Happy Birthday Penelope Wilton!

Celebrating a birthday today (June 3rd) is Olivier Award winner and Downton Abbey's  (co-stars as Isobel Crawley), best known to us P&P movie fans as Mrs. Gardiner, Elizabeth Bennet's favorite aunt in the Pride & Prejudice (2005) film. She also played Tom Hollander's mother in Wives and Daughters mini-series and co-starred with Rosamund Pike in W&D too as well as with her good friend Judi Dench in Iris and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel/The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel films. Miss Wilton turns 77 years young today!

Happy Birthday Penelope Wilton!

Born:  Penelope Alice Wilton
June 3, 1946 in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Trivia:  Cousin of the actor Richard Morant See more trivia »


Peter Wight as Mr. Gardiner and Penelope Wilton as Mrs. Gardiner

Memorable Quotes of Mrs. Gardiner from Pride & Prejudice movie...


"Come to the Peak District with us, Lizzie, and get some fresh air." (Mrs. Gardiner)

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"Take care, my love. That savors strongly of bitterness." (Mrs. Gardiner)

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"By heavens, Lizzie, what a snob you are. Objections to poor Mr. Darcy because of his wealth. The poor man can't help it." (Mr. Gardiner)
"He won't be there anyway. Those great men are never at home." (Mrs. Gardiner)

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"What are men compared to rocks or mountains?" (Mr. Gardiner)
"Or carriages that work." (Mrs. Gardiner)

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"A handsome face. Lizzie, is it a true likeness?" (Mrs. Gardiner)

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"Lizzie, we've just met Mr. Darcy. You didn't tell us that you've seen him. He asked us to dine with him tomorrow. He was very civil, was he not?  Not at all how you painted him." (Mrs. Gardiner)

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"He particularly want you to meet his sister." (Mrs. Gardiner) 


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"There's something pleasant about his mouth when he speaks." (Mrs. Gardiner)

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"Enter the Gardiners. Love the Gardiners. Their relationship is based on pies. In every scene, they're eating. And they have a very happy marriage in their shared admiration of the great English pie or cheese." (Joe Wright)

Penelope Wilton's Current/Upcoming TV & Films for 2021/2022... 

1. Downton Abbey 2 (In Theaters December 22, 2021)
Isobel Crawley 

2. Operation Mincemeat (2021/2022) (with Matthew Macfadyen and Colin Firth) - Hester Leggett
3. After Life Season 3 (2021) - Anne 

4. Sunmerland (2020) - Older Alice