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Who is Joely Richardson?
British actress Joely Kim Richardson was born in Marylebone, London, England, on 9 January 1965, making Capricorn her zodiac sign. She has 80 acting credits, but is perhaps still known best for starring as Julia McNamara in all 100 episodes of the popular drama “Nip/Tuck”, which also starred Julian McMahon and Dylan Walsh, and was created by Ryan Murphy. It follows the lives of two plastic surgeons, the series aired from 2003 through 2010, and won 12 of its 70 award nominations.
Joely’s still today highly active in the movie industry, and is currently shooting for the upcoming series “The Gentlemen”, “One Day” and “The Ballad of Renegade Nell”.
Education and early life
Joely was raised in London alongside her brother Carlo Gabriel Nero and sisters Katherine Grimond and Natasha Richardson, by their father Cecil Antonio Richardson who was a British film producer and director, and who died aged 63 on 14 November 1991, and mother Vanessa Redgrave who’s a star British actress and activist. Joely’s grandparents Rachel, Lady Redgrave and Sir Michael Redgrave were also famous actors, while she was the niece of the late actors Corin William Redgrave and Lynn Redgrave; Joely and British actress Jemima Rebecca ‘Jemma’ Redgrave are cousins – Jemima’s only five days younger than Joely.
Joely was only three years old when she appeared in the 1968 historical war movie “The Charge of the Light Brigade”, but she had no other roles in the following 16 years, as her parents wanted her to focus on her education. She studied at St Paul’s Girls’ School, and aged 14 moved on to Harry Hopman Tennis School in Tampa, Florida; Joely eventually transferred to the Thacher School, from which she matriculated in 1983.
She continued her education at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 1985.
Roles in movies
The year 1984 saw Joely appear in both the comedy “The Hotel New Hampshire” and the romantic drama “The Bostonians”, and she gained recognition in 1988, when cast to play Cissie Colpitts 3 in the comedy “Drowning by Numbers”, which starred Joan Plowright and Bernard Hill, and was written and directed by Peter Greenaway. It follows three generations of women who have marriage problems, and the film won three of its four award nominations.
Some of Joely’s following roles were in the 1991 romantic comedy “King Ralph”, and in 1992 the romantic thriller “Shining Through” and the comedy “Rebecca’s Daughters”. What marked the ‘90s for her was perhaps playing Anita in the critically acclaimed 1996 adventure crime comedy “101 Dalmatians”, which starred Jeff Daniels and Glenn Close, and was directed by Stephen Herek. It follows a high-fashion designer who wants to steal Dalmatian puppies to make fur coats, and the film won three of its 13 award nominations. The remainder of the decade saw Joely appear in the 1997 horror science fiction thriller “Event Horizon”, the 1998 drama “Wrestling with Alligators”, and the 2000 romantic comedy “Return to Me”.
What also marked the ‘90s for Joely was starring alongside the late Heath Ledger, and Mel Gibson in the evergreen historical action “The Patriot”, which was directed by Roland Emmerich and follows farmer Benjamin Martin who’s become the leader of the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution; the movie won nine of its 32 award nominations, including three Oscar nominations for Best Sound, Best Cinematography and Best Music, Original Score.
Joely Richardson in Anonymous, 2011 pic.twitter.com/Fki9oG6qE9
— best period drama (@favperioddrama) July 20, 2017
Some of Joely’s most notable performances in the 2000s were perhaps in the 2001 historical romantic drama “The Affair of the Necklace”, the 2005 crime thriller “Lies My Mother Told Me”, and the 2007 family drama “The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey”.
She started off the 2010s by appearing in several award-winning movies, such as in 2011 the thriller “Anonymous”, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Achievement in Costume Design, and the crime mystery “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, which won an Oscar for Best Achievement for Film Editing, followed in 2012 by the fantasy mystery “Red Lights”. In 2015, Joely portrayed Janine Gibson in the hit biographical crime drama “Snowden”, which starred Shailene Woodley and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and was directed by Oliver Stone. It tells the story of Edward Snowden who worked for the National Security Agency (NSA) and leaked its illegal surveillance techniques to the press; the movie won four of its 11 award nominations.
