Frances de la Tour (born 30 July 1944) is an English actress of French descent perhaps best known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the British sitcom Rising Damp, Mrs. Lintott in The History Boys (both on stage and in the film), and Madame Olympe Maxime in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. For her work in the theatre, de la Tour has won a Tony Award, three Olivier Awards and a Drama Desk Award.
Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, Satellite Award for Best Television Ensemble, Satellite Award for Best Ensemble – Motion Picture, Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play, Outer Critics Circle Award fo...
Nominations
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress, British Academy Television Award for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme, The British Independent Film Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film, British Academy Television Award for Best Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Ac...
Movies
The Lady in the Van, The History Boys, Hugo, Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Book of Eli, The Nutcracker in 3D, Mr. Holmes, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Wombling Free, Miss You Already, Trap for Cinderella, Survivor, Our Miss Fred, Murder with Mirror...
TV Shows
Vicious, Rising Damp, Outlander, Cold Lazarus, A Kind Of Living, The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine, Downwardly Mobile, Every Silver Lining
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I didn't think that Rising Damp (1974) would have quite the longevity it's enjoying, actually, because at the time we knew it was good because it was very well written by Eric Chappell, and he wrote characters as well as situations. In fact very little situation happens in this particular situation comedy, it's character based. And we knew it was good but there were a lot of very popular and good sitcoms in the seventies. You could name at least five. It became more popular years later, five, ten years, even then 20 years and people started calling it a classic. But it's like we left it behind and it never died.
Has two children by unknown fathers - a son and a daughter.
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She was awarded the Variety Club Award for Best Actress for her role in 'Fallen Angels', with Felicity Kendal.
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She was awarded the Plays and Players Theatre Award in 1980 for Best Actress for her role in 'Duet For One'.
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She was awarded the Outer Critics Circle Theatre Award in 2006 for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her role in 'The History Boys'.
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She was awarded the New York Drama Desk Theatre Award in 2006 for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her role in 'The History Boys'.
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She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1994 for Best Actress for her role in 'Les Parents Terribles'.
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She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award (then called SWET Award) for Best Actress for her role in 'Duet For One' in 1980.
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She was awarded the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her role in 'Duet For One' in 1980.
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She was awarded the 2006 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Mrs. Lintott in Alan Bennett's "The History Boys" on Broadway in New York City.
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Had her scenes from Love Actually (2003) cut from the final film. They feature in the DVD extras. She played the lesbian lover of the school headmistress played by Anne Reid.
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She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1992 (1991 season) for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance in "When She Danced".
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She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1984 (1983 season) for Best Actress in a Revival for "Moon for the Misbegotten, The".
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