Georgina Hale
Georgina Hale is a British film, television and stage actress. She is best known for her roles in the films of director Ken Russell; including The Devils, The Boy Friend, and Mahler, for which she received a BAFTA Film Award. An accomplished stage actress, she received an Olivier Award nomination for her leading performance in Steaming. She has appeared in a number of television plays and, in 2010, The Guardian listed her as one of ten great character actors in British television. She remains active in film, television and theatre.
Life and early career
Hale was born in Ilford, Essex to publicans Elsie and George Robert Hole. She later said she had:As a teenager, she worked as an apprentice hairdresser and studied Stanislavski's method approach to acting at a fledgling studio, the Chelsea Actors' Workshop, in London, before being accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she graduated in 1965.
Acting career
Stage
An accomplished stage actress, Hale made her professional debut at Stratford as a walk-on. She subsequently appeared in rep at Canterbury, Windsor and Ipswich; then at the Playhouse, Liverpool in 1967, where her parts included the title role in Gigi, and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. At the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead in October 1975 she played Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, followed by an acclaimed portrayal of Nina, opposite Alan Bates, in Chekhov's The Seagull at the Playhouse, Derby in July 1976, making her West End debut in the production when it transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in August 1976. Other roles included: Marie Caroline David in The Tribades ; Melanie in Boo Hoo ; and Bobbi Michele in Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers.In 1981, Hale played the leading role of Josie in Nell Dunn's play, Steaming, at the Comedy Theatre in London and received a 1981 Olivier Award nomination for her performance. In 1982, she appeared with Annette Crosbie and Richard O'Callaghan in a production of Noël Coward's Star Quality at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In April 1983 she starred opposite Glenda Jackson and Gary Oldman in Summit Conference at the Lyric Theatre, London, playing Benito Mussolini's mistress Clara Petacci. Later that same year she starred alongside Colin Blakely, Jane Carr and Paul Eddington in the play Lovers Dancing, directed by Donald McWhinnie, at the Noël Coward Theatre. She followed this with roles in two productions at The Old Vic: Aricia in Phédre, again opposite Glenda Jackson, and Crystal Allen in The Women, alongside Susannah York and Diana Quick.
In 1991, Hale starred opposite Glenda Jackson in Mourning Becomes Electra, by Eugene O'Neill, at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. In 1993 she appeared in a production of Alan Ayckbourne's Absurd Person Singular at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In 1994 she appeared opposite Rupert Everett in a production of Tennessee Williams' The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. In 1997, she appeared opposite Alan Bates in Life Support, by Simon Gray, at the Aldwych Theatre in London. Critic Sheridan Morley wrote in The New York Times that Hale, as the bed-bound Gwen, was "supremely touching even in almost total paralysis".
Other notable stage appearances include The Guardsman at the Noël Coward Theatre, where critic Sheridan Morley noted that Hale added "superbly timed comic support", Semi-Monde at the Lyric Theatre, Britannicus and as Madame Ranevsky in The Cherry Orchard at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre, and Chéri and Take A Chance On Me at the New End Theatre.
Hale's most recent stage role was that of Nell in a production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame at the Gate Theatre, Dublin and then the Barbican Centre, London, as part of the Beckett Centenary Festival in May 2006. The production also featured Peter Dinklage, Kenneth Cranham and Tom Hickey.
Film
Hale made her film debut in the historical drama Eagle in a Cage as Betsy Balcombe, opposite Kenneth Haigh as Napoléon Bonaparte. In his review for The New York Times, film critic Roger Greenspun noted that, at age 24, Hale displayed "a kind of mature intensity that argues for at least 30 years' experience on the stage".Hale's most significant film role is arguably that of Alma Mahler in Ken Russell's Mahler, opposite Robert Powell as Gustav Mahler. Her performance was called "excellent" by both Time Out and Radio Times, and earned her the 1975 BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles. In his review for Film Comment magazine, critic Stephen Farber wrote:
Hale also made appearances in a number of Russell's other films, with roles in The Devils, The Boy Friend, Lisztomania, Valentino, and Treasure Island. Russell later referred to Hale as "an actress of such sensitivity that she can make the hair rise on your arms".
Hale played a supporting role in the romantic drama The World is Full of Married Men, based on the novel of the same name by Jackie Collins. In their review, Variety noted that Hale was "effective as a laconic wife who’s come to terms with the sexcess scene".
Hale had a small role in the Walt Disney film The Watcher in the Woods, starring Bette Davis. Hale took the role of the younger version of Davis’ character largely because of her admiration for Davis.
Her other film appearances include supporting roles in Butley, Sweeney 2, McVicar, Castaway, Preaching to the Perverted, Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont, and Cockneys vs Zombies.
Television
Hale's television career spans six decades. Her first major television appearances were supporting roles in plays filmed for The Wednesday Play, ITV Playhouse and ITV Play of the Week. Recurring roles in primetime series followed, first opposite Adam Faith in the LWT series, Budgie and then as Lili Dietrich in the ATV miniseries The Strauss Family.In 1973, she starred in A.D.A.M., as a physically disabled woman who develops an unusual relationship with the sentient computer system which controls her home. Directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, the stand-alone drama was broadcast as part of the ITV Sunday Night Drama anthology strand. In 1975, Hale appeared alongside Alan Bates in two television plays written by Simon Gray, broadcast as part of the ITV series, Play for Today. These were Plaintiffs and Defendants and Two Sundays. In 1978, Hale appeared with Michael Gambon in the BBC Play of the Month adaptation of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull. In 1980, Hale portrayed Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK, in an episode of the ITV drama series, Ladykillers.
In 1990, Hale succeeded Elizabeth Estensen in the eponymous role of T-Bag, the villainous, tea drinking sorceress in a succession of children's adventure series produced by Thames Television. Hale played the role in four series and two Christmas specials broadcast between 1990–92.
In December 1992, Hale appeared in two television plays produced by Simon Curtis, broadcast as part of the BBC anthology series, Performance. These were Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, opposite Brian Cox and John Hurt, and Terence Rattigan's After the Dance, opposite Gemma Jones and Ben Chaplin.
In 1994, Hale appeared in the sitcom pilot The Honeymoon's Over, written by Paul Whitehouse and Charlie Higson, which was broadcast as part of the Comic Asides anthology strand on BBC Two.
In 2007, Hale made a guest appearance in the ITV crime drama The Commander. Television critic Nancy Banks-Smith noted in The Guardian that Hale "was able to do wonders with a mere sliver of a scene".
Other notable television appearances include guest starring roles in Upstairs, Downstairs, Minder, Hammer House of Horror, the Doctor Who serial The Happiness Patrol, One Foot in the Grave, Murder Most Horrid, The Bill, Emmerdale, Hollyoaks and Holby City.