Person biography:
Dame Siân Phillips, a Welsh-born stage veteran, is best known for her roles as the tarantula mother/empress Livia in the BBC miniseries I, Claudius (1976) and as the Reverend Mother in the science fiction epic film Dune (1984). Born Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips on May 14, 1933, in Wales, she was brought up bilingual in English and Welsh.
She began performing on the Welsh radio station at age 11 and later toured extensively for the Arts Council in Wales in original Welsh plays and translations from English classics. Siân attended the University of Wales and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA),making her London debut in the title role of "Hedda Gabler" (1957).
She married actor Peter O'Toole in 1959 and appeared frequently with him on stage and in film. They had two daughters, actresses Kate O'Toole and Pat O'Toole. Siân's husky resonant voice served her well as an announcer, newsreader, and narrator, and her severely chiseled looks and arch, regal bearing entitled her to perform in some of the most notable classics.
After 20 years of marriage, Siân divorced O'Toole and quickly remarried a younger actor, Britisher Robin Sachs. Despite personal turmoil, she continued to work in stage and film, including appearances in musicals and a one-woman cabaret show "Marlene", a tribute to Marlene Dietrich. She won a Tony Award nomination for this role on Broadway.
Over the years, Siân has distinguished herself in numerous quality miniseries and films, earning a BAFTA-TV award and several Golden Globe nominations. She has continued to work into the millennium, appearing in stage productions and films, including a radical retelling of A Christmas Carol (2020). Siân was awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2000 Queen's Birthday Honours and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire at the 2016 Queen's New Years Honours for her services to drama.
