Emma Thompson is a British actress, screenwriter and producer who has been praised for her outstanding performance in various film and television works.
She is also an acclaimed author, having won an Oscar for her adaptation of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility.
She is one of the few actors to be nominated for both the Best Actor and Best Screenplay Oscars, and is also a Dame Commander of the British Empire, a humanitarian activist, and a children’s book author.
contour
- Full name: Emma Thompson
- Date of Birth: April 15, 1959
- Age: 65
- Gender: Female
- Birthplace: Paddington, London, England
- Nationality: British
- Occupation: Actor, screenwriter, producer, author
- Height: 1.71 m (5 ft 7 in)
- Parents: Eric Thompson (father), Phyllida Lowe (mother)
- Siblings: Sophie Thompson (sister)
- Spouse: Kenneth Branagh (married 1989, divorced 1995), Greg Wise (married 2003)
- Children: Gaia Wise (daughter), Tindibwa Agaba Wise (son)
- Marital status: Married
- Net worth: $40 million
Early life and education
Emma Thompson was born on April 15, 1959 in Paddington, London, England to actors Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law.
She has an older sister, Sophie, also an actress. She attended Camden School for Girls and Westminster School in London, where she took part in school plays and local theatre productions.
She developed a keen interest in literature and writing and decided to study English at Newnham College, Cambridge, where she joined the famous comedy group Cambridge Footlights, becoming the first female member of the troupe.
She co-directed and performed in a number of shows with the group, and in 1981 won the Perrier Prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
She graduated from Cambridge University in 1980 with a degree in English literature and began her professional acting career shortly after.
personal life
In 1989, Emma Thompson married Kenneth Branagh, with whom she had co-starred in many films and stage plays.
They were once the golden couple of the British film industry, but their marriage collapsed in 1995 amid rumors of infidelity. Thompson later revealed that she suffered from depression and infertility during this period.
She met actor and producer Greg Wise on the set of Sense and Sensibility and they married in 2003.
They have two children: a biological daughter, Gaia, and a son, Tindyebwa, who was adopted from Rwanda.
Thompson and Wise currently live in West Hampstead, London, and have a holiday home in Scotland. They are involved in various charities and environmental causes, including Comic Relief, Greenpeace and the Refugee Council.
Profession
Emma Thompson began her career in the early 1980s, appearing on various television and radio programmes, often alongside her Cambridge Footlights schoolmates Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.
In 1985, she had her first breakthrough starring in the West End revival of the musical Me and My Girl, which received rave reviews and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
She also wrote and starred in her own Channel 4 special, Emma Thompson: Up for Grabs. In 1987, she gained further recognition by starring in two acclaimed BBC mini-series: the World War II drama The Fate of War and the black comedy Fruit Chest. She won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress for both series.
Thompson made his film debut in 1989, playing the title role in the romantic comedy The Tall Man, co-starring Jeff Goldblum.
She also played Princess Catherine in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Henry V, which was nominated for several Academy Awards.
She continued to work with Branagh in the early 1990s, appearing in films such as Die Again, A Friend of Peter and Much Ado About Nothing.
She has also starred in other notable films such as Improvisation, The Remains of the Day, and In the Name of the Father and has received several awards and nominations for her roles.
In 1995, Thompson achieved his greatest success as the screenwriter and star of Ang Lee’s film Sense and Sensibility.
She won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and was nominated for Best Actress, becoming the only actor to win both an acting and a writing Oscar.
She also won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for the screenplay and received widespread acclaim for her portrayal of Elinor Dashwood.
She then starred in other successful films such as Primary Colors, Love Actually and The Big Dreamer, in which she played the writer PL Travers.
Thompson has also starred in several hit series, such as the Harry Potter series, in which she played the eccentric Professor Sybill Trelawney, and the Nanny McPhee series, which she also wrote and produced.
She has also voiced animated films such as Treasure Planet, Brave, and Beauty and the Beast. She has also starred in films such as Strange Life, An Education, Men in Black 3, and Late Night, showcasing her breadth and versatility as an actress.
Thompson also continued to work in television, starring in such acclaimed productions as Wit, Angels in America, Lunch Song, King Lear, and As Time Goes By. She won an Emmy Award for her guest appearance on the sitcom The Ellen DeGeneres Show and has been nominated for several other Emmy Awards for her performances on television.
She also played Mrs. Lovett in the 2014 Lincoln Center production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and received a Grammy nomination for that cast album.
Thompson is also an author, having written three children’s books based on the character of Peter Rabbit created by Beatrix Potter. She has also written essays, articles and introductions for various publications and books.
Awards
Emma Thompson has received many awards and nominations throughout her career, including five Academy Award nominations (winning twice), nine Golden Globe Award nominations (winning twice), seven BAFTA Award nominations (winning three times), and six Emmy Award nominations (winning once).
She has also received honours from film festivals, film critics societies and guilds. In 2018, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for services to theatre.
Some of the notable awards she has won include:
- Academy Award for Best Actress: Howards End (1992)
- Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Sense and Sensibility) (1995)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series (Howard End, 1992)
- Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
- Howards End (1992) won the British Academy Film Award for Best Actress
- BAFTA Award for Best Actress for Sense and Sensibility (1995)
- BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (Sense and Sensibility) (1995)
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (The Ellen DeGeneres Show, 1997)
- BAFTA Television Award for Best Actress for Tutti Frutti (1987)
- Won the British Academy Film Award for Best Television Actress for “The Fate of War” (1987)
dispute
Emma Thompson has been the subject of controversy and criticism throughout her career, mostly related to her political and social views. Here are some examples:
- In 2009, she was accused of hypocrisy for supporting a campaign against a third runway at Heathrow Airport, despite flying regularly for work and travel. She defended herself by saying she had offset her carbon emissions and that she was not against flying but against airport expansion.
- In 2014, she said she would vote for Scotland to remain in the United Kingdom if there was an independence referendum, which angered some Scottish nationalists. She said she loved Scotland but felt more British. She also joked that if Scotland became independent, she would move there because it was warmer than England.
- In 2016, she was criticized by some fans of the Harry Potter series when she signed an open letter with other celebrities in support of a cultural boycott of Israel. The letter urged organizers of the Tel Aviv International LGBT Film Festival to cancel a screening of a film based on the life of a gay Israeli soldier.
The letter claims that Israel is using the holiday to divert attention from its human rights violations against Palestinians.
Some fans have accused Thompson of anti-Semitism and betraying the values of tolerance and diversity promoted by the Harry Potter series.
social media
- Instagram: @emmathompson
- Twitter: @emmathompson90
Filmography
- tall
- Henry V
- Die again
- Howard End
- The Remains of a Long Day
- In the Name of the Father
- Much Ado About Nothing
- primary
- Sense and Sensibility
- Carrington
- Winter Guests
- primary color
- Judas Kiss
- Maybe baby
- wisdom
- Treasure Planet
- Last Christmas
- Doolittle
- Years and years
- Cruella
- Good luck, Leo Grande
books
- The Amazing Story of Peter Rabbit
- The Further Adventures of Peter Rabbit
- Peter Rabbit’s Christmas Story
- Lost Words
- Last Christmas: Memories of Christmases Past and Hopes for Christmases Future
- Further Adventures of Owl and Kitten
net worth
Various sources indicate that Emma Thompson has a net worth of approximately $40 million. The majority of her wealth comes from her acting, writing, and producing careers, as well as endorsements and royalties.
She is one of the highest paid and most respected actors in the industry and has been involved in several lucrative projects.
