Amanda Abbington (born Amanda Jane Smith; 28 February 1974)[2] is an English actress. She is best known for playing Miss Mardle in Mr Selfridge and Mary Watson in Sherlock, the BBC adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.
Amanda Abbington | |
---|---|
![]() Amanda Abbington at the 2015 Laurence Olivier Awards | |
Born | Amanda Jane Smith (1974-02-28) 28 February 1974 (age 48) London, England[1] |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1993–present |
Partner(s) | Martin Freeman (2000–2016) |
Children | 2 |
An only child, Abbington was brought up in Hertfordshire, England.[3]
She appeared in the TV series The Bill until 2007 playing various characters. During that time she also appeared in the TV series Wycliffe, Casualty, Dream Team, The Sins, Shades, Doc Martin, Coupling, and Teachers. She appeared in the 2005 comedy sketch show Man Stroke Woman and the 2007–2008 comedy After You've Gone with Nicholas Lyndhurst. She has also appeared in recurring series such as Bernard's Watch and Case Histories.
In 2013, she began appearing in the television series Mr Selfridge as Miss Mardle alongside Jeremy Piven and Frances O'Connor. In 2014, Abbington appeared in the third series of Sherlock as Mary Morstan, the wife of John Watson, played by her then real-life partner Martin Freeman.[4][5] In 2015 she appeared in the BBC TV crime drama series Cuffs.
On stage Abbington appeared in August 2018 in the role of Annette in God of Carnage at the Theatre Royal, Bath, and in 2019 as the character Anne in Florian Zeller's play The Son at the Kiln Theatre in Kilburn, London[6] which later that year transferred to The Duke of York's Theatre in London's West End.
2022 Appearing in the new play The Unfriend at the Minerva Theatre in Chichester.
Abbington was the partner of British actor Martin Freeman, whom she met on the set of the film Men Only in 2000.[4] The couple appeared together on screen in productions such as The Debt, The Robinsons, The Good Night and Sherlock. Abbington and Freeman, who have two children,[7] lived in Hertfordshire before their separation in 2016.[8][9][10]
She is engaged to escapologist Jonathan Goodwin.[11] She and Goodwin had been social media friends for a decade, but only met after her split from Freeman. Goodwin proposed marriage within 30 minutes of their first meeting, in Vienna.[11]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1996 | The Bill: Target | Lady Car Driver | Direct-to-video, feature-length |
2001 | Men Only | Trina | TV film |
Saving Grace | Isobel Green | TV film | |
2003 | The Debt | Stacey Ross | TV film |
2005 | Derailed | Kerry Hodder | TV film |
The Booze Cruise II: The Treasure Hunt | Leone | TV film | |
2006 | The Booze Cruise III: The Scattering' | Leone | TV film |
2007 | The Good Night | Vivian Jesson | |
The All Together | Sarah | ||
2011 | Swinging with the Finkels | Lesbian #2 | |
Ghosted | Tracy | ||
2013 | Joe Mistry | Katherine | TV film |
2016 | Bring Back the Cat | Mrs. Patricia Ellison | Short film |
2017 | Another Mother's Son | Ivy Forster | |
Crooked House | Clemency Leonides | ||
2018 | We the Kings | Rosa | |
The Queen and I | Anne, Princess Royal | TV film | |
2019 | Six Days of Sistine | Angelina | |
2020 | Make Me Famous | Amanda | TV film |
2021 | Three Pints and a Rabbi | Lisa | |
Decrypted | Connie | ||
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1993 | The Bill | Kirstey Tate | Episode: "Picking a Winner" |
1997 | Plotlands | Maude | Series regular, 6 episodes |
The Bill | Sarah Hall | Episode: "Copier" | |
Wycliffe | Local W.P.C. | Episode: "Strangers Home" | |
1998 | No Sweat | Chantelle | Episode: "Moon Boy" |
