Brenda Blethyn

Brenda Blethyn OBE
Blethyn at 43rd KVIFF, 2008
Born	Brenda Anne Bottle (1946-02-20) 20 February 1946 (age 70) Ramsgate, Kent, England, UK
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1980–present
Spouse(s)	Alan Blethyn (m. 1964–1973, divorced) Michael Mayhew (m. 2010–present)

Brenda Anne Blethyn, OBE (née Bottle; 20 February 1946) is an English actress who has worked in theatre, television and film, best known for her role in Mike Leigh's 1996 drama Secrets & Lies, and, from 2011, for the title role in the TV detective series Vera.

Blethyn has received two Academy Award nominations, two SAG Award nominations, two Emmy Award nominations and three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one. In addition, she has won a BAFTA, an Empire Award and has earned a Theatre World Award and both a Critics' Circle Theatre Award and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for her theatrical work.

Born into a working class home, Blethyn pursued an administrative career until her early 30s before enrolling in the Guildford School of Acting after the dissolution of her marriage in 1973. She subsequently joined the Royal National Theatre and received credits for her performances in Troilus and Cressida (1976) and Mysteries (1979). In 1981, Blethyn earned her first critical acclaim for Steaming.

In 1980, Blethyn made her television debut in Mike Leigh's film Grown-Ups. After a modest number of guest spots in several productions, in the mid-1980s she garnered leading roles in the short-run sitcoms Chance in a Million and The Labours of Erica. Having followed her big screen debut with smaller supporting roles in films such as The Witches (1990) and A River Runs Through It (1992), she made a major cinema breakthrough with her role in the 1996 dramedy Secrets & Lies, for which she received rave reviews.