Some of Joely’s most recent film roles have been in the fantasy “The Lost Girls” and the romantic drama “Lady Chatterley’s Lover” both in 2022, and the 2023 crime horror thriller “Little Bone Lodge”.
Roles in TV series
Joely’s debut TV series role was playing Princess in the 1988 episode “The Three Ravens” of the family adventure “The Storyteller”, and she could then have been seen appearing in the drama mini-series “Behaving Badly”, the crime mystery “Poirot”, and the drama “Screenplay”.
In 1993, she starred as Lady Chatterley in all four episodes of the romantic mini-series “Lady Chatterley”, which also starred Sean Bean and James Wilby, and follows a woman whose husband’s just returned from World War I, but as he’s no longer capable of sexual activity, she’s begun having sex with the groundskeeper. Joely had only one TV series role in the remainder of the ‘90s, starring as Amanda in both episodes of the crime mystery mini-series “The Echo”.
She appeared in three TV series in the 2000s, portraying Rachel in a 2009 episode of the comedy “Freezing”, Jo Playton in both episodes of the 2009 horror science fiction action mini-series “The Day of the Triffids”, and five episodes of the 2010 historical romantic drama “The Tudors”.
In 2019, Joely played the main character Linda Farrier in all eight episodes of the fantasy science fiction “The Rook”, which also starred Jon Fletcher and Emma Greenwell, and follows a woman from London who’s being pursued by paranormal adversaries; the series was nominated for a 2020 American Society of Cinematographers Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Miniseries.
Joely’s since appeared in two more TV series, playing Jackie Sowden in all eight episodes of the crime mystery “Suspect”, and Ethel Cripps in three episodes of the fantasy horror “The Sandman”, both in 2022
Other credits
Joely sang the song “Sleep My Little Sister, Sleep” in the 1994 movie “Sister My Sister”.
She produced the 2018 drama movie “The Aspern Papers”.
Some of Joely’s recent talk-show appearances have been in “Red Carpet Report”, “This Morning” and “Loose Women”.
Awards and nominations
Joely’s won two of her nine award nominations: a 1994 Valladolid International Film Festival Award for Best Actress, for her performance in “Sister My Sister”, and a 2004 Character and Morality in Entertainment Award for “Fallen Angel”.
She was also nominated for two Golden Globes for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama, in 2004 and 2005, both for “Nip/Tuck”.
Love life and husband
Joely’s been married once, and has one child. She and New Zealand-British movie producer Timothy John ‘Tim’ Bevan exchanged vows in a private ceremony on 10 January 1992; he has 188 producing credits, and is perhaps known best for having produced the evergreen 2012 romantic musical movie “Les Miserables”, which won 85 of its 263 award nominations, including three Oscar wins for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Achievement in Sound Mixing.
Joely gave birth to her and Tim’s daughter Daisy Carmen Bevan on 28 March 1992; she’s today also an actress, and has appeared in 16 movies and TV series, while she’s perhaps known best for playing Lauren in the 2014 romantic thriller movie “The Two Faces of January”.
While still married to Tim, Joely had an affair with British theatrical producer Archibald Hugh ‘Archie’ Sterling, Laird of Keir who was at that time married to his second wife, the late British actress Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg; the affair led to Archie’s divorce in 1990, and Joely’s divorce in 2001.
She seems to be unattached as of June 2023, was once married to Tim Bevan, and has a daughter with him.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Joely’s mother Vanessa portrayed her “Nip/Tuck” character’s mother; the two women also starred alongside in the 2011 movie “Anonymous”, playing the same character at different ages.
She’s an associate member of RADA.
Joely’s a philanthropist and is today an ambassador of the British charity organization The Children’s Trust, which aims to help children struggling with neurodisability and brain injury; she’s also involved with the charity Save the Children.
More than 70,000 people are following Joely on Instagram today, and she’s posted over 260 pictures and videos, with most of these showing her during her everyday life.
One of Joely’s favorite actors is Jake Gyllenhaal, while some of her favorite movies include “Brokeback Mountain”, “Prisoners” and “Donnie Darko”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Joely’s age is 58. She has blue eyes and blonde hair, is 5ft 10ins (1.78m) tall and weighs around 145lbs (65kgs).
Joely’s net worth’s been estimated at over $4 million, as of June 2023.
