# Zoë Wanamaker
**Zoë Wanamaker** CBE is an American-born British-based actress whose career spans more than five decades of stage, television, and film work, known for roles including Susan Harper in the BBC sitcom *My Family*, Madam Hooch in *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, and Tessa Piggott in the drama *Love Hurts*[1](https://zoewanamaker.com/about.php). A nine-time Olivier Award nominee who has won the Best Actress Olivier twice, she has also been nominated for [Tony Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-awards) on Broadway[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0910738/) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1949, New York, USA; moved to London at age three when her father was blacklisted during the McCarthy witch-hunts[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php) |
| Training | Central School of Speech and Drama, three years, leaving in 1970[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php) |
| Breakthrough company | Royal Shakespeare Company, joined 1976–77; noted roles in *Wild Oats*, *The Devil's Disciple*, and *Ivanov*[5](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?title=Zoe_Wanamaker_-_New_Funny_Girl_in_Town) |
| Awards | Nine Olivier Award nominations, two Best Actress wins; Tony nominations for *Piaf*, *Loot*, *Electra*, and *Awake and Sing!*[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0910738/) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html) |
| Best-known screen roles | Susan Harper in *My Family* (120 episodes, 11 series, 2000–2011); Madam Hooch in *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*; Tessa Piggott in *Love Hurts*[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html) • [6](https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/news/2015/03/telegraph-zoe-wanamaker-interview/) |
| Honors | CBE in the 2000 New Year Honours[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php) |
| Globe connection | First person to speak on the stage of the rebuilt Shakespeare's Globe at its 1997 opening, reading from *Henry V*; trustee of Shakespeare's Globe[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html) • [4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php) |
## Family and early life
Wanamaker was born in New York to the American actor and director [Sam Wanamaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/sam-wanamaker) and the Canadian actress Charlotte Holland[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html). Her father refused to appear before the McCarthy Committee, was blacklisted, and brought the family to London; her mother, an actress and radio star, left performing when they arrived so she could care for the family[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php) • [7](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27I_Yearn_To_Be_So_Free_and_Comfortable_on_That_Stage%27). Wanamaker is the second of three sisters, between Abby and Jessica, and comes from a Russian-Jewish background[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). She has described her parents as vehemently opposed to her following them into acting, arguing that the profession was demoralising and destructive[5](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?title=Zoe_Wanamaker_-_New_Funny_Girl_in_Town).
She decided she wanted to act at the age of ten, after spending a summer in Stratford with her parents[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). Before training she tried painting and secretarial work, and even considered becoming a nun[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). After brief spells at a Quaker school in Somerset and Hornsey College of Art, she trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, leaving in 1970 and going straight into stage work[7](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27I_Yearn_To_Be_So_Free_and_Comfortable_on_That_Stage%27) • [4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php).
## Stage career
Her first professional job was as a student assistant stage manager in Bromley on a production of *A Streetcar Named Desire* starring [Ty Hardin](https://www.edgepedia.org/ty-hardin) and [Veronica Lake](https://www.edgepedia.org/veronica-lake), followed by repertory work in Manchester, Edinburgh, Leeds, and [Nottingham](https://www.edgepedia.org/nottingham), and a turn as Sally Bowles in *Cabaret* at Farnham[5](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?title=Zoe_Wanamaker_-_New_Funny_Girl_in_Town). She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1977, making her mark in *Wild Oats*, *The Devil's Disciple*, and *Ivanov*; her RSC performances in the latter two earned her two nominations in the Plays and Players Most Promising New Actress category for 1976[5](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?title=Zoe_Wanamaker_-_New_Funny_Girl_in_Town) • [7](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27I_Yearn_To_Be_So_Free_and_Comfortable_on_That_Stage%27). Her stage credits also include *Piaf*, *Once in a Lifetime*, *Electra*, and *The Crucible*, among the productions that brought her awards and nominations[8](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27The_Stage_Does_Your_Brain_In%27).
She has worked at the National Theatre under every artistic director since the building opened, and became an Associate of the National Theatre[9](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/zoa-wanamaker-the-girl-can-t-help-it-108464.html) • [4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). In 2013 she returned to the West End as the betrayed wife in the black comedy *Passion Play*[10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/a-woman-of-substance-how-zoe-wanamaker-got-lucky-in-love-and-why-her-father-sam-was-her-biggest-critic-8599701.html), and in 2016 she played in Nick Payne's play *Elegy* at the Donmar Warehouse[11](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/apr/28/elegy-review-zoe-wanamaker-nick-payne-science-donmar-warehouse-london).
## Television and film
After at least two decades of theater work, she was still virtually unknown to the general public until she starred in *Love Hurts* with [Adam Faith](https://www.edgepedia.org/adam-faith), a television series that earned her overnight fame[8](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27The_Stage_Does_Your_Brain_In%27). She later reflected on the difference in reach: playing Hamlet for two years with the RSC would reach at most two million people, while one night on television reaches ten million[8](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27The_Stage_Does_Your_Brain_In%27).
