Product Code Database
Judy Catherine Claire Parfitt (born 7 November 1935)"England and Wales Birth Registration Index, 1837-2008," database, FamilySearch (1 October 2014), Judy C C Parfitt, 1935; from "England & Wales Births, 1837-2006," database, findmypast (http://www.findmypast.com : 2012); citing Birth Registration, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, citing General Register Office, Southport, England. is an English theatre, film, and television actress. She made her film debut in the 1950s, followed by a supporting role in the BBC television serial David Copperfield (1966). She also appeared as Queen Gertrude in Tony Richardson's 1969 film adaptation of Hamlet.
More notable credits include: Mildred Layton in the 1984 ITV television series The Jewel in the Crown, for which she received her first BAFTA award nomination; Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1980 television serial version of Pride and Prejudice; Vera Donovan in the 1995 film adaptation of Stephen King Dolores Claiborne; and as Maria Thins in the 2003 film Girl with a Pearl Earring, for which she earned another BAFTA award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She has been a cast member on the drama series Call the Midwife, playing Sister Monica Joan, since the show's launch in 2012.
In 1968, Parfitt appeared in the Hammer Films television film Journey to The Unknown, opposite Joseph Cotten and hosted by Joan Crawford. In 1978, Parfitt appeared opposite Laurence Olivier, Joan Plowright and Frank Finlay in the episode "Saturday, Sunday, Monday" of Laurence Olivier Presents. In 1981 she created the role of Eleanor in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Peter Nichols' Passion Play. In 1984 she played Deidre in Jack Rosenthal's The Chain. In 1987, she appeared in Maurice.
Two of her most notable past roles are Mildred Layton in The Jewel in the Crown (1984), for which she received her first BAFTA nomination, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in the 1980 TV serial version of Pride and Prejudice. In 1995, she appeared in Dolores Claiborne playing the protagonist's domineering former employer who is dying in present-time, but is seen as a vibrant, glowing woman in flashback sequences.
Parfitt has appeared in some United States television shows, beginning with her regular role as Snow White's Stepmother, Evil Queen Lillian "Lily" White in the series The Charmings. Parfitt's real-life husband Tony Steedman guest-starred as Santa Claus in The Charmings' second season Christmas special. She appeared on an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1989, and as the mother of Dr Elizabeth Corday (played by Alex Kingston) on several episodes of ER in 2002. In 1998, she played the role of Queen Marie in .
Parfitt played Lady Mount-Temple in the biopic film Wilde, alongside Stephen Fry, Vanessa Redgrave and Gemma Jones in 1997. In 2003, she played Maria Thins in Girl with a Pearl Earring, which earned her a BAFTA nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Parfitt played the domineering American dowager, Mrs van Schuyler, opposite David Suchet, James Fox, Frances de la Tour and David Soul in a feature-length episode of Agatha Christie's Poirot in the 2004 edition of Death on the Nile. In 2008, she appeared as the primary villainess in Little Dorrit, as the cruel Mrs Clennam, alongside Alun Armstrong, Sue Johnston and Matthew Macfadyen. At Christmas 2011, she appeared in a small role similar to that which she portrayed in Little Dorrit as Aunt Chastity along with Una Stubbs and Phyllida Law in The Bleak Old Shop of Stuff.
In 2012, Parfitt began appearing in the BBC TV series Call the Midwife as Sister Monica Joan, an elderly nun in early stages of dementia. Sister Monica Joan's strong educational background and knowledge of classical literature are often used in the programme as a way of reflecting on the unfolding drama.
Parfitt has also recently appeared in BBC's spy tale, The Game; a film, Hello Carter; a Radio 4 show, Tom Wrigglesworth's Hang-Ups; and Jessica Hynes's suffragette sitcom Up the Women.
| Television film |
| Television film |
| Television film |
| Television miniseries |
| Television film |
| Television film |
| Television film |
| Television film, also known as Star Quality: Bon Voyage |
| Also known as Dark Obsession |
| Television film |
| Television film |
| Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
| Television film |
| Television film |
| Episode: "Bullseye" |
| Episode: "Information Received" |
| Episode: "Portrait of Caroline" |
| Episode: "The White Elephant" |
| Episode: "The Height of Fashion" |
| Episode: "But the Joneses Never Get Letters" |
| Episode: “The New Dimension” |
| Episode: "Time in Advance" |
| Episode: "Tomorrow, Just You Wait" |
| Episode: "But the Crying..." |
| Episode: "The Persistent Patriots" |
| Episode: "Escape in Time" |
| Episode: "Black Echo" |
| 5 episodes |
| 4 episodes |
| Episode: "The Attack" |
| Episode: "Whoever Shot Poor George Oblique Stroke XR40?" |
| Episode: "Do Me a Favor and Kill Me" |
| Episode: "The Death Watcher" |
| Episode: "Like the Filmstar" |
| Episode: "Lena" |
| Episode: "Lady Constance Lytton" |
| Episode: "The Healing Hand: Part 1" |
| 16 episodes |
| Episode: "Rumpole and the Honourable Member" |
| Unknown episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| 7 episodes |
| Episode: "A Question of Loyalty" |
| 9 episodes Nominated—BAFTA Awards |
| 4 episodes |
| 21 episodes |
| Episode: "From Russia...with Blood" |
| 3 episodes |
| Episode: "The Nursing Home Murder" |
| 6 episodes |
| Episode: "#1.7" |
| Episode: "Ladybird, Ladybird" |
| Episode: "Death's Shadow" |
| Episodes: “Abby Road”, “Be Still My Heart” and "April Showers" |
| Episode: "Mercy" |
| Episode: "Death on the Nile" |
| Episode: "Teddy's Story" |
| 11 episodes |
| Episode: "Danse Macabre" |
| 12 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |
| Episode: "Days of Misrule" |
| Episode: "The Grinning Man" |
| 102 episodes Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |
| Episode: "#1.2" |
| Episode: "A Certain Samaritan" |
| Episode: "Greenshaw's Folly" |
| Series regular |
| 5 episodes |
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