{{Short description|Film actress (born 1950)}} {{Infobox person | name = Elizabeth Spender | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1950}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | occupation = Actress | years_active = | spouse = {{marriage|Barry Humphries|1990|2023|end=died}} | parents = Stephen Spender<br>Natasha Spender | relatives = Matthew Spender (brother) }} '''Elizabeth Spender''' (born 1950) is a film and television actress known for her role in ''Brazil''.
==Early life and education==
Spender is the daughter of concert pianist Natasha Spender (''née'' Litvin) and the poet, novelist and essayist Stephen Spender.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/culture/celebrity/humphries-family-gathers-from-around-the-globe-20230418-p5d19k.html|title=Humphries’ family gathers from around the globe|first=Andrew|last=Hornery|date=April 21, 2023|website=The Sydney Morning Herald}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=August 2015 |title=Unbridled Passion |pages=53–57 |work=House & Garden}}</ref> She studied drama at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and Drama Centre London.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news |date=24 March 1987 |title=Rolling the credits for a Spender |pages=31 |work=Evening Standard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/722417131/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> She also attended an Arvon Foundation television play-writing course which was taught by Jack Rosenthal.<ref name=":1" />
== Career == Among numerous television and film credits, she appeared in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film ''Brazil''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Elizabeth Spender |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4a8ccda |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517213010/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4a8ccda |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 17, 2021 |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref>
She has written two BBC TV dramas: ''Hedgehog Wedding'' (1987) produced by Innes Lloyd,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hedgehog Wedding (1987) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b724c6127 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411230237/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b724c6127 |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 11, 2019 |access-date=2023-04-29 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> and ''These Foolish Things'' (1989)<ref>{{Cite web |title=These Foolish Things (1989) |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b799d1e7f |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126000752/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b799d1e7f |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 26, 2020 |access-date=2023-04-29 |website=BFI |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> which starred Lindsay Duncan.<ref>{{Cite news |date=28 February 1989 |title=Fooling Around With Love |pages=19 |work=Daily Mirror |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19890228/145/0019 |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref> In the 1990s she wrote a series of ''Pastability'' cookbooks.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dowe |first1=Michael |title=Italian Treats for Non-Italians |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/121290165 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=15 Oct 1991 |page=43 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" /> In 2005 she published a memoir of her childhood, ''The Wild Horse Diaries'' ({{isbn|9780733619755}}).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Spender |first1=Stephen |title=New Selected Journals, 1939-1995 |date=3 July 2012 |publisher=Faber and Faber |isbn=978-0-571-29411-4 |page=542 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j2qOfElFbwQC&pg=PT542 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite news |date=25 September 2005 |title=The kindness of famous friends |pages=5 |work=Sunday Independent (Ireland) – Living Section |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002324/20050925/688/0059 |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=British Newspaper Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=28 August 2005 |title=The horse was my baby |pages=38 |work=The Sunday Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/753272303/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=29 April 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=11 September 2005 |title=The pony-mad child inside |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3646657/The-pony-mad-child-inside.html |access-date=29 April 2023 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>
== Personal life == From 1990 until his death in 2023, she was married to the Australian actor and satirist Barry Humphries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.smoothradio.com/news/entertainment/barry-humphries-edna-age-wife-children/|title=Barry Humphries facts: Dame Edna comedian's age, career, wife, children and more revealed|website=Smooth}}</ref> They had met at a Groucho Club party in 1988.<ref name=":0" />
==Filmography==
=== Film === {| class="wikitable sortable" |+ !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1981 |''Priest of Love'' |Elsa Weekley | |- |1985 |''Brazil'' |Alison / 'Barbara' Lint | |- |1987 |''The Felons'' |Florence | |- |1996 |''The Leading Man'' |Anne | |}
=== Television === {| class="wikitable sortable" !Year !Title !Role !Notes |- |1973 |''Frankenstein: The True Story'' |Ballroom Guest |Television film |- |1979 |''Feet First'' |Fay Faith |Episode #1.3 |- |1979 |''Premiere'' |Trudi |Episode: "Over There" |- |1979 |''Testament of Youth'' |Christina |Episode: "1918" |- |1980 |''The Professionals'' |Helen Tippett |Episode: "Blood Sports" |- |1980 |''BBC2 Playhouse'' |Constance |Episode: "The Happy Autumn Fields" |- |1981 |''Something in Disguise'' |Annabel |Episode: "A New Life" |- |1982 |''Nancy Astor'' |Henrietta |Episode: "Scandals" |- |1984 |''Oxbridge Blues'' |Girl at party |Episode: "The Muse" |- |1984 |''The Secret Servant'' |Melinda Fay |2 episodes |- |1984 |''Talk to Me'' |Kate |Television film |- |1986 |''ScreenPlay'' |Magdalena Hofdemel |Episode: "The Mozart Inquest" |- |1988 |''Sherlock Holmes'' |Laura Lyons |Episode: "The Hound of the Baskervilles" |- |1991 |''Selling Hitler'' |Valkyrie / Marlene |4 episodes |- |1998–1999 |''Fast Tracks'' |Judy Brumfield |3 episodes |- |2023 |''Barry Humphries: A Tribute'' |{{N/a}} |Television special |}
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20210517213010/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba4a8ccda Elizabeth Spender] at the British Film Institute{{better source needed|reason=Help request: a live link can be searched for at https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/search/expert - if available, replace the archive URL with the live link. Or if none found, remove this 'better source needed' template. | date=October 2023}} *{{IMDb name|id=0818175|name=Elizabeth Spender}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spender, Lizzie}} Category:Living people Category:English film actresses Category:English people of German-Jewish descent Category:Jewish English actresses Category:1950 births Category:21st-century English memoirists Category:English cookbook writers Category:Women food writers Elizabeth