Her best-known television role is Susan Harper, the middle-class mum opposite [Robert Lindsay](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-lindsay) in the BBC sitcom *My Family*, which she worked on for 120 episodes across 11 series from 2000 to 2011[9](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/zoa-wanamaker-the-girl-can-t-help-it-108464.html) • [3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html). She was publicly critical of the show's writing after the departure of showrunner Fred Barron, saying in a 2007 interview that she and Lindsay had refused to film an episode because the script was "so bad"[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html).
On film she played Madam Hooch, the flying-games mistress, in *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*[6](https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/news/2015/03/telegraph-zoe-wanamaker-interview/). In 2005 she portrayed [Cassandra](https://www.edgepedia.org/cassandra), a piece of skin stretched across a frame with just a face, in the revived series of *Doctor Who*[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). In 2008 she voiced the blind seer Theresa in the video game *Fable II*, and in 2015 she joined the cast of the period drama *Mr Selfridge*[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0910738/). Later television work includes Queen Antedia in *Britannia* (2018), Helen Jacobson in *Killing Eve* (2018), and Baghra in Netflix's *Shadow and Bone* (2021)[12](https://www.metacritic.com/person/zoe-wanamaker/). More recently she plays Zelda Radclyffe, the quirky aunt of the title criminologist, in ITV's *Professor T*, and Charlie Hungerford, mother-in-law of the widowed detective Jim Bergerac, in U&DRAMA's reimagining of *Bergerac* set in Jersey[13](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/).
## Shakespeare's Globe
Her father Sam Wanamaker spent nearly thirty years lobbying for the reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the South Bank in London; he was awarded a CBE in early 1993 and died of cancer later that year, before the project was finished[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). When Queen Elizabeth II formally inaugurated the Globe in June 1997, Zoë became the first voice heard on its stage, delivering the opening lines of *Henry V*, "O for a Muse of fire...", to the Queen and to an audience that included [Mark Rylance](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-rylance)'s company[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html) • [14](https://www.westendtheatre.com/PDF/applause-magazine-issue-12.pdf). She remains a trustee of [Shakespeare's Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/shakespeares-globe) and has unveiled a People's Choice Blue Plaque at the site honoring her father's efforts[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php).
## Personal life and honors
Wanamaker is married to the actor and writer [Gawn Grainger](https://www.edgepedia.org/gawn-grainger), whom she met working on [Bob Hoskins](https://www.edgepedia.org/bob-hoskins)' 1988 film *The Raggedy Rawney*; they married in November 1994[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). She was appointed CBE in the 2000 New Year Honours[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). Her charity work has included reporting from South Africa on Ethiopia's economic crisis in 1993 for [Comic Relief](https://www.edgepedia.org/comic-relief), and she has served as Honorary Vice-President of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society[4](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php). She retains American citizenship[5](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?title=Zoe_Wanamaker_-_New_Funny_Girl_in_Town).
## References
1. [About this Website, Zoë Wanamaker Official Website](https://zoewanamaker.com/about.php)
2. [Zoë Wanamaker, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0910738/)
3. [Zoë Wanamaker: 'Of course women should be the centre of attention', The Independent (2021)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/zoe-wanamaker-interview-shadow-and-bone-b1831846.html)
4. [Biography, Zoë Wanamaker Official Website](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/biography.php)
5. [Zoe Wanamaker – New Funny Girl in Town, Cosmopolitan (1979), via Zoë Wanamaker Official Website](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?title=Zoe_Wanamaker_-_New_Funny_Girl_in_Town)
6. [Telegraph: Zoë Wanamaker interview, Hampstead Theatre (2015)](https://www.hampsteadtheatre.com/news/2015/03/telegraph-zoe-wanamaker-interview/)
7. ['I Yearn To Be So Free and Comfortable on That Stage', Plays and Players (1977), via Zoë Wanamaker Official Website](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27I_Yearn_To_Be_So_Free_and_Comfortable_on_That_Stage%27)
8. ['The Stage Does Your Brain In', via Zoë Wanamaker Official Website](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/interviews.php?name=%27The_Stage_Does_Your_Brain_In%27)
9. [Zoë Wanamaker: The girl can't help it, The Independent](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/zoa-wanamaker-the-girl-can-t-help-it-108464.html)
10. [A woman of substance: How Zoë Wanamaker got lucky in love and why her father Sam was her biggest critic, The Independent (2013)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/features/a-woman-of-substance-how-zoe-wanamaker-got-lucky-in-love-and-why-her-father-sam-was-her-biggest-critic-8599701.html)
11. [Elegy review – Zoë Wanamaker is superb in Nick Payne's soulful play about science, The Guardian (2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/apr/28/elegy-review-zoe-wanamaker-nick-payne-science-donmar-warehouse-london)
12. [Zoë Wanamaker, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/zoe-wanamaker/)
13. [News, Zoë Wanamaker Official Website](https://www.zoewanamaker.com/)
14. [Applause Magazine Issue 12 interview, West End Theatre](https://www.westendtheatre.com/PDF/applause-magazine-issue-12.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames U to Y*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license