Lia Williams (born 26 November 1964) is an English actress and director, known for stage, film, and television appearances. She is noted for her role as Wallis Simpson in The Crown.
Williams's breakthrough performance came in 1991 when she appeared in The Revengers' Comedies, for which she won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer and an Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance. In 1993, she created the role of Carol in the London production of David Mamet's Oleanna. In 1997, Williams appeared opposite Michael Gambon in London's West End and on Broadway in David Hare's Skylight, (Olivier and Tony Award nominations). In 2001, Williams appeared again in the West End and on Broadway, playing Ruth in Harold Pinter's The Homecoming. Her long standing collaboration with Harold Pinter included roles in The Collection, Celebration, The Room, The Lover, The Hothouse and Old Times.
As Clytemnestra in Robert Icke's 'Oresteia' Williams was nominated for both Olivier and Evening Standard Awards. Also for Robert Icke, she alternated the roles of Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart with Juliet Stevenson in 'Mary Stuart'.
In Dublin, Williams appeared at the Gate Theatre as Alma in The Eccentricities of a Nightingale and Blanche du Bois in Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. She won The Irish Times best Actress Award for both roles.
Williams has been directing short films since 2002, her debut being Feathers (2002), which was based on a short story by Raymond Carver. In 2008, her short film The Stronger (2007) was nominated for the Best Short Film at the BAFTA Film Awards, and won Best Short Film at Raindance. In 2009, Williams directed Dog Alone, a dialogue-free short film which was broadcast as part of British Sky Broadcasting's Ten Minute Tales season. In 2016 she directed Nanabozhung, a feature-length documentary about the Batchewana First Nations, Canada.
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This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Lia Williams news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message Not to be confused with Leah Williamson Lia Williams born 26 November 1964 is an English actress and director known for stage film and television appearances She is noted for her role as Wallis Simpson in The Crown Lia WilliamsBorn 1964 11 26 26 November 1964 age 58 Birkenhead Merseyside EnglandOccupation s Actor directorYears active1984 present Contents 1 Theatre career 2 Film and television 3 Director 4 Personal life 5 Work 5 1 Selected stage credits 5 2 Selected television credits 5 3 Selected filmography 6 References 7 External linksTheatre career EditWilliams s breakthrough performance came in 1991 when she appeared in The Revengers Comedies for which she won the Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer and an Olivier Award nomination for Best Comedy Performance In 1993 she created the role of Carol in the London production of David Mamet s Oleanna In 1997 Williams appeared opposite Michael Gambon in London s West End and on Broadway in David Hare s Skylight Olivier and Tony Award nominations In 2001 Williams appeared again in the West End and on Broadway playing Ruth in Harold Pinter s The Homecoming Her long standing collaboration with Harold Pinter included roles in The Collection Celebration The Room The Lover The Hothouse and Old Times Other leading theatre performances include Rosalind in As You Like It for the RSC Alan Ayckbourn s Absurd Person Singular Henryk Ibsen s The Lady from the Sea and Pinter s Old Times in which she alternated the roles of Anna and Kate with Kristin Scott Thomas As Clytemnestra in Robert Icke s Oresteia Williams was nominated for both Olivier and Evening Standard Awards Also for Robert Icke she alternated the roles of Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart with Juliet Stevenson in Mary Stuart In 2019 she played the role of Hannah Jelkes in the West End theatre production of Tennessee Williams The Night of the Iguana at the Noel Coward Theatre opposite Clive Owen In Dublin Williams appeared at the Gate Theatre as Alma in The Eccentricities of a Nightingale and Blanche du Bois in Tennessee Williams A Streetcar Named Desire She won The Irish Times best Actress Award for both roles Film and television EditIn 1993 Williams made her film debut in Michael Winner s Dirty Weekend Winner chose her after seeing her in an Alan Ayckbourn play 1 Subsequent film appearances have included supporting roles in Firelight 1997 Shot Through the Heart 1998 The King Is Alive 2000 Girl from Rio 