Siân Phillips

Siân Phillips

Birthday: 1933-05-14

Place of Birth: Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Glamorgan, Wales

Biography: Dame Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips DBE (born 14 May 1933), known professionally as Siân Phillips, is a Welsh actress, author and singer. Phillips was the daughter of Sally (née Thomas), a teacher, and David Phillips, a steelworker-turned-policeman. She is a Welsh-speaker and in the first volume of her autobiography, "Private Faces", she notes that she spoke only Welsh for much of her childhood, learning English by listening to the radio. She attended Pontardawe Grammar School and later read English and Philosophy at University College Cardiff, graduating in 1955. She entered RADA in LOndon, England with a scholarship in September 1955, the same year as Diana Rigg and Glenda Jackson. She went on to win the prestigious Bancroft Gold Medal for Hedda Gabler and was offered work in Hollywood when she left RADA. While still a student she was offered three film contracts, entailing her to work for an extended period of time in the United States; but she declined, preferring to work on stage instead.

Movies

The 50 Greatest Television Dramas
The 50 Greatest Television Dramas

Boasting an amazing selection of the most watched, most influential and most highly acclaimed progra...

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Dune
Dune

In the year 10,191, the most precious substance in the universe is the spice Melange. The spice exte...

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Clash of the Titans
Clash of the Titans

To win the right to marry his love, the beautiful princess Andromeda, and fulfil his destiny, half-G...

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The Mountain That Had To Be Painted
The Mountain That Had To Be Painted

Documentary about the painters Augustus John and James Dickson Innes who, in 1911, left London for t...

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Ewoks: The Battle for Endor
Ewoks: The Battle for Endor

The army of the Marauders, led by King Terak and the witch Charal, attack the Ewoks village, killing...

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The Age of Innocence
The Age of Innocence

In 19th century New York high society, a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her ...

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The Snow Spider
The Snow Spider

On his ninth birthday, young Gwyn (Osian Roberts), who lives on a remote hill farm in Wales, receive...

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Emlyn's Moon
Emlyn's Moon

Young magician Gywn and his friend Nia have been warned to stay away from Emlyn Llewelyn, the strang...

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National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood
National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood

A community is sleeping. If you listen closely, you can hear their dreams. The retired sea captain...

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The Chestnut Soldier
The Chestnut Soldier

Gwyn can feel danger coming in the wind. Somehow he knows the warnings have to do with the broken to...

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Murphy's War
Murphy's War

Murphy is the sole survivor of his crew, that has been massacred by a German U-Boat in the closing d...

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Under Milk Wood
Under Milk Wood

The delightful if peculiar story of a day in the life of a small, Welsh fishing village called "Llar...

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Becket
Becket

Thomas Becket, Henry II's longtime advisor, finds his friendship with the debauched king corroding w...

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Valmont
Valmont

Set in Baroque France, a scheming widow and her lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recen...

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The Murder Room
The Murder Room

London's Dupayne Museum is in danger of closing since one of the trustees feels that the money expen...

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Eh, Joe?
Eh, Joe?

The first English broadcast of Eh, Joe? which aired on BBC2 on July 4th, 1966 with Jack MacGowran, f...

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Come and Go
Come and Go

An adaptation of Samuel Beckett's short play from 1965. Three women meet on a bench; they reminisce ...

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A Picture of London
A Picture of London

From its early years until the present day, London has provided powerful, emotional inspiration to a...

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Young Cassidy
Young Cassidy

In Dublin circa 1911, John Cassidy (Rod Taylor), an impoverished idealist, whose ambitions are restr...

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Nijinsky
Nijinsky

A ballet dancer struggles with his homosexuality and the increasing allure of a young ballerina who ...

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Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba
Peter O'Toole: Along the Sky Road to Aqaba

Reflecting Peter O'Toole's theatrical legacy, this feature documentary is structured into four acts,...

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Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill

Lee Remick stars as Jennie Jerome, born in the United States in 1845, who eventually became Lady Ran...

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The Doctor and the Devils
The Doctor and the Devils

In Victorian England, two grave robbers supply a wealthy doctor with bodies to research anatomy on, ...

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Under Milk Wood
Under Milk Wood

An all star cast unite to perform a distinctive BBC Wales Television adaptation of Dylan Thomas's ra...

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The Scold's Bridle
The Scold's Bridle

Detective Cooper investigates the bizarre circumstances surrounding the murder of Matilda who was fo...

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Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends
Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends

On 3 May 2022, Cameron Mackintosh invited many of Stephen Sondheim’s old friends to join him in Lond...

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It’s Dearer After Midnight
It’s Dearer After Midnight

A two-hander, set in a fictional Northern city, featuring Keith Barron as a taxi driver and Sian Phi...

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Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar

Stones are at once the most foundational and the most overlooked parts of our lifeworld. When a reti...

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Thief
Thief

A lady catches the attention of a compulsive gambler....

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Don Juan in Hell
Don Juan in Hell

The third act of George Bernard Shaw's philosophical comedy Man and Superman. This dream episode dep...

