Shirley Henderson Biography

Shirley Henderson (born 24 November 1965) is a Scottish actress. She is perhaps best known for her film roles as Gail in Trainspotting (1996), Jude in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001) and Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Her other films include Topsy-Turvy (1999), Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2002), Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004), Frozen (2005), Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (2008) and Anna Karenina (2012). On television from 1995-1997, she starred opposite Robert Carlyle in the BBC series Hamish Macbeth. In 2014, she received a BAFTA TV Award nomination for the Channel 4 miniseries Southcliffe (2013). She has also featured most recently as Frances Drummond in the BBC drama Happy Valley (2016).

Early life

Henderson was born in Forres, Moray, but grew up in Kincardine, Fife. As a child, she began singing in local clubs, at charity events, holiday camps and even a boxing contest. Having joined an after-school drama club, Henderson attended Fife College at the age of 16, where she completed a one-year course resulting in a National Certificate in Theatre Arts. She moved to London at 17 where she spent three years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, graduating in 1986.

Career

Henderson got her first big break when Leonard White cast her as the lead in the children's television drama Shadow of the Stone on ITV. After this, she spent the majority of her twenties concentrating on performing a wide variety of roles in the theatre. Early 1990 saw her return to television screens when she appeared in the third series of the wartime drama series Wish Me Luck and in Clarissa (1991). More stage work followed before she landed the key role of Isobel in the popular BBC series Hamish Macbeth in 1995.

Henderson then moved into films, playing Morag in Rob Roy (1995) and Spud's girlfriend Gail in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting (1996). She continued her work in the theatre, including many productions at the National Theatre in London. 1999 saw critically acclaimed performances in Mike Leigh's Topsy-Turvy "? which also provided an opportunity for her to show off her singing skills - and Michael Winterbottom's Wonderland.

She played Jude in both Bridget Jones films and Moaning Myrtle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). She was the oldest actress to portray a child's character in the films. She co-starred in the British film "Close Your Eyes" (2002) along with Goran Vinji? and Miranda Otto and also played French princess Sophie-Philippine in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).

She played the school matron in Nick Moore's 2008 film Wild Child.

Small-screen appearances have included playing Marie Melmotte in The Way We Live Now (2001); Catherine of Braganza in Charles II: The Power and The Passion (2003); Charlotte in Dirty Filthy Love (2004); Ursula Blake in the Doctor Who episode "Love & Monsters" (2006); Emmeline Fox in The Crimson Petal and the White (2011); DS Angela Young in Death in Paradise (2011); and Meg Hawkins in Treasure Island (2012). She played Karen, the lead role, opposite John Simm in Channel 4's Everyday and Meme Kartosov in Anna Karenina.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1991	Dreaming	Pauline	TV movie
	Advocates I	Andrea	aka The Advocates
	Clarissa	Sally	TV movie
1994	Salt on Our Skin	Mary
1995	Rob Roy	Morag
1996	Trainspotting	Gail
1997	Bumping the Odds	Lynette	TV movie
1998	Speak Like a Child	Woman in Dream	uncredited
1999	Topsy-Turvy	Leonora Braham	Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
	Wonderland	Debbie
2000	The Claim	Annie
2001	Bridget Jones's Diary	Jude
2002	The Girl in the Red Dress	Gaynor
	Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets	Moaning Myrtle
	Doctor Sleep	Detective Janet Losey
	Once Upon a Time in the Midlands	Shirley
	24 Hour Party People	Lindsay Wilson	Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
	Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself	Alice	Bordeaux International Festival of Women in Cinema: Best Actress Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor/Actress
	Villa des roses	Ella	Nominated - British Independent Film Award for Best Actress
2003	American Cousins	Alice	Cherbourg-Octeville Festival of Irish & British Film: Best Actress Newport Beach Film Festival: Feature Film - Best Actress - Comedy
	Intermission	Sally	Nominated - London Film Critics Circle Award for British Supporting Actress of the Year
	Fishy	Glenda Sands
	AfterLife	Ruby
2004	Dirty Filthy Love	Charlotte	TV movie Nominated - Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor - Female
	Yes	Cleaner
	Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason	Jude
2005	Einstein's Big Idea	Mileva Maric	TV movie
	A Cock and Bull Story	Susannah	aka Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
	The Girl in the Red Dress	Gaynor	short Angers European First Film Festival: Mademoiselle Ladubay Award
	Frozen	Kath	BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress in a Scottish Film Cherbourg-Octeville Festival of Irish & British Film: Best Actress Crteil International Women's Film Festival: Special Mention Marrakech International Film Festival: Best Actress
	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Moaning Myrtle
	The Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare Retold	Kate	A BBC production in association with Horsebridge Productions Limited
2006	Marie Antoinette	Aunt Sophie
	Ma Boy	Ali
2007	I Really Hate My Job	Alice
	Wedding Belles	Kelly	TV movie
2008	Wild Child	Matron
	Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day	Edythe Dubarry
	Marple: Murder Is Easy	Honoria Waynflete	TV movie
2009	Life During Wartime	Joy	Nominated - Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast
	May Contain Nuts	Alice	TV movie
2010	Meek's Cutoff	Glory White
	The Nutcracker in 3D	The Nutcracker	voice only
2012	Everyday	Karen
	Treasure Island	Meg Hawkins	TV movie
	Anna Karenina	Meme Kartasov
2013	The Look of Love	Rustie Humphries
	Filth	Bunty
2015	Tale of Tales	Imma

