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'''Suzanna Hamilton''' (born 8 February 1960)<ref>[http://www.magweb.com/actors/suzanna_hamilton Profile], magweb.com; accessed 14 December 2015.</ref> is an English actressactor. She playedis best known for playing the role of [[Julia (1984)|Julia]] in the [[Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film)|1984 film adaptation]] of [[George Orwell]]'s classic novel, ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''., as well Heras other film roles includeincluding ''[[Tess (1979 film)|Tess]]'' (1979), ''[[Brimstone and Treacle]]'' (1982), ''[[Wetherby (film)|Wetherby]]'' (1985), and ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'' (1985). OnShe is also known for her numerous television, sheroles starredsuch inas the [[ITV Network|ITV]] drama ''[[Wish Me Luck]]'' (1988), the [[BBC]] medical drama ''[[Casualty (TV series)|Casualty]]'' (1993–94), and the STV drama ''[[McCallum (TV series)|McCallum]]'' (1995–97).

==Early career==

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Hamilton was born in London and was a protégée of filmmaker [[Claude Whatham]], who discovered her in a children's experimental theatre in [[North London]] in the early 1970s. The first feature in which she appeared was ''[[Swallows and Amazons (1974 film)|Swallows and Amazons]]''<ref>{{Cite news |date=2 August 2016 |title=Whatever Happened to the Cast of Swallows and Amazons |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/2016/08/02/whatever-happened-to-the-original-cast-of-swallows-and-amazons/ |access-date=31 May 2022}}</ref> (1974), which was directed by Whatham and based on the popular [[Swallows and Amazons|children's book of the same name]] by [[Arthur Ransome]]. ''Swallows and Amazons'' was filmed in 1973 and released in 1974. Billed as Zanna Hamilton, she was cast as Susan Walker, one of four young siblings collectively known as "the Swallows", who go on a camping and sailing holiday in the Lake District during the summer of 1929.<ref name="The making">{{cite book |last1=Neville |first1=Sophie |title=The Making of Swallows and Amazons |date=25 May 2017 |publisher=ISD LLC |isbn=9780718845896 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=X9XYDwAAQBAJ |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> Whatham later directed Hamilton as [[Princess Alice of the United Kingdom|Princess Alice]] in the [[BBC]] miniseries, ''[[Disraeli (TV serial)|Disraeli]]'' (1978), which was later broadcast to North American audiences as a featured programme on ''[[Masterpiece Theatre]]''.

In the mid-1970s Hamilton received acting training at the [[Anna Scher Theatre|Anna Scher Theatre School]] in [[Islington]] and at the [[Central School of Speech and Drama]] in [[Swiss Cottage]], [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]]. For her first appearance in a big-budget film, Hamilton played Izz Huett, the lovesick dairymaid, in the [[Roman Polanski]] film ''[[Tess (1979 film)|Tess]]'' (1979), based on [[Thomas Hardy]]'s ''[[Tess of the d'Urbervilles]]'', which starred [[Nastassja Kinski]] in the title role.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Judith |first1=Martin |title='Tess': A Haunting Beauty |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1981/02/13/tess-a-haunting-beauty/f33d8912-f420-48cc-b71e-f630d9cb0e29/ |website=Washington Post |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> She also appeared as one of the [[boarding school]] girls who organise a strike against the Ministry of Education in ''[[The Wildcats of St. Trinian's]]'' (1980).

Hamilton's next significant role was in the [[Richard Loncraine]] film ''[[Brimstone and Treacle|Brimstone & Treacle]]'' (1982), based on [[Dennis Potter]]'s play of the same name.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Maslin |first1=Janet |title=Brimstone and Treacle |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/11/movies/brimstone-and-treacle.html |website=New York Times |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> Hamilton starred as Patricia Bates, the traumatised, [[catatonia|catatonic]] daughter of a devoutly religious, middle aged [[Home Counties]] couple ([[Denholm Elliott]] and [[Joan Plowright]]) whose lives are changed by a [[demon]]ic drifter and con man who calls himself Martin Taylor, played by [[Sting (musician)|Sting]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Billington |first1=Michael |title=Dennis Potter: there is a nostalgic, rightwing impulse in England |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/may/15/dennis-potter-nostalgic-rightwing-england |website=The Guardian |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> The following year, Suzanna Hamilton was featured in [[BBC-TV]]'s [[paranormal]] mystery, ''A Pattern of Roses'', with [[Helena Bonham Carter]].

