Cheryl Campbell

Cheryl Campbell (born 22 May 1949) is an English actress. She starred opposite Bob Hoskins in the 1978 BBC drama Pennies From Heaven, before going on to win the 1980 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for Testament of Youth and Malice Aforethought, and the 1982 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival for A Doll's House. Her film appearances include Chariots of Fire (1981), Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984) and The Shooting Party (1985).

Born 22 May 1949 in St Albans, Hertfordshire.^[1] Campbell is the daughter of an airline pilot.^[2] She was educated at Francis Bacon Grammar School, St Albans, and at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).^[3] Her repertory theatre experience includes the Palace Theatre, Watford, Birmingham Rep and the Citizens' Theatre, Glasgow.^[2]

Campbell earned her first BAFTA nomination in 1978 for her portrayal of Eileen Everson, opposite Bob Hoskins in Dennis Potter's television serial Pennies from Heaven (1978).^[3]

Campbell is known for her starring role as Vera Brittain in the BBC's television dramatisation of Testament of Youth (1979), for which she received Best Actress awards from the British Academy Television Award (BAFTA) and the Broadcasting Press Guild Award.^[4]

Campbell's one other role in a work by Potter was as Janet in Rain on the Roof (1980).^[2] The same year, she starred as Sheila McVicar alongside Roger Daltrey in the prison escape film McVicar (1980),^[1] and played Jennie Liddell in Chariots of Fire (1981).^[1] She played Lady Alice Clayton, alongside Ian Holm and Christopher Lambert in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (1984).^[1]

Campbell returned to the big screen when she played Lucetta in Tamara Drewe (2010).^[1]

As a stage performer Campbell has twice been a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. At the RSC in 1982, she appeared as Diana in All's Well That Ends Well, she played Nora Helmer in Adrian Noble's production of Ibsen's A Doll's House, for which she was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival.^[4]

She returned to the RSC in the 1992–94 season, playing Lady Macbeth to Derek Jacobi's lead in Noble's controversial production of Macbeth; Beatrice-Joanna in The Changeling; Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor^[2] and Natasha in Misha's Party.^[3] She worked at the Royal National Theatre: playing as a junior member of the company in 1975, as Freda in Sir Peter Hall's Old Vic production of John Gabriel Borkman (starring Sir Ralph Richardson, Dame Peggy Ashcroft and Dame Wendy Hiller)^[3] and as Maggie in W. S. Gilbert's Engaged; in 1995, as Lady Politic Would-Be in Matthew Warchus's Volpone; and in 2003 as Dotty Otley in the NT's touring (and London) revival of Noises Off.^[5]

Campbell's other stage performances in London have encompassed the classics as well as new plays; they include You Never Can Tell (Lyric, 1979); Miss Julie (1983) in the title role; Little Eyolf (1985) as Asta; The Daughter-in-Law (1985) as Minnie; The Sneeze (a Chekhov selection) (1988) in various roles;^[4] Betrayal (1991) as Emma; The Strip (1995) as Loretta; Some Sunny Day (1996) as Emily; The Seagull (1997) as Arkadina; Passion (2000) as Nell; and Life After George (2002) as Beatrix.^[3]

In provincial theatre, she has appeared in: The Country Wife (Manchester Royal Exchange) as Margery Pinchwife; The Constant Wife (Theatr Clwyd) as Constance; A Streetcar Named Desire (Leicester Haymarket) as Blanche (for which she received a Regional Theatre Best Actress award); and So Long Life (touring production) as Wendy.

As a radio performer, Campbell has taken part in various programmes for the BBC. Among these are The Taming of the Shrew, as Katherina with Bob Peck as Petruchio in 1988 on BBC Radio 3; Brief Encounter radio play from the screenplay by Noël Coward with Ian Holm as Alec in 1982 on BBC World Service;

• Cheryl Campbell at IMDb