| Pam Ferris | |
|---|---|
| Born | Pamela Ann Ferris[1][2] 11 May 1948 [2] Hanover, Lower Saxony, West Germany |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1971–present |
| Spouse | Roger Frost (1986–present) |
Pamela Ann "Pam" Ferris (born 11 May 1948)[2][3] is a German-born Welsh actress. She is best known for her starring roles on television as Ma Larkin in The Darling Buds of May, as Laura Thyme in Rosemary & Thyme, and for playing Miss Trunchbull in the movie Matilda. She also played the part of Aunt Marge in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
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Ferris was born in Hanover, Lower Saxony, Germany, to Welsh parents, while her father was serving in the Royal Air Force. Ferris spent her childhood in the Aberkenfig area, near Bridgend in Wales. Her father, Fred Ferris, was a policeman, and her mother, Ann Perkins, worked in her family's bakery business.[4] Her family emigrated to New Zealand when she was thirteen. Ferris returned to the UK in her early twenties.[5] In 1986, she married actor Roger Frost.
Ferris performed in her younger years at the Mercury Theatre in Auckland,[6] and later with various regional companies in the UK.
Ferris is best known for her role as motherly Ma Larkin in the ITV series The Darling Buds of May, which ran from 1991 to 1993. However, she has also acted in a succession of television dramas, including: Connie, Hardwicke House, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Where the Heart Is and Paradise Heights. From 2003 to 2006, she played the gardening sleuth, Laura Thyme, in Rosemary & Thyme.
Her roles in costume dramas include parts in television adaptations of Middlemarch, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Our Mutual Friend, The Turn of the Screw, Pollyanna and Jane Eyre.
Ferris portrayed the horrid Miss Trunchbull in Matilda. Additionally, she played the nasty Aunt Marge in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and Miriam, a motherly activist in Children of Men, both of which were directed by Alfonso Cuarón.
She has also acted in productions for BBC Radio 4.
Her career in the theatre has included parts in Royal Court Theatre and National Theatre productions. In 2007 she played Phoebe Rice in an acclaimed revival of John Osbourne's The Entertainer at London's Old Vic Theatre.
In 2007 Ferris took part in the BBC Wales programme Coming Home about her Welsh family history.
In 2008 she played Mrs General in an all-star cast BBC adaptation of the Charles Dickens novel Little Dorrit. In 2009 she appeared in the final series of the BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey. In 2010 she made a guest appearance in the sitcom Grandma's House.