livia in the 1976 BBC television series I, Claudius, for which she was awarded a BAFTA and a Royal Television Society award. She was nominated for a Tony Award and Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance as Marlene DietrichinMarlene.
Phillips was born on 14 May 1933 in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, the daughter of Sally (née Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker who became a policeman.[1][2] She is a Welsh-speaker: in the first volume of her autobiography Private Faces (1999) she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio.[3][4]
Phillips attended Pontardawe Grammar School and originally was known there as Jane, but her Welsh teacher called her Siân, the Welsh form of Jane.[5][6] Later she took up English and philosophy at University College Cardiff.
Phillips graduated from the University of Wales in 1955. She entered the RADA with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson.[7][8][9] She won the Bancroft Gold Medal for Hedda Gabler and was offered work in Hollywood when she left the RADA.[10] While still a student, she was offered three film contracts to work for an extended period of time in the United States, but she declined, preferring to work on stage.[11]
Phillips began acting professionally at the age of 11 with the Home Service of BBC Radio in Wales. At the same age she won her first speech-and-drama award for her performance at the National Eisteddfod held at Llandybïe in 1944, where she and a school friend played the parts of two elderly men in a dramatic duologue.
She made her first British television appearance at 17 and won a Welsh acting award at 18. In 1953, while still a student at University College, Cardiff she worked as a newsreader and announcer for the BBC in Wales and toured Wales in Welsh-language productions of the Welsh Arts Council.[9][10][12]
From 1953 to 1955, Phillips was a member of the BBC Repertory Company and the National Theatre Company and toured Wales performing Welsh and English plays for the Welsh Arts Council. For the Nottingham Playhouse in 1958, she was Masha in Three Sisters. She performed as Princess Siwan in Saunders Lewis's The King's Daughter at the Hampstead Theatre Club in 1959 and as Katherine in Taming of the Shrew for the Oxford Playhouse in 1960. She was Princess Siwan again in the BBC's production of Siwan: The King's Daughter alongside Peter O'Toole with Emyr Humphrys as producer. It was broadcast on BBC One (Wales only) on 1 March 1960.[13][14] From October 1958 to April 1959, she was compere of the Land of Song (Gwlad y Gân) monthly programme at TWW (Television Wales and the West) Channel 10 with baritone Ivor Emmanuel.[15]
She made her first appearance on the London stage in 1957 when she appeared in Hermann Sudermann's Magda for RADA.[16] Magda, about an opera diva, was her first real success in London. The play did well and benefited her career greatly; although she was only a student at the time, she was the first since Sarah Bernhardt to play the role.[17]
In 1957, Phillips performed the title role in Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.[18][19][20] West End opening at The Duke of York's Theatre, December 3, 1957, with Fredrik OhlssonasTesman. They also performed at Det Nye Teatret in Oslo and at The Vanbrugh, RADA . Many sources consider this her London stage debut but she actually did Magda before Hedda Gabler.[21] In September 1958, she was performing as Margaret Muir in John Hall's The HolidayatOxford New Theatre.[22]
In May 1958, Phillips performed as Joan in a production of Shaw's Saint Joan by Bryan Bailey, at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, which had opened just six weeks before. An observer described her performance: "Sian Phillips' portrayal of Joan defies the law of averages, since, after seeing Siobhan McKenna in the 1955 Arts Theatre production, I reckoned it impossible to equal within half a century. Like the Irish girl, the Welsh girl is perfect.... 'This girl doesn't act Joan – she is Joan.' In short, perfection."[23]
She was Julia in the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1960–1961 version of The Duchess of Malfi.[24] Her Royal Shakespeare Company performances are:
Her long career has included many films and television programmes, but she is perhaps best known for starring as Livia in the popular BBC adaptation of Robert Graves's novel I, Claudius (BBC2, 1976), for which she won the 1977 BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress, and for many appearances on the original run of Call My Bluff. She also appeared opposite her then-husband Peter O'Toole and Richard BurtoninBecket (1964); as Ursula Mossbank in the musical film Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969), again starring O'Toole; once more opposite O'Toole in Murphy's War (1971); as Emmeline Pankhurst in the TV mini-series Shoulder to Shoulder (1974); as Clementine Churchill in Southern Television's Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) starring Robert Hardy; as Lady Ann, the unfaithful wife of Alec Guinness's character George Smiley, in the BBC1 espionage dramas Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) and Smiley's People (1982), adapted from John le Carré's eponymous novels; in Nijinsky (1980); and as the queen Cassiopeia in Clash of the Titans (1981).
