English Rose... Julie Walters

QUINTESSENTIALLY ENGLISH

Julie alters W

Born in Edgbaston, England on February 22, 1950, Julie Mary Walters was the youngest of three children and the only daughter of Irish-born postal clerk Mary Bridget’s and

Thomas Walters, a builder from

Birmingham.

She expressed a desire to act from an early age, but her strong-willed mother disagreed and pushed her towards a nursing career. Reluctantly applying to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in

Birmingham, the acting bug eventually became too strong, and Julie walked away from her medical career.

Studying English and Drama at Manchester Polytechnic, she joined the Everyman Theatre Company in Liverpool and began performing stand-up comedy, making her London stage debut in ‘Funny Peculiar’ in 1975. Teaming up with writer and comedienne Victoria Wood, the duo appeared together in sketch comedy, and some of their most famous works were transferred to television, receiving rave reviews. Eventually, the twosome landed their own TV series ‘Wood and Walters’ in 1981.

In 1980, Julie enjoyed huge solo success in Willy Russell’s ‘Educating Rita’, winning both the Variety Critic’s and the London Critic’s Circle Awards. In 1993 it was transferred to television, and Julie starred on the big

screen alongside Michael Caine, collecting a BAFTA, a Golden Globe Award, and an Oscar nomination.

Movies included Personal Services in 1987, Buster with Phil Collins in 1988 and Stepping Out in 1991. In 1998 she began appearing in Victoria Wood’s comedy show ‘Dinnerladies’ in which she played Petula opposite Shobna Gulati, Anne Reid and Celia Imrie. In 1999, her services to acting landed her with an OBE before it was raised to CBE in 2008.

2001 saw Julie awarded a Laurence Olivier Award for Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’. She then won a BAFTA and an Oscar nomination for portraying the abrasively stern but encouraging dance teacher in ‘Billy Elliot’ opposite Jamie Bell. The same year Walters began her portrayal of Molly Weasley, the matriarch of the Weasley family, in the Harry Potter series. She went on to star in every movie in the series, except Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and was voted by the BBC as the second ‘Best Screen Mother’ in 2003.

In 2001, she ranked first in the Orange Film Survey of Greatest British Films actresses before appearing alongside Helen Mirren, and Ciaran Hinds in the Golden Globe-nominated ‘Calendar Girls’ in 2003.

During the summer of 2006, Walters published her first novel, Maggie’s Tree, which followed a group of English actors in Manhattan. It was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and is described as “a disturbing and thought-provoking novel about mental torment and the often blackly comic, mixed-up ways we view ourselves and misread each other.”. Another reviewer, Susan Jeffreys, in The Independent, described the novel as “the work of a writer who knows what she’s doing. There’s nothing tentative about the writing, and Walters brings her experiences as an actress to bear on the page. ... you do have the sensation of entering someone else’s mind and of looking through someone else’s eyes.” In more recent years, Julie portrayed Mrs Bird, the Brown’s Housekeeper, in the critically acclaimed Paddington and reprised the role in Paddington 2 in 2017, which also received critical acclaim. Mary Poppins Returns and The Secret Garden with Colin Firth are some of her more recent triumphs. Due to a difficult struggle with stage III bowel cancer, Julie had to be cut out of certain scenes in The Secret Garden but thankfully entered remission. She has since stepped back from large and demanding acting roles but will be returning for Mamma Mia 3! which is currently in production.

Walters’ relationship with Grant Roffey, an Automobile Association patrolman, began after a whirlwind romance. The couple have one daughter, Maisie Mae Roffey, who was born in 1998. Julie took a 7-year break from acting to look after Maisie when she contracted leukaemia at the age of two. The couple married in 1997 and now live on an organic farm run by Roffey near Plaistow, West Sussex.

With an illustrious career spanning over five decades, her passionate, down-to-earth portrayals on screen, stage, and television, as well as her infectious spirit and self-deprecating sense of humour, Julie Walters is a true English icon.

THE BATTLE of the BINGE

As the frostier weather settles in, hibernation season is nearly upon us, meaning we all tend to have a lot more quality time with our televisions. Strong viewing material is a comfort, and why we have rounded up our top picks of the best TV shows to cosy up with over the coming months.

Stay Close

Starring: Cush Jumbo, John Nesbitt, Poppy Gilbert, Bethany Antonia, Richard Armitage, Jo Joyner, Daniel Francis

Where to watch? Netflix

An adaptation of Harlan Coben’s #1 New York Times bestselling novel of the same name, Stay Close, is the author’s fourth Netflix adaptation with The Stranger, Safe, and The Five already triumphing. Cush Jumbo and John Nesbitt star in his latest thriller. The eight-part drama follows three people living comfortable lives who conceal dark secrets that even those nearest them would never suspect. Megan; a working mother of three, Ray; the once-promising documentary photographer, now stuck in a dead-end job, and Broome, a detective who is unable to let go of a missing person case. An old friend from Megan’s past delivers some shocking news that will impact the trio, and as the past comes back to haunt them, threatening to ruin their lives and the lives of those around them, what will be their next move?

The Unlikely Murderer

Starring: Robert Gustafsson, Joel Spira, Emil Almén, Shanti Roney

Where to watch? Netflix

This five-part Scandi drama is based on the award-winning book of the same name, written by Thomas Pettersson. The fictional series is an interpretation of how Stig Engström, the graphic designer who was named as the most likely murderer of Sweden’s prime minister Olaf Palme, managed to avoid justice right up to his death through a combination of audacity, luck, and a bewildered police force. Engström did everything wrong from the beginning, and almost no one believed his lies about what really happened on that fateful night in 1986 in Stockholm, so how did the police let him get away?

