Maureen Lipman

Born in Kingston-upon-Hull in 1946, Maureen Lipman is a prolific British actress, comedian, and writer. She’ll return to the West End in Rose at the Ambassadors Theatre.

Growing up, Lipman was inspired by Elizabeth Taylor in Butterfield. She regularly performed in school shows, and impersonated Jewish pop singer Alma Cogan. After high school, Lipman then trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Following her training, she joined Laurence Olivier’s National Theatre Company at the Old Vic for two years. She appeared in plays alongside Diana Rigg and Paul Curran. Following this, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company for a season.

In 1985, Lipman won an Olivier Award for playing Miss Skillion in See How They Run.

Notably, Lipman played Aunt Eller in Oklahoma! at the National Theatre, opposite Hugh Jackman as Curly. Her recent West End credits include Glorious! at the Duchess Theatre; a London Theatre review praised Lipman’s “superb comic timing, which really has to be experienced to be fully appreciated. She has a sixth sense about when to pause just a little to let the audience react, and is then able to milk the reaction without wringing it from us, or delaying the flow of delivery.”

She’s also starred in When We Are Married at the Garrick Theatre, Daytona at Theatre Royal Haymarket, The Best Man at the Playhouse Theatre, and alongside Felicity Kendal in Lettice and Lovage at the Menier Chocolate Factory. In 2020, Lipman received a Damehood for services to charity, entertainment and the arts.

Lipman will return to the West End with Rose at the Ambassadors Theatre. The one-woman play charts the title character's life as a Jewish person, from Ukraine, to Nazi-occupied Europe, and to the United States.