Alison Steadman (born 26 August 1946) is an English actress. She received the 1977 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for Abigail's Party, the 1991 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress for the Mike Leigh film Life Is Sweet and the 1993 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress for her role as Mari in the original production of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice. In a 2007 Channel 4 poll, the '50 Greatest Actors' voted for by other actors, she was ranked 42.
Steadman made her professional stage debut in 1968 and went on to establish her career in Mike Leigh's 1970s TV plays Nuts in May (1976) and Abigail's Party (1977)."Alison Steadman" Liverpool John Moores University Honorary Fellowship Award speech July 2010 . Retrieved 7 June 2011 She received BAFTA TV Award nominations for the 1986 BBC serial The Singing Detective and in 2001 for the ITV drama series Fat Friends (2000–2005). Other television roles include Pride and Prejudice (1995), Gavin & Stacey (2007–2010, 2019, 2024) and Here We Go (2022–present). Her other film appearances include Clockwise (1986), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Confetti (2006), Burn Burn Burn (2015) and Better Man (2024).
Early life and education Steadman was born in Liverpool, the youngest of three sisters born to Marjorie (née Evans) (1912–1996) and George Percival Steadman (1912–1991), who worked as a production controller for Plessey, an electronics firm.
Steadman was educated at Childwall Valley High School for Girls, a state grammar school in the Liverpool suburb of Childwall, followed by East 15 Acting School, at which she secured a place in the autumn of 1966 and where she met Mike Leigh during her second year.Michael Coveney, The World according to Mike Leigh, p.90
Career
Stage work Having left the East 15 Acting School in Loughton, Essex, Steadman worked in various regional repertory theatres, starting at Lincoln in 1968, where her first role was the schoolgirl Sandy in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She created the role of the monstrous Beverly in Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party, which she reprised with the original cast on television. She won an Olivier Award for The Rise and Fall of Little Voice and also appeared in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Entertaining Mr Sloane, Hotel Paradiso, and others in locations as diverse as the Royal Court, the Theatre Royal, the Old Vic, the Hampstead Theatre, the Nottingham Playhouse, the Everyman Liverpool and the National Theatre. She starred as Elmire in the 1983 RSC production of Molière's Tartuffe, which was adapted for BBC television. 2002 saw her play the role of Hillary in Debbie Isitt's The Woman Who Cooked Her Husband at the West End's Ambassadors Theatre to widely positive reviews. In 2010 Steadman played Madame Arcati in a revival of Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit. In 2014 Steadman appeared as Madame Raquin in Helen Edmundson's adaptation of Emile Zola's Thérèse Raquin.
Film Steadman has appeared in many films, including P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang (1982), Champions (1983), A Private Function (1984), Number One (1984), Clockwise (1986), Stormy Monday (1988), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), Shirley Valentine (1989), Wilt (1989), Life Is Sweet (1990), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Topsy-Turvy (1999), The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004), Confetti (2006), Burn Burn Burn (2015), Dads Army (2016) and 23 Walks (2020).
Television Steadman is credited with sharing the first lesbian kiss on British television with Myra Frances. Broadcast on 25 February 1974, Girl is the story of the love affair of two WRAC soldiers. "When I was first offered the part I felt quite nervous," she said and was relieved that her "mum said it was great and was very moved by it."
An early television appearance came in 1976 which saw Steadman cast as Cheryl Baker in the Granada Television daytime series Crown Court. Her character was the secretary of a confidence trickster found guilty of fraud.
Television productions directed by Leigh in which she has appeared in the 1970s include Nuts in May, Hard Labour and Abigail's Party. She also appeared in the BBC comedy The Worst Week of My Life. In 2007 she featured in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history, with roots in Trefarclawdd and Ruabon.
Other television work includes Fat Friends as Betty, Grumpy Old Women, Stressed Eric, Let Them Eat Cake, The Singing Detective, No Bananas, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years as Pauline Mole, opposite James Bolam in the television film The Missing Postman, and Pride and Prejudice as Mrs. Bennet. In 1991, she also appeared as Edda Göring in Selling Hitler and as Lauren Patterson in Gone to the Dogs, which was then followed up by Gone to Seed.
In October 2007 Steadman appeared in Fanny Hill on BBC Four.
From May 2007 to January 2010 Steadman starred in the BBC comedy Gavin & Stacey as Pam Shipman. She returned to the role for the Christmas specials in 2019 and 2024 respectively. She appeared in Lewis as the Reverend Martha Steadman in "Intelligent Design" in 2013.
In 2014 Steadman starred as Joyce in the first series of the BBC comedy Boomers, followed by a Christmas special in 2015 and a second series in 2016. In 2016 she presented the three-part series Little British Islands with Alison Steadman on Channel 4. The series visited Gigha, Jura, Colonsay and Oronsay in episode 1, Jersey, Alderney and Sark in episode 2 and the Isles of Scilly in episode 3. In 2016 she appeared as Abigail in the Midsomer Murders episode "The incident at Cooper Hill".