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Shadow of the Stone	Elizabeth Findlay
1990	Wish Me Luck	Sylvie	5 episodes
	Casualty	Denise	1 episode
1994	The Bill	Kelly Rogers	1 episode
1995	Hamish Macbeth	Isobel Sutherland	19 episodes (1995-1997)
1997	Bumping the Odds	Lynette
2000	Animated Tales of the World	Malmhin
2001	The Way We Live Now	Marie Melmotte	4 episodes Nominated - Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor - Female
	In a Land of Plenty	Anne Marie	1 episode
2003	Charles II: The Power and The Passion	Catherine of Braganza	4 episodes
2005	ShakespeaRe-Told	Katherine Minola	The Taming of the Shrew
	Einstein's Big Idea	Mileva Maric	1 episode
2006	Doctor Who - "Love & Monsters"	Ursula Blake	1 episode
2011	The Crimson Petal and the White	Emmeline Fox
	Death in Paradise	DS Angela Young
	The Gruffalo's Child	The Gruffalo's Child
2013	Southcliffe	Claire Salter	Nominated - BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress
2014	Jamaica Inn	Hannah
2016	Happy Valley	Frances Drummond	Series 2

Theatre

• Anna Weiss "? Lynn; Whitehall Theatre, London; 22 November - 18 December 1999 (author: Mike Cullen, director Michael Attenborough)
• Shining Souls "? Mandy; Old Vic, London; 9 November - 1 December 1997 (director: Chris Hannan)
• The Maiden Stone "? Mary; Hampstead Theatre, London; 1999 (director: Matthew Lloyd)
• The House of Bernarda Alba "? Stuart Davids; The Tramway, Glasgow; 10-20 September 1997 (author: Federico Garca Lorca; director: Stuart Davids)
• Shining Souls "? Mandy; 1997
• The Life of Stuff "? Evelyn, Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh; 1996 (director: John Mitchell)
• The Mill on the Floss "? Maggie Tulliver; Tricycle Theatre Shared Experience; 1994 (author: George Eliot, director: Nancy Meckler)
• Romeo and Juliet "? Juliet; Citizens Theatre, Glasgow; 1993 (author: William Shakespeare, director: Giles Havergal)
• Lions in the Street "? Isobel; Hampstead Theatre, London; 1993 (author: Paul Hoffman, director: Matthew Lloyd)
• Eurydice "? Eurydice; Festival Theatre, Chichester; 1993 (director: Michael Rudman)
• My Mother Said I Never Should "? Rosie; Royal Court Theatre, London; 1989 (author: Charlotte Keatley, director: Michael Attenborough)
• The Winter's Tale "? Perdita; Royal National Theatre, London; 1988 (author: William Shakespeare, director: Peter Hall)
• The Tempest "? Miranda; Royal National Theatre, London; 1988 (author: William Shakespeare, director: Peter Hall)
• Entertaining Strangers "? Fanny; 1987