Theatre Dorothy Tutin made her first stage appearance at
The Boltons on 6 September 1949, playing
Princess Margaret of England in
William Douglas-Home's play
The Thistle and the Rose. She joined the
Bristol Old Vic Company in January 1950, appearing as Phebe in
As You Like It, Anni in
Denis Cannan's
Captain Carvallo and Belinda in
John Vanbrugh's ''The Provok'd Wife''. She joined the
Old Vic company in London for the 1950–51 season, playing Win-the-Fight Littlewit in
Ben Jonson's
Bartholomew Fair, Ann Page in
The Merry Wives of Windsor and Princess Katharine in
Henry V. At the
Lyric Theatre in September 1951, she played Martina in
Christopher Fry's
Thor with Angels, followed in January 1952 by Hero in
John Gielgud's production of
Much Ado About Nothing at the
Phoenix Theatre. Subsequent roles included: • Rose Pemberton in
The Living Room (
Graham Greene),
Wyndham's Theatre, April 1953 •
Sally Bowles in
I Am a Camera (
John Van Druten),
New Theatre, March 1954 • Joan in
The Lark (
Jean Anouilh), Lyric Hammersmith, March 1955 • Hedvig in
The Wild Duck,
Saville Theatre, December 1955 • Caroline Traherne in
The Gates of Summer, touring, September 1956 • Jean Rice in
The Entertainer,
Royal Court, April 1957
Work with the RSC Tutin first joined the
Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company for the 1958 season in
Stratford-upon-Avon, appearing as Juliet in
Romeo and Juliet, Viola in
Twelfth Night and Ophelia in
Hamlet. With the same company (but renamed the
Royal Shakespeare Company from January 1961), she appeared as: • Cressida in
Troilus and Cressida,
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford, July 1960 • Viola in
Twelfth Night,
Aldwych Theatre, December 1960 (
Evening Standard Awards Best Actress) • Sister Jeanne in
The Devils, Aldwych, February 1961. • Juliet in
Romeo and Juliet, Stratford, August 1961 • Desdemona in
Othello, Stratford October 1961, Aldwych, October 1962 • Varya in
The Cherry Orchard, Aldwych, December 1961 and October 1962 • Polly Peachum in ''
The Beggar's Opera'', Aldwych, July 1963 Other work included: • Beatrice in
Beatrice et Benedict (concert version)
Royal Festival Hall, November 1963 • Queen Victoria in
Portrait of a Queen, Bristol Old Vic March 1965;
Vaudeville Theatre, May 1965; and Henry Miller NY, February 1968 (Tony nominee) • Rosalind in
As You Like It, RSC Stratford and Aldwych, summer 1967, then at the
Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles, January 1968 • Ann in
Ann Veronica,
Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, February 1969 • Francine in
Play on Love,
St Martin's Theatre, January 1970 • Alice in
Arden of Faversham, RSC Theatregoround Festival, Roundhouse, November 1970 • Kate in
Old Times, Aldwych, June 1971 • Title role in
Peter Pan,
London Coliseum, December 1971 and 1972 • Maggie Wylie in
What Every Woman Knows, touring, March 1972 and
Albery Theatre, November 1974 • Natalya Petrovna in
A Month in the Country,
Chichester Festival Theatre, 1974 season; and (for Prospect Productions) Albery Theatre, November 1975 (
Evening Standard Awards Best Actress) & (
Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival) • Lady Macbeth in
Macbeth,
Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, October 1976 • Cleopatra in
Antony and Cleopatra,
Edinburgh Festival 1977 and Old Vic November 1977 • Madame Ranevsky in
The Cherry Orchard,
National Theatre, Olivier, February 1978 • Lady Macbeth in
Macbeth, National, Olivier, June 1978 • Lady Plyant in
The Double Dealer, National, Olivier, September 1978 (
Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival) • Genia Hofreiter in
Undiscovered Country, National, Olivier, June 1979 • Madame Dubarry in
Reflections,
Theatre Royal Haymarket, March 1980 • Hester Collyer in
The Deep Blue Sea,
Greenwich Theatre September 1981 • Sarah in
After the Lions by
Ronald Harwood. World premiere directed by
Michael Elliott at the
Royal Exchange, Manchester 1982 • Deborah in
A Kind of Alaska (part of a
Pinter Other Places triple-bill),
Duchess Theatre, March 1985 • Blanche Jerome in
Brighton Beach Memoirs, Aldwych Theatre, December 1986 • Sonia in Loleh Bellon's ''Thursday's Ladies'',
Apollo Theatre, September 1987 • Edna Selby in
Harlequinade and Millie Crocker-Harris in
The Browning Version,
Royalty Theatre, March 1988 • Desiree Armfeldt in
A Little Night Music,
Minerva Theatre, Chichester, August 1989;
Piccadilly Theatre, October 1989 • Elderly Woman in
Mountain Language and Melissa in
Party Time (Harold Pinter),
Almeida Theatre, November 1991 • Rhoda Monkhams in
Rodney Ackland's
After October, Minerva, Chichester, May 1997,
Richmond Theatre and Greenwich Theatre, June 1997, co-starring with Nicholas Waring • Fonsia Dorsey in
The Gin Game,
Savoy Theatre, March 1999, co-starring with
Joss Ackland Films and television Tutin won the role of Cecily in
Anthony Asquith's film version of
Oscar Wilde's
The Importance of Being Earnest (1952), for which she received a BAFTA nomination for Most Promising Newcomer). She then played Polly Peachum to
Laurence Olivier's Macheath in
Peter Brook's film version of ''
The Beggar's Opera'' (1953). Her next major film role was as Lucie in the film
A Tale of Two Cities (1958), opposite
Dirk Bogarde. She continued to divide her appearances among stage, TV and film, appearing in the title role of a television production of
Jean Anouilh's
Antigone (1959) and the film
Cromwell (1970) as
Queen Henrietta Maria, and then played
Anne Boleyn in the
BBC's series
The Six Wives of Henry VIII (also 1970), which starred
Keith Michell in the title role. She also played
Margot Asquith, the wife of Prime Minister
H.H. Asquith, in the dramatic series
Number 10 (1983). She appeared in the
Ken Russell film
Savage Messiah (1972), and was a panellist over many years (at least from 1967 to 1983) on
Face the Music. She also performed as the teacher Sarah Burton in the TV series
South Riding (1974), based on the novel
South Riding by
Winifred Holtby. She starred as Mrs. Alving in
Yorkshire Television production of
Ibsen's Ghosts (1977). In the early 1980s, Tutin also appeared in the made-for-television film
Murder with Mirrors (1985, based on an
Agatha Christie novel) along with
Helen Hayes and
Bette Davis. Another of her notable roles was as
Goneril in an Emmy-winning television production of
Shakespeare's
King Lear (1983), opposite Laurence Olivier as King Lear. She guest starred in an episode of the 1980s TV-series
Robin of Sherwood as Lady Margaret of Gisbourne. ==Awards and nominations==