Phyllis Logan

Phyllis Logan (born 11 January 1956)^[1] is a Scottish actress, known for playing Lady Jane Felsham in Lovejoy (1986–1993) and Mrs Hughes (later Carson) in Downton Abbey (2010–2015). She won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer for the 1983 film Another Time, Another Place. Her other film appearances include Secrets & Lies (1996), Shooting Fish (1997), Downton Abbey (2019) and Misbehaviour (2020).

Phyllis Logan
Logan at an event for Downton Abbey Cast and Creators, May 2014
Born	(1956-01-11) 11 January 1956 (age 67) Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Alma mater	Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (1977)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1977–present
Spouse	Kevin McNally ​ (m. 2011)​
Children	1

Early life

Logan's father, David, was a Rolls-Royce engineer and a trade-union leader and became the secretary of his local branch of the AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers). Phyllis is the youngest in her family and has a brother and a sister. Her father died at the age of 59 while she was at drama school.^[2]

Education

Logan was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire,^[3] and grew up in nearby Johnstone,^[4] where she was educated at Johnstone High School.^[5] She studied at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow and graduated with the James Bridie gold medal in 1977.^[6][7]

Career

After graduation Logan joined the Dundee Repertory Theatre.^[8] She left in 1979 to work on stage in Edinburgh. She also worked regularly on Scottish television. On the BBC Scotland production, The White Bird Passes, she first met writer-director Michael Radford. For his first feature film, Another Time, Another Place (1983), he cast Logan in the leading role of Janie, for which she won a Gold Award for Best Actress at the Taormina Film Festival and the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress in 1983 and the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles in 1984.^[9] She was also nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

Before her success in Downton Abbey, where she played the housekeeper Mrs Hughes, Logan was most identified with the role of Lady Jane Felsham, co-starring with Ian McShane for eight years in nearly 50 episodes of Lovejoy, a comedy-drama for television.

Her character in Downton Abbey, Mrs Hughes, was voted the best Downton Abbey character of all times in a poll conducted by RadioTimes.com (the official website of Radio Times).^[10]

She also starred in the 1996 Mike Leigh film Secrets & Lies alongside Timothy Spall and Brenda Blethyn. Logan provided the broadcast voice of Ingsoc in a film version of Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) and the Loch Ness Monster (Nessie) in the animated film Freddie as F.R.O.7 (1992). She was in the radio series Coming Alive and Baggage. She played Inspector Frost's love interest and eventual wife in If Dogs Run Free, the last story in the A Touch of Frost series.

She played Maggie Smart in The Good Karma Hospital^[11] (7 episodes, 2017–2018) on the ITV drama series which was later made available on Acorn TV. She also starred in a main role as Linda Hutchinson in the ITV drama series Girlfriends which was created and directed by Kay Mellor, alongside Miranda Richardson and Zoë Wanamaker.^[12][13]

She played Andinio in "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos", the tenth episode in the eleventh series of Doctor Who.^[14][15]

She was cast in the second series of the British television series Guilt, which was shown on both BBC Two and BBC Scotland in 2021.^[16]

Personal life

Logan married actor Kevin McNally, whom she met in the 1994 mini-series Love and Reason^{[citation needed]}, and has one child.^[17] They live in Chiswick.^[18][19]

