Miranda Richardson first startled audiences in Mike Newell’s “Dance with a Stranger,” in which she played Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in England. Subsequent roles confirmed her as an actress of consummate ability and consistency. In 1992, she garnered rave reviews for her performances in Neil Jordan’s “The Crying Game,” Mike Newell’s “Enchanted April” and Louis Malle’s “Damage.” The New York Film Critics cited her work in all three films in naming her Best Supporting Actress. She also received a Golden Globe for “Enchanted April” and was nominated for an Oscar® for “Damage.” In 1995, she received a second Oscar® nomination for her portrayal of Vivienne Haigh-Wood, the wife of poet T.S. Eliot in Brian Gilbert’s “Tom & Viv.” Recent films include Stephen Daldry’s “The Hours”; David Cronenberg’s “Spider”; Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow”; Conor McPherson’s “The Actors”; the coming-of-age story “Falling Angels”; the sharply satirical “The Rage in Placid Lake”; the upcoming comedy “Churchill: The Hollywood Years,” with Christian Slater and Neve Campbell; and a voice of one of the characters in the animated film “Chicken Run,” for Nick Park and Peter Lord. Other credits include “The Apostle,” with Robert Duvall; “The Designated Mourner,” by Wallace Shawn and directed by David Hare; Robert Altman’s “Kansas City”; and Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun."

Her television credits include Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “Alice in Wonderland,” “Snow White” and “Merlin,” for which she received a Golden Globe nomination; Showtime’s “The Big Brass Ring,” with William Hurt and Nigel Hawthorne; BBC’s “A Dance to the Music of Time”; and HBO’s “Fatherland,” for which she received a Golden Globe Award. She displayed her comedic talents in “Absolutely Fabulous” and three “Blackadder” television series, including playing Elizabeth I in the second season and film.

Richardson trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and subsequently performed in many plays, the highlights being Wallace Shawn’s “Aunt Dan and Lemon”; “The Designated Mourner,” with Mike Nichols; David Mamet’s “Edmond”; Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”; Terry Johnson’s “Insignificance”; Sam Shepard’s “A Lie of the Mind”; and the one-woman piece “Orlando,” working with Robert Wilson.