Magic with Everything | Cat | Series regular, 6 episodes | |
Picking Up the Pieces | Staff Nurse Hunter | Series regular, 6 episodes | |
1999 | Casualty | Jen Reynolds | Episode: "Human Traffic" |
Snap | Zoe | Episode: "Missed Her Sister" | |
The Bill | Laura Denny | Episode: "On Air" | |
1999-2000 | Dream Team | Marilyn Harwood | Series regular, 41 episodes |
2000 | The Thing About Vince | Lisa | Mini-series, 2 episodes |
The Sins | Belinda Edgeley | Mini-series, 2 episodes | |
2001 | Hearts and Bones | Mia | Episode: "Series 2, Episode 6" |
Shades | Rebecca Jacobs | Mini-series, 1 episode | |
2002 | Always and Everyone | Tessa | Episodes: "Out of Time", "Warrior's Heart" & "Do Not Pass Go" |
2003 | 20 Things to do Before You're 30 | Shona | Series regular, 8 episodes |
2004 | Bernard's Watch | Sonia | Recurring role, 9 episodes |
Coupling | Nicola | Episodes: "9½ Minutes" & "Nightlines" | |
Teachers | Sarah | Episode: "Series 4, Episode 3" | |
2005 | The Robinsons | Polly | Series regular, 5 episodes |
2005-2007 | Man Stroke Woman | Various roles | Series regular, 12 episodes |
2007 | The Bill | Rachel Inns | Episodes: "A Model Murder", "Model Murder Uncovered" & "Caught by the Killer" |
Doc Martin | Isobel | Episode: "Happily Ever After" | |
Sold | Zoe | Episode: "Series 1, Episode 6" | |
2007-2008 | After You've Gone | Siobhan | Series regular, 21 episodes |
2008 | Harley Street | Susie Linn | Episode: "Series 1, Episode 2" |
Coming Up | Daughter | Episode: "Lickle Bill Um" | |
Agatha Christie's Poirot | Miss Blake | Episode: "Cat Among the Pigeons" | |
2009 | Psychoville | Caroline | Episode: "Blackmail" |
2010 | Married Single Other | Babs | Series regular, 6 episodes |
Money | Doris Artthur | Mini-series, 2 episodes | |
2011 | Postcode | Anna | Recurring role, 3 episodes |
2011-2013 | Case Histories | D.I. Louise Munroe | Series regular, 9 episodes |
2012 | Being Human | Golda | Episode: "Puppy Love" |
2013-2016 | Mr Selfridge | Josie Mardle | Series regular, 36 episodes |
2014 | Dinopaws | Gwen | Recurring role, 10 episodes |
2014-2017 | Sherlock | Mary Morstan | Series regular, 7 episodes |
2015 | Cuffs | D.S. Jo Moffat | Series regular, 8 episodes |
2016 | Stag | Fran | Mini-series, 2 episodes |
2017 | Uncle | Siobhan | Episode: "...Is This Just Fantasy?" |
2018 | Safe | Sophie Mason | Series regular, 8 episodes |
2019 | Flack | Alexa | Episodes: "Brooke" & "Alexa" |
2020 | Unsaid Stories | Lyndsey | Mini-series, 1 episode |
I Hate Suzie | Charon Bander | Episode: "Anger" | |
2021 | Wolfe | Dot | Series regular, 6 episodes |
Year | Title | Role | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
2002 | The Safari Party | Bridget | Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough & Hampstead Theatre, London |
Something Blue | Pam | Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough | |
2004 | Love Me Tonight | Sian | Hampstead Theatre, London |
2014 | God Bless the Child | Sally Rayner | Royal Court Theatre, London |
2017 | Abigail's Party | Beverly Moss | Theatre Royal, Bath |
2018 | God of Carnage | Annette Reille | Theatre Royal, Bath |
A Little Princess | Miss Minchin | Royal Festival Hall, London | |
2019 | The Son | Anne | Kiln Theatre, London |
2022 | The Unfriend | Debbie | Minerva Theatre, Chichester |
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | Crime Thriller Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Case Histories | Nominated |
2014 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries | Sherlock | Nominated |
Crime Thriller Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Sherlock | Won | |
General | |
---|---|
National libraries | |
Other |
|