Samantha Bond

Samantha Bond
Born
Samantha Jane Bond

(1961-11-27) 27 November 1961 (age 61)
Kensington, London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1983–present
Known for
Television
Spouse
​
(m. 1989)​
Children2

Samantha Jane Bond (born 27 November 1961) is an English actress, who is best known for playing Miss Moneypenny in four James Bond films during the Pierce Brosnan era, and for her role on Downton Abbey as the wealthy widow Lady Rosamund Painswick, sister of Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. She is also known for originating the role of "Miz Liz" Probert in the Rumpole of the Bailey series. Bond is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In her television career, she is known for her role as "Auntie Angela" in the sitcom Outnumbered and the villain Mrs Wormwood in the CBBC Doctor Who spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures.

Early life

Samantha Bond is the daughter of actor Philip Bond and TV producer Pat Sandys, and is the sister of the actress Abigail Bond and the journalist Matthew Bond.[1] Bond's paternal grandparents were Welsh. She was brought up in London and Richmond-upon-Thames, in homes in Barnes and St Margarets.[2] She attended the Godolphin and Latymer School, and studied acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.[3][4]

Career

Early career

Bond's first acting role came as a student at age 21, in the original stage production of Daisy Pulls It Off, Denise Deegan's play about a girls school, which opened at Southampton's Nuffield Theatre in 1983.[5] Her earliest television roles took place the same year: she played Maria Rushworth (née Bertram) in the BBC mini-series adaptation of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park, and Rumpole's pupil in chambers "Miz Liz" Probert in the fourth series of Rumpole of the Bailey. In 1985, she appeared as Julia Simmons in the BBC's televised adaptation of Agatha Christie's crime novel A Murder is Announced, part of the Miss Marple series.[6][7]

Theatre

Bond's work with the Royal Shakespeare Company (the RSC) began in 1987, when she performed in three of the company's stage productions: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Hero and Leander, and Lorca's Women.[8] In 1992, the RSC cast her as Rosalind in Shakespeare's As You Like It, which she performed in their Stratford-upon-Avon and London theatres, and as Hermione in The Winter's Tale, also at the company's two theatres.[8] She then toured with the RSC as Hermione in 1993.[citation needed]

Bond starred as the titular Amy in the Royal National Theatre's West End production of David Hare's play Amy's View, opposite Judi Dench, in 1997 and into early 1998. Later in 1998, she co-starred in playwright Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water, also in the West End.[citation needed]

In 1999, Bond and Dench reprised their roles in Amy's View on Broadway for a limited run at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Their performances garnered Bond a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play, and Dench the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play.[9][10] Hare received a special citation from the New York Drama Critics' Circle.[11]

Bond revisited The Memory of Water, making her directorial debut on a short touring production of the play in 2000, the same year it won an Olivier award for Best New Comedy.[12] She also performed in numerous stage productions during the 2000s, among them: Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2001, as Hippolyta and Titania, again for the RSC;[8] Donald Margulies's Pulitzer prize-winning Dinner with Friends,[13] as Karen, opposite her Downton Abbey co-star Elizabeth McGovern and directed by McGovern's husband Simon Curtis, in 2001;[14] The Vagina Monologues in 2002;[15][16] and in Shakespeare's Macbeth, as Lady Macbeth opposite Sean Bean in the title role, on tour in 2002 and 2003.[17][18]

Other stage performances include Oscar Wilde's A Woman of No Importance in 2003;[19][20] The Rubenstein Kiss in 2005;[21] Michael Frayn's Donkey's Years at London's Comedy Theatre in 2006;[22] and David Leveaux's West End revival of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the Duke of York's Theatre, in 2009 as Hannah, alongside another Downton Abbey co-star, Dan Stevens.[23]

The next decade brought Bond onstage in Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband, as Mrs. Cheveley opposite her real-life actor husband Alexander Hanson as Mr. Cheveley, in 2010–2011,[24][25] and as Nell in Passion Play by Peter Nichols in 2013.[26] In 2014, Bond acted and sang in the West End musical production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, playing the role of Muriel Eubanks. Bond stated in an interview that she hadn't sung on stage in over 30 years and had many moments during rehearsals where she turned her back toward anyone listening to her sing and frequently shook "with terror" at the prospect.[27] In a Radio Times review of the play, the critic described Bond as "stage royalty" and "hilarious."[28] In October and November 2017, Bond appeared in the English language premiere of Florian Zeller's modern French farce, The Lie, once again alongside her husband, Alexander Hanson, at an Off-West End theatre called the Menier Chocolate Factory.[29]

