Lesley Ann Manville (born 12 March 1956) is an English actress. Known for her performances on stage and screen, her accolades include a Tony Award and two Laurence Olivier Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, two British Academy Film Awards, five British Academy Television Awards, a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
She has acted in eight of Mike Leigh's films, including Grown-Ups (1980), High Hopes (1988), Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All or Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Another Year (2010) and Mr. Turner (2014). For her role in the Paul Thomas Anderson romance drama Phantom Thread (2017) she was nominated for an Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has also acted in the films Dance with a Stranger (1985), High Season (1987), Maleficent (2014), Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019), Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022) and Queer (2024).
On television, she acted in Emmerdale Farm (1975–1976) and Cranford (2007). She garnered five British Academy Television Award nominations for her roles in River (2015), Mum (2016–19), Sherwood (2022–24) and The Crown (2022–23). She was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon in the Netflix historical drama series The Crown. A prolific stage performer, she has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress twice for Ghosts (2014) and Oedipus (2025). Manville also won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the latter when she reprised her performance on Broadway (2026).
Early life and education Manville was born, on 12 March 1956, in Brighton, East Sussex, the daughter of Norma (known as Jean) Edwards, a former ballet dancer, and Ron Manville, a taxi driver. She was brought up in nearby Hove, the youngest of three daughters. Training as a soprano singer from age 8, she was twice under-18 champion of Sussex. She began acting as a teenager, appearing in television series such as King Cinder. At age 15, she gained a place at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts.
Career After turning down teacher Arlene Phillips's invitation to join her new dance troupe Hot Gossip, she was taught improvisation by Italia Conti teacher Julia Carey. She made her professional stage debut in the 1972 West End musical I and Albert directed by John Schlesinger. She paid for her first flat by landing a part in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm (1975–76), in which she appeared in 80 episodes.
Manville built a career as a distinctive theatre actress; from 1978 she appeared in new plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Warehouse and Royal Court Theatre. She met Mike Leigh in 1979, when he was looking for RSC actors who could improvise.
In the 1980s, her work for the Royal Court included Andrea Dunbar's Rita, Sue and Bob Too (1981), Caryl Churchill's Top Girls (1982) and Serious Money (1987). She also starred in the Top Girls Off-Broadway production in the US in 1983. For the RSC, she starred in As You Like It (1985) and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (1985–86).
She made her film debut in 1985 with Dance with a Stranger, directed by Mike Newell, and telling the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain. She also appeared in Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) directed by Stephen Frears, and High Season (1987). Back on the stage, she starred in The Cherry Orchard at the Aldwych Theatre in 1989, directed by Sam Mendes, and in Three Sisters at the Royal Court in 1990.
In 1994, Manville starred in the first series of the BBC sitcom Ain't Misbehavin'. For her work in the 2000 miniseries Other People's Children, and the 2002 TV film Bodily Harm, she received nominations for Best Female Actor at the Royal Television Society Awards.
Her extensive television credits include prominent roles in the dramas Holding On (1997), Real Women (1998–99), The Cazalets (2001), North & South (2004) and Cranford (2007). She also starred in Cards on the Table, a 2006 feature-length episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot.
Since 2005, Manville has starred in several National Theatre productions, including His Dark Materials (2005), The Alchemist (2006), and Her Naked Skin (2008). She also starred in The Old Vic productions of All About My Mother (2007) and Six Degrees of Separation (2010). In 2009, she played Margaret Thatcher in the Channel 4 drama The Queen.
Manville has appeared in eight Mike Leigh films throughout her career: Grown-Ups (1980), High Hopes (1988), Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All or Nothing (2002), Vera Drake (2004), Another Year (2010), and Mr. Turner (2014). In 2002, she won the London Film Critics' Circle Award for British Actress of the Year.London Critics Circle British Actress of the Year Critics Circle web site
For Another Year, she also won the National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, and was nominated for the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actress and the European Film Award for Best Actress, as well as the Chicago Film Critics Award for Best Actress.Chicago Film Critics Award for Best Actress Chicago Film Critics web site She won Best Supporting Actress from the San Diego Film Critics Society.San Diego Film Critics Society San Diego Film Critics Society web site On 18 January 2011, she received a BAFTA nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category. On 7 February 2011, former Charlie's Angels stars Jaclyn Smith and Cheryl Ladd presented the Best Actress Award to her at the "Movies for Grownups Awards".
In 2011, Manville starred in Mike Leigh's play Grief at the Royal National Theatre, which earned her a Best Actress Olivier Award nomination. For her role as Helene Alving in the 2013 revival of the Ibsen play Ghosts, she won the 2014 Olivier Award for Best Actress and the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress. She also appeared in the films Romeo and Juliet (2013) and Maleficent (2014).
