Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton OBE (born on January 9, 1956) is an Academy Award nominated English actress. She is known for her roles in 2004's Vera Drake and 2007's Freedom Writers. She is also playing Dolores Umbridge in "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix".

Staunton is a three-time recipient of Britain's highest theatre honour, the Olivier Award, for roles in A Chorus of Disapproval (1985), The Corn Is Green (1985), and Into the Woods (1991), and was nominated for her performance as Miss Adelaide in the 1996 revival of Guys and Dolls at The National Theatre. She began to receive international attention in 1993 for her performance as Margaret in the Kenneth Branagh production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Other film appearances include Peter's Friends (1992), Twelfth Night (1996) (playing Maria), Chicken Run (2000) (as the voice of Bunty) and Bright Young Things (2003).

In 1993 she appeared on the small screen alongside Richard Briers and Adrian Edmondson in If You See God, Tell Him. She has had other television parts in The Singing Detective (1986) and the comedy drama series Is It Legal? (1995-8). She was a voice artist on Mole's Christmas (1994).

On radio, she has appeared in the title role of detective drama series Julie Enfield Investigates, as the lead, Izzy Comyn, in the comedy Up the Garden Path (which later moved to ITV with Staunton reprising the role), as Mrs. Blatherwick, the vile cook in Nanny McPhee, and in Diary of a Provincial Lady (from 1999) and Acropolis Now.

Staunton shared a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Performance by a Cast in 1998 for Shakespeare in Love. In 2004, she received the Best Actress honors at the European Film Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Venice Film Festival for her performance in the title role of Vera Drake, which also won Best Picture. For the same role, she received Best Actress nominations for the 2005 Golden Globes and Academy Awards.

She had a guest role, playing Mrs. Mead in Little Britain in 2005. Staunton portrays power-hungry Dolores Umbridge in 2007's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In 2007 she also opened on stage in Frank McGuinness's There Came a Gypsy Riding.
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