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Frances De la Tour

Frances De la Tour

Frances De la Tour joins the Harry Potter cast for the first time as Madame Maxime, the giant headmistress of the French girls' school, the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, one of three schools competing in the Triwizard Tournament.

De la Tour began her acting career with the RSC in 1965, since becoming one of the UK's leading stage actresses.

She has starred in over 35 stage productions, winning major awards for her performances, including the Variety Club Best Actress award for Fallen Angels by Noel Coward; the Best Actress Olivier Award for A Moon For The Misbegotten by Eugene O'Neill; and both the Evening Standard and Olivier Best Actress Awards for Duet For One by Tom Kempinski.

Other notable stage appearances include such productions as Helena in Peter Brook's acclaimed production of A Midsummer Night's Dream; Rosalind in As you Like It; the title role in Hamlet; Small Craft Warnings by Tennessee Williams; the title role in St Joan; When She Danced, by Martin Sherman, opposite Vanessa Redgrave, for which she won Best Actress in a Supporting Role Olivier Award; Lillian, a one woman show based on the life of Lillian Hellman; Olga Knipper in Chekhov in Tsaritsin, devised and performed in Russian and English; Greasepaint, a one woman Japanese play by Inoue; Three Tall Woman by Edward Albee, with Maggie Smith; Blinded by the Sun; The Play About The Baby, by Edward Albee; The Forest; Cleopatra opposite Alan Bates in Anthony and Cleopatra; The Good Hope; The Dance of Death by Strindberg, once with Alan Bates and the second time with Ian McKellen; and The History Boys.

She has appeared in more than 20 television roles including Duet For One, a performance that earned her a Best Actress BAFTA nomination.

Other notable television roles have included Miss Jones in Rising Damp, A Kind of Living, Cold Lazarus by Dennis Potter, Tom Jones, The Egg by Patrick Marber, Born & Bred, Poirot: Death on the Nile and Waking the Dead.

Her film credits include Rising Damp, for which she won the Evening Standard's Best Actress Award. She has also starred in Michael Cacoyannis' film of The Cherry Orchard, Richard Curtis' Love Actually and the anticipated 2006 film of Alan Bennett and Nick Hytner's The History Boys.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2006.

Frances De la Tour Facts

OccupationActress
BirthdayJuly 30, 1944 (79)
SignLeo
BirthplaceBovingdon, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Height5' 7" (1m70)  How tall is Frances De la Tour compared to you?

Selected Filmography

The Deal
Private Peaceful
Into The Woods
The Lady in the Van
Book of Eli, The
The Book of Eli
Murder With Mirrors
The History Boys
Episode 4
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