Hamilton was a member of the [[BBC]]'s [[Radio Drama Company]].<ref name=yearbook>"Radio and audio book companies", in Lloyd Trott, ed., ''Actors and Performers Yearbook 2016'', pp. 353–354</ref>

==''Nineteen Eighty-Four''==

Hamilton was cast as [[Julia (1984)|Julia]] opposite [[John Hurt]] as [[Winston Smith (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Winston Smith]] in the [[Michael Radford]] film [[Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film)|Nineteen Eighty-Four]] (1984), based on the eponymous [[George Orwell]] [[dystopian]] novel.<ref name="1984review">{{cite web |last1=Doyle |first1=Katie |title=1984 (1984) Review |url=https://www.thefilmagazine.com/1984-1984-review/ |website=The Film Magazine |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> She obtained the role through the casting agency of the Anna Scher Theatre School. She was one of the school's earliest alumni, and the theatre is acknowledged in the film's closing credits. This performance raised her profile as a film actress and attracted critical praise, particularly from [[Vincent Canby]] in ''[[The New York Times]]''.<ref name="Nyt2023">{{cite web |last1=Canby |first1=Vincent |title=THE SCREEN: JOHN HURT IN '1984,' ADAPTATION OF ORWELL NOVEL |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/01/18/movies/the-screen-john-hurt-in-1984-adaptation-of-orwell-novel.html |website=New York Times |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> However, her work was largely overshadowed by the death of fellow cast member [[Richard Burton]], who delivered his final screen performance in the role of [[O'Brien (book character)|O'Brien]], as well as by post-release controversy over the film's [[film score|musical score]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=David |title=George Orwell on Screen : Adaptations, Documentaries and Docudramas on Film and Television |date=2018 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=9781476673691 |page=152}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://diffuser.fm/eurythmics-1984-soundtrack/|title= The Messy History of the Eurythmics' '1984' Soundtrack|first=Jeff|last=Giles|date=22 March 2017|website=[[Diffuser.fm]]}}</ref>

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Hamilton was cast as [[Julia (1984)|Julia]] opposite [[John Hurt]] as [[Winston Smith (Nineteen Eighty-Four)|Winston Smith]] in the [[Michael Radford]] film [[Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film)|Nineteen Eighty-Four]] (1984), based on the eponymous [[George Orwell]] [[dystopian]] novel. She obtained the role through the casting agency of the Anna Scher Theatre School. She was one of the school's earliest alumni, and the theatre is acknowledged in the film's closing credits. This performance raised her profile as a film actress and attracted critical praise, particularly from [[Vincent Canby]] in ''[[The New York Times]]''. However, her work was largely overshadowed by the death of fellow cast member [[Richard Burton]], who delivered his final screen performance in the role of [[O'Brien (book character)|O'Brien]], as well as by post-release controversy over the film's [[film score|musical score]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=David |title=George Orwell on Screen : Adaptations, Documentaries and Docudramas on Film and Television |date=2018 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=9781476673691 |page=152}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url= https://diffuser.fm/eurythmics-1984-soundtrack/|title= The Messy History of the Eurythmics' '1984' Soundtrack|first=Jeff|last=Giles|date=22 March 2017|website=[[Diffuser.fm]]}}</ref>

==Later television and film appearances==

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In 1985, Hamilton starred in British playwright [[David Hare (dramatist)|David Hare]]'s film ''[[Wetherby (film)|Wetherby]]'', opposite [[Vanessa Redgrave]]. Her next role was as Felicity in [[Sydney Pollack]]'s [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]]-winning ''[[Out of Africa (film)|Out of Africa]]'', based on the memoirs of the Danish writer [[Isak Dinesen]], and starring [[Meryl Streep]], [[Robert Redford]] and [[Klaus Maria Brandauer]].

