Happy Birthday to Tony and four-time Olivier nominee Siân Phillips, born May 14, 1933, in Bettws, Wales. At 11, she won the Welsh National Eisteddfod and began working for BBC Radio Wales. While attending University College in Cardiff, she continued as a BBC newsreader and repertory company member. In 1955, she won a scholarship to RADA, with whom she made her London stage debut in Magda (1957).
After graduating, she worked in regional repertory, including Oxford New Theatre’s The Holiday (1958) with Peter O’Toole. Later that year, she made her TV debut in “A Game for Eskimos” for Television Playwright, and the following year, she married O’Toole. Phillips made her film debut in The Longest Day (1962), then worked with O’Toole on her second feature, Becket (1964).
Over the next decade, Phillips received increasing critical acclaim, earning a Golden Globe nomination as best supporting actress for the musical film Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969, starring O’Toole), a BAFTA TV Award as best actress for the BBC miniseries I, Claudius (1976), and an Olivier nomination as best actress in a musical for the London revival of Rodgers & Hart’s Pal Joey (1980). Below is Phillips singing “Bewitched, Bothered, Bewildered.”
Her subsequent roles in West End musicals included Mrs. Chichester in David Heneker’s Peg (1984), Aunt Alicia in Lerner & Loewe’s Gigi (1985), and Madame Arnfeldt in Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music (1996), for which she earned her second Olivier nomination (as best supporting performance in a musical). Below is Phillips singing “Liaisons.”
She ended the decade originating the title role in Pam Gems’ musical play Marlene (1998), for which Phillips earned her third Olivier nomination (as best actress in a musical) and her sole Tony nomination. Below is a medley of Phillips singing “Boys in the Back Room” and “La vie en rose.”
In 1999, Philips released her first autobiography, Private Faces, followed in 2001 by Public Places. Between publications, she was awarded Commander of the British Empire (2000). In 2007, she recorded the spoken word for Rufus Wainwright’s song “Between My Legs” and even performed it live at his Old Vic Theatre concert, which you can watch below (Phillips enters at 4:10).
In the past decade, Phillips has appeared in the new cabaret show Crossing Borders (2011), earned her fourth Olivier nomination (as supporting performance in a musical) for the West End revival of Kander & Ebb’s Cabaret (2013), and been awarded Dame Commander of the British Empire (2016). Below is Graham Roos’ 2018 interview with Phillips at LAMDA.