Emma Thompson is a famous English actress and comedian. Born to actor parents, Eric Thompson and Phyllida Law, on 15 April, 1959, Emma is the elder sister of actress, Sophie Thompson. She studied at the Camden School for Girls in North London where she acted in a number of school plays. After leaving high school, Emma studied at Newnham College, Cambridge. Emma studied English Literature as she wanted to be a writer. However, she was destined for something different.
During her days at university, Emma joined the theatrical club, Footlights, and later went on to become the vice-president of the club. She acted in many stage productions and Richard Armitage, an agent, was so impressed with her acting talent that he signed a contract with her. For the next two years at university, Emma divided her time between acting and studies without compromising either. She graduated in 1982 and took up stand-up comedy, but didn’t meet with much success. She got a part in the series Alfresco alongside Hugh Laurie and Stephen Fry, who were her friends from the Footlight days. However, the show was cancelled after a few episodes. She got her big break when she joined the cast of the West End revival Me and My Girl in 1985. The play was extremely successful and Emma was noticed by both critics and the audience. Later, she went onto work in television series such as Tutti Frutti and the BBC’s Fortunes of War.
Emma made her big screen debut with the movie Henry V in 1989. Other movies followed in the 1990s including The Tall Guy (1990), Dead Again (1991), Peter’s Friends (1992), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), The Remains of the Day (1993), In the Name of the Father (1993) and Primary Colors (1998). She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the 1992 movie Howard’s End. In 1995, she wrote the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility for which she won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and she was also nominated for the Best Actress award. Emma’s latest movies include Love Actually (2003), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Stranger than Fiction (2006) and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007). She is scheduled to appear in Brideshead Revisited and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince in 2008.
Emma Thompson was romantically linked with Hugh Laurie. She later married actor, Kenneth Branagh, in 1989. However, they separated in 1995. Emma married actor Greg Wise in 2003. The couple have a daughter, Gaia Romilly. Emma continues to entrance audiences with her realistic performances.
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