Penelope Wilton

Birthday: 1946-06-03
Birthplace: Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

Dame Penelope Alice Wilton DBE(born 3 June 1946) is an English actress. She was formerly married to fellow actor Sir Ian Holm, and as she has not remarried, she retains her married style of Lady Holm.

Wilton is known for starring opposite Richard Briers in the BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles (1984–1989), playing Homily in The Borrowers (1992) and The Return of the Borrowers(1993), and for her role as the widowed Isobel Crawley in the ITV drama Downton Abbey (2010–2015). She also played the recurring role of Harriet Jones in Doctor Who (2005–2008) and Anne in Ricky Gervais' Netflix dark comedy After Life. 

Wilton has had an extensive career on stage, receiving six Olivier Award nominations. She was nominated for Man and Superman (1981), The Secret Rapture (1988), The Deep Blue Sea(1994), John Gabriel Borkman (2008) and The Chalk Garden (2009) before winning the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Actress for Taken at Midnight. Her film appearances include Clockwise (1986), Cry Freedom (1987), Blame It on the Bellboy (1992), Calendar Girls (2003), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Match Point (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), The Girl (2012), The BFG (2016) and The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (2023).

Description above from the Wikipedia article Penelope Wilton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Credits

Year Title Character
Visitation
Fing!
2025-09-10 Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale Isobel Crawley
2023-04-27 The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry Maureen Fry
2022-04-27 Downton Abbey: A New Era Isobel Merton
2022-04-01 Operation Mincemeat Hester Leggett
2020-08-21 Eternal Beauty Vivian
2020-07-24 Summerland Older Alice
2019-09-12 Downton Abbey Isobel Merton
2018-06-08 Zoo Denise Austin
2018-04-19 The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society Amelia Maugery
2017-06-26 Brexit Shorts: The End Helen
2016-06-01 The BFG The Queen
2015-02-26 The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Jean Ainslie
2013-11-02 National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage Delia
2013-05-01 Belle Lady Mary Murray
2012-10-22 The Girl Peggy Robertson
2012-02-23 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Jean Ainslie
2009-11-30 Margot B.Q.
2007-10-28 Half Broken Things Jean
2007-02-26 Celebration Julie
2006-10-02 The History Boys Mrs. Bibby
2005-10-26 Match Point Eleanor Hewett
2005-09-16 Pride & Prejudice Mrs. Gardiner
2005-03-06 Falling Daisy Langrish
2004-04-09 Shaun of the Dead Barbara
2003-09-02 Calendar Girls Ruth
2003-04-11 Lucky Jim Celia Welch
2001-12-14 Iris Janet Stone
2001-08-26 Victoria & Albert Princess Mary Louise Victoria
2001-04-14 The Whistle-Blower Heather Graham
2000-12-25 Victoria Wood with All the Trimmings Mrs. Cratchit
2000-01-01 Rockaby Old Woman
1999-07-02 Tom's Midnight Garden Aunt Melbourne
1999-01-01 The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka Delfina / Paulina
1998-12-26 Alice Through the Looking Glass White Queen
1998-10-06 Talking Heads 2
1995-10-21 Landscape Beth
1995-05-25 Carrington Lady Ottoline Morrell
1994-11-12 The Deep Blue Sea Hester Collyer
1993-09-12 The Secret Rapture Marion French
1992-01-24 Blame It on the Bellboy Patricia Fulford
1987-11-06 Cry Freedom Wendy Woods
1986-03-01 Clockwise Pat Garden
1984-09-01 Laughterhouse Alice Singleton
1983-01-01 The Tale of Beatrix Potter Beatrix Potter
1982-09-19 King Lear Regan
1981-10-20 Country Virginia Carlion
1981-10-04 Othello Desdemona
1981-08-28 The French Lieutenant's Woman Sonia
1980-10-21 Pasmore Helen
1977-10-05 Able's Will Journalist
1977-03-09 Joseph Andrews Mrs. Wilton
1975-03-23 King Lear Regan
1972-10-03 Mrs. Warren's Profession Vivie Warren