Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins (born 10 November 1955) is an English actress. She is a three-time winner of the Olivier Award for Best Actress; for Sweet Bird of Youth (1995), Vincent in Brixton (2003), and Hecuba (2005).
Higgins is known to film audiences for her role as Julia Cotton in the horror film Hellraiser (1987) and its first sequel, (1988). She also starred as Miss Cackle on the CBBC fantasy television series The Worst Witch (2017-2020), based on the children's book series of the name.
Early life
Higgins, the first of six children, was born in
Bradford, to Paula Cecilia (née Murphy) and James Stephen Higgins. Her parents were from working class
Irish Catholic backgrounds,
and worked as teachers. Higgins was interested in acting from her childhood. After being expelled from a convent school, she ran away from home at seventeen.
At 19, she gave birth to a boy, but gave him up for adoption at her social worker's insistence.
Higgins is cousin to British American writer Nicola Griffith.
Career
Theatre
At 23, Higgins graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). Through the 1980s, she became a dynamic stage actress, both in London and on
Broadway theatre. She starred in the premiere of David Hare's
The Secret Rapture, and won the first of her three
in 1995. In 1983, she starred with
Ben Cross in the
BBC's serial version of A.J. Cronin's
The Citadel, playing the role of Christine Manson.
Higgins appeared as Jocasta in the National Theatre's critically acclaimed production of Oedipus Rex, opposite Ralph Fiennes in the title role. From April to May 2009, she appeared in Wallace Shawn's The Fever at the Royal Court Theatre.
From mid-May to September 2009, she appeared as the Countess Rossillion in All's Well That Ends Well at the National Theatre (Olivier stage).
Film
For the big screen, Higgins played Julia Cotton in
Clive Barker's
Hellraiser (1987), based on Barker's novella
The Hellbound Heart. She reprised the role for
Tony Randel's
(1988). She was originally intended to play a major role in the third film, but requested her character be killed off at the end of the second film.
Her other film credits include the Scottish film Small Faces (1996). In 2000, she appeared in Catherine Cookson's The Secret mini-series as Maggie Hewitt, as well as in Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream (2007) and The Golden Compass (2007).
Television
In 1996 appeared in an episode (Series 6 ep 14) of Heartbeat as Maureen Bristow, an escaped prisoner.
On 30 September 2012, Higgins appeared in season 3, episode 3 of
Downton Abbey as Mrs Bartlett, a friend of Mrs Bates who eventually helps in the release of Mr Bates from prison.
On 14 November 2013, she appeared in the Doctor Who mini-episode "The Night of the Doctor", which starred Paul McGann as the Eighth Doctor. Higgins played Ohila, the leader of the Sisterhood of Karn. In 2014, she appeared in the Father Brown episode "The Daughters of Jerusalem" as Dinah Fortescue. Higgins returned to the role of Ohila in 2015 in "The Magician's Apprentice", which originally aired on 19 September 2015, and in the series finale "Hell Bent" on 5 December 2015. The same year, she appeared in EastEnders, as prosecuting lawyer Hazel Warren.
In January 2017, Higgins starred in CBBC's adaptation of Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch as Miss Ada Cackle, and her wicked twin sister Agatha.
Filmography
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Nineteen Nineteen (1985)
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Hellraiser (1987)
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(1988)
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The Fruit Machine (1988)
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After the War (1989)
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Bad Behaviour (1993)
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Circle of Deceit (1993, TV film)
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Fatherland (1994, TV film)
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Small Faces (1996)
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B. Monkey (1998)
-
The House of Mirth (2000)
-
Stage Beauty (2004)
-
The Libertine (2004)
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Bigger Than the Sky (2005)
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Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (2005)
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Cassandra's Dream (2007)
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The Golden Compass (2007)
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Being Human (2009)
-
Toast (2010, TV film)
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A Fantastic Fear of Everything (2012)
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The Syndicate (2012)
-
I Give It a Year (2013)
-
Doctor Who (2013, 2015)
-
The Worst Witch (2017-2020)
-
Into the Badlands (2018)
-
Ready Player One (2018)
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Cleaning Up (2019)
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The Sandman (2022, 2025)
Selected theatre performances
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Countess Hechingen in The Deep Man by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. British premiere directed by Casper Wrede at the Royal Exchange, Manchester (1979).
-
Alexa Rollo in Rollo by Marcel Achard. Directed by David Thompson at the Royal Exchange, Manchester (1980).
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Judith in Blood, Black and Gold by Gerard McLarnon. World premiere directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester (1980).
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Isabella in Measure for Measure. Directed by Braham Murray at the Royal Exchange, Manchester (1981).
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Jocasta in Oedipus Rex
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Gertrude in Hamlet (2010). A performance was recorded as "National Theatre Live: Hamlet".
-
Edna in A Delicate Balance (2014) at Broadway, also starring Glenn Close.
Awards and nominations
Higgins was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1995 (1994 season) for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in
Sweet Bird of Youth at the Royal National Theatre. She won the same award in both 2002 and 2005: in 2002 for her performance in
Vincent in Brixton performed at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe and Wyndham's Theatres, and in 2005 for her performance as
Hecuba in the
Euripides tragedy at the
Donmar Warehouse. She was awarded the 2002 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in
Vincent in Brixton. Additionally, she was awarded the 1994 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre) for Best Actress for her performances in
The Children's Hour and
Sweet Bird of Youth. She was also awarded the 2002
London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in
Vincent in Brixton at the
Donmar Warehouse in London. In 2003, she was nominated for a
Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play for
Vincent in Brixton on Broadway, and garnered the 2003 Theatre World Award for outstanding major Broadway debut.
She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the horror film, at the 16th Saturn Awards.
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