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Julie Walters

Acting

Born February 22, 1950 · Smethwick, England, UK

Biography

Dame Julia Mary Walters DBE (born February 22, 1950), known professionally as Julie Walters, is an English actress, author, and comedian. She is the recipient of four British Academy Television Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, two International Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Fellowship, and a Golden Globe. Walters has been nominated twice for an Academy Award: once for Best Actress and once for Best Supporting Actress. Walters rose to prominence playing the title role in Educating Rita (1983), a role which she originated in West End theatre. She has appeared in a number of films, including Personal Services (1987), Stepping Out (1991), Sister My Sister (1994), Billy Elliot (2000), the Harry Potter series (2001–2011) as Molly Weasley, Calendar Girls (2003), Wah-Wah (2005), Driving Lessons (2006), Becoming Jane (2007), Mamma Mia! (2008) and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018), Brave (2012), Paddington (2014) and its 2017 sequel, Brooklyn (2015), Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017), and Mary Poppins Returns (2018). On stage, she won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for the 2001 production of All My Sons. On television, Walters collaborated with Victoria Wood; they appeared together on several television shows, including Wood and Walters (1981), Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV (1985–1987), Pat and Margaret (1994), and Dinnerladies (1998–2000). She has won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actress four times, more than any other actress, for My Beautiful Son (2001), Murder (2002), The Canterbury Tales (2003), and her portrayal of Mo Mowlam in Mo (2010). Walters and Helen Mirren are the only actresses to have won this award three consecutive times, and Walters is tied with Judi Dench for the most nominations in the category with seven. In 2006, the British public voted Walters fourth in ITV's poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars as part of ITV's 50th anniversary celebrations. She starred in A Short Stay in Switzerland (2009), which won her an International Emmy for Best Actress. Walters was made a Dame (DBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Awards & recognition

  • BAFTA AwardBest Actress in a Supporting Role · 2001
  • BAFTA AwardBest Actress in a Leading Role · 1984
  • Golden Globe AwardBest Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy · 1984
  • Commander of the Order of the British Empire
  • Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Show all 12 awards →
  • Empire Awards
  • Laurence Olivier Awards
  • BAFTA's Children & Young People Award - Performer · 2022 · nominated
  • European Film Award – People's Choice AwardBest European Film · 2019 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Supporting Actress · 2001 · nominated
  • European Film AwardBest Actress · 2000 · nominated
  • Academy AwardBest Actress · 1984 · nominated

Filmography50+ titles

Michael Caine: Breaking the Mold

1994as Self

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

2011as Molly Weasley

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2004as Molly Weasley

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

2001as Molly Weasley

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2010as Molly Weasley

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

2009as Molly Weasley

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

2007as Molly Weasley

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

2002as Molly Weasley

Billy Elliot

2000as Mrs Wilkinson

Paddington 2

2017as Mrs. Bird

The Hollow Crown

2012as Mistress Quickly

Natural World

1983as Narrator

Brooklyn

2015as Madge Kehoe

Becoming Jane

2007as Mrs. Austen

The Graham Norton Show

2007as Self

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

2018as Rosie

Indian Summers

2015as Cynthia Coffin

Paddington

2014as Mrs. Bird

Brave

2012as The Witch (voice)

Mamma Mia!

2008as Rosie Mulligan

The Jury

2002as Emma Watts Q.C.

Canterbury Tales

as Beth Craddock

Who Do You Think You Are?

as Self

Paddington in Peru

2024as Mrs. Bird

Wild Rose

2018as Marion

The Return

2003as Izzie

One Chance

2013as Yvonne

Prick Up Your Ears

1987as Elsie Orton

Dreamchild

1985as Dormouse (voice)

The Abominable Snow Baby

2021as Granny

Mary Poppins Returns

2018as Ellen

National Treasure

2016as Marie Finchley

Calendar Girls

2003as Annie Clarke

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

2017as Bella Turner

Britain's Busiest Airport: Heathrow

2015as Narrator (voice)

The Ruby in the Smoke

2006as Mrs. Holland

The Secret Garden

2020as Mrs. Medlock

Car Trouble

1986as Jacqueline

Driving Lessons

2006as Evie Walton

Personal Services

1987as Christine Painter

The Clothes in the Wardrobe

1993as Monica

Just Like a Woman

1992as Monica

The Queen's Corgi

2019as The Queen (voice)

Effie Gray

2014as Margaret Cox Ruskin

The Legend of Mor'du

2012as The Witch (voice)

Gnomeo & Juliet

2011as Lady Montague (voice)

Wah-Wah

2005as Gwen Traherne

Sister My Sister

1994as Madame Danzard

Stepping Out

1991as Vera

Master Moley by Royal Invitation

2019as Mrs. Elizabeth Moley / Queen (voice)