The Beatles: Get Back

Starring: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr

Where to watch? Disney+

This six-hour documentary, split into three episodes, features the band’s last live performance as a group at Apple Corps HQ on Savile Row, shown for the first time in its entirety. Director, Peter Jackson has spent the last three years restoring and editing 56 hours of unseen footage and over 150 hours of unheard audio captured in 1969 when The Beatles recorded their album, Let It Be. The documentary contests long-time assertions that the original project was entirely marked by illfeeling and that the friendship between the group had dissipated.

All Creatures Great and Small: Season Two

Colin in Black & White

Starring: Nicholas Ralph, Rachel Shenton, Callum Woodhouse, Anna Madeley

Where to watch? Channel 5

Based on James Herriot’s real-life memoirs, Nicholas Ralph stars as Herriot, a newly trained vet who moved from Glasgow to the Yorkshire Dales to work for Siegfried Farnon in the village of Darrowby. As soon as he arrives, he falls head-over-heels for local woman Helen Alderson, who’s already engaged to be married. However, following the dramatic Christmas special last year, James returns to the Yorkshire Dales after spending Easter back in Scotland, deciding whether to stay or take a job at his old mentor’s practice in Glasgow.

black adopted child of a white family. Colin, a former National Football League (NFL) quarterback, and the first sportsperson to take the knee to protest racial injustice narrates the story, bringing you on an astounding journey through his own eyes. He shares how he lacked guidance growing up on navigating some of the negative experiences he went through as a person of colour. Through the series, Colin and Ava hope to inspire people to examine their own origin stories.

Starring: Jaden Michael, Nick Offerman, Mary-Louise Parker

Where to watch? Netflix

Co-created and executive produced by Selma director, Ava Duvernay and Colin Kaepernick, the series follows Kaepernick’s experience as the

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Nothing beats a GOOD BOOK

The season of reading is upon us, where there is nothing quite like curling up with a good book. From emerging to established authors and from short stories to politics, we’ve got you covered. So, if you’re in the market for your next book, here’s our selection of the best page-turners. Sit back, relax, and get stuck in.

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

The Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times bestselling author trails the enduring bond between a divorced couple in a moving novel about love, loss, and the family secrets that can explode and bemuse us at any point in life. Elizabeth Strout has captured readers’ hearts with her exquisite insights on family, relationships, and loss for many years. Strout’s iconic heroine Lucy Barton, of My Name Is Lucy Barton, recounts her complex, tender relationship with William, her first husband and long-time, on-again-offagain friend and confidant. Strout’s portrayal, can only be described as stunning in its subtlety, remembering their time through college, the birth of their daughters, the painful ending of their marriage, and the futures they formed with other people.

The Dark Remains by

William McIlvanney In this sizzling and Ian Rankin crime prequel, New York Times best-selling author Ian Rankin and Scottish crime-writing legend William McIlvanney join forces for the first-ever case of DI Laidlaw, Glasgow’s original gritty detective. When Mcllvanney died in 2005, he left a handwritten manuscript setting out DC Laidlaw’s, the scourge of 70s gangland Glasgow, first case. Scotland’s leading contemporary crime novelist, Ian Rankin, one of the few who could live up to Mcllvanney’s tales, finished it… and here it is.

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

This is the second gripping novel in the recordbreaking million-copy bestselling Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman, soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment. Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron, and Ibrahim—the Thursday Murder Club— are still riding high off their recent real-life murder case and are looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet at Cooper’s Chase, their fancy retirement village. But things don’t go quite to plan. An unexpected visitor arrives in need of help. Later that night, a body is found, but it is not the last. The group is against a brutal murderer who wouldn’t bat an eyelid at knocking off four septuagenarians. Can these four friends catch the killer before the killer catches them?

Life Without Children by Roddy Doyle

These ten short stories about isolation and connections of life during the pandemic from Irish author, Roddy Doyle offer a brilliantly warm, witty, and poignant portrait of the recent years. Love and marriage. Children and family. Death and grief. Life touches everyone the same. But living under lockdown, changes us alone. Booker Prize winner Roddy Doyle paints a collective picture of our strange times told with his extraordinary eye for the richness that underpins the quiet of our lives. Life Without Children touches the heart and reminds us how we are all navigating loss, loneliness, and the shifting of history underneath our feet.

Chief of Staff: Notes from Downing Street by Gavin Barwell

The former aide to Theresa May reveals in his own words, ‘what really went on in the corridors of power’ from Brexit to Trump and the ways that the government operates ‘in times of crisis’. Since the EU referendum of 2016, British politics has experienced crisis after crisis. Most turbulent of all had to be Theresa May’s time in office. In her darkest hour, she turned to Gavin Barwell to restore her authority. He became her chief of staff for the next two years, working alongside her during Brexit negotiations and intense political dramas. In this riveting memoir, Barwell sheds light on May, the most enigmatic of modern prime ministers.

Snow Country by Sebastian Faulks

Set in Vienna in between the first and second world wars, this novel uncovers individual tales of love and longing at a time of historic upheaval. Snow Country tells the story of Lena, a girl born with nothing but her strength of character to an alcoholic mother in a small town in southern Austria in 1906, and Anton, the restless son of a middle-class family who sets out to make his fortune in pre-First World War Vienna. As it recovers from one war and hides its face from the coming of another, Snow Country is a story of the dreams of youth and the sanctity of hope.