Harriet Walter's Real Name: Harriet Walter

Quick answer: The actress is known professionally as Harriet Walter. Encyclopedia.com and Oxford Reference independently date her birth to September 24, 1950. Oxford Reference lists London as the birthplace. Encyclopedia.com gives a longer form that includes the middle name Mary. This page titles her under the public name.

Real name and early life

Independent publishers identify her under the professional name Harriet Walter. Encyclopedia.com lists the name Harriet Mary Walter and says she was born September 24, 1950, in the United Kingdom, the daughter of Roderick Walter and Xandra Carandini, and that she attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Oxford Reference independently records the birth as 24 Sept. 1950, in London.

Career highlights

Encyclopedia.com says she appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby in 1980-81 at the Aldwych Theatre, played Ophelia in Hamlet at the Royal Court Theatre in 1980-81, later became an RSC associate artist in 1987, and won a 1989 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for best actress in a revival, for Twelfth Night, A Question of Geography, and The Three Sisters. The same account lists other RSC work including Helena in All's Well That Ends Well, later seen in New York in 1983, Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Imogen in Cymbeline in 1987, as well as a 1994 Theatre World Award for Three Birds Alighting on a Field, a 1999 appointment as a Commander of the British Empire, a 2001 Olivier nomination for Life x 3, an honorary D.Litt. from the University of Birmingham in 2001, and a 2005 Evening Standard Award for Mary Stuart. Oxford Reference independently identifies her as an actress born in London on 24 Sept. 1950. Encyclopedia.com also records a 2002 British Independent Film Award nomination for Villa des roses, Sony Radio best actress awards in 1988 and 1992, and later association with Peter Hall's Cannon's Mouth beginning in 2003, as well as earlier work with companies including Joint Stock and 7:84. The same account lists Viola in Twelfth Night among the roles connected with the 1989 Olivier Award.

Name notes for searchers

People looking up Harriet Walter or Harriet Mary Walter are looking for the same actress, including the Royal Shakespeare Company work most often associated with her name. This page uses the public professional name. Search traffic often uses the professional name alone.