Lesley Nicol (actress)


Lesley Nicol is an English actress and three-time SAG Award winner who is known for her starring role as Beryl Patmore in the ITV and PBS drama TV series Downton Abbey.
She is also known for her roles as Mrs. Beaver in the 1988 BBC adaptation of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Queen Giant in The Silver Chair and as Henrietta Beecham in the 2019 ITV historical drama Beecham House.
Nicol graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London in the early 1970s.
On stage, Nicol appeared as Rosie in the second and third years of the original West End production of the international hit musical Mamma Mia! from 2000 to 2002. She also starred as Auntie Annie in East is East at London's Royal Court Theatre, and later reprised her role in the hugely popular BAFTA Best British Film of 1999 award-winning version of the play, also titled East Is East. Subsequently, she appeared in the film sequel, West is West.
Nicol has guest-starred on numerous British and American TV series. She made a guest appearance on an episode of The CW's Supernatural, playing a German child-eating witch. She also appeared as a guest star on CBS-TV's reboot of The Odd Couple and multiple episodes of ABC-TV's The Catch, in a recurring role playing the matriarch of a vicious London gangland family.
Nicol wrote an original musical about her life with pop songwriter Mark Mueller. Its first performance was given by Nicol and Mueller in 2017 at London's Guildhall School of Music and Drama, her alma mater, followed by a show in Hong Kong at that city's historic Fringe Club theater.

Filmography