English actor Claire Bloom (born February 15, 1931) is known for playing various leading roles on stage and screen (big and small) in a career spanning over seven decades.
She has received two BAFTA Awards and a Drama Desk Award and nominations for Primetime Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards.
She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honors for services to drama.
After a childhood spent in various places in England and Florida, Bloom studied drama in London.
She debuted on the London stage when she was 16 and took roles in various Shakespeare plays, including “Hamlet,” in which she played Ophelia alongside Richard Burton.
She rose to prominence playing leading roles in stage productions of A Streetcar Named Desire, A Doll’s House, and Long Day’s Journey into Night.
She made her Broadway debut in the play Richard II (1956).
She received a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her role in “Electra” (1999).
Bloom made her film debut in The Blind Goddess (1948). Her breakthrough came with a leading role acting opposite Charlie Chaplin in Limelight (1952) for which she won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer.
She went on to act in films such as Richard III (1955), Alexander the Great (1956), The Brothers Karamazov (1958), The Haunting (1963), The Spy Who Came In from the Cold (1965), Charly (1968), A Doll’s House (1973), Clash of the Titans (1981), and Shadowlands (1985), for which she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress.
She later acted in the Woody Allen films Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Mighty Aphrodite (1995), and portrayed Queen Mary in historical drama The King’s Speech (2010).
During her film career, she has starred alongside major actors, including Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, John Gielgud, Paul Scofield, Ralph Richardson, Yul Brynner, George C. Scott, James Mason, Paul Newman, Julie Harris, Anthony Hopkins, Rod Steiger and Jerry Lewis.
Bloom was born on 15 February 1931 as Patricia Claire Blume in Finchley, then part of Middlesex (now suburb of north London), the daughter of Elizabeth (née Grew) and Edward Max Blume, a “not very successful” salesman.
Her paternal grandparents, originally named Blumenthal, as well as her maternal grandparents, originally named Gravitzky, were Jewish emigrants from Byten in the Grodno region of Russia (now in Belarus)
Bloom’s education was “haphazard: she was sent to the independent Badminton School in Bristol, but when her father encountered financial difficulties the family relocated to Cornwall, where she attended the local village school.
She later studied stage acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London,mand continued her studies under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based in London’s Royal Albert Hall.
After the Luftwaffe began bombing London during the Blitz in 1940, her family had some narrow escapes as bombs dropped close to their home. While their father remained in England, she and her brother John went with their mother to the U.S., where she spent a year living in Florida with a paternal uncle’s family; during this time her mother worked in her aunt’s dress shop, “but she proved to be a dreadful saleswoman.”
She recalls, “It was 1941; I was ten, John was nearly six. We were to sail from Glasgow in convoy, on ship that was evacuating children.”
During her year in Florida, she was asked by the British War Relief Society to help raise money by entertaining at various benefits, which she did for several weeks. “Thus I broke into show business singing”, she writes.
Bloom, along with her mother and brother, next lived in New York with their mother’s cousin for another 18 months before returning to England.
It was in New York that she decided to become an actress, after her mother took her to see the Broadway play “Three Sisters” for her twelfth birthday:
From then on I thought only of going into the theatre and playing in Chekhov. … Chekhov was moving. That’s what I was looking for—something more moving even than my own plight as a little English girl driven from my home by the Gods of War.
They returned to England in 1943, and due to her father’s improved business lived in Mayfair, but her parents’ marriage ended shortly afterwards – so her father could marry his girlfriend – and she had no contact with him for many years.
Bloom made her debut on BBC radio programs.
She made her stage debut in 1946, age 15, with the Oxford Repertory Theatre. Bloom debuted aged 16 at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre as Ophelia to Paul Scofield’s “Hamlet.”
Bloom has written that during the production she had a crush on Scofield. As Scofield was married and the father of a son, Bloom hoped only, “to be flirted with and taken some notice of”. She later recalled, “I could never make up my mind which of my two Hamlets I found the more devastating: the openly homosexual, charismatic Helpmann, or the charming, shy young man from Sussex.” When asked about Bloom years later, Scofield recalled, “Sixteen years old I think—so very young and necessarily inexperienced, she looked lovely, she acted with daunting assurance which belied entirely her inexperience of almost timid reticence. She was a very good Ophelia.”
