Linda Bassett

Linda Bassett was born in the Kentish village of Pluckley - location for the television series The Darling Buds of May (1991). She was brought up in Pimlico, South London, by her typist mother and police officer father. She became interested in acting as a child when she was frequently taken to see plays in London, most notably at the Old Vic, the famous classical theater. On leaving school, Linda went to work at the Old Vic as an usherette and catering manager, before going to read English at Leeds University. However, she dropped out after a year and became involved in a local drama group which put on plays in community-based locations, such as schools. She regards this as her theatrical schooling, having had no formal training. She made her London stage debut at the age of 32 in 1982 and, in 1991, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Although she was a well-regarded stage performer, it was the 1999 film version of the play East Is East (1999) (in which she had been an original stage cast member) which brought her to a larger audience and, throughout the 2000s, she has been a familiar face in a variety of films and television series. In the late 1980s, she returned to live in Pluckley.

Known For: Acting

Born: Pluckley, Kent, England, UK, 1950-02-04

Died: null

Film

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1987	Waiting for the Moon	Gertrude Stein	50
2	1989	Paris by Night	Janet Swanton	45
3	1990	News Hounds	Virginia Lyddon	0
4	1991	Let Him Have It	Mrs. Miles	66
5	1991	A Small Dance	Sandra Matkin	0
6	1994	Skallagrigg	Susan	10
7	1994	In The Cold Light Of Day	Mrs. Loveless	0
8	1995	A Village Affair	Gwen	51
9	1995	Loved Up	Mum	59
10	1995	Haunted	Madame Brontski	61
11	1996	Mary Reilly	Mary's Mother	58
12	1996	Alive and Kicking	Doctor	49
13	1997	Oscar and Lucinda	Betty Stratton	64
14	1998	The Life and Crimes of William Palmer	Mary Thornton	95
15	1998	Spoonface Steinberg	Mrs. Spud	0
16	1998	Far from the Madding Crowd	Maryann Money	62
17	1999	East Is East	Ella Khan	65
18	1999	Beautiful People	Sister	59
19	2000	Lounge Act		0
20	2000	Don Quixote	Housekeeper	61
21	2001	The Martins	Anthea	55
22	2002	The Hours	Nelly Boxall	73
23	2003	This Little Life	Nurse Nina	0
24	2003	Calendar Girls	Cora	65
25	2004	Spivs	Auntie Vee	45
26	2005	Kinky Boots	Mel	67
27	2005	Separate Lies	Maggie	57
28	2005	Colour Me Kubrick	Trolley Lady	57
29	2005	The English Harem	Monica Pringle	33
30	2008	Cass	Doll	59
31	2008	The Reader	Ms. Brenner	75
32	2010	West Is West	Ella Khan	64
33	2013	National Theatre Live: People	Iris	80
34	2014	Effie Gray	Anna	59
35	2017	Carnage: Swallowing the Past	Dr Yasmine Vondenburg	67
36	2018	Careful How You Go		80
37	2023	The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry	Queenie	65

Television

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1983	Dramarama		67
2	1984	The Bill		67
3	1986	Casualty	Olwyn Humphries	60
4	1992	Heartbeat	Beryl Palmer	70
5	1992	A Touch of Frost		75
6	1993	Frank Stubbs Promotes	Eileen	60
7	1995	Kavanagh Q.C.	Miss Haddon QC	70
8	1995	Bramwell	Maud	42
9	1996	No Bananas	Ellen Slater	50
10	1997	Midsomer Murders	Eileen Carnack	75
11	1998	Our Mutual Friend		77
12	1998	dinnerladies	Peggy	74
13	2004	The Brief	Maureen Tyler	65
14	2008	Sense and Sensibility	Mrs. Jennings	76
15	2008	Lark Rise to Candleford	Queenie Turrill	83
16	2010	Grandma's House	Grandma	66
17	2012	Call the Midwife	Phyllis Crane	75
18	2012	The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby	Mrs. Smike	0
19	2013	Spies of Warsaw	Malka Rosen	66
20	2017	Strike	Joan Nancarrow	71