14 thoughts on “WCW: Annette Crosbie

  1. 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!

    1. 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!

    2. 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.

    1. 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.

  2. 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.

  3. 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).

  4. 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).

  5. 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.

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