She supports several charities that support the welfare of dementia patients^[20][21][22] and is also a supporter of SSPCA.^[23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Another Time, Another Place	Janie	BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actress Rimini Film Festival Award for Best Actress Taormina Film Fest Golden Mask Award Nominated— BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated— David di Donatello for Best Foreign Actress
1983	Every Picture Tells a Story	Agnes Scott
1984	The Chain	Alison
1984	Nineteen Eighty-Four	Telescreen Announcer	Voice
1984	The Dress	Julia	Short Film
1985	The Doctor and the Devils	Elizabeth Rock
1987	The Inquiry	Claudia Procula
1987	The Kitchen Toto	Janet Graham
1989	The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway	Mary Welsh
1989	The Angry Earth	Mary Penrys Jones
1990	The Dark Sun	Camilla Staffa
1992	Freddie as F.R.O.7.	Nessie (voice)
1992	Soft Top Hard Shoulder	Karla
1993	Silent Cries / Guests of the Emperor	Nancy Muir
1993	Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life	Frau Brunofsky	Short Film
1996	Secrets & Lies	Monica Purley
1997	Shooting Fish	Mrs. Ross
2003	Crust	Bill's Girlfriend
2004	Cheap Rate Gravity	Elsie	Short Film
2004	Out of the Shadows	Liz	Short Film
2008	The Hero's Journey		Short Film
2009	Nativity!	Mrs. Lore
2012	Day of the Flowers	Brenda
2013	Buoy		Short Film
2019	Downton Abbey	Elsie Hughes-Carson
2020	Misbehaviour	Evelyn Alexander
2020	You Really Got Me	Older Linda	Short Film
2021	The Last Bus	Mary
2021	Last Train to Christmas	Auntie Vi
2022	Downton Abbey: A New Era	Elsie Hughes-Carson
2022	Rocketry: The Nambi Effect	Mrs. Cleaver
2022	Harold & Mary	Mary	Short Film
To be released	Banking on Mr. Toad	Constance Smedley	Pre-production
To be released	Surprised by Oxford	Provost Regina Knight	Filming^[24]
To be released	No Way Up		Post-Production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Shoestring	Linda	Episode: "Mocking Bird"
1980	The White Bird Passes^[25]	Janie (age 16)	TV film
1981	Beginnings^[26]	Nell	TV Film
1981	Play for Today	Nancy Park	Episode: "The Good Time Girls"
1982	Scotch and Wry	Various	Episode: "Hogmanay 1982" ^[27] ^[28]
1985	Time and the Conways	Kay Conway	TV film
1985	Off Peak	Janet	TV film
1986–1994	Lovejoy	Lady Jane Felsham	Main role (series 1–5), guest (season 6)
1986	Screen Two	Anne	Episode: "The McGuffin"
1987	First Sight	Kathy	Episode: "Extras"
1987	Bust	Sheila Walsh	TV series
1987	When Reason Sleeps: Out of Time^[29]^[30]	Helen Wilmot	TV Film
1988	Hannay	Alison Ross	Episode: "Act of Riot"
1989	Screen Two	Alison	Episode: "Sitting Targets"
1989	Screen Two	Lee	Episode: "Defrosting the Fridge"
1989	And a Nightingale Sang	Helen Stott	TV film
1989	Goldeneye	Ann Fleming	TV film
1991	Screen One	Dora	Episode: "Happy Feet"
1991	Play on One ^[31]	Andrea	Episode: "And the Cow Jumped Over the Moon"
1991	Play on One ^[32]	Dr Ruth Kovacs	Episode: "Effie's Burning"
1993	Love and Reason	Lou Larson	TV miniseries
1995	Kavanagh QC	Samantha Fisher	Episode: "A Family Affair"
1995	The Big One	Mrs. Wilde	TV film
1995	Chiller	Anna Spalinsky	Episode: "Here Comes the Mirror Man"
1996	Pie in the Sky	Det. Supt. Chalmers	Episode: "Coddled Eggs"
1996	Inspector Morse	Julia Stevens	Episode: "The Daughters of Cain"
1997	Scene	Anna	Episode: "Skinny Marink"
1997	An Unsuitable Job for a Woman	Elizabeth Leaming	Episode: "Sacrifice"
1998	The Game^[33]	Betty McCallum	TV Film
1998	Invasion: Earth	Helen Knox	TV miniseries
1999	Holby City	Muriel McKendrick	Main role (series 1)
1999	Midsomer Murders	Kate Merrill	Episode: "Strangler's Wood"
1999	Rab C Nesbitt	Jenny Welthorpe	Episode: "Commons"
1999	All the King's Men	Mary Beck	TV film
1999	Heartbeat	Julia Kendall	Episode: "Stag at Bay"
2000	Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased)	Harriet Banks-Smith	Episode: "The Best Years of Your Death"
2000	Hope and Glory	Annie Gilbert	Main role (series 3)
2001	NCS: Manhunt	Anne Warwick	TV film
2002	Dickens	Georgina Hogarth	Episode: "Terror to the End"
2002	Fields of Gold	Rachel Greenlaw	TV film
2002	The Real Jane Austen	Mrs. Austen	TV film
2003	The Inspector Lynley Mysteries	Miriam Whitelaw	Episode: "Playing for the Ashes"
2003	Alibi^[34]	Linda Brentwood	TV film
2003	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Nurse Hopkins	Episode: "Sad Cypress"
2004	Dalziel and Pascoe	Jenny Ettrick	Episode: "A Game of Soldiers"
2004	Murder in Suburbia	Wendy	Episode: "Noisy Neighbours"
2004	Silent Witness	Helen Wharton	Episodes: "Death by Water: Parts 1 & 2"
2005	Beneath the Skin	DCI Grace Shilling	TV film
2005–06	Spooks	Diana Jewell	Episodes: "4.8", "5.10"
2006	Missing	Karen Foster	TV film
2006	Sea of Souls	Elaine	Episode: "Sleeper"
2006	Heartbeat	Diane Bell	Episode: "Get Back"
2007	Richard is My Boyfriend	Laura	TV Film
2007	Trial & Retribution	Anna Wildsmith	Episodes: "Curriculum Vitae: Parts 1 & 2"
2008	Honest	Jenny	Episode: "1.4"
2008	Taggart	Kathy Moffat	Episode: "Trust"
2008	New Tricks	Dr. Mathieson	Episode: "Mad Dogs"
2008	The Royal	George Fawcett	Episode: "Pastures New"
2010	Maid in Britain		TV Movie Documentary
2010	Silent Witness	Jennifer Mears	Episodes: "Shadows: Parts 1 & 2"
2010	Heartbeat	Rose Brown	Episode: "The War of the Roses"
2010	Wallander	Inga Wallander	Episode: "The Fifth Woman"
2010	A Touch of Frost	Christine Moorhead	Episodes: "If Dogs Run Free: Parts 1 & 2"
2010, 2012	Lip Service	Judy	Episodes: "1.4", "2.2"
2010–2015	Downton Abbey	Elsie May Carson (Mrs. Hughes)	Regular role
2012	Vera	Shirley	Episode: "A Certain Samaritan"
2014	Bones	Sandra Zins	Episode: "The Lost Love in the Foreign Land"
2017–18	The Good Karma Hospital	Maggie Smart	Main role (series 1), guest (series 2)
2018	Girlfriends	Linda Hutchinson	Main role
2018	Doctor Who	Andinio	Episode: "The Battle of Ranskoor Av Kolos"
2019	The Adventures of Paddington	Mrs. Bird	Voice
2020	Our Queen at War^[35]	Narrator	TV Movie Documentary
2020	The Highland Vet^[36]^[37]	Narrator	TV Documentary Series
2021	Intergalactic	Phoebe Skov-King	Episode: 1.5
2021	Ladybaby	Sheena Dunbar	^[38]
2021	Guilt	Maggie	Series 2

