Happy Birthday Brenda Blethyn!

Today, February 20th, is the 73rd birthday of two-time Academy Award Award Nominee Brenda Blethyn, best known to us P&P fans as Mrs. Bennet, the five Bennet girls' mother in the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film.

After twenty years of hard work on stage and both television and films, there are not many other actresses who deserved the success, recognition and stardom which Brenda Blethyn has now achieved. Currently seen on ITV's Vera series, which is now on its eighth season. (Meet the cast of Vera series eight)

Born in (February 20th) 1946 in Ramsgate in Kent, England, she started her career at British Rail in the 1960s. Saving money during her time there, she took a risk and enrolled herself at the at The Guildford School of Acting in Guildford, Surrey, England and then left her British Rail years behind. Her risk had paid off, by the mid-1970s she was working on stage, eventually joining the National Theatre Company in 1975. (Read more of her Bio on IMDB!)

Read more below...

Brenda Blethyn as Mrs. Bennet in Pride & Prejudice

“When I told people I was playing this part they’d say ‘oh she’s a wonderful cartoon character, you’ll have great fun’. I said ‘excuse me, no she’s not. She’s got a problem to be dealt with and it seems to me that she’s the only one taking the problem seriously’. The father isn’t, the daughters don’t seem terribly concerned, and I would say that it’s okay for the father because he’s got a roof over his head all the time he’s alive, it’s when he goes that the problem sets in. She mentions that in one of the scenes.” (Brenda Blethyn)

“It’s a tricky part, as she can be very annoying; you want to stop her chattering and shrieking. But Brenda has the humor and the heart to show the amount of love and care Mrs. Bennet has for her daughters”. (Joe Wright)

"We were like one big family. We took over the house. It was so much fun. Brenda Blethyn (Mrs Bennett) mummied us all - when we had days off she took us on day trips to a llama farm." (Carey Mulligan)

“I´ve loved every minute of this film. We´ve become such friends. All of us. It´s been so happy, kind of idyllic, in that house, and the friendships and the camaraderie, it´s just heaven, and I don´t want it to end, to be honest”. (Brenda Blethyn)

Here's BB's upcoming TV & Film Projects for 2014 (via IMDB):
1. Vera (TV Series) DCI Vera Stanhope (2011-2014)

- Death of a Family Man (2014) ... DCI Vera Stanhope

- The Deer Hunters (2014) ... DCI Vera Stanhope

- On Harbour Street (2014) ... DCI Vera Stanhope

- Protected (2014) ... DCI Vera Stanhope

- Prodigal Son (2013) ... DCI Vera Stanhope

Show all 24 episodes

2. Ethel & Ernest (post-production)  Ethel Briggs (voice)

More on the lovely Brenda Blethyn...

(Photos above and below via Getty Images)

Brenda Blethyn was an Oscar Nominee twice:
Best Actress in a Leading Role for Secrets & Lies (1997)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Little Voice (1999)

She was nominated for Pride & Prejudice for the following...
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - BAFTA Film Awards (2006)

British Supporting Actress of the Year - London Film Critics Circle Awards (2006)
Best Supporting Actress - Washington DC Film Critics Awards (2006)

Won a Camie (Character and Morality in Entertainment) Award (2006) she shared with P&P director Joe Wright and co-stars Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, and Donald Sutherland.

See a list of all her Awards & Nominations here.