News about Miriam Margolyes

Miriam made the controversial comment while being interviewed by Kirsty Wark on BBC Radio 4's Front Row - sparking outrage from listeners. Anti-Semitism campaigners slammed the corporation after its highest complaints body refused to uphold an objection to the Aug 13 broadcast. When questioned about a memorable Charles Dickens character from her childhood, the 83-year-old Harry Potter actress said: 'Oh, Fagin without question. Jewish and vile.' She then said: 'I didn't know Jews like that then. Sadly, I do now.'

Harry Potter actress Miriam Margolyes has admitted what she regrets doing when she was acting in theatre in Leicester, 1966. Margolyes was playing a West Indian part in a theatre production of The Cat and the Canary (pictured top right in 2022) in Leicester in 1966. The role of the housekeeper in the play - and the character's name - is highly controversial and a subject of many discussions on racism in the theatre.

Asked about comments made earlier this year in which she claimed the impact of Hitler on Jewish people could be seen in the way Israel had turned into a 'vicious, genocidal, nationalist nation,' the 83 year-old Harry Potter star said she had no regrets, saying it's 'because I know I'm right.' Interviewed for the Adam Buxton podcast Margolyes admitted that her outspoken views had led to her losing friends including 'one in particular, who is Jewish and lives in Israel.' She continued: 'I'm terribly sad that I've offended some people, but to me, they proved that Hitler had won, and that, for me, was such a shock that really hurt me, because I didn't want to think that was possible. But it's true, the essential decency and compassion of the Jewish people has been squeezed out, evaporated, and it is a terribly sad thing.'

As Desdemona in Othello, Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter or the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey , her acerbic wit, perfect timing and the twinkle in her eye endeared her to millions. Dame Maggie Smith , who has died just three months away from her 90th birthday, could turn on a dime. In doing so, she could make an audience ache with laughter one moment and well up the next. Above: Dame Maggie in 1969 film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (left); as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter (right); with second husband Beverley Cross.

He made a fuss of 'beard wars' in Spare, claiming William was adamant that he should be clean-shaven for his wedding to Meghan. 'When I informed him that his opinion didn't really matter since I'd already gone to Granny and got the green light, he became livid,' wrote Harry. 'He raised his voice... at one point he actually ordered me, as the Heir speaking to the Spare, to shave.' Comedian David Mitchell featured 'Beardgate' in Radio 4's The Unbelievable Truth last week, reading Harry's account in dramatic fashion.

Those who were presented to the Queen often found the experience discombobulating. Though it may have been the first time they had ever set eyes on her, they were often more familiar with her face than with their own. They knew it in profile; they knew it head-on; they had seen it refracted through the visions of countless artists and photographers. So to meet the Queen face-to-face was apt to make you feel giddy or woozy, as though a well-loved family portrait had suddenly sprung to life

The Jewish actor, 83, was speaking to Front Row about her earliest experiences with the novelist amid her Edinburgh Fringe run of Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits, in which she brings to life the author's most colourful characters in a one-woman show. And in a response to a question from BBC Radio 4 presenter Kirsty Wark about the character that stuck in her head as a child, she responded with the Oliver Twist villain. The broadcaster has now removed the comment from the programme - saying that it should have been challenged at the time.

EPHRAIM HARDCASTLE: Has Keir Starmer , apparently bewitched by his enforcer Sue Gray, read former chief secretary to the Treasury David Laws's 2016 account of working with Sue in the Cabinet Office? 'Unless she agrees, things just don't happen,' wrote Laws. 'Cabinet reshuffles, departmental reorganisations, the whole lot - it's all down to Sue Gray… Our poor, deluded voters think the Prime Minister holds the reins of power.

Richard E Grant surprised Edinburgh festival visitors when he turned up to support his old pal Miriam Margolyes during a trip to Scotland. Miriam and Richard first met when they filmed Academy Award winning film Martin Scorsese's Age of Innocence in 1993. Miriam, who is currently starring in the Edinburgh fringe production of Margolyes & Dickens: The Best Bits, was thrilled to see her old pal Richard and after her naughty Q and A where she talked about difficult costars, politics and her best sex, at the show, chatted with him at the Pleasance EICC venue.

Miriam Margolyes made a hilarious return to BBC screens as she left viewers in hysterics by inspecting sex toys on her latest show Miriam Margolyes: A New Australian Adventure.  The first episode of the adventure series aired on Friday, and the British actress, 83, started the show off with a bang as she headed to Perth in a quest to meet a host of local characters.  However, Miriam had no clue what was in store for her, as she was shown a double-ended sex toy and claimed she would find 'being a sex worker absolutely exhausting'.

This week, Claudia Connell reviews Miriam Margolyes: A New Australian Adventure (left) and Cooking With The Stars (right, featuring Abbey Clancy and chef Michael Caines). She also talks about Saucy! Secrets Of The British Sex Comedy. Claudia is pictured inset.

Miriam Margoyles has revealed that she now struggles to walk and admitted she regrets not making serious life changes after undergoing an operation last year. The actress, 83, had a transcatheter aortic valve replacement operation in  to avoid a more invasive open-heart surgery, but revealed she still struggles with her health. The Harry Potter actress also revealed that she is now registered disabled and could be confined to a wheelchair because of a back condition.

