Olivia Colman's Real Name: Sarah Caroline Colman

Quick answer: Olivia Colman was born Sarah Caroline Colman on January 30, 1974, in Norwich, England. "Olivia" is the first name she uses on stage. After marrying Ed Sinclair in 2001 she became Sarah Sinclair. She won the best actress Oscar for The Favourite (2018) and played Elizabeth II in The Crown (Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine; Library of Congress; Britannica).

Real name and early life

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, which covered her episode of the BBC genealogy series, says she was born Sarah Caroline Colman. It also says she became Sarah Sinclair on marriage and acts under the stage name Olivia Colman. The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Colman, Olivia." Its variants include "Sinclair, Sarah Caroline, 1974-" and the common misspelling "Coleman, Olivia." One LOC citation gives her full names as "Sarah Caroline Olivia Colman," and Britannica gives her married name as Sarah Caroline Olivia Sinclair. Some references therefore treat Olivia as an added name rather than just a stage name.

Britannica says her mother, Mary (née Leakey), was a nurse and her father, Keith Colman, a surveyor. She discovered acting at Gresham's School in Holt, Norfolk, where she played the lead in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. She first studied teaching at Homerton College, Cambridge. There she joined the Footlights drama club, where she met David Mitchell, Robert Webb, and her future husband. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 1999.

Career highlights

Colman made her TV debut on the sketch show Bruiser (2000). She appeared in The Office and played Sophie Chapman in Peep Show from 2003. Dramatic work followed: Tyrannosaur (2011), The Iron Lady (2011), and Broadchurch (2013–17), which won her the 2014 BAFTA TV Award for best actress. She also appeared in The Night Manager (2016) and Fleabag.

Her role as Queen Anne in Yorgos Lanthimos's The Favourite won her the Academy Award for best actress. As Elizabeth II in seasons three and four of The Crown (2019–20), she won an Emmy and a Golden Globe. She received further Oscar nominations for The Father (2020) and The Lost Daughter (2021). Later work includes Empire of Light (2022), Wonka (2023), and The Bear. She has been president of UNICEF UK since 2020 and was made a CBE in 2019.

Name notes for searchers

Sarah Caroline Colman is her birth name. Olivia is the name she uses as an actress. Sinclair is her married surname. Her surname sometimes appears as "Coleman," a form LOC lists as a variant.