Linda Bassett
Acting
1950-02-04 · Pluckley, Kent, England, UK
Linda Bassett was born in the Kentish village of Pluckley - location for the television series The Darling Buds of May (1991). She was brought up in Pimlico, South London, by her typist mother and police officer father. She became interested in acting as a child when she was frequently taken to see plays in London, most notably at the Old Vic, the famous classical theater. On leaving school, Linda went to work at the Old Vic as an usherette and catering manager, before going to read English at Leeds University. However, she dropped out after a year and became involved in a local drama group which put on plays in community-based locations, such as schools. She regards this as her theatrical schooling, having had no formal training. She made her London stage debut at the age of 32 in 1982 and, in 1991, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. Although she was a well-regarded stage performer, it was the 1999 film version of the play East Is East (1999) (in which she had been an original stage cast member) which brought her to a larger audience and, throughout the 2000s, she has been a familiar face in a variety of films and television series. In the late 1980s, she returned to live in Pluckley.
Filmography
Bare Roots
2026 · Movie
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
2023 · Movie
Careful How You Go
2018 · Movie
Strike
2017 · Series
Carnage: Swallowing the Past
2017 · Movie
Effie Gray
2014 · Movie
National Theatre Live: People
2013 · Movie
Spies of Warsaw
2013 · Series
The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby
2012 · Series
Call the Midwife
2012 · Series
West Is West
2010 · Movie
Grandma's House
2010 · Series
The Reader
2008 · Movie
Lark Rise to Candleford
2008 · Series
Cass
2008 · Movie
Sense and Sensibility
2008 · Series
The English Harem
2005 · Movie
Colour Me Kubrick
2005 · Movie
Separate Lies
2005 · Movie
Kinky Boots
2005 · Movie
Spivs
2004 · Movie
The Brief
2004 · Series
Calendar Girls
2003 · Movie
This Little Life
2003 · Movie
The Hours
2002 · Movie
The Martins
2001 · Movie
Don Quixote
2000 · Movie
Lounge Act
2000 · Movie
Beautiful People
1999 · Movie
East Is East
1999 · Movie
dinnerladies
1998 · Series
Far from the Madding Crowd
1998 · Series
Out of Hours
1998 · Series
Far from the Madding Crowd
1998 · Movie
Spoonface Steinberg
1998 · Movie
Our Mutual Friend
1998 · Series
The Life and Crimes of William Palmer
1998 · Movie
Oscar and Lucinda
1997 · Movie
Midsomer Murders
1997 · Series
Alive and Kicking
1996 · Movie
No Bananas
1996 · Series
Mary Reilly
1996 · Movie
Haunted
1995 · Movie
Loved Up
1995 · Movie
Bramwell
1995 · Series
A Village Affair
1995 · Movie
Kavanagh Q.C.
1995 · Series
In The Cold Light Of Day
1994 · Movie
Skallagrigg
1994 · Movie
Frank Stubbs Promotes
1993 · Series
A Touch of Frost
1992 · Series
Heartbeat
1992 · Series
A Small Dance
1991 · Movie
Let Him Have It
1991 · Movie
News Hounds
1990 · Movie
Traffik
1989 · Series
Paris by Night
1989 · Movie
Omnibus: Caryl Churchill
1988 · Movie
Waiting for the Moon
1987 · Movie
Casualty
1986 · Series
The Bill
1984 · Series
Dramarama
1983 · Series
American Playhouse
1982 · Series