Miriam Margolyes left BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt red faced during a cheeky interview on Thursday morning.  The actress, 83, joined the programme to discuss her upcoming live comedy show when things took a cheeky turn.  Addressing her famously outspoken nature, Charlie said: 'I love that you say that the first half is Dickens, the second half is - the first word you used is sex. I mean that's a pointer!'

Miriam Margolyes continues to work in her eighties because she fears that her future care bills are going to leave her destitute. The 83-year-old actress, who suffers with spinal stenosis, told the Radio Times: 'I'm worried that I won't have enough money for carers when I finally get paralysed or whatever it is that's going to happen to me.' Spinal stenosis occurs when space around the spinal cord becomes too narrow, compressing the nerves.

Veteran Jewish actress Miriam Margolyes has revealed she 'is wounded' by lost friendships and accusations of betraying her community due to her strong pro-Gaza views. Having visited both Israel and Gaza - and even previously living on an Israeli communal settlement also known as a kibbutz - Margolyes has made her stance on the conflict abundantly clear. Open in her critique of the Israeli government, the Harry Potter actress has called for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be jailed, branding him a 'war criminal' and a 'common corrupt politician'. But despite her steadfast beliefs, she has been left in 'agony' adding how 'the abused have become the abusers' comparing Gaza to concentration camps during World War II .

Miriam Margolyes has revealed she has made an impressive £365,000 on Cameo as she causes chaos once again by swearing on Loose Women on Thursday. The actress, 83, has been busy making personalised videos for fans since March 2020 as she admitted she'll do anything for money.  The Harry Potter star told Kaye Adams, Denise Welch, Olivia Attwood and Nadia Sawalha on the ITV lunchtime show that she is busy saving for when she eventually 'needs carers'. 

There's no doubt the transformation of Queen Camilla has been both subtle and slow. Diana is a tough act to follow, especially as her tragically early death has preserved her in the memory in her swim-suited prime. How Camilla withstood the comparisons all those years ago, the ridicule when Diana died - and in the time since - I will never know.

This is the awkward moment Miriam Margolyes clashed with Lily Allen during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show. The actress, 83, has been a frequent guest on the BBC chat show over the years and recently admitted she did not enjoy sitting alongside singer Lily, 39, in 2014.  During the Hay Festival, Miriam, who has appeared on the programme alongside the likes of Stanley Tucci and Matthew Perry, was asked which celebrities she dislikes by author Philippe Sands.

The potty-mouthed Harry Potter actress, 82, has left fans in stitches for years with her swearing-laden stories and jokes, often at her own expense. But while she is famed for making millions cry with laughter, her no-holds-barred assessment of fellow celebrities could be enough to reduce them to tears. During an appearance at Hay Festival on Saturday, Miriam went to town on the subject of celebrities she dislikes - with Lily Allen in the firing line. She has been a regular on the Graham Norton Show sofa over the years - but said that Ms Allen was the only guest she has actively 'disliked', declaring: 'She thought when she was on the programme that it was all about her', adding that she had not been taught how to properly behave. 'Arrogant' Mick Jagger, 'smelly' Leonardo Di Caprio and 'a***hole' John Cleese have also also been on the end of a Margoyles tongue-lashing.

Miriam Margolyes is known for saying exactly what she thinks and isn't afraid to hold back in interviews.  And over the course of her career the comedian and actress has found herself clashing with several high profile celebrities.  From Monty Python star John Cleese to popstar Lily Allen, Miriam hasn't always seen eye to eye with everyone she has encountered. 

Miriam Margolyes has revealed which 'unfriendly' celebrity she did not enjoy sitting with on Graham Norton's famous red sofa. In a 2014 episode of BBC's The Graham Norton Show, Miriam, 83, was a guest alongside Dominic Cooper and a certain female celebrity. The actress is a frequent guest on the show, and on Saturday she opened up about one of the less favourable experiences she has had. During the Hay Festival, Miriam, who has been interviewed by Graham Norton alongside the likes of Stanley Tucci and Matthew Perry, was asked which celebrities she dislikes by author Philippe Sands. Answering with English singer Lily Allen, Miriam explained: 'She thought when she was on the programme that it was all about her.

Speaking to Hello!, Turkish-British author Elif Shafak (right) praised book-lover Queen Camilla (left) for 'supporting poets and writers' ahead of the launch of this year's Queen's Reading Room Festival on June 8. Award-winning Shafak, whose 2021 novel The Island of Missing Trees was shortlisted for the Costa Award and Women's Prize for Fiction (amongst others), will be discussing her new book There are Rivers in the Sky at the June festival.

They are the most splendidly uninhibited of aristocratic families, so almost anything could happen this weekend at Knebworth, the Lytton Cobbold stately pile in Hertfordshire which has hosted everyone and everything from the Rolling Stones to jousting tournaments. Aside from Henry Lytton Cobbold's 62nd birthday tomorrow, they're also celebrating the arrival of the first of a new generation - a boy, born to Henry's daughter, former Burberry model Morwenna Lytton Cobbold, 34. She and her husband Phil Bush, who used to sing with rockers Cazals, have not yet named their son. It's a moment of sunshine-after-rain for the family who, as I disclosed, held a poignant memorial service this week for Henry's mother, the inimitable Chryssie, Lady Cobbold.

Miriam Margolyes never minces her words. And the Harry Potter star, 82, left a Byron Bay influencer stunned when she questioned his line of work during an ABC special on Tuesday night. Appearing on TV series Impossibly Australian, the British actress came face-to-face with Jade Kevin Foster, a young man who earns a living on social media.