Radio appearances

• Baggage^[39][40] as Fiona
• Coming Alive on BBC Radio 4^[41]
• BBC Radio Shakespeare: Macbeth (Dramatised) on BBC Radio 3 as Lady Macbeth^[42]
• R.L. Stevenson's Weir Of Hermiston on BBC Radio 4^[43] as Kirstie
• Classic BBC Radio Horror: Dracula on BBC Radio 4^[44]
• Dr Finlay: Adventures of a Black Bag' on BBC Radio 4^[45]

Selected stage roles

Year	Title	Role	Theatre
1980	The Case of David Anderson Q. C.		Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh
1980	Threads	Bernadette	Hampstead Theatre
1983	The Communication Cord	Susan	Hampstead Theatre
1993	Marvin's Room^[46]	Lee Wakefield Lacker	Hampstead Theatre and Comedy Theatre, London
1994	Gaucho^[47]	Steph/Stephanie	Hampstead Theatre
2002	Richard III	Queen Elizabeth	Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
2008	2000 Feet Away^[48]	Nan	Bush Theatre
2016	Present Laughter^[49]^[50]	Monica Reed	Richmond Theatre
2018	Switzerland^[51]	Patricia Highsmith	Ambassadors Theatre, London and Theatre Royal, Bath

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Nominated work	Result
1983	Taormina Film Fest	Golden Mask	Another Time, Another Place	Won
1984	Rimini Film Festival	Best Actress	Another Time, Another Place	Won
1984	Evening Standard British Film Awards	Best Actress	Another Time, Another Place	Won
1984	British Academy Film Awards	Best Actress	Another Time, Another Place	Nominated
1984	British Academy Film Awards	Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film	Another Time, Another Place	Won
1986	David di Donatello Awards	Best Foreign Actress	Another Time, Another Place	Nominated
1991	British Academy Television Awards - Scotland^[52]	Scotland - Actress in 1991	The Play On One: And The Cow Jumped Over The Moon	Nominated
2012	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Won
2013	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Won
2014	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Nominated
2015	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Won
2016	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Won
2017	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Nominated

