Frances de la Tour

Frances de la Tour

Birth : 1944-07-30, Bovingdon, Hertfordshire, England, UK

History

Frances de la Tour is an English television, stage and film actress, known for her role as Miss Ruth Jones in the television sitcom "Rising Damp" from 1974 until 1978; Madame Olympe Maxime in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" (2005) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1" (2010) and Mrs. Lintott in Alan Bennett's "The History Boys". She is a Tony Award winner and three-time Olivier Award winner.

Profile

Frances de la Tour

Movies

Enola Holmes
The Dowager
While searching for her missing mother, intrepid teen Enola Holmes uses her sleuthing skills to outsmart big brother Sherlock and help a runaway lord.
Dolittle
Dragon (voice)
After losing his wife seven years earlier, the eccentric Dr. John Dolittle, famed doctor and veterinarian of Queen Victoria’s England, hermits himself away behind the high walls of Dolittle Manor with only his menagerie of exotic animals for company. But when the young queen falls gravely ill, a reluctant Dolittle is forced to set sail on an epic adventure to a mythical island in search of a cure, regaining his wit and courage as he crosses old adversaries and discovers wondrous creatures.
The Highway Rat
The Rabbit (voice)
The tale of a ravenous rat who craves buns, biscuits and all sweet things. Tearing along the highway, he searches for sugary treats to steal, until his sweet tooth leads him to a sticky end.
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Aunt Imogene (uncredited)
Alice Kingsleigh returns to Underland and faces a new adventure in saving the Mad Hatter.
The Lady in the Van
Ursula Vaughan Williams
The true story of the relationship between Alan Bennett and the singular Miss Shepherd, a woman of uncertain origins who ‘temporarily’ parked her van in Bennett’s London driveway and proceeded to live there for 15 years.
Miss You Already
Jill the Wigmaker
The friendship between two life-long girlfriends is put to the test when one starts a family and the other falls ill.
Mr. Holmes
Madame Schirmer
In 1947, long-retired and near the end of his life, Sherlock Holmes grapples with an unreliable memory and must rely on his housekeeper's son as he revisits the still-unsolved case that led to his retirement.
Survivor
Sally
A Foreign Service Officer in London tries to prevent a terrorist attack set to hit New York, but is forced to go on the run when she is framed for crimes she did not commit.
Into the Woods
Giant
In a woods filled with magic and fairy tale characters, a baker and his wife set out to end the curse put on them by their neighbor, a spiteful witch.
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Kay
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the National Theatre of Great Britain presents National Theatre: 50 Years on Stage, bringing together the best British actors for a unique evening of unforgettable performances, broadcast live from London to cinemas around the world.
Trap for Cinderella
Aunt Elinor
A young girl, suffering from amnesia after surviving a house fire that takes her childhood friend's life, begins a tormented road to recovery.
National Theatre Live: People
Dorothy Stacpoole
People spoil things; there are so many of them and the last thing one wants is them traipsing through one’s house. But with the park a jungle and a bath on the billiard table, what is one to do? Dorothy (Frances de la Tour) wonders if an attic sale could be a solution.
Suspension of Disbelief
Nesta
Martin is a screenwriter, who finds himself in one of his own plays: A young woman is found dead in the Thames and no one really knows, what has happened to her.
Private Peaceful
Grandma Wolf
Set in the fields of Devon and the WW1 battlefields of Flanders, two brothers fall for the same girl while contending with the pressures of their feudal family life, the war, and the price of courage and cowardice.
Hugo
Madame Emilie
Orphaned and alone except for an uncle, Hugo Cabret lives in the walls of a train station in 1930s Paris. Hugo's job is to oil and maintain the station's clocks, but to him, his more important task is to protect a broken automaton and notebook left to him by his late father. Accompanied by the goddaughter of an embittered toy merchant, Hugo embarks on a quest to solve the mystery of the automaton and find a place he can call home.
The Nutcracker in 3D
The Rat Queen / Frau Eva
Set in 1920s Vienna, this is the tale of a little girl, whose godfather gives her a special doll one Christmas Eve.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Olympe Maxime
Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.
National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art
Kay
National Theatre Live’s 2010 broadcast of Alan Bennett’s acclaimed play The Habit of Art, with Richard Griffiths, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, returns to cinemas as part of the National Theatre's 50th anniversary celebrations. Benjamin Britten, sailing uncomfortably close to the wind with his new opera, Death in Venice, seeks advice from his former collaborator and friend, W H Auden. During this imagined meeting, their first for twenty-five years, they are observed and interrupted by, amongst others, their future biographer and a young man from the local bus station. Alan Bennett’s play is as much about the theatre as it is about poetry or music. It looks at the unsettling desires of two difficult men, and at the ethics of biography. It reflects on growing old, on creativity and inspiration, and on persisting when all passion’s spent: ultimately, on the habit of art.
Alice in Wonderland
Aunt Imogene
Alice, now 19 years old, returns to the whimsical world she first entered as a child and embarks on a journey to discover her true destiny.
The Book of Eli
