Georgina Hale (born 4 August 1943) is an English film, television and stage actress. She is best known for her roles in the films of director Ken Russell, including The Devils (1971), The Boy Friend (1971), and Mahler (1974), for which she received a BAFTA Film Award. An accomplished stage actress, she received an Olivier Award nomination for her leading performance in Steaming (1981). She has appeared in a number of television plays, and in 2010, The Guardian listed her as one of 10 great character actors in British television. She remains active in film, television and theatre. Life and early career Hale was born in Ilford, Essex to publicans Elsie (née Fordham) and George Robert Hole. She later said she had: As a teenager, she worked as an apprentice hairdresser and studied Stanislavski's method approach to acting at a fledgling studio, the Chelsea Actors' Workshop, in London, then she was accepted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she graduated in 1965. Acting career Stage An accomplished stage actress, Hale made her professional debut at Stratford as a walk-on. She appeared in repertory theatre at Canterbury, Windsor and Ipswich, then at the Playhouse, Liverpool in 1967, where her parts included the title role in Gigi and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet. At the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead in October 1975, she played Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion, followed by an acclaimed portrayal of Nina in Chekhov's The Seagull at the Playhouse in July 1976, making her West End debut in the production when it transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre in August 1976. Other roles included Marie Caroline David in The Tribades (Hampstead Theatre Club, May 1978); Melanie in Boo Hoo (Open Space Theatre, July 1978); and Bobbi Michele in Neil Simon's Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Royal Exchange, Manchester, April 1979 – transferring to the Criterion Theatre in November 1979). In 1981, Hale played the leading role of Josie in Nell Dunn's play Steaming at the Comedy Theatre in London and received a nomination for a 1981 Olivier Award. In 1982, she appeared with Annette Crosbie and Richard O'Callaghan in a production of Noël Coward's Star Quality at the Theatre Royal, Bath. In April 1983 she starred opposite Glenda Jackson and Gary Oldman in Summit Conference at the Lyric Theatre, London, playing Benito Mussolini's mistress Clara Petacci. Later that year, she starred with Colin Blakely, Jane