In 2015, she starred opposite Stellan Skarsgård in the BBC drama River, which earned her a nomination for the 2016 BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress. She starred opposite Peter Mullan in the BBC sitcom Mum, for which she was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2017 and 2019. In 2017, Manville played Lydia Quigley, the ruthless madam of a posh brothel with clients from the judiciary, nobility, and upper echelons of Georgian society, in the BBC series Harlots.
In Paul Thomas Anderson's 2017 period film Phantom Thread, Manville played Cyril Woodcock, the sister of the dressmaker Reynolds Woodcock, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. For her role, she was nominated for the Academy Award and BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 2020, she played the villainous and intimidating matriarch of an 'off the grid' family in the neo-western thriller Let Him Go, opposite Diane Lane and Kevin Costner. During that year, she was cast as Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon for the final two seasons of The Crown.
Manville was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.
In 2022, Manville starred in the Anthony Horowitz murder mystery series, Magpie Murders, alongside Daniel Mays, Alexandros Logothetis, Jude Hill and Claire Rushbrook. Manville also played the role of the titular character in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. She received a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical for her performance in this film.
In January 2023, it was announced that Manville was added to the cast of the Amy Winehouse biopic Back to Black (2024) and would be playing Winehouse's grandmother Cynthia Winehouse.
In 2024, she played Jocasta in Oedipus at Wyndham's Theatre, directed by Robert Icke. For her performance, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress. Manville made her Broadway theatre debut when the production transferred to Studio 54 in October 2025. She is described in this role as embodying contradiction, simultaneously feeling deeply and burying the feelings, while evoking a taut, dramatic silence in the audience. Manville won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play and also received the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance. Manville has been announced to star as Violet Weston in a West-End revival of August: Osage County, which is scheduled to play at the Noël Coward Theatre from January to April 2027.
Personal life Manville's first boyfriend was actor and former Blue Peter presenter Peter Duncan, whom she met at stage school while attending Italia Conti.
Her first husband was actor Gary Oldman. The pair split in 1989, three months after their son, Alfie (b. 1988), was born. Her second marriage was to actor Joe Dixon, whom she divorced in 2004. In 2007, Manville was living with her son in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Since 2019 Manville has lived on her own in west London.
Manville's sister Brenda, nine years her senior, died of a brain tumour. Her sister's husband and two daughters died of Huntington's disease.
In 2020, she delivered a monologue for the Equity Benevolent Fund to support fellow actors during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Manville was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2015 Birthday Honours for services to drama,United Kingdom: and promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2021 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity.
In February 2024, she was the guest on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, selecting "Over the Rainbow" recorded by Eva Cassidy, a botanical encyclopaedia and a bed with linen, duvet and pillows as her chosen favourite record, book and luxury item respectively.
Acting credits +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1985 Dance with a Stranger Maryanne Christmas Present Judy Tall 1987 Sammy and Rosie Get Laid Margy High Season Carol 1988 High Hopes Lætitia Boothe-Braine 1996 Secrets & Lies Jenny Ford the Social Worker 1997 Dual Balls Joanna Short film1999 Milk Fiona Topsy-Turvy Lucy Gilbert (Kitty) Toy Boys Mrs. Allen Short film 2002 All or Nothing Penny 2004 Vera Drake Mrs. Wells 2005 The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael Sarah Carmichael 2007 Richard Is My Boyfriend Mother Sparkle Jill 2008 The Escort Lesley Short film2009 A Christmas Carol Mrs. Cratchit (voice) Suicide Man Councillor Deakins Short film2010 Another Year Mary Womb Judith Retitled Clone for its UK DVD release2012 Spike Island Margaret Titchfield Ashes Cath 2013 Romeo & Juliet The Nurse A Five Star Life Kate Sherman The Christmas Candle Bea Haddington 2014 Ghosts Helene Alving Maleficent Flittle Mr. Turner Mary Somerville 2015 Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism Miss Adderstone 2016 Domestic Policy Short film Rupture Dr. Nyman 2017 Hampstead Fiona The Agency Anthea Short film Phantom Thread Cyril Woodcock 2019 Ordinary Love Joan Maleficent: Mistress of Evil Flittle 2020 Misbehaviour Dolores Hope Let Him Go Blanche Weboy 2021 Everything I Ever Wanted to Tell My Daughter About Men The Mother 2022 Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris Ada Harris Also executive producer 2023 The Critic Annabel Land 2024 Back to Black Cynthia Levy Queer Dr. Cotter 2025 Mr Burton Ma Smith Winter of the Crow Dr. Joan Andrews 2026 Cold Storage Trinny Romano Midwinter Break Stella 2027 TBA Post-production
Television