References

1. "Phyllis Logan". British Film Institute. from the original on 14 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
2. Paton Maguire, Maureen (3 February 2017). "Phyllis Logan: 'I never confided in my parents. My generation didn't do that'". The Guardian.
3. "10 reasons why Paisley is already a city of culture". BBC News. 13 November 2015. from the original on 13 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
4. "Video: Downton Abbey star from Refrewshire takes part in one-legged wobble challenge". Evening Times. Glasgow. 6 December 2015. from the original on 14 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
5. "Renfrewshire Council – Education". The Scotsman. Scotland. 24 April 2008. from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
6. "My Scotland". Scotland in Trust: 23. OCLC 49921348.
7. "Celebration of Scotland's Treasures" (PDF). The National Trust for Scotland Foundation USA. (PDF) from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
8. (Press release). James Scott official site. 20 December 1984. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
9. Shaw, Ann (1 August 1983). "Phyllis Logan Sets the Film World Buzzing". The Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 18 May 2015.
10. Walker-Arnott, Ellie (28 September 2014). . Archived from the original on 9 October 2020.
11. Whittle, Nathalie (8 February 2017). "Phyllis Logan: "I'd Be Terrible In A Medical Crisis!"". Woman & Home.
12. "Girlfriends is about women of a certain age, which is nice to be involved with, says Phyllis Logan". The Sunday Post. 2 January 2018.
13. "Downton's Phyllis Logan: Women are usually an 'appendage' on screen". Sutton & Croydon Guardian. 3 January 2018.
14. "Coming Soon, Series 11, Doctor Who – BBC One". BBC. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
15. Willis, Ciaran. "Who is Doctor Who series finale guest star Phyllis Logan?". Radio Times.
16. "New cast confirmed for Guilt as filming begins on the second series of BBC Two and BBC Scotland's multi award-winning drama". BBC. 25 November 2020.
17. Scougall, Murray (23 June 2020). "Downton Abbey's Phyllis Logan on a sequel, feminism protests, the struggle facing theatres, and her love of animals". The Sunday Post.
18. Lawrence, Janie (29 October 2012). "I'll stay in Downton Abbey as long as I can says Phyllis Logan". Daily Express. UK. from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2013.
19. Gm, Level Magazine- (19 June 2020). "Downton Abbey's Phyllis Logan's Lorraine interview interrupted by husband in his dressing gown". LEVEL MAGAZINE. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
20. "Jim Broadbent and Phyllis Logan feature in charity video about dementia carers". Evening Express (Scotland). 16 June 2020.
21. "Phyllis Logan's charity work with dementia". ITV.
22. "Downton Abbey star named as Scottish charity ambassador". The Scotsman. 30 March 2016.
23. "Scottish SPCA holds event backed by Downton Abbey's Phyllis Logan". scottishspca.org. 12 March 2020.
24. Kay, Jeremy (15 October 2021). "UK shoot underway on romance 'Surprised By Oxford' (exclusive)". Screen Daily.
25. "The White Bird Passes (1980)". British Film Institute.
26. "Beginnings (1981)". British Film Institute.
27. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
28. "Obituary: Rikki Fulton". the Guardian. 30 January 2004.
29. "Out of Time (1987)". BFI.
30. . BFI. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009.
31. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
32. "BBC Programme Index". genome.ch.bbc.co.uk.
33. "The Game (1998)". British Film Institute.
34. "Alibi (2003)". IMDb.
35. "ITV Press Centre - Our Queen at War". ITV.
36. "Highland vets reveal life on the frontline in new documentary". The Press and Journal (Scotland). 14 June 2020.
37. "Broadcaster Jeremy Vine reveals he's a fan of The Highland Vet". The Northern Times. 26 June 2020.
38. "BBC Three - Ladybaby". BBC.
39. "Baggage". comedy.co.uk.
40. Donaldson, Brian (29 November 2007). "Baggage". The List.
41. "Coming Alive". BBC.
42. "Drama on 3: Macbeth". BBC. 20 November 2005.
43. "R.L. Stevenson's Weir Of Hermiston". BBC.
44. "Bram Stoker's Dracula". BBC.
45. "BBC Radio 4 Extra - Doctor Finlay: Adventures of a Black Bag". BBC.
46. "Scott McPherson - Other Works". IMDb.
47. Taylor, Paul (24 October 1994). "THEATRE / Sympathy for the devil: Gaucho - Hampstead Theatre". Independent. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022.
48. Fisher, Philip. "2000 Feet Away - Anthony Weigh - Bush Theatre (2008)". British Theatre Guide.
49. "Present Laughter". 1 August 2016.
50. "Downton Abbey's Phyllis Logan to lead glittering cast in Noel Coward's Present Laughter at Richmond Theatre". Sutton & Croydon Guardian. 6 July 2016.
51. "Switzerland starring Phyllis Logan to transfer to the West End". WhatsOnStage.com. 23 August 2018.
52. "Scotland - Actress in 1991". BAFTA.

External links

• Phyllis Logan at IMDb
• Phyllis Logan at the TCM Movie Database