Julia Mary Walters, known professionally as Dame Julie Walters, is a renowned British actress and comedienne who has been a stalwart representation of the working class on stage, screen, and television for decades. With her passionate and earthy portrayals, she has captured the hearts of international audiences.
Born on February 22, 1950, in Edgbaston, England, Walters is the youngest of three children and only daughter of Mary Bridget (O'Brien),an Irish-born postal clerk, and Thomas Walters, an English-born builder. She was convent schooled in Birmingham and initially expressed a desire to act, but her iron-willed mother steered her towards a nursing career.
Walters eventually gave up nursing to pursue her passion for acting, studying English and Drama at Manchester Polytechnic. She joined a theatre company in Liverpool, apprenticed as a stand-up comic, and made her London stage debut in the comedy "Funny Peculiar" in 1975. She developed a bawdy act on the cabaret circuit and befriended aspiring writer/comedienne Victoria Wood, with whom she appeared in sketch comedy and later had their own television series, "Wood and Walters," in 1981.
Walters scored a huge solo success in 1980 with her London debut in Willy Russell's "Educating Rita," winning both the Variety Critic's and London Critic's Circle Awards for her performance as a young hairdresser who enrolls in a university. She conquered film as well, starring in the 1983 film adaptation of "Educating Rita" opposite Michael Caine, which earned her a Golden Globe Award and Oscar nomination.
Reuniting with Victoria Wood in 1984, Walters appeared together frequently on television, including the award-winning series "dinnerladies" in 1998. On stage, she has impressed in a variety of roles, from contemporary plays to classics, winning the Laurence Olivier Award for her performance in "All My Sons."
Following her success in "Educating Rita," Walters rolled out a sterling succession of film femme roles, including her seedy waitress-turned successful brothel-owner in "Personal Services" (1987),the unsophisticated wife of Phil Collins in "Buster" (1988),and a boozy, man-chasing mum in "Killing Dad or How to Love Your Mother" (1989).
Walters has also mustered up convincing roles as the mother of Joe Orton in the critically-acclaimed "Prick Up Your Ears" (1987) and as the abrasively stern but encouraging dance teacher in "Billy Elliot" (2000),earning her a second Oscar nomination.
More recent millennium films for Walters include "Wah-Wah" (2005),"Becoming Jane" (2007),"Mamma Mia!" (2008),"Paddington" (2014),"Brooklyn" (2015),"Paddington 2" (2017),"Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" (2018),"Mary Poppins Returns" (2018),and "The Secret Garden" (2020) as Mrs. Medlock.
Married to Grant Roffey since 1997, Walters tends to a 70-acre organic farm they bought in Sussex with their daughter, Maisie Mae Roffey, born in 1988. In 1999, she was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her services to drama, and in 2008, was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). In 2017, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