Television and film

In 1989, Bond starred as Mary MacKenzie, a young Scottish woman, in the television adaptation of Oswald Wynd's novel The Ginger Tree, and was featured in Erik the Viking, an independent fantasy film with Tim Robbins in the title role.[citation needed]

She appeared in a 1990 adaptation of Agatha Christie's short story The Adventure of the Cheap Flat for the series Agatha Cristie's Poirot on ITV, starring David Suchet as Hercule Poirot.[30] Bond was also seen on ITV in an episode of the "Inspector Morse" detective drama series based on novels by Colin Dexter, in 1992, and in a 1995 episode of Ghosts, an anthology series of ghost stories on the BBC. In 1996, she portrayed Mrs. Weston in the television movie Jane Austen's Emma, starring Kate Beckinsale as Emma, a Meridian-ITV/A&E production that has been described as grittier and "more authentic" to Austen's story than the theatrical film starring Gwyneth Paltrow that was released the same year.[31] The television movie was broadcast in the US in 1997 on PBS.[citation needed]

From 1995 to 2002, Bond played Miss Moneypenny, M's secretary at MI6, in the four James Bond films with Pierce Brosnan as Agent 007: GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World Is Not Enough, and Die Another Day. The role of Miss Moneypenny is the smallest role she ever played,[25] yet the character remains a favorite among James Bond fans. In a BBC interview, Bond remarked that she retired from the role when Pierce Brosnan stepped down as the lead.[32] However, she later appeared as Miss Moneypenny in an advertisement for London's 2012 Olympic bid, alongside previous Bond actor Roger Moore.[citation needed]

Bond co-starred in 2004 with Peter Davison, as a married couple who uproot themselves to a remote island to save their marriage, in the ITV drama-comedy Distant Shores. In 2007, she played the villain Mrs. Wormwood in the pilot episode of the BBC children's drama series The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spin-off of Doctor Who. She later came back to play the same character in the two-part finale of the show's second series, Enemy of the Bane.[citation needed]

Bond guest-starred in three episodes of the long-running and popular murder mystery series Midsomer Murders: Destroying Angel in 2001, Shot at Dawn in 2008, both starring fellow RSC member John Nettles in the lead role of DCI Tom Barnaby, as well as the first episode in 2011's series 14, Death in the Slow Lane. The 2011 episode is notable for Neil Dudgeon's debut as DCI John Barnaby, who takes over as the new detective in Midsomer after his cousin Tom Barnaby retired.[citation needed]

From 2007 to 2014, Bond had a recurring role as Auntie Angela in the BBC's semi-improvised comedy series Outnumbered, alongside Hugh Dennis, Claire Skinner and David Ryall. She appeared in all five series.[citation needed]

From 2010 through 2015 (in the UK), Bond appeared as Lady Rosamund Painswick in the ensemble cast of ITV's drama series Downton Abbey, written and produced by Julian Fellowes. Each series was shown in the US on PBS's Masterpiece program one year following its broadcast in the UK; according to PBS, Downton Abbey became the most popular drama ever shown on the station, and the most popular series in the history of Masterpiece.[33] Lady Rosamund is the widowed, wealthy sister of Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham. Bond's first appearance was in the last episode of the first series; she appeared in 18 episodes in total.[citation needed]

The ITV show Home Fires featured Bond as Frances Barden, a woman working to strengthen connections among the women in her small English village by keeping the local Women's Institute operating during the early days of World War II. The show premiered in the UK in 2015 and was cancelled in 2016; fans petitioned ITV to reinstate it, to no avail.[34] It played in the US on PBS's Masterpiece in 2016 and 2017, where viewers were similarly disappointed to learn of the show's demise. The series creator, Simon Block, has stated he intends to continue the story in written form, as novels.[35] In 2020 Miss Bond played Joanne Henderson in Death in Paradise (S9:E5).[36] In September 2023, Bond starred in the Channel 5 drama series The Inheritance, appearing alongside Rob James-Collier, Jemima Rooper, Gaynor Faye and Adil Ray.[37]

