Clare Higgins (actress)

Clare Higgins
Clare Higgins in 2016
Born	Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins (1955-11-10) 10 November 1955 (age 61) Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Occupation	Actress

Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins (born 10 November 1955) is an English actress. Her film appearances include Hellraiser (1987), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Small Faces (1996) and The Golden Compass (2007).

A six-time Olivier Award nominee for her work in the theatre, Higgins received her first nomination in 1984 for her role as Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire. She has since won the Olivier Award for Best Actress three times; for Sweet Bird of Youth in 1995, Vincent in Brixton in 2003 and Hecuba in 2005. She made her Broadway debut in 2003 in Vincent in Brixton, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. She returned to Broadway in the 2014 revival of A Delicate Balance.

Higgins, the second of five children, was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire to Paula Cecilia (née Murphy) and James Stephen Higgins. Her parents were from working class Irish Catholic backgrounds and worked as teachers. Higgins was interested in acting since her childhood. After being expelled from a convent school, she ran away from home at seventeen. At 19, she gave birth to a boy but gave him up for adoption because she was unable to raise him.