Her London stage debut was in 1947 in Christopher Fry’s play, The Lady’s Not For Burning, which starred Sir John Gielgud and Pamela Brown and featured a young Richard Burton. It also played on Broadway in New York City. It was during the rehearsals for the play that Burton and Bloom began long love affair. The following year she received acclaim for portraying Ophelia in Hamlet, starring Burton. Although Burton was at that time married to Sybil Christopher, fellow actor and friend of Burton, Stanley Baker, seeing how attracted he was to Bloom, commented that he “thought that this might be the time when Rich actually left Sybil.”
In his later years, Burton told his biographer, Michael Munn, “‘I only ever loved two women before Elizabeth,’ Sybil was one, Claire Bloom the other.”
Of her Juliet in “Romeo and Juliet” (1957), critic Kenneth Tynan stated it was “the best Juliet I’ve ever seen.”
After she starred as Blanche DuBois in A Streetcar Named Desire, playwright Tennessee Williams stated, “I declare myself absolutely wild about Claire Bloom.”
Bloom’s first film role, at age 17, was in the 1948 film The Blind Goddess. She trained at the Rank Organization’s charm school, but did not stay with that company.
Her international screen debut came in the 1952 film Limelight, when she was chosen by Chaplin, who also directed, to co-star alongside him. The film catapulted Bloom to stardom. Biographer Dan Kamin states that Limelight is a similar story to Chaplin’s City Lights, made twenty years earlier, in which Chaplin also helps a heroine overcome a physical handicap. In this film, Bloom plays a suicidal ballerina who “suffers from hysterical paralysis.”
The film had personal meaning for Chaplin as it contained numerous references to his life and family: the theatre where he and Bloom performed was the same theatre where his mother gave her last performance. Bloom was asked by Chaplin to wear dresses similar to those his mother wore; Chaplin’s sons and his half-brother all had parts.
Bloom felt that she got the part was because she closely resembled his young wife, Oona O’Neill. In his autobiography, Chaplin writes that he had no doubt the film would be a success: “I had fewer qualms about its success than any picture I had ever made.”
Chaplin explains his decision to make Bloom co-star despite this being her first film: In casting the girl’s part I wanted the impossible: beauty, talent, and great emotional range. After months of searching and testing with disappointing results, I eventually had the good fortune to sign up Claire Bloom, who was recommended by my friend Arthur Laurents.
She was subsequently featured in a number of “costume” roles, such as Alexander the Great (1956), The Brothers Karamazov (1958), The Buccaneer (1958), and The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962).
Bloom also appeared in Olivier’s film version of Richard III (1955), in which she played Lady Anne, Ibsen’s A Doll’s House (1973) for which she won Best Actress award at Taormina Film Fest, The Outrage (1964) with Paul Newman and Laurence Harvey, as well as the films Look Back in Anger (1959) and The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), both with Richard Burton.
Of Bloom’s character in Spy, novelist David Plante writes: “Claire’s refined beauty appears to be one with the refinement of a culture she represents as an actress.” In a 2002 interview with Michael Shelden, Bloom said of Burton, “He had it all: intelligence, physical beauty, an incredible voice. There was no one else like him. When we were at the Old Vic, he proved that a working-class actor could make it, and I was proud of him. I thought he set a great example in a society that was, and still is, so preoccupied with class and accent.”
Bloom has appeared in theatrical works in both London and New York: Look Back in Anger; Rashomon; ‘Duel of Angels’ (by Jean Giraudoux), co-starring with Vivien Leigh, in 1958, and Bloom’s favorite role, that of Blanche DuBois, in revival of the Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire, in London in 1974. Critic Clive Barnes described the play as a “notable example of what the classic revival should be – well groomed, but thoughtful, expressive, illuminating.”