Audiobooks

Bond has narrated a number of audiobooks including Mary Norton's The Borrowers, Joanna Trollope's An Unsuitable Match, Anthony Horowitz's Magpie Murders and Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries' 'Goldeneye. She has most recently released S J Bennett's novel, The Windsor Knot. She received an Earphones Award for Magpie Murders.[38]

Personal life

Bond lives in St Margarets, London,[2][39] and has been married since 1989 to Alexander Hanson, with whom she has two children, Molly and Tom.[1][2][40] She received an honorary doctorate from the University of Northampton in 2014.[41]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1989 Erik the Viking Helga
1995 GoldenEye Miss Moneypenny
1996 Emma Miss Taylor
1997 Breakout Dr. Lisa Temple
1997 Tomorrow Never Dies Miss Moneypenny
1998 What Rats Won't Do Jane
1999 The World Is Not Enough Miss Moneypenny
2001 The Children's Midsummer Night's Dream Hippolyta Voice
2002 Die Another Day Miss Moneypenny
2004 Blinded Dr. Caroline Lamor
2004 Yes Kate
2004 Strings Eike Voice
2007 Clapham Junction Marion Rowan
2007 Consenting Adults Jill Wolfenden
2008 A Bunch of Amateurs Dorothy Nettle
2011 London's Burning Police Superintendent
2017 A Royal Winter Beatrice
2018 The Queen and I Queen Elizabeth II
2019 Cold Blood Mrs Kessler
2021 School's Out Forever Georgina Baker
2021 The Kindred Gillian Burrows
2022 The Presence of Love Merryn
2022 Downton Abbey: A New Era Lady Rosamund Painswick
2022 The Stranger in Our Bed Isadora
2022 Hounded Katherine Redwick

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1983 Mansfield Park Maria Bertram 5 episodes
1985 Agatha Christie's Miss Marple Julia Simmons Episode: "A Murder is Announced"
1985 Theatre Night Rose Trelawny Episode: "Trelawny of the 'Wells'"
1986 The Understanding Kate TV film
1987 Rumpole of the Bailey Elizabeth "Miz Liz" Probert 4 episodes
1989 The Ginger Tree Mary Mackenzie All 4 episodes
1989 Screen One Sue Episode: "One Way Out"
1990 Agatha Christie's Poirot Stella Robinson Episode: "The Adventure of the Cheap Flat"
1991 The Black Candle Bridget Mordaunt TV film
1992 Inspector Morse Helen Marriat Episode: "Dead on Time"
1992 Thacker Ginny Morgan TV film
1994 Screen Two Sally Episode: "Return to Blood River"
1995 Tears Before Bedtime Sarah Baylis 4 episodes
1995 Ghosts Maddy Episode: "The Chemistry Lesson"
1995 Under the Moon Francesca Jenson TV film
1996 In Suspicious Circumstances Daisy Holt Episode: "The Great Romancer"
1997 Family Money Isabel Episode: #1.1
1997 Mr. White Goes To Westminster Helen Nash MP TV film
1997 The Ruby Ring Mary Spencer TV film
1997 Thief Takers Carol Mason Episode: "Sisters in Arms"
1998–2000 The Bill Mary McMahon 3 episodes
2000 The Bookfair Murders Marsha Hillier TV film
2000 Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show Various 12 episodes
2001 The Hunt Lady Patricia Whitton TV film
2001 NCS: Manhunt DS Maureen Picasso 8 episodes
2001 The Bombmaker Patsy TV film
2001 Kavanagh QC Sarah Swithen Episode: "The End of Law"
2001 Midsomer Murders Suzanna Chambers Episode: "Destroying Angel"
2003 Canterbury Tales Jane Barlow Episode: "The Wife of Bath"
2005 The Murder Room Caroline Dupayne Both 2 episodes
2005–2006 Donovan Kate Donovan 3 episodes
2007 Fanny Hill Mrs Cole 2 episodes
2007 Mobile Rachel West Episode: "The Boss"
2007 The Inspector Lynley Mysteries Vivienne Oborne Episode: "Limbo"
2007–2008 The Sarah Jane Adventures Mrs Wormwood 3 episodes
2007–2014 Outnumbered Auntie Angela 10 episodes
2008 Midsomer Murders Arabella Hammond Episode: "Shot at Dawn"
2008 Distant Shores Lisa Shore All 12 episodes
2008 Hotel Babylon Caroline Episode: #3.8
2009 Lark Rise to Candleford Celestia Brice Coulson Episode: #2.8
2009 Agatha Christie's Marple Sylvia Savage Episode: "Why Didn't They Ask Evans?"
2009 Heartbeat Sylvia Swinton Episode: "Deadlier Than the Male"
2009 The Queen Queen Elizabeth II Episode: "Us and Them"
2010 New Tricks Anne Gorton Episode: "Left Field"
2010–2015 Downton Abbey Lady Rosamund Painswick 18 episodes
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance
by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2011 Midsomer Murders Kate Cameron Episode: "Death in the Slow Lane"
2013 Playhouse Presents Woman Episode: "The Call Out"
2015–2016 Home Fires Frances Barden All 12 episodes
Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
2016 Murdoch Mysteries Lady Suzanne Atherly 2 episodes
2017 Election Spy Diana All 9 episodes
2018 Moving On Sandra Episode: "The Registrar"
2019 Silent Witness DS Hannah Quicke 2 episodes
2020 Death in Paradise Joanne Henderson Episode: "Switcharoo"
2022 Red Riding Hood: After Ever After Red Riding Hood Television film[42]
2023 Dreamland Orla 2 episodes
2023 The Inheritance Susan All 4 episodes