In 2018 Steadman made a return to BBC One with John Cleese in Hold the Sunset. On 9 December 2018 Steadman appeared in the BBC One drama Care in the role of Mary. Also in 2018 she featured in ITV1 mini-series Butterfly, where she played Maxine Duffy’s grandmother.
Radio On radio, Steadman's talent for mimicry and character voices was given full rein in the 1970s, mainly at BBC Manchester, in comedy sketch shows including Week Ending, Castle's on the Air and The Worst Show on the Wireless. In the second and third of these she played the over-protective mother to Eli Woods's long-suffering Bunty/Precious. From 1982 to 1984, also at BBC Manchester, she joined Eli Woods and Eddie Braben (Morecambe and Wises scriptwriter) in 13 episodes of the radio comedy The Show with No Name, written by Braben. In the early to mid 1980s Steadman also had a spell in Roy Hudd's long-running comedy sketch series The News Huddlines. From 2002 she co-starred as Mrs Naughtie in the situation comedy series Hamish and Dougal. In December 2009 she starred in Mike Stott's My Mad Grandad on BBC Radio 4."My Mad Grandad", BBC, 28 December 2009 From 2012 she played Ginny Fox, a parody of Virginia Woolf, in the sitcom Gloomsbury. In 2018 she made a guest appearance in Radio 4's The Archers as Olwen, a friend of Jill Archer.
Personal life
In 1972 director Mike Leigh drove to Liverpool to see Ted Whitehead's play The Foursome, which featured Steadman. He asked her to be in his film Hard Labour, during which, both said, they "got together".Coveney, p. 90 They married in 1973 and had two sons.Michael Coveney, p. 18 The couple lived with their sons in Wood Green, London. They separated in 1995 and divorced in 2001.
Steadman's partner is actor Michael Elwyn. The couple live in Highgate, London.
She is a birdwatcher and in November 2016 became an ambassador for London Wildlife Trust. Steadman's memoir, Out of Character, was published in 2024.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1975 Nuts in May Candice Marie TV film 1977 Abigail's Party Beverly TV film 1980 Moving Pictures Mrs Arnolfini TV film 1982 P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang Miss Land TV film 1983 Tartuffe, or the Impostor Elmire TV film1984 Champions Mary Hussey A Private Function Mrs Allardyce Number One Doreen TV film 1985 The Caucasian Chalk Circle Kato / Natella / Aniko TV film1985Coming ThroughKateTV film 1986 Clockwise Gwenda Stimpson1987 The Finding Mum TV film The Short & Curlies Betty TV short film1988 Coming Through Kate TV film Stormy Monday Mayor The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Daisy1989 Shirley Valentine Jane Wilt Eva Wilt 1990 Life Is Sweet Wendy 1992 Blame It on the Bellboy Rosemary Horton 1994 Degas and Pissaro Fall Out Emma Dumay Short film1996 Secrets & Lies Dog Owner The Snow Queen's Revenge Pearl Voice role1997 The Missing Postman Christine Peacock TV film The Ugly Duckling The Hen Voice role 1998 Queen's Park Story The Squirrel TV short film. Voice role1999 Topsy-Turvy Madame Leon Santa's Last Christmas The Sorceress TV film. Voice role2001 Chunky Monkey Beryl Happy Now? Bronwyn Race Bob the Builder: A Christmas to Remember Bunty Ferguson (The Mayoress) Video. Voice role (UK dub) Ivor the Invisible Auntie Barbara TV film. Voice role 2002 D.I.Y. Hard Woman Short film2003 Philip Larkin: Love and Death in Hull Narrator Voice role Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale Mrs. Meisling TV film2004 Bosom Pals Joan TV film. Voice role The Life and Death of Peter Sellers Casting Agent2005 Bob the Builder: Bob's Big Plan Bunty Ferguson (The Mayoress) TV film. Voice role (UK dub) The Housewife Narration / The Housewife Short film2006 Confetti Sam's Mum Dead Rich Maggie Short film Loony in the Woods Crazy Butcher2007 The Dinner Party Juliet TV film Who Gets the Dog? Jenny Evans TV film 2009 Second Chance Billie Shackleton Short film 2010 Come Rain Come Shine Dora Mitchell TV film2012 A Civil Arrangement Isobel TV film The Day My Nan Died Jean Short film Notes Allison Short film 2014 Peterman Auntie Jean 2015 Burn Burn Burn Diana 2016 Dad's Army Mrs Fox2017 French Exchange Mrs Phillips Short film We Can Be Heroes Granny Evans Yours Faithfully Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) Edna Welthorpe Short film2018 Bertie Ann Short film Ghosted Alison Short film Care Mary TV film Three Sacks Full of Hats Mum Short film 2019 Off Grid Grace Tanner Short film2020 23 Walks Fern Roald & Beatrix: The Tail of the Curious Mouse Dora TV film 2021 The King's Man Rita2024 Better Man Betty Picky Julie Short film 2025 Stitch Head Nan Voice role
Television