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Lovesong
Lovesong

Lovesong intricately weaves the story of a couple in the first stages of their life together with th...

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The Black Candle
The Black Candle

Lily Whitmore is the heir to a crumbling factory that she's determined to restore to its former glor...

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Siân Phillips at 90
Siân Phillips at 90

Acclaimed actress Dame Siân Phillips is still working at 90. The star of I, Claudius speaks openly a...

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Aberfan: The Green Hollow
Aberfan: The Green Hollow

A film poem to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Aberfan disaster, written by Owen Sheers and ...

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Stalin: Inside the Terror
Stalin: Inside the Terror

This program is an overview of the life and career of Joseph Stalin. It concentrates on describing a...

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The Vacillations of Poppy Carew
The Vacillations of Poppy Carew

When Poppy Carew is faced with having to organize a funeral by herself, she finds new strength and l...

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Alice Through the Looking Glass
Alice Through the Looking Glass

A modern adaptation of the classic children's story 'Alice through the Looking Glass', which continu...

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Dark River
Dark River

An angry father sets out to get revenge for the death of his daughter in a toxic waste accident....

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House of America
House of America

"House of America" is a 1997 film directed by Marc Evans. The film, set in a depressed Welsh mining ...

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Heartbreak House
Heartbreak House

Captain Shotover, a retired seafarer, is reluctantly hosting a weekend house party for his two daugh...

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Hochelaga, Land of Souls
Hochelaga, Land of Souls

Mohawk archaeologist Baptiste Asigny engages in a search for his ancestors following a tragic terrai...

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Voyageuse
Voyageuse

Based on the life of my late mother-in-law, Erica Thomas, “Voyageuse” is a mix of romance, science a...

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The Mousehole Cat
The Mousehole Cat

Told through the eyes of Mowzer, a cat, this tale -- based on a Cornish legend -- follows brave Tom ...

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Miss Dalí
Miss Dalí

Anna Maria Dalí is four years younger than her brother Salvador and they love each other. Both enjoy...

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Goodbye, Mr. Chips
Goodbye, Mr. Chips

Academy Award-honoree Peter O'Toole stars in this musical classic about a prim English schoolmaster ...

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To Provide All People
To Provide All People

To mark the 70th anniversary of the birth of the NHS, acclaimed poet Owen Sheers takes us on a journ...

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David Macaulay: Pyramid
David Macaulay: Pyramid

How did ancient Egyptians build the Great Pyramid at Giza, joining two million blocks of heavy stone...

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A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol

The radical new take on Dickens’ classic seeks both to exhume the original story’s gritty commentary...

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How Many Miles to Babylon?
How Many Miles to Babylon?

Wealthy Alexander Moore and working-class Jerry Crowe are childhood friends and in 1914 find themsel...

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Nureyev
Nureyev

An insight into the life of the world's most famous male dancer, Rudolf Nureyev....

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Dream Horse
Dream Horse

The inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town bartender, Jan...

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Aristocrats
Aristocrats

18th-century England and Ireland viewed through the eyes of four beautiful high-born sisters - Carol...

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Be Happy!
Be Happy!

A contemporary love story about Peter, a Freudian psychiatrist married to the Finnish Mika, David, a...

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Summerland
Summerland

A woman during the Second World War opens her heart to an evacuee after initially resolving to be ri...

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The Longest Day
The Longest Day

The retelling of June 6, 1944, from the perspectives of the Germans, US, British, Canadians, and the...

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Time & Again
Time & Again

Eleanor and Isabelle meet again, sixty years after their relationship break up......

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National Theatre Live: Les Blancs
National Theatre Live: Les Blancs

An African country teeters on the edge of civil war. A society prepares to drive out its colonial pr...

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I, Claudius: A Television Epic
I, Claudius: A Television Epic

The cast and crew of I, Claudius (1976) discuss the making of the series....

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Cinderella: The ITV Pantomime
Cinderella: The ITV Pantomime

A televised pantomime of Cinderella featuring various celebrities....

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Platonov
Platonov

The title character is a married provincial schoolmaster and a notorious philanderer. He is a russia...

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Carpathian Eagle
Carpathian Eagle

Murder victims are being found with the hearts cut out. A police detective is assigned to find and s...

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Still: Here/Now
Still: Here/Now

A search for the poetic soul of Wales - a feature documentary which explores poetic responses, histo...

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Laughter in the Dark
Laughter in the Dark

Swinging London in the 1960s. Deals with the affection of a middle-aged man for a very young woman, ...

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The Achurch Letters
The Achurch Letters

1889: young Bernard Shaw falls under the spell of actress Janet Achurch. An important and highly cha...

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Alec Guinness: A Class Act
Alec Guinness: A Class Act

The story of one of Britain's most celebrated actors of the 20th century, told by those who knew and...

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Frank and Percy
Frank and Percy

During their dog walks on Hampstead Heath, two older gentlemen find their conversations about everyd...

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Richard Burton: Wild Genius
Richard Burton: Wild Genius

The son of a Welsh miner, Richard Burton became a Hollywood star and is considered one of the greate...

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