Today we feature the brilliant Judy Parfitt for her historical film and television roles! As with a lot of the actors with lengthy BBC careers dating back 60 years, much of her early work is not documented in images that are easily searchable on the web (if the program itself even exists at all, considering the Beeb’s tendency to recycle film), so this list shouldn’t be considered exhaustive. That said, we work with what we got, and there’s still a whole lot to work with!
Hamlet (1969)
Villette (1971)
Vivat! Vivat, Regina (1971)
Galileo (1975)
Pride and Prejudice (1980)
The Jewel in the Crown (1984)
Maurice (1987)
The Blackheath Poisonings (1992)
Wilde (1997)
Ever After (1998)
Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003)
Poirot: Death on the Nile (2004)
The Aryan Couple (2004)
Little Dorrit (2008)
Call the Midwife (2012-)
Marple: Greenshaw’s Folly (2013)
Up the Women (2013)
What are your favorite roles performed by Judy Parfitt? Share them with us in the comments!
I absolutely adore her!
I loved her as Julia Bickleigh in the 1979 version of Malice Aforethought. It was made by the BBC and I believe it is available on YouTube. It’s set in the 1920s 30’s. The whole cast was terrific. A young Cheryl Campbell in it too.
Love Judy. Wish Villette was viewable somewhere! One of my favorite books.
You might be able to find it on YouTube! A lot of the old BBC miniseries have made their way there, for better or for worse…
Still my all-time favorite Lady Catherine de Burgh.
She was brilliant in Malice Aforethought and as Queen Mary in W.E.
Looks like I need to watch “Maurice,” although I feel bad for Edward Ferrars having to marry Elizabeth Elliot ;-)
She was good in Berkeley Square! She played Lady Harmonsworth! She played Queen Mary of Teck in W.E. I can imagine her looking regal AF!
Villette would be a good candidate for a remake, if the powers that be ever tired of Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. I’ll have to track down the 1970 version.
I liked Parfitt’s take on Lady Catherine de Bourgh, although I think I prefer Barbara Leigh-Hunt in the ’95 version.
I immediately went “yes, the queen from Ever After!” and that probably says it all :-) So many of these I would love to see!
She is absolutely the best in Call the Midwife! Dotty yet profound. I also loved her performance in Girl with the Pearl Earring. The costumes and scenery in that film are top notch and match the book very well. I have not seen any of her earlier work and now must hunt those down. Thank you for featuring Miss Judy!
Great WCW choice. I didn’t know this actress by name, but I recognized her face straight away. Of the projects listed here, I’ve seen in her Maurice, Ever After, and Up the Women. And also, as others have said, she was Mary of Teck in W./E. My favorite performance of hers is from W./E. Film-wise, both Maurice and Ever After were so well done. Up the Women just wasn’t my thing, and I don’t think I ever finished the series.