Biography
Jane Elizabeth Marie Lapotaire (née Burgess; 26 December 1944) is an English actress. Lapotaire was born in Ipswich, Suffolk, the daughter of Louise Elise (Burgess). Her stepfather, Yves Lapotaire, worked in the oil industry and was originally from Quebec, Canada. From the age of two months, she was raised as a foster child by an old-age pensioner, Grace Chisnell (Granny Grace), who was also the foster mother of Lapotaire's own biological mother, a French orphan, who was abandoned in England. When Lapotaire was about 12, her biological mother made a bid to get her back. The child welfare department of the Suffolk County Council intervened and decided that the mother had this right. Lapotaire chose to be with Granny Grace, but lived with her biological mother and stepfather, who worked in various French oil companies in North Africa (particularly Libya), three times a year. She also adopted their family name. The Lapotaires in North Africa were Francophones, and like French colonials at that time, lived around the French embassy. Granny Grace died in 1984 aged 96 and Louise Burgess died in 1999.She studied at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School from 1961 to 1963, the programme was a two-year course at that time, unlike the three-year course today. She had earlier auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, but failed to get in. She joined the Bristol Old Vic theatre company in 1965. She joined the National Theatre in 1967, was a founding member of The Young Vic Theatre in 1970/1971, and moved to the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974.Her performance in the title role of Marie Curie (1977) first brought her to wide attention. In 1978, she performed the title role Édith Piaf for Pam Gems's play Piaf, directed by Howard Davies for the Royal Shakespeare Company, in Stratford-upon-Avon and in London at the Warehouse Theatre, Covent Garden in 1979. Two years later, the show moved to Broadway. Lapotaire won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play that year.She was married to director Roland Joffé from 1974 to 1980; they had one son, screenwriter and director Rowan Joffé (born 1973). Following their divorce, she was for a time the partner of actor Michael Pennington.She returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company in October–November 2013 as the Duchess of Gloucester in Gregory Doran's adaptation of Richard II with David Tennant in the title role. This was followed in October–December 2015 as Queen Isobel in Henry V. On Christmas Day in 2014, she appeared as Princess Irina Kuragin in season five, episode nine of Downton Abbey.
Filmography
all 71
TV Shows 37
Movies 34
Narrator 2
Voice 1
self 1
The Burning Girls (2023)
Dalgliesh (2021)
Rebecca (2020)
The Crown (2016)
RSC Live: Henry V (2015)
Lucan (2013)
Lucan (2013)
Royal Shakespeare Company - Richard II (2013)
Endeavour (2013)
Windsor Castle: After the Fire (2011)
Eleventh Hour (2006)
Elizabeth David: A Life in Recipes (2006)
Broadway's Lost Treasures II (2004)
He Knew He Was Right (2004)
Bella and the Boys (2004)
Can't Stop Breathing (2004)
There's Only One Jimmy Grimble (2000)
Arabian Nights (2000)
Stephen King: Shining in the Dark (1999)
Shooting Fish (1997)
Ain't Misbehavin' (1997)
Midsomer Murders (1997)
McCallum (1997)
Testament: The Bible in Animation (1996)
Abraham (1996)
Surviving Picasso (1996)
Giving Tongue (1996)
Johnny And The Dead (1995)
The Big Battalions (1992)
Love Hurts (1992)
Chillers (1990)
Circles Of Deceit (1990)
Murder on the Moon (1989)
The Dark Angel (1989)
The Master Builder (1988)
Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987)
Daytime Live (1987)
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries (1987)
The Dark Angel (1987)
Casualty (1986)
Seal Morning (1986)
Lady Jane (1986)
Playing Shakespeare (1984)
Piaf (1984)
To Catch a King (1984)
Macbeth (1983)
Eureka (1983)
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1982)
Q.E.D (1982)
Antony & Cleopatra (1981)
The Search for Alexander the Great (1981)
BBC Television Shakespeare (1978)
The Devil's Crown (1978)
Marie Curie (1977)
The Other Woman (1976)
One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing (1975)
Edward the Seventh (1975)
The Asphyx (1972)
The Edwardians (1972)
Crown Court (1972)
Van der Valk (1972)
Country Matters (1972)
The Sextet (1972)
Antony and Cleopatra (1972)
Stocker's Copper (1972)
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes (1971)
Jason King (1971)
Play for Today (1970)
Performance (1970)
Crescendo (1970)
Callan (1967)
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderFemale
Birthday1944-12-26 (79 years old)
Birth PlaceIpswich, United Kingdom
RelationshipsRoland Joffé (1974-01-01 - 1980-01-01)
ChildrenRowan Joffé
CitizenshipsUnited Kingdom
AwardsTony Award for Best Actress in a Play
This article uses material from Wikipedia.
- Jane Lapotaire
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