Another popular role was that of the Reverend Mother Gaius Helen MohiaminDavid Lynch's Dune (1984) and Charal from Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (1985). She also appeared in seasons 2 and 4 (1998 and 2000) of the Canadian TV series La Femme Nikita as Adrian, the renegade founder of the powerful Section One anti-terrorist organisation. In 2001, she appeared as herself in Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.[26][27] and in Ballykissangel as faith healer Consuela Dunphy in Episode 7 ('One Born Every Minute' or 'Getting Better All the Time'). Her most recent film is The Gigolos (2006) by Richard Bracewell, in which she played Lady James. In 2010, she appeared in New Tricks in the episode "Coming out Ball" and in 2011 she appeared in the episode "Wild Justice" in the fifth season of the television series Lewis. In 2017, she played Lady Yvette Bristow in the TV series Strike. In 2022, she appeared in the series McDonald & Dodds. In 2024, Phillips portrayed Enid Meadows in the Doctor Who episode "73 Yards".[28][29]
Phillips's West End credits include Marlene (in which she portrayed Marlene Dietrich), Pal Joey, Gigi and A Little Night Music. She has also appeared on the American stage in Marlene.
Her National Theatre performances have included:
She provided spoken-word backing to a track on Rufus Wainwright's 2007 album Release the Stars and appeared live with him at the Old Vic Theatre in London on 31 May/1 June 2007. In 2009 Phillips starred in London's West End production of Calendar Girls. Phillips played Juliet opposite Michael Byrne's Romeo in Juliet and her Romeo at the Bristol Old Vic from 10 March to 24 April 2010.[32]
In January 2011, she appeared in a new cabaret show, Crossing Borders, at Wilton's Music Hall in London. One review said: "Her cabaret shows are always of the more traditional type. She’s had a long and very impressive career, and her show followed its progression, with backstage anecdotes about the people she’s met and worked with along the way. It may not be edgy, but it’s a truly delightful evening, by a truly delightful performer, in a truly delightful venue."[33]
In 2015, she played the lead character Fania Fénelon in the Arthur Miller stage version of Playing for TimeatSheffield Theatres.[34]
In 2024, Phillips reflected on her life and career, for the first time, in Siân Phillips at 90, broadcast on BBC One on 1 March. The documentary includes Philips recounting, with candour, the difficulties in the later part of her marriage to O'Toole, which culminated in the ultimatum that she should leave the family home, without their two children, within the space of four hours.[35][36][37]
Year
Award
Category
Nominated work
Result
Ref
1969
Nominated
1970
National Society of Film Critics
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Won
1976
I, Claudius and How Green Was My Valley
Won
1977
I, Claudius
Won
1980
Nominated
1996
Olivier Award
Best Supporting Performance in a Musical
Nominated
1998
Olivier Award
Best Actress in a Musical
Marlene
Nominated
1999
Nominated
2001
Siân Phillips
Won
2013
Olivier Award
Best Supporting Performance in a Musical
Nominated
In January 2018, Phillips was recognised for her career spanning more than 70 years at the BBC Audio Drama Awards and was given a Radio Lifetime Achievement Award.[39]
Phillips was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2000 Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama.[40][41]
In 2024, she and Judi Dench became the first female members of the Garrick Club.[42]
Phillips's first husband was Donald Roy, a post-graduate student at the University of Wales, who later established the Drama Department at the University of Hull[43] and after whom the University Theatre is named.[44] They were married in 1956 and divorced in 1959.[45][46]
Already pregnant with their first child, Phillips married Peter O'Toole in December 1959. They had two daughters: Kate, born 1960, and Patricia, born 1963.[47] Patricia is a theatre practitioner,[48] and Kate is an actress. The couple divorced in 1979, and Phillips wrote about this tempestuous period of her life in Public Places, the second volume of her autobiography.
