Brenda Blethyn

Born: February 20 1946
Where: Kent, UK

The former British Rail secretary has twice been Oscar nominated - for Little Voice and Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies.

Having previously worked for BR, Blethyn didn't enter drama school until she was 27 when she enrolled at The Guildford School Of Acting.

After graduating her mainstay was on the stage, working with notable directors, Sam Mendes, Alan Ayckbourn and writer Alan Bennett.

She made numerous TV appearances in the 1980s in series ranging from Grown Ups to The Labours of Erica.

In 1990 she made her big screen debut in Roald Dahl's The Witches and went on to star in Robert Redford's The River Runs Through It.

However, she also maintained TV work with appearances in the popular comedy Outside Edge and Hanif Kureishi's The Buddha of Suburbia.

In 1996, she made her breakthrough performance in Leigh's Secret & Lies as the white woman who secretly gave birth to a mixed race daughter.

The role won her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.

Blethyn subsequently appeared in Remember Me, Girls' Night and Night Train before again being Oscar-nominated for her over-bearing, pushy mother of Jane Horrocks in Little Voice.

In 2000, Blethyn starred in the sleeper hit Saving Grace and went on to appear in Lovely & Amazing as well as voice Mrs Fairgood for the Wild Thornberries Movie.

She was awarded the OBE in the 2002 New Year's Eve Honours List.

Recent films include hard-hitting Welsh drama A Way Of Life, the Kevin Spacey-directed music movie Beyond The Sea and the drama On A Clear Day.