Lesley Manville is back on our screens in Who Do You Think You Are?, and her career has never looked so good – but there was a time after her husband walked out that she was at rock bottom.
Lesley will delve into her family roots on the BBC episode tonight (Thursday, July 27).
The phenomenal British actress has had her fair share of challenging situations in her real life. Her very famous husband abandoned her after she’d given birth to their three-month-old baby.
It “all went wrong” she admitted about her first marriage to Hollywood film star Gary Oldman.
How old is Lesley Manville?
Lesley Ann Manville was born on March 12, 1956 in Brighton, East Sussex. She is currently 67 years of age.
Her father was a taxi driver and her mother, Jean, was a famous ballet dancer, who retired to look after Lesley and her two older sisters.
Lesley began acting and singing in her teens before landing a place at Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. After she graduated she began working with the Royal Court Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company. And the rest is history!
Was she in Emmerdale?
Lesley Manville played teenager Rosemary Kendall in Emmerdale from 1975 to 1976. The character of Rosemary was a distant cousin of the Sugdens, and went to stay at Emmerdale Farm while her mother recovered from an illness.
During her time in the Dales, she developed a crush on Joe Sugden, but Joe remained blissfully unaware of her feelings. She eventually left the village and moved to Middlesborough.
Emmerdale was one of Lesley’s first-ever acting gigs. Her first appearance on TV was as Merle in Village Hall in 1974, and she popped up Softly Softly: Task Force, and Barlow before winning the soap role.
What has Lesley Manville acted in?
Since her early days on TV, Lesley has gone on to become one of the UK’s most beloved actresses. She’s starred in the likes of Coronation Street, Silent Witness, Midsomer Murders, and Save Me.
Film fans will also know her for her frequent collaborations with the screenwriter and director Mike Leigh. These include Grown-Ups, High Hopes, Secrets & Lies, Topsy-Turvy, All or Nothing, Vera Drake, Another Year, and Mr. Turner.
Lesley’s other famous films include A Christmas Carol, Maleficent, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, Let Him Go, and more recently, the 2020 hit film Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. She even played Mrs Thatcher in the 2009 film The Queen.
Her TV roles have included Karen in Real Women, Mrs Rose in Cranford, and
Lesley played the lead role Cathy in heartwarming sitcom Mum, from 2016 to 2019, and Susan Ryeland
Netflix fans will of course know her as Princess Margaret in The Crown, a role she’s played since 2022.
Why did Gary Oldman leave Lesley Manville?
Lesley was once married to actor Gary Oldman, who was two years younger than her. She married him in 1987, at the start of his rise to fame. Sadly the couple divorced just three years later in 1990.
Devastatingly, Gary walked out on Lesley in 1989 when their son Alfie was just three months old. He left her for the younger actress Uma Thurman.
In a recent interview with The Times, Lesley insisted it was all water under the bridge. She said: “We did get married and we had one child [Alfie, now 35]. And then, of course, it all went wrong.”
Talking to the Guardian, Lesley said this year: “I was in Glasgow for my first job since giving birth. We were opening the play at nine o’clock. Gary agreed to come to Glasgow to look after Alfie while I worked. But then he got on a plane and that was it. Gone.
“I had nobody to look after my child. Absolutely nobody. And I was in shock.”
In reflection, she said: “I think I wouldn’t be sitting here now if we’d stayed together. I probably would have had lots of children and I’d have probably given acting up. I can picture a Lesley Manville where that happened.”
She added: “It’s fine now. He lives on the other side of the world.
“Listen, we have a child together, we’re a very successful family who has… he’s got a new wife, and we all get on. Everyone gets on. I have no desire to be distanced from him. He’s got himself together. You have to give somebody credit for that. He’s on his fifth wife and she’s absolutely lovely. It’s a long time ago. Thirty-three years ago.”
Does Lesley Manville have a husband?
Lesley then went on to marry her second husband, Joe Dixon, in 2000. However, they broke up after four years together in 2004. Lesley admitted she has “terrible” taste in men.
She joked: “Always went out with actors for a start. Married two. I think that’s because my dad was just a little bit naughty and very charismatic. That’s classic, isn’t it? It doesn’t need analysing.”
Lesley is believed to be single, and has been for a “very, very, very long time”. She said: “I can’t imagine life with somebody now. Also, nobody asks me out. I know I could ask somebody out, but nobody ever asks me out.”
Talking recently to the Guardian, Lesley explained: “Most men my age are with someone. They tend not to be good on their own. They’re needy. They want somebody doing things for them. In that respect, I’m not their girl.”
Has she got children?
Despite a desire for many children, Lesley just has one son, from her marriage to Gary Oldman. Alfie is now 35 years old.
Lesley is grandmother to two grandchildren.
Does Lesley Manville have a sister?
Lesley Manville has two older sisters, Diana – who was four years older – and Brenda, who was nine years older. Brenda left home to marry young, says Manville, but ultimately had a life of tragedy.
Brenda’s husband unknowingly carried Huntington’s, and sadly passed the disease on to their children. He died aged 40. Brenda nursed their daughters until they died (one at 50, the other in her early 30s).
On Desert Island Discs in February 2023, Lesley Manville broke down when she talked about how Brenda, who died of a brain tumour in 2018, “had a really difficult life”.
Lesley Manville will star on Who Do You Think You Are? tonight from 9pm on BBC One.
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