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Her next commercial film role was in a low-budget [[Gothic horror]] romance, ''Tale of a Vampire'' (1992), written and directed by a 27-year-old Anglo-Japanese film student, Shimako Sato. Hamilton made a dual appearance: first as Anne, a librarian in present-day London grieving the untimely death of her boyfriend; then as Anne's 19th century ''[[doppelgänger]]'', Virginia Clemm, the real-life wife of [[Edgar Allan Poe]]—who, in the film, also happens to be the long-lost mistress of a lonely, centuries-old [[vampire]] played by [[Julian Sands]]. In 1993, she had a recurring role as Dr. Karen Goodliffe on the British TV hospital drama series, ''[[Casualty (TV series)|Casualty]]''. In 1995, she appeared as [[John Hannah (actor)|John Hannah]]'s love interest, Joanna Sparks, on the ITV crime series, ''[[McCallum (TV series)|McCallum]]''.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[The Stage]]|title= At the birth of a new TV sleuth|date=29 December 1995|page=18}}</ref>

In 1997, she appeared in ''The Island on Bird Street'', a Danish period drama made in the [[Dogme 95]] style, about an 11-year-old [[Jewish]] boy who hides from the [[Nazi]]s in occupied Poland during [[World War II]] before he is reunited with his father. In this film, Hamilton had a brief cameo as the mother of a girl whom the boy befriends. MostMore recently, she appeared as Vivienne in the 2005 short film, ''Benjamin's Struggle'', described as "a compelling story set in 1930s [[Nazi Germany]], about a nine-year-old Jewish boy who attempts to steal the original manuscript of [[Adolf Hitler]]'s ''[[Mein Kampf]]'', believing that it will topple the [[Third Reich]] and end the suffering of his family". In 2006, she appeared as Helen Gillespie in the [[ITV Network|ITV]] series, ''[[Jane Hall (TV series)|Jane Hall]]''. In 2007, she appeared as Dr. Hillary Slayton in the children's television series, ''[[Dinosapien]]'', which is filmed on location in southern [[Alberta]], Canada.

==Theatre==

Hamilton is an accomplished theatre and radio actress. She made her first [[West End theatre|West End]] appearance on the London stage in 1982 as part of the original cast production of [[Tom Stoppard]]'s play, ''[[The Real Thing (play)|The Real Thing]]''. In 1993, she played the lead as a Welsh maid in the [[Bush Theatre]]'s production of Lucinda Coxon's ''Waiting at the Water's Edge''; in 2002, she was cast as [[Creusa]] in a Gate Theatre production of [[Euripides]]' ''[[Ion (play)|Ion]]''; and in early 2005, she appeared as Dora, a woman incarcerated in a 1920s asylum in the [[Salisbury Playhouse]]'s production of Charlotte Jones' chamber drama, ''[[Airswimming]]''. She also appeared in a 1991 [[audiobook]] recording of [[Julian Barnes]]' novel about a love triangle called ''Talking It Over'' and has been in many radio dramas. She has been involved in many festivals of new writing at various London theatres.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}} In May 2018 she played [[Juliet|Shakespeare's Juliet]] (in old age) for [[The Theatre Chipping Norton|The Theatre, Chipping Norton]], in [[Ben Power]]{{'s}} ''A Tender Thing''<ref name="Oldham">{{cite web |title=Suzanna Hamilton |url=https://www.coliseum.org.uk/cast/suzanna-hamilton/ |website=Oldham Coliseum Theatre |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gill |first1=Sutherland |title=Romeo and Juliet grown older in A Tender Thing, at Chipping Norton |url=https://www.stratford-herald.com/whats-on/romeo-and-juliet-grown-older-in-a-tender-thing-at-chipping-norton-9135505/ |website=Stratford Herald |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref> and in August 2019 she portrayed a Rhodesian estate owner in ''My One True Friend'' at the [[Alan Bates#Tristan Bates Theatre|Tristan Bates Theatre]], London.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sutherland |first1=Gill |title=Romeo and Juliet grown older in A Tender Thing, at Chipping Norton |url=http://www.stratford-herald.com/85999-romeo-juliet-grown-older-tender-thing-chipping-norton.html |work=Stratford Herald |date=10 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Dilek |first1=Mert |title=My One True Friend review at Tristan Bates Theatre, London |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2019/my-one-true-friend-review-at-tristan-bates-theatre-london-vibrant-but-meandering/ |website=The Stage |accessdate=2 January 2020 |date=29 August 2019}}</ref> In 2022 she performed at the Assembly George Square Studios in ''We Should Definitely Have More Dancing'' to critical acclaim.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dave |first1=Fargnoli |title=We Should Definitely Have More Dancing review |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/we-should-definitely-have-more-dancing-review-at-assembly-george-square-studios-edinburgh-by-clara-darcy-and-ian-kershaw |website=The Stage |access-date=6 April 2023}}</ref>

==Personal life==