Phyllida Law

Born: May 8 1932
Where: Glasgow, Scotland, UK

The veteran actress has appeared on the big screen in movies ranging from the romantic comedy Emma to the violent thriller Unleashed.

The mother of the Oscar-winning Emma Thompson and husband of the late Eric "voice of The Magic Roundabout" Thompson, Law made her TV debut in 1961.

Her first foray onto the big screen came in the 1968 comedy spy caper Otley and she went on to appear in the drama Hitler: The Last Ten Days.

She continued to stick mainly with TV roles, including The Barchester Chronicles, That's Love and The House of Eliot.

In 1992, she starred in Kenneth Branagh's Peter's Friends alongside Hugh Laurie, Stephen Fry and her daughter Emma, and Much Ado About Nothing.

Subsequent appearances included 1997's Anna Karenina and Alan Rickman's The Winter Guest, again alongside Emma.

In 1999, she starred with Anna Friel and Joanna Lumley in the disappointing Mad Cows and went onto appear in the cannabis comedy Saving Grace.

She played Mrs Claus in 2004's Tooth and Peter Mullan's mother in the Scottish psychological thriller Blinded.

An accomplished stage actress, her theatre repertoire includes productions of The Merry Wives of Windsor, La Cage Aux Folles, Noises Off, and The Importance of Being Earnest.

She also co-starred twice with Sir Alec Guinness, in Habeas Corpus and A Voyage Round My Father.

In 2005, she had a small part alongside Bob Hoskins and Jet Li in the brutal thriller Unleashed.