Julie Walters Biography

JULIE WALTERS

Date of Birth: February 22, 1950

Born in Birmingham, England, Walters was an obedient daughter who trained to be a nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital to please her mother. Her desire to become an actress, however, overtook her and she left home to study drama at Manchester Poly.

In 1974 she joined the Liverpool Everyman Theatre where she worked with writer Alan Bleasdale. After being cast alongside Richard Beckinsale in the popular production of Funny Peculiar, her career took flight.

Over the next few years Walters appeared as an actress, singer, dancer or combination thereof in a variety of British stage presentations. She landed major roles in the plays Personal Services, and Stepping Out, both of which won her BAFTA nominations. Walters also received a Lawrence Olivier award nomination for her role in Fool For Love.

She won a Tony award for her performance of a "modern Eliza Doolittle" character in the London and Broadway productions of Educating Rita and she was nominated for an Oscar after co-starring in the 1983 film version. Educating Rita also garnered her a BAFTA, Golden Globe and a Variety Club award. Walter's next triumph was the film version of the play Personal Services (1987), in which she played a character based on a real-life madame.

It was on the small screen that she gained recognition across England for her work as a comic actress. Walters received BAFTA nominations for her work in Boys from the Black Stuff and Say Something Funny, as well as roles in the popular television series, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mol and the TV movie, Pat and Margaret.

The actress remained on the small screen for most most of the '90s, but made the occasional feature, including Stepping Out (1991) and Intimate Relations (1996) In 2000, her movie career heated up again with Billy Elliot (2000), for which she received a second Oscar nomination and won her second BAFTA Film award. She played Molly Weasley, Ron's mother, in all the Harry Potter films, and starred in Calendar Girls (2003), about a group of middle-aged women who posed nude for charity. In 2006 she won a Silver St. George award at the Moscow International Film Festival for Driving Lessons, in which she co-starred with Rupert Grint, who plays her son in the Harry Potter films. Walters can be seen, or rather heard, in the animated film Brave (2012), in which she voices The Witch. More recently, she starred in Brooklyn (2015), Paddington 2 (2018), reprised her role as Rosie in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) and played the housekeeper, Ellen, in Mary Poppins Returns (2018).

In December 1999, she received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for her service to drama. She has been married to Grant Roffey since 1997 and they have one daughter, Maisie.

Filmography:

Mary Poppins Returns (2018)
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again (2018)
Paddington 2 (2018)
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017)
Brooklyn (2015)
Paddington (2014)
Effie Gray (2014)
The Harry Hill Movie (2013)
Justin and the Knights of Valour (2013)
One Chance (2013)
Brave (2012)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)
Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010)
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
Becoming Jane (2007)
Driving Lessons (2006)
Wah-Wah (2005)
Mickybo and Me (2004)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Calendar Girls (2003)
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Before You Go (2002)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)
Lover's Prayer (2001)
Billy Elliot (2000)
Titanic Town (1998)
Girls' Night (1998)
Intimate Relations (1996)
Sister My Sister (1994)
Just Like a Woman (1992)
Stepping Out (1991)
Killing Dad or How to Love Your Mother (1990)
Mack the Knife (1989)
Buster (1988)
Prick Up Your Ears (1987)
Personal Services (1987)
Car Trouble (1986)
Dreamchild (1985)
She'll Be Wearing Pink Pyjamas (1985)
Educating Rita (1983)