Narrator

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Royal Stories Narrator 10 episodes
2019 Inside the Mind of Agatha Christie Narrator
2021 Secrets of the Royal Palaces Narrator TV series[43]
2023 The Inheritance 4 episodes; Channel 5 drama series

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2021 Evil Genius 2: World Domination Emma A playable character[44]

Stage

Awards and nominations

Television

Year Award Category Work Result
2017 Screen Actors Guild Award[45][46] Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Downton Abbey Nominated

Theatre

Year Award Category Work Result
1995 Laurence Olivier Award[47] Best Actress in a Supporting Role Le Cid Nominated
1999 Tony Award[48] Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play Amy's View Nominated
Outer Critics Circle Award[49] Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Nominated
2007 Laurence Olivier Award[50] Best Performance in a Supporting Role Donkey's Years Nominated
2015 Laurence Olivier Award[51] Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b Roberts, Genevieve (21 April 2012). "Samantha Bond: From sex symbol to sozzled wife". The Independent.
  2. ^ a b c Brocklehurst, Philip (Winter 2011). "Mr Brocklehurst meets..." Mystmargarets.com. p. 28. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  3. ^ "Samantha Bond". Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Bond, Samantha, (born 27 Nov. 1961), actress". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U245562. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  5. ^ Gore-Langton, Robert (25 April 2002). "Hurrah! Daisy blooms again". The Telegraph.
  6. ^ Bunson, Matthew, ed. (2000). The Complete Christie: an Agatha Christie encyclopedia. Pocket Books. p. 414. ISBN 9780671028312.
  7. ^ Pitts, Michael R. (2004). "30". Famous Movie Detectives III. p. 152. ISBN 9780810836907.
  8. ^ a b c "Royal Shakespeare Company archives search results, Shakespeare.org Collections: Samantha Bond". Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Amy's View Production Information – 1999, Broadway World". Wisdom Digital Media. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  10. ^ Pogrebin, Robin (7 June 1999). "A Revival of 'Salesman' Takes 4 Tony Awards; 'Side Man,' 'Fosse,' Judi Dench and Brian Dennehy Win Top Honors". NY Times.
  11. ^ "New York Drama Critics Circle: Past Awards". Retrieved 24 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Olivier Awards: Winners 2000". Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  13. ^ "Dinner with Friends Wins Pulitzer Prize for Drama". Playbill Inc. 10 April 2000.
  14. ^ Billington, Michael (4 July 2001). "Dinner with Friends, Hampstead Theatre, London – Review". The Guardian.
  15. ^ "Tour archive for The Vagina Monologues (play). 26 February 2002–22nd June 2002 [TOUR]". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Vagina Monologues New Cast 20th May 02". LondonTheatre.co.uk, London Theatre Guide (online newsletter). 15 May 2002.
  17. ^ "Tour archive for Macbeth (play). 17th October 2002–1st March 2003 [TOUR]". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  18. ^ Billington, Michael (15 November 2002). "Macbeth, Albery Theatre, London". The Guardian.
  19. ^ Billington, Michael (17 September 2003). "A Woman of No Importance, Haymarket Theatre, London – Review". The Guardian.
  20. ^ Wolf, Matt (25 September 2003). "Review: A Woman of No Importance". Variety.
  21. ^ Billington, Michael (24 November 2005). "Review: The Rubenstein Kiss, Hampstead Theatre, London". The Guardian.
  22. ^ Benedict, David (16 May 2006). "Review: Donkey's Years". Variety.
  23. ^ "Tour Archive for Arcadia (play). 27th May 2009–12th September 2009 [TOUR]". UK Theatre Web. Retrieved 22 December 2017.