Her third husband was actor Robin Sachs, who was 17 years her junior. Their relationship began in 1975. They were married on Christmas Eve 1979, shortly after her divorce from O'Toole. Phillips and Sachs divorced in 1991.[46]
Her great aunt was the Welsh evangelist Rosina Davies.[49]
She is a patron of the Bird College of Dance, Music & Theatre Performance, based in Sidcup, Greater London.
Her two volumes of autobiography – Private Faces and Public Places – were published in 1999 and 2001, respectively.[46]
Since 2005, the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Cymru (BAFTA in Wales) has presented the Tlws Sian Phillips Award to a Welshman or woman who has made a significant contribution in either a major feature film or network television programme.[50][51][52]
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1962
WRNS Officer (Women's Royal Naval Service)
1964
Gwendolen
1965
Ella
1969
Lady Pamela More
Ursula Mossbank
1971
Hayden
Mrs. Ogmore-Pritchard
1980
Lady Ripon
1981
1984
Reverend Mother Gaius Helen Mohiam
1985
Annabella Rock
1989
Madame de Volanges
1993
Mrs. Archer
1997
Mam
2006
Baroness James
2012
Love Song
Maggie
2016
Prosperity
2017
Sarah Walker
2018
Voyageuse
Erica
Voice
Miss Dalí
Anna Maria
2019
Be Happy!
Maria
2020
Maureen
Margaret Corey
Grandmother
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1958
Alice Blackwell
Episode: "A Game for Eskimos"
1958
Granite
Judith
TV film
1959
A Quiet Man
Megan
TV film
1959
Countess Else von Dietlof
Episode: "Treason"
1959
Barbara
Episode: "The Breaking Point"
1960
Siwan
TV film
1961
Theatre Night
Bertha
Episode: "Onedine"
1963
It Happened Like This
Paula
Episode: "Coincidence"
1963
Carole Blair
Episode: "Drama '63: This Is Not King's Cross"
1964
Anna
Episode: "A Free Agent"
1974
1975
Beth Morgan
1976
1978
Off to Philadelphia in the Morning
Lina Van Elyn
1979
Mrs Dalgleish
1979
Ann Smiley
1981
Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years
1982
Ann Smiley
1985
Charal
TV film
1987
Isobel Makepeace
1987
1991
The Chestnut Soldier
Nain
1992
Mrs. Driver
1993
Frau Sesemann
1998
Alice through the Looking Glass
Red Queen
TV film
1998
Mathilda Gillespie
BBC TV Drama
1999
Aristocrats
Narrator / Older Lady Emily Lennox
TV Mini Series
2001
Consuela Dunphy
Episode: "Getting Better All the Time"
2003
Vera Dulciman
Episode: "Moonlight"
2003
Narrator
Episode: "Alec Guinness: A Secret Man"
2005
Marie Strickland
2 episodes
2006
Lady Annabel Butler
Episode: "Vixen's Run"
2007
Kitchen
Morag White
TV film
2007
Lily Sinclair
Episode: "Something's Gotta Give"
2008
Mrs. Upward
Episode: "Mrs McGinty's Dead"
2008
Vivienne Lindstrom
2 episodes
2010
Beth Murphy
Episode: #2.7
2010
Lady Elizabeth Linden Warner
Episode: "Coming Out Ball"
2011
Adele Goffe
Episode: "Wild Justice"
2013
May
Episode: "Gifted"
2014
Mrs. Pugh
TV film
2017
Bridget Haas
Episode: "Reap the Whirlwind - Part One"
2017
Lady Yvette Bristow
2 episodes
2018
Joan Bartlett
Episode: "Face-Off"
2020–2021
Judge Owens
4 episodes
2021
Beattie Elleston
2 episodes
2022
Agnes Gillian
Episode: "Belvedere"
2023
Mrs. Henderson
Episode: #2.4
2023
Grandma Dix
Episode: #2.3
2024
Enid Meadows
Episode: "73 Yards"
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2018
Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom
Boddly
Voice
2020
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands
Overseer Kah-Delen
Voice
O'Toole made my life impossible. He dragged the court case on for three years and in the end it was all over. And I didn't ask for anything. He kept all my jewellery, everything, and the art, what little art I possessed there, he kept everything, and my furniture. And I just started all over again.
1955–1975
1976–2000
2001–present
International
National
Artists
People
Other
