
Scottish actress Annette Crosbie’s big break was playing Catherine of Aragon in the BBC’s The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), and she was a stalwart of historical TV in Britain from then into the 1980s… but she’s still popping up in productions like Little Dorrit and Call the Midwife. Let’s run down her frock flick resume!
As always, there are several roles that I can’t find images for:
- Noele in The Sunday Drama: “Langrishe Go Down” (1978)
- Suzannah Ibsen, Aline Solness, Gunhild Borkman, Irene in The Lively Arts: “Henrik Ibsen” (1979)
- Kassandra in Of Mycenae and Men (1979)
- Sofya Andreyevna in A Question of Faith (1979)
- Arsinoe in Festival: “The Misanthrope” (1980)
- Catherine in Play for Today: “Jessie” (1980)
- Christina Rogerson in The Member for Chelsea (1981)
Catherine of Aragon in The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970)
She played Henry VIII’s first wife and best queen (fight me) in this key BBC TV miniseries that spent one episode on each queen.



Margaret Lloyd George in The Edwardians (1972-73)
An anthology TV series, in which each episode focused on a key figure from British Edwardian era history. Margaret Lloyd George (1864-1941) was one of the first female magistrates in the UK and wife of Prime Minister David Lloyd George.
L.M. in A Picture of Katherine Mansfield (1973)
A BBC TV miniseries about New Zealand modernist author Katherine Mansfield (1888-1928). “L.M.” was Mansfield’s “life-long friend Ida Baker” per Wikipedia.

Elizabeth Rush in Churchill’s People (1974-75)
“A historical anthology series based on ‘A History of the English-Speaking Peoples,’ Winston Churchill’s four-volume history of Britain and its former colonies,” per IMDB. I’m not sure who Elizabeth Rush was, but this episode is about the English Civil War.



Queen Victoria in Edward the King (1975)
Crosbie’s second star turn, as the famous queen in this BBC TV bio-series about her eldest son, Edward VII.



Fairy Godmother in The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella (1976)
A musical version of the classic fairy tale, set in the 18th century.


Henrietta Labouchere in Lillie (1978)
The BBC TV bioseries about Lille Langtry, British stage actress and socialite (and mistress of King Edward VII). Henrietta Hobson (later Labouchère) “was an English actress and theatre manager best known for her portrayal of comedy roles in the Victorian era” per Wikipedia.



Maria in Twelfth Night (1980)
A TV adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy play.



Maisie Gifford in The House on the Hill (1981)
“A series of six plays centred on a house in Glasgow, from 1878 to the 1980s,” per IMDB.

Cornelia Carlyle in East Lynne (1982)
An adaptation of an 1861 novel, in which “An aristocrat’s gives his only daughter… an elaborate coming of age birthday party” (IMDB).


Duchess of York in Richard III (1983)
A TV adaptation of the Shakespeare play.

Kirsten Lindstrom in Ordeal by Innocence (1984)
A feature film adaptation of the Agatha Christie mystery, set I believe in the 1950s.

Dionyza in Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1984)
A TV adaptation of a less popular Shakespeare play.

Miss Thurtson in Bonne espérance (1989)
“The history of 3 generations of a French family in South Africa” per IMDB.

Janet MacPherson in Doctor Finlay (1993-96)
A long-running TV series about a doctor in the post-World War II era.


Mrs Bedwin in Oliver Twist (1999)
An ITV TV adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel.

Margaret Booth in Murder Rooms: “Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes” (2000-01)
From IMDB: “Certain events which had an impact on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, while he was still a medical student under the supervision of Dr. Bell, his teacher and mentor, on whom the character of Sherlock Holmes is partly drawn from.”
Mr. F’s Aunt in Little Dorrit (2008)
The BBC/WGBH adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel.


Granny Trill in Cider with Rosie (2015)
A coming-of-age story set during and just after World War I.
Cissy in Dad’s Army (2016)
A feature comedy film about the older men who volunteered to defend the homefront during World War II.
Clarice Millgrove in Call the Midwife (2019)
She was the elderly hoarder and former suffragist who Lucille has to help/force out of her apartment.

What’s your favorite of Annette Crosbie’s frock flicks roles?
She is an amazing Catherine of Aragon. I remember watching this series as a teenager and finding her so sympathetic and brave. She went through so much as a widowed Princess of Wales before what must have seemed
like a fairy tale ending when her prince turned king saved her from poverty and obscurity. Annette Crosbie makes her come alive from teenage princess to dying queen. Anne Boleyn understandably gets all the attention, but Catherine was queen for so much longer – and was a well-loved one too!
Good summation!
Yup, that’s why she’s my favorite! That and it was badass of her to stand up against Henry/in support of herself and daughter til her dying day. Part of me wishes she’d saved herself and just gone to a nunnery, but the queen knew she was queen!
Same. I would have been about 12 when I watched this series here in the states. I of course didn’t know much of the period and was pretty clueless about who was who and what was happening (wait, the Queen of England is Spanish? Whaaa?), but HER performance was what stood out and stuck with me. Even now, I can remember so much of her portrayal that when I read anything about Catherine, her face is what I see. Sometimes even when I’m watching someone ELSE in the role. Truly the best performance of the best queen.
The Slipper and the Rose, no contest! I would have happily sat through a movie about the Fairy Godmother. :)
She absolutely rocked this role –
Somewhere in a parallel universe there is a t.v. show of THE Fairy Godmother helping out people on a weekly basis. Totally in my headspace for life as The Fairy Godmother.
I love that idea!
I know I saw that series of the Six Wives, but it’s been so long that I can’t remember any of the performances. I know I saw some of those Dickens adaptations as well, but again, no memory. Where she did stand out was as the Fairy Godmother in The Slipper and the Rose. I love the way she introduces herself, almost as if she’s at an AA meeting. She’s charming, waspish, and sounds so typically British brisk when it comes to Getting.Things.Done. I don’t know why, but it’s making me sad to see the more recent production photos of her. In my mind she’ll be the Fairy Godmother forever.
Her daughter is also an actress and sounds EXACTLY like her!
IMDB must have gotten confused about East Lynne somehow. That is a totally insane summary.
lol
I know her mainly as Margaret Meldrew from 90s sitcom One Foot In The Grave (a brilliant but dark sitcom about a perpetually grumpy old man and the insane situations he finds himself in; Margaret is his long-suffering wife).
When it comes to Queen Catharine of Aragon, I’m more likely to fight by your side – if nothing else National Pride insists that Scotland could only get thrashed by the Very Best of Henry VIII’s wives – for the same reason I hold Thomas Cromwell in far less respect than Thomas More.
Better to admire those who looked a tyrant in the eye and said “No” rather than someone who died for being unable, rather than unwilling, to give King Henry what he wanted.
…
On a less grim note, it amuses me to imagine how delighted Queen Victoria would have been to be played by a Scot (Given that Her Late Majesty seems to have been Patient Zero for the Royal Family’s consuming interest in being part-Professional Scotsmen).
Annette Crosbie!!!! I loved loved (LOVED!) The Slipper and Rose. In fact I might hope to find it somewhere streaming and watch it right now.
Seeing her is always so jarring because she looks so very much like my beloved grandmother (the eyes!), except my Nana wasn’t Scottish and had a Brooklyn accent as wide as the Belt Parkway.