  24. ^ "Samantha Bond in An Ideal Husband". The West End Theatre. 3 October 2010.
  25. ^ a b Cadwalladr, Carole (13 November 2010). "Samantha Bond: Don't call me Miss Moneypenny". The Guardian.
  26. ^ Tucker, Matthew (12 June 2013). "Passion Play (REVIEW): Zoë Wanamaker And Samantha Bond Are Sisters Of The Stage". Huffington Post UK.
  27. ^ Wolf, Matt (9 April 2014). "Samantha Bond on Visiting Downton & Her Disastrous Audition for London's Dirty Rotten Scoundrels: Q&A". Broadway.com.
  28. ^ Lazarus, Susanna (3 April 2014). "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Review – Robert Lindsay's triumphant return to the West End stage".
  29. ^ Billington, Michael (9 October 2017). "The Lie review – Florian Zeller tells the uncomfortable truth about a marriage". The Guardian.
  30. ^ Bunson, Matthew, ed. (2000). The Complete Christie: an Agatha Christie encyclopedia. Pocket Books. p. 396. ISBN 9780671028312.
  31. ^ Boyle, Laura (5 January 2001). "Emma (3): 1996". Jane Austen Centre.
  32. ^ "Bond on Bond". BBC News. 7 May 2006. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  33. ^ PBS (8 March 2016). "Press Release: PBS Stations Draw 9.6 Million Viewers to Bid Farewell to "Downton Abbey" on MASTERPIECE".
  34. ^ Powell, Emma (12 May 2016). "Home Fires fans launch petition and slam ITV for cancelling show but keeping The X Factor". The Evening Standard.
  35. ^ Pennington, Gail (8 May 2017). "Finale cliffhangers frustrate 'Home Fires' fans". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
  36. ^ Weston, Christopher (6 February 2020). "DEATH IN PARADISE SEASON 9 EPISODE 5 CAST: GUEST STARS SAMANTHA BOND, CHANEL CRESSWELL AND NICOLA MILLBANK!". Retrieved 26 June 2020.
  37. ^ Robinson, Abby (4 September 2023). "The Inheritance cast: Meet the characters in Channel 5 drama". Radio Times. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  38. ^ "Solve: Audie Award Nominees for Mysteries and Thrillers". AudioFile. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
  39. ^ Buchanan, Clare (15 January 2014). "St Margarets resident Samantha Bond misses out on star baker". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  40. ^ "My perfect weekend: Samantha Bond". The Daily Telegraph. 7 May 2013.
  41. ^ "Samantha Bond awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the University of Northampton". University of Northampton. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  42. ^ "Red Riding Hood: After Ever After". radiotimes.com. Retrieved 8 January 2023.
  43. ^ "Secrets of the Royal Palaces". tpt.org. 27 October 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  44. ^ "Evil Genius 2: World Domination – Emma Gameplay Trailer (Feat. Samantha Bond)". tpt.org. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  45. ^ "SAG Awards Nominations 2017: See the Full List". EW.com. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  46. ^ "The 23rd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards | Screen Actors Guild Awards". www.sagawards.org. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  47. ^ "Olivier Winners 1995". Olivier Awards. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  48. ^ "The Tony Award Nominations". www.tonyawards.com. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  49. ^ "Outer Critics Circle Awards Held at Sardi's, May 28". Playbill. 28 May 1999. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  50. ^ "Olivier Winners 2007". Olivier Awards. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  51. ^ "Olivier Winners 2015". Olivier Awards. Retrieved 19 February 2021.

External links

Acting roles
Preceded by Miss Moneypenny actress
1995 – 2002 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Elizabeth II actress
2009 		Succeeded by