Martha
A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.
The History Boys
Mrs. Lintott
The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.
The Moving Finger
Mrs. Maude Dane Calthrop
Troubled war veteran Jerry Burton and his sister Joanna rent a cottage in a seemingly tranquil English village which is plagued by a spate of poison pen letters... and murder.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Olympe Maxime
When Harry Potter's name emerges from the Goblet of Fire, he becomes a competitor in a grueling battle for glory among three wizarding schools—the Triwizard Tournament. But since Harry never submitted his name for the Tournament, who did? Now Harry must confront a deadly dragon, fierce water demons and an enchanted maze only to find himself in the cruel grasp of He Who Must Not Be Named.
Death on the Nile
Salome Otterbourne
David Suchet (His Dark Materials) is beloved detective Hercule Poirot in this star-studded, feature-length adaptation of the mystery by Agatha Christie. While vacationing in Egypt, Poirot intervenes when a jilted woman harasses her former friend (Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns) and ex-boyfriend (JJ Feild, TURN: Washington's Spies), but their Nile River cruise turns deadly, nonetheless.
Love Actually
Lesbian Lover (uncredited)
Eight London couples try to deal with their relationships in different ways. Their tryst with love makes them discover how complicated relationships can be.
The Cherry Orchard
Charlotte Ivanovna
Madame Ranevskaya (Rampling) is a spoiled aging aristocratic lady, who returns from a trip to Paris to face the loss of her magnificent Cherry Orchard estate after a default on the mortgage. In denial, she continues living in the past, deluding herself and her family, while the beautiful cherry trees are being axed down by the re-possessor Lopakhin (Teale), her former serf, who has his own agenda.
Genghis Cohn
Dr. Helga Feuchtwanger
In the midst of World War II, Nazi officer Otto Schatz declares the execution of Jewish music-hall comedian Genghis Cohn. Many years later, Otto is comfortably retired into the life of a highly respected police commissioner, and is investigating a series of murders when he encounters the ghost of Genghis Cohn. The haunting turns into a taunting, and before he knows it, Schatz is slowly driven mad as he is lured into a trap.
Genghis Cohn
Dr. Helga Feuchtwanger, Psychiatrist
In the midst of World War II, Nazi officer Otto Schatz declares the execution of Jewish music-hall comedian Genghis Cohn. Many years later, Otto is comfortably retired into the life of a highly respected police commissioner, and is investigating a series of murders when he encounters the ghost of Genghis Cohn. The haunting turns into a taunting, and before he knows it, Schatz is slowly driven mad as he is lured into a trap.
Bejewelled
Beatrice
An American's family jewels are stolen during her trip to London and she reluctantly teams up with a private investigator-in-training to try and recover them.
Strike It Rich
Mrs de Vere
A London accountant on his honeymoon gets swept away by gambling fever.
Murder with Mirrors
Miss Bellaver
When Miss Marple arrives at palatial Stonygates, one thing is certain. Before there's time to lather a warm scone with marmalade and place a tea cozy, murder most foul is bound to occur.
Rising Damp
Miss Jones
Stingy landlord Rigsby manages to scam his lodgers John, an art student, and Philip, an African medical student, making both pay for a room they must share. However Rigsby's favorite lodger, Miss Jones, flirts with Philip rather than him, despite his pitiful attempts at seduction.
Wombling Free
Julia Frogmorton
The adventures of The Wombles, strange creatures who live on Wimbledon Common and pick up the litter left by the humans. There's always time for a nice song and dance as well. This was a film version of the popular childrens TV show.
Housewives' Choice
Marcia
Marcia is looking for someone to look after her baby and Joyce seems ideal, looking like a perfect, kindly, respectable lady.
To the Devil a Daughter
Salvation Army Major
An American occult novelist battles to save the soul of a young girl from a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest, who plan on using her as the representative of the Devil on Earth.
All Good Men
On the eve of an in-depth television interview, Edward Waite, former Labour cabinet minister, calls his family together for a birthday celebration that results in dramatic revelations.
Our Miss Fred
Miss Lockhart
Danny La Rue stars in this 1970s drag comedy as Fred Wimbush, a Shakespearean actor who is drafted into WWII and is appearing in a camp show in France when the Nazis advance. Unless he continues in his female costume, Fred is certain to be shot as a spy. The risque gags and double entendres fly as he attempts to make his escape in the company of a troupe of Girl Guides.
Right To Work March
Elizabeth I
Young Socialists from Glasgow, Liverpool and Swansea march to London and discuss their economic struggles en route. Supporting them are Ken Loach, Corin Redgrave, Arnold Wesker and other leading cultural figures of the left of British politics. The march is intercut with scenes dramatising parallel injustices in the English Civil War era and earlier - featuring Frances de la Tour in queenly mode as Elizabeth I. The film's unconventional structure also features frequent extracts of the rousing pop concert, with the band Slade, which culminated the epic march.
Every Home Should Have One
Maud Crape
Teddy works for a large advertising company. Given the seemingly impossible task of selling frozen porridge, he decides to produce commercials that make the product seem sexy. This leads him to confrontation with the "Keep Television Clean" movement, of which his wife is a senior member.