Maria Aitken
Maria Aitken | |
|---|---|
| Born | Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken 12 September 1945[1] |
| Education | Riddlesworth Hall Sherborne School for Girls |
| Alma mater | University of Oxford |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1967–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Jack Davenport |
| Parent(s) | William Aitken Penelope Aitken |
| Relatives | Jonathan Aitken (brother) John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby (maternal grandfather) Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (granduncle) |
Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken (born 12 September 1945)[1] is an Irish-born, British theatre director,[2] teacher, actor, and writer.[3]
As an actor, Aitken has been twice nominated at the Olivier Awards, in 1980 for Private Lives and in 1985 for Waste.[4][5] Her performance in the film A Fish Called Wanda (1988) earned her a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.[6]
Early life and education
[edit]Aitken was born in Dublin, Ireland and privately educated at Riddlesworth Hall Preparatory School in Norfolk, Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset[1] and the University of Oxford where she studied English literature and language as an undergraduate student of St Anne's College, Oxford.[1]
Career
[edit]Aitken has directed several plays iyalen the West End and on Broadway. Her production of The 39 Steps, which ran in London for nine years, also played three years on Broadway and won Olivier and Tony Awards.[citation needed] In 2011, she directed Frank Langella in Man and Boy on Broadway. She is a visiting lecturer at Yale University, NYU and Juilliard drama schools.[citation needed] Her acting career includes leading roles at the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the West End. She has played more Noël Coward leads than any other actress.[citation needed] Her film career includes appearances in Doctor Faustus (1967), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Half Moon Street (1986), A Fish Called Wanda (1988) (for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award), The Fool (1990), The Grotesque (1995), Fierce Creatures (1997), Jinnah (1998) and Asylum (2005).[3]
In 1984, Aitken co-wrote and starred in the sitcom Poor Little Rich Girls alongside Jill Bennett. She is the author of A Girdle Round the Earth, a story of some of the remarkable women travellers of the last 200 years, and Style: Acting in High Comedy, published in 1996, which contends that "High comedies are not bloodless, refined, wordy plays — their themes are sex, money and social advancement. They contain a splendid contradiction: wit and elegance at the service of man's basest drives."[citation needed]
Personal life
[edit]Aitken is the daughter of William Aitken, a Conservative MP, and Penelope Aitken, whose father was John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby. Maffey was the UK Representative to Ireland (1939–49). She is a great-niece of newspaper magnate and war-time minister Lord Beaverbrook, and sister to former Conservative cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken.[1]
Aitken is the mother of actor Jack Davenport, born during her marriage to Nigel Davenport from 1972 to 1981.[1] She was married to Richard Durden from 1968 to 1971. Since 1991, she has been married to the novelist Patrick McGrath and they live together in New York and London.[citation needed]
Aitken has served as a patron of the British Thyroid Foundation since 1992, and was appointed a Trustee of the Noël Coward Foundation in 2012.
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Anon (2025). "Aitken, Maria Penelope Katharine". Who's Who (177th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 2720. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U5130. ISBN 9781399411837. OCLC 1427336388. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ↑ Barlow, Patrick (30 November 2009). The 39 Steps. Samuel French, Inc. pp. 4–. ISBN 9780573697142. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
- 1 2 Maria Aitken at IMDb
- ↑ "Olivier Winners 1980". officiallondontheatre.com. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ↑ "Olivier Winners 1985". officiallondontheatre.com. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
- ↑ "Supporting Actress". bafta.org. Retrieved 13 February 2025.
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