Elizabeth Jean Spriggs -Manson (née Williams) was an English character actress.
Her roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company included Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, Gertrude in Hamlet and Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. In 1978, she won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for Arnold Wesker's Love Letters on Blue Paper.
Her best known role in film was as Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility (1995), for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her other films include Richard's Things (1980), Impromptu (1991), Paradise Road (1997) and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001).
Known For
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
(2001)
The Fat Lady
Sense and Sensibility
(1995)
Mrs. Jennings
Lady Chatterley's Lover
(1981)
Lady Eva
A Christmas Carol
(1999)
Mrs Riggs
Alice in Wonderland
(1999)
Duchess
Paradise Road
(1997)
Mrs. Roberts
Impromptu
(1991)
Baroness Laginsky
The Barber of Siberia
(1998)
Perepiolkina
Full Filmography
Acting
All's Well That Ends Well
(1968)
Widow
Work Is a 4-Letter Word
(1968)
Mrs Murray
3 Into 2 Won't Go
(1969)
Marcia
Leeds United!
(1974)
Maggie
Love Letters on Blue Paper
(1976)
Sonia Marsden
Julius Caesar
(1979)
Calphurnia
Afternoon Off
(1979)
Miss Beckinsale
Richard's Things
(1980)
Mrs. Sells
Fox
(1980)
Connie Fox
The Dybbuk
(1980)
Frade
Lady Chatterley's Lover
(1981)
Lady Eva
The Cause
(1981)
Olive James
Intensive Care
(1982)
Alice Duckworth
Spider's Web
(1982)
Mildred Peake
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
(1982)
Miss Markland
The Merry Wives of Windsor
(1982)
Mistress Quickly
The Haunting of Cassie Palmer
(1982)
Mrs. Palmer
Those Glory Glory Days
(1983)
School Mistress
The Cold Room
(1984)
Frau Hoffman
Sakharov
(1984)
Nobel Presenter
Parker
(1985)
Mrs. Epps
The Thirteenth Day of Christmas
(1985)
Evelyn Smith
The Devil's Disciple
(1987)
Mrs. Dudgeon
Doctor Who: Paradise Towers
(1987)
Tabby
Survival of the Fittest
(1990)
Eileen Blackett
Impromptu
(1991)
Baroness Laginsky
The Old Devils
(1992)
Dorothy Morgan
The Last Vampyre
(1993)
Eileen Mason
The Hour of the Pig
(1993)
Madame Langlois
A Pinch of Snuff
(1994)
Annabelle Andover
Sense and Sensibility
(1995)
Mrs. Jennings
The Secret Agent
(1996)
Winnie's Mother
Paradise Road
(1997)
Mrs. Roberts
The Barber of Siberia
(1998)
Perepiolkina
Alice in Wonderland
(1999)
Duchess
A Christmas Carol
(1999)
Mrs Riggs
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Adventures in the Secret Service
(1999)
Schultz
For My Baby
(2000)
Olga Jenikova
The Sleeper
(2000)
Cath
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
(2001)
The Fat Lady
The Queen of Sheba's Pearls
(2004)
James Ellis: An Actor's Life
(2007)
Herself
Is Anybody There?
(2009)
Prudence