Charlotte Cornwell

Charlotte Cornwell
Born	26 April 1949 Marylebone, London, England, UK

Charlotte Cornwell (born 26 April 1949) is an English actress.

Life and career

Cornwell was born in Marylebone, London, England, the daughter of Ronald Cornwell.^[1] She is the half-sister of spy novelist John le Carré (David Cornwell). She describes him as "the best brother a girl could have". Le Carré based the main female character in his novel, The Little Drummer Girl - an English actress called "Charlie" - on her.^[2]

She has a daughter, Nancy Cranham, from a former relationship with actor Kenneth Cranham and a son, Mark Baylis whom was adopted at birth. Mother and son were reunited in 2006 after a chance meeting at a west London dinner party,

Her 30-year career began when she trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. She made her professional debut with three seasons at the Bristol Old Vic Company, playing a broad range of roles from Kate Hotspur in Shakespeare's Henry IV to Becky in Sam Shepherd's Tooth of Crime.

She spent three years as a leading member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has worked as a leading actress with the Royal National Theatre since 1984. She has worked extensively both in the West End and on the Fringe, and has appeared in the US in several productions, including Richard III and An Enemy of the People opposite Sir Ian McKellen, Athol Fugard's The Road to Mecca and most recently Terence McNally's Master Class.

She has appeared in films such as The Krays, The Russia House, White Hunter Black Heart, The Saint, Ghosts of Mars (voiceover). Cornwell has also worked extensively on television including appearances in Rock Follies, Shoestring, The Men's Room, The House of Eliott, A Touch of Frost, Silent Witness, The Mentalist, CI5: The New Professionals and The West Wing, among other television programs in the UK and the US.

She currently teaches at the University of Southern California.

In 1985 Cornwell sued the Sunday People TV critic Nina Myskow for libel. The critic wrote that "She can't sing, her bum is too big, and she has the sort of stage presence that blocks lavatories." Cornwell was eventually awarded £11,000^[3] after appeals.^[4][5][6]

References

1. ^ Film Reference biography
2. ^ "A Talk With John le Carr", by MELVYN BRAGG, New York Times
3. ^ MacNae's Essential Law for Journalists, pub. Oxford University Press
4. ^ The Times, July 18, 2006, New celebrities of the libel courts
5. ^ Google Books - Modern Tort Law by Vivienne Harpwood, Harpwood
6. ^ Law and the media, Volume 2001, Tom Crone, Philip Alberstat, Tom Cassels, Estelle Overs

External links

• Charlotte Cornwell at the Internet Movie Database
• MFA Acting Faculty Biographies at the University of Southern California

Persondata
Name	Cornwell, Charlotte
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	26 April 1949
Place of birth	Marylebone, London, England, UK
Date of death
Place of death