Maria Aitken

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Maria Penelope Katharine Aitken (born September 12, 1945 in Dublin ) is an Irish film actress and book author.

Life

Maria Aitken grew up in a family of politicians and aristocrats. Her father, William Aitken, was a member of the British Parliament for the constituency of Bury St. Edmunds from 1950 to 1965 . Her brother, Jonathan Aitken , who was three years older , also became a member of Parliament and sat in the House of Commons from 1974 to 1997 . Her mother Penelope Aitken was one of a society lady whose father, John Loader Maffey, was Governor General of Sudan from 1926 to 1934 . Maria Aitken is also a great niece of Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook .

Aitken enjoyed a privileged education at the Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset before attending St Anne's College in Oxford from the mid-1960s . It was here that she was discovered by actor Richard Burton , who engaged Maria Aitken for his play Faustus .

When this was filmed in 1967 with Burton and Elizabeth Taylor under the title Doctor Faustus , Maria Aitken was able to play a small supporting role - it was her debut as an actress. Aitken worked mostly in British television series and films. In 1971 she stood in Maria Stuart, Queen of Scotland as Lady Bothwell in front of the camera, which was followed by a guest appearance on The Onedin Line in 1974 . In 1984 Aitken also tried it as a screenwriter and thus invented the sitcom Poor Little Rich Girls . However, the project revealed itself to be a flop, so that the series was discontinued after only seven episodes. Her best-known feature film, in which she was seen as an actress, was to be A Fish Named Wanda , which was produced in 1988 and for which Aitken was nominated for the British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1989. In 1998 she stood at the side of Christopher Lee in Jinnah as Edwina Cynthia Annette Ashley in front of the camera. After the turn of the millennium, Aitken did not make any more films with one exception. In 2005, she could be seen in Stella's Temptation alongside Ian McKellen and Natasha Richardson in front of the camera.

Aitken has taught at the British American Drama Academy, The Juilliard School, Yale School of Drama, New York University , The Actors Center in New York City, and the Academy for Classical Acting. She is the author of two volumes of essays: A Girdle Round the Earth and Style: Acting in High Comedy . In 2012 she became a trustee of the Noël Coward Foundation.

Maria Aitken has been married three times so far. In January 1968 she married the actor Richard Durden ; the divorce followed three years later. Her second marriage was in May 1972 with the actor Nigel Davenport ; from this marriage in 1973 their son Jack Davenport emerged, who became known worldwide for his role in Pirates of the Caribbean . Aitken and Davenport divorced in 1981. Aitken has been married to the writer Patrick McGrath since December 1991 . She lives in London and New York City .

Works

  • A Girdle Round the Earth: Women Travelers And Adventurers , Constable 1987
  • Style: Acting in High Comedy , Applause 1996

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ^ Profile entry Maria Aitken , Huntington Theater Co. from April 6, 2014, accessed July 10, 2014
  2. ↑ Show People: She's only flexed three muscles: Maria Aitken , Robert Butler in The Independent, September 11, 1994, accessed July 10, 2014
personal data
SURNAME Aitken, Maria
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Aitken, Maria Penelope Katherine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 12, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Dublin , Ireland