Celia Diana Savile Imrie Wiki: Salary, Married, Wedding, Spouse, Family
Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is a British actress. She won the 2006 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance in a Musical for her role as Miss Babs in Acorn Antiques: The Musical.In a career starting in the early 1970s, her television roles include Marianne Bellshade in Bergerac (1983), Diana Neal in After You've Gone (2007-2008) and Gloria Millington in Kingdom (2007-2009), but she remains best known for her TV appearances with Victoria Wood, including Claire in Pat and Margaret (1994), Philippa Moorcroft in Dinnerladies (1998-2000) and playing various characters in the sketch show Victoria Wood As Seen On TV (1985-1987), including Miss Babs in the spoof soap opera sketches Acorn Antiques, a role she reprised in the 2005 musical. Her film appearances include Highlander (1986), Hilary and Jackie (1998), Bridget Jones' Diary (2001), Calendar Girls (2003), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004) and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012). She has been described as "one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades".
Often plays characters who are fun-loving and/or eccentric.
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Impressively muscular arms.
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(On what attracted her to her character in Wah-Wah) I couldn't believe Lady Riva Hardwick could be so ghastly and thought that, (a) it would be fun to play someone so utterly uncompromising and, (b) there must be more to her than meets the eye, and it would be a challenge to find it. I was also so taken up with the story of the film and our Director's enthusiasm and belief, I just wanted to jump on board and fly with him.
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(On how she developed her character in Wah-Wah) I sought out, wherever we went on location, friends of Richard's who had known the rather remarkable, as I daily discovered, Lady Riva that my character was based on. I tried to incorporate as many of her qualities and idiosyncrasies as I could. I also absorbed all the details of precious film footage of the day, that Richard [E. Grant] found for us. The subjects' behavior, and fashion, during social and historic events was a fascinating help.
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On her co-star in Kingdom: We all love Stephen (Fry) and we are a great team. I am very lucky.
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Discussing working with George Lucas: He's very cool, as you'd expect....he asked me to take off my lipstick though. As I was going to be the first female pilot they'd ever used, I thought I'd put on some lipstick, and make an effort.
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When asked about Star Wars: I'm amazed anyone recognized me covered up in that hat and goggles. The casting director had seen me in a Harold Pinter play and asked me to be in Star Wars - how bizarre is that? I think I was originally up for the part of the mother at the beginning of the film but, when I didn't get it, they asked me to be a fighter pilot instead. I can't pretend I was a life-long Star Wars fan but I did think it would be rather cool for my son if his mum was in the film. He was little at the time so, when we went to see it, he went to sleep and missed me, but he got to see it with his school friends later. None of us knew what the story was, though. Because the producers are so worried about leaks, we had no idea how we fitted into the film. It was just terribly exciting to be on the set and part of a phenomenon like Star Wars.
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On Alan Bates: I'd known him for years and absolutely adored him. He really is naughty. Terrible. Or was, God bless him. But then, you see, Dame Judi's got that too. Everybody who's ever been one of my heroes is very naughty. Naughty sense of humor. Naughty sparkle in their eye.
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On Victoria Wood: I first met her through her university friends in Birmingham. I was in the room applauding when she won New Faces and she then rather loyally came to see me in a chorus line in a pantomime. She's been terribly loyal to me and I'm very proud to be working with her at the moment.
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Discussing her character in 'Wah-Wah': A friend of mine came to see a screening and said, 'Ceels, I was longing for you to suddenly become funny. And you didn't'. I said, 'I know, it's quite weird isn't it?' Originally Richard offered me another part but I said, 'yes, but what about this old bag?'
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Fact
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Daughter of David Andrew Imrie (1892-1972) and Diana Elizabeth Imrie (née Blois) (1913-1999).
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She won the 2006 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Role in a Musical for her performance in "Acorn Antiques The Musical".
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Trained at the Guildford School of Acting.
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Her Scottish father David worked as a radiologist, and her English mother Diana was a housewife.
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Has a house in London and also rents a flat in Swaffham in Norfolk.
$10 Million
