Frances Barber

Frances Barber (born on 13 May 1958 in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England) is an Olivier Award-nominated British actress with a long and distinguished stage career. She has also appeared in numerous television productions. Barber studied drama at Bangor University, where she was a contemporary of director Danny Boyle, who became her boyfriend. One of her closest friends is the actor Ian McKellen, who funded a library in her name in India. In 2006, she received an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wolverhampton. With Pet Shop Boys, she starred in their musical Closer to Heaven in 2001 as well as guest singer for the song "Friendly Fire" on their 2006 live concert at the Mermaid Theatre. She also appeared alongside Ian McKellen and Roger Allam in the Old Vic's pantomime production of Aladdin over the 2005–06 Christmas season. She again starred with Ian McKellen in 2007 playing Goneril in Trevor Nunn's production of King Lear and as Arkadina in Chekhov's The Seagull with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon followed by a world tour throughout the year.

Actor