Monday, 21 April 2008

Dame Eileen, 73, beats on-screen sister to Bafta


Chris Jackson/Getty Images

Cranford's Dame Eileen Atkins poses with the award for Best Actress

Eileen Atkins beat her on-screen sister Judi Dench to be named best actress in the battle of the dames at the Bafta television awards last night.


By Ciar Byrne, Arts and Media Correspondent
The Indipendent, Monday, 21 April 2008

Eileen Atkins beat her on-screen sister Judi Dench to be named best actress in the battle of the dames at the Bafta television awards last night.

Dame Eileen had to wait until the age of 73 for her first Bafta, winning best actress for her role in BBC1 costume drama Cranford, in which she played an elderly spinster, Miss Deborah Jenkyns. It is 39 years since she was last nominated.

In the series, adapted from the works of Elizabeth Gaskell about a northern town on the brink of radical social change, Dame Judi played Miss Jenkyns's sister, Miss Matty.

Interviewed on the way into the ceremony at the London Palladium, Dame Judi joked: "I've got my money on [Dame Eileen]," adding mischievously that there would be "a huge catfight" later.

Known for co-creating Upstairs, Downstairs, Dame Eileen also recently starred in BBC1's adaptation of Noel Streatfield's Ballet Shoes... [article continues]

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