Dame Harriet Mary Walter DBE (born 24 September 1950) is a British actress. She has performed on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company, and has received an Olivier Award, a Tony Award, five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, Walter was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama.

Quotes

• I had that accent which prejudices people against you so instantly, or makes them respect you so falsely.
  • From an interview, as cited in "From sexual high jinks to strangulated vowels", The Independent on Sunday (22 September 1991), p. 24
  • Walter was then appearing on stage in Three Birds Alighting on a Field by Timberlake Wertenbaker at the Royal Court. For her performance, Walter had to re-familiarize herself with the upper class accent she had managed to lose.

• When asked which parts I would most like to play, I always say Richard III and Hamlet. But everyone expects me to say St Joan.
  • Cited in "Women call for fair play on the stage", The Daily Telegraph (26 February 1992), p. 7

• I approach every character with the intention of making them as complicated as we all are.
  • From an interview, as cited in "An Amazing Lack of Conceit", Sunday Telegraph (The Sunday Review: Arts section, 21 July 1996), p. 8
  • Walter was then appearing in the eponymous lead of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler at the Chichester Festival Theatre. She was unwilling to comment on whether her portrayal treated the character sympathetically.

External links