Clare Higgins (actress)

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Clare Higgins

Born	10 November 1955 Bradford, Yorkshire, England

Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins (born 10 November 1955) is an English stage, film and television actress.

1 Biography
2 References
3 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Higgins, the second of five children, was born in Bradford in the county of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Paula Cecilia (née Murphy) and James Stephen Higgins.^[1] Her parents came from a working-class Irish Catholic background^[2] and worked as teachers. Higgins was interested in acting since her childhood. After being expelled from a convent school, she ran away from home at seventeen.^[2] At 19, she gave birth to a boy but gave him to adoption because she was unable to raise him.^[2]

[edit] Career

At 23, she achieved her dream of becoming an actress, graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts. Through the '80s, she became a dynamic stage actress, both in London and on Broadway, winning three Olivier Awards. In 1983, she starred with Ben Cross in the BBC production of A.J. Cronin's The Citadel, playing the role of Christine Manson. For the big screen, Clare gave a landmark performance in the violent, harrowing Clive Barker directed Hellraiser. The film was made in 1986 and was based on Barker's original novel The Hellbound Heart.

Higgins reprised the role in 1988 for Tony Randel's Hellbound: Hellraiser II. A successful sequel to Hellraiser, Hellbound was considered a brutal horror film that shocked audiences around the world and,in general, collected great reviews.^{[citation needed]} The landmark movie marked forever the careers of all involved - William Hope, who had the most difficult scene with Higgins, to this day claims that Hellbound: Hellraiser II was the finest film he has ever done to date.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Higgins took the rôle of Ma Costa in Chris Weitz's The Golden Compass starring Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Dakota Blue Richards.

[edit] Acting Awards and nominations

Higgins was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1995 (1994 season) for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in Sweet Bird of Youth at the Royal National Theatre. She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actress in both 2002 and 2005: in 2002 for her performance in Vincent in Brixton performed at the Royal National Theatre: Cottesloe and Wyndham Theatres, and in 2005 for her performance as Hecuba in the Euripides Tragedy at the Donmar Warehouse. She was awarded the 2002 London Critics Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in Vincent in Brixton performed at the Royal National Theatre: Cottesloe and later at Wyndham's Theatre. Additionally, she was awarded the 1994 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre) for Best Actress for her performances in The Children's Hour and Sweet Bird of Youth. She was also awarded the 2002 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in Vincent in Brixton at the Donmar Warehouse in London. Clare Was nominated for Broadway's 2003 Tony Award as Best Actress (play) for Vincent in Brixton.