2001 and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey 2007 Leading television roles include Seaforth starring Williams and Linus Roache The Russian Bride opposite Sheila Hancock and Douglas Hodge and the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin with Martin Clunes Williams played the lead role in May 33rd for the BBC for which she won a FIPA Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA She played Wallis Duchess of Windsor in the Netflix series The Crown Nadia Herz in the second series of The Missing and starred in Kiri a Channel 4 series alongside Sarah Lancashire and Steven Mackintosh Most recently she has played Dr Cooper in His Dark Materials and DSU Gemma Garland in the BBC six part mystery thriller The Capture Director EditWilliams has been directing short films since 2002 her debut being Feathers 2002 which was based on a short story by Raymond Carver In 2008 her short film The Stronger 2007 was nominated for the Best Short Film at the BAFTA Film Awards and won Best Short Film at Raindance In 2009 Williams directed Dog Alone a dialogue free short film which was broadcast as part of British Sky Broadcasting s Ten Minute Tales season In 2016 she directed Nanabozhung a feature length documentary about the Batchewana First Nations Canada On stage she has also directed The Matchbox by Frank McGuinness for Liverpool Playhouse and the Tricycle Theatre and Ashes to Ashes as part of the Harold Pinter Season in the West End 2019 In 2021 Williams directed an acclaimed production of Doubt by John Patrick Shanley at Chichester Festival Theatre West Sussex Personal life EditLia Williams lives in London Work EditSelected stage credits Edit Year Play Role Awards and Nominations1991 The Revengers Comedies Karen Critics Circle Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer1993 Oleanna Carol1996 Skylight 2 Kyra Hollis Theatre World Special Award for Best Ensemble Performance shared with Michael Gambon and Christian Camargo Nominated Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a PlayNominated Laurence Olivier Award for Best ActressNominated Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play2001 The Homecoming Ruth2005 As You Like It Rosalind2007 Absurd Person Singular Eva2008 The Lady from the Sea Ellida Wangel2009 God of Carnage Veronique2010 Earthquakes in London Sarah2013 Old Times Kate Anna2014 The Father Anne2015 Oresteia Clytemnestra Nominated Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress Nominated Evening Standard Award for Best Actress2016 Mary Stuart Queen Elizabeth I Mary Queen of Scots2018 The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Jean Brodie2019 The Night of the Iguana Hannah Jelkes2022 John Gabriel Borkman Ella RentheimSelected television credits Edit Year Title Role Awards and Nominations1984 Annika Karen1992 Nightingales Mary1993 Mr Wroe s Virgins Joanna1994 Seaforth Paula Longman1997 The Uninvited Melissa Gates2001 The Russian Bride Natasha Cherniavskaya Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels Award for Best Actress2003 Sparkling Cyanide Ruth Lessing2004 May 33rd Ella Wilson Nominated British Academy Television Award for Best ActressNominated Royal Television Society Award for Best Actress2005 A Touch Of Frost Sylvia Ford2006 Marple By the Pricking of My Thumbs Nellie Bligh2009 Doc Martin Edith Montgomery Series Regular Season 42012 Secret State Laura Duchenne2013 Lewis Emma Barnes Guest Star 2 episodes2015 Midsomer Murders Maggie Markham Guest Star 1 episode2016 2017 2022 The Crown Wallis Duchess of Windsor Main role Seasons 1 2 Guest role Season 5 2016 The Missing Nadia Herz2019 present The Capture DSU Gemma Garland2019 2022 His Dark Materials Dr Cooper2020 Riviera Dr Emilie Mathieu Season 3 2 episodes2021 Death in Paradise Grace Verdinikov Guest Star 2 episodes2022 The Lazarus Project Ambassador Belov 2 EpisodesSelected filmography Edit Year Title Role1993 Dirty Weekend Bella1996 Different for Girls Defence Solicitor1997 The Fifth Province Diana de BrieFirelight Constance1998 Shot Through the Heart Maida2000 The King is Alive Amanda2001 Chica de Rio Cathy2007 Blanche Neige la suite Sleeping BeautyThe Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey Joan TylerTBA BenedictionReferences Edit Winner Takes All A Life of Sorts by Michael Winner p 269 Skylight Internet Broadway Database Retrieved 7 August 2011 External links EditLia Williams at IMDb Lia Williams at the Internet Broadway Database Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lia Williams amp oldid 1131310166, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