Another critic writes that Bloom’s portrayal of Blanche featured “remarkable layers of vitality and tenderness”, and playwright Williams stated, “I declare myself absolutely wild about Claire Bloom.”
Bloom has also performed in one-woman shows that included monologues from several stage performances. She also starred in the 1976 Broadway revival of The Innocents.
In the 1960s she began to play more contemporary roles, including an unhinged housewife in George Cukor’s The Chapman Report, a psychologist opposite Cliff Robertson’s Oscar-winning role in Charly, and Theodora in The Haunting.She played Hera in Clash of the Titans, reuniting her with Olivier who played Zeus.
Bloom has appeared in numerous roles on TV such as Lady Marchmain in Brideshead Revisited (1981). In 1996, she wrote, “I still find it puzzling when I am told I played a manipulative and heartless woman; that is not how I saw her. Lady Marchmain is deeply religious, and her dilemma includes trying to raise a willful brood of children on her own, while instilling them with rigid observance of the Catholic code. Sebastian is both alcoholic and homosexual, and from her point of view, he lives in a state of mortal sin. She has to fight for his soul by any means in her power, with the knowledge that her efforts may lead to his destruction. A born crusader, the Marchioness confronts her difficult choices head on; her rigidity of purpose, which I don’t in any way share, is understandable in context. The aspect that rings most true is her sense of being an outsider, a Catholic in Protestant England. Not such a leap from being a Jew in Protestant England as one would imagine.”
Two prominent BBC TV productions for director Rudolph Cartier: co-starring with Sean Connery in Anna Karenina (1961), and playing Cathy in Wuthering Heights with Keith Michell as Heathcliff (1962).
She also appeared as First Lady Edith Wilson in Backstairs at the White House (1979); as Joy Gresham, the wife of C.S. Lewis in Shadowlands for which she received the BAFTA Award as Best Actress (1985).
Bloom also appeared in Woody Allen films, Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Mighty Aphrodite (1995).
She appeared in Sylvester Stallone film Daylight (1996).
Later film appearances included her portrayal of Queen Mary in the 2010 Oscar winning British film The King’s Speech, and her portrayal of Eva Rose opposite Jerry Lewis in the 2016 film Max Rose.
In television she acted in The Mirror Crack’d, the last of the BBC Miss Marple adaptations in 1992; and as t]older Sophy in the serial The Camomile Lawn (1992) on Britain’s Channel 4.
Recent mini-series work includes The Ten Commandments (2006) and Summer of Rockets.
On continuing television series, she has appeared on the New York-based Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
From 1994 to 1995, she portrayed villainess Orlena Grimaldi on the daytime drama As the World Turns.
She also had major roles in several of BBC TV Shakespeare presentations and has led workshops on Shakespearean performance practices.
In 2003, Bloom did a stage reading of Milton’s Samson Agonistes along with actor John Neville at Bryn Mawr College at the behest of poet Karl Kirchwey.
In December 2006, she appeared on London stage in Arthur Allan Seidelman’s Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks by Richard Alfieri, a two-hander in which she co-starred with Billy Zane.
In October 2007, she appeared opposite Peter Bowles in Love Letters at the Théâtre Princesse Grace, Monte Carlo, directed by Marc Sinden, as part of British Theatre Season, Monaco.
In 2008, she guest starred in New Tricks as actress Helen Brownlow. The story concerned the murder of Brownlow’s husband whilst they were in a play together.
In December 2009–January 2010, she appeared in the two-part Doctor Who story “The End of Time” as mysterious Time Lord credited only as “The Woman”. Series executive producer Russell T Davies revealed in his 2010 book The Writer’s Tale that the character is supposed to be the Doctor’s mother.
In 2010, she guest starred as Jill Peters in The Bill in the episode “Taking a Stand” and played Queen Mary in The King’s Speech.
In September 2012, she appeared in concert at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore, as the narrator in Leonard Bernstein’s Kaddish, with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop.
In 2013, Bloom appeared in the sixth series of ITV’s Doc Martin as the estranged mother of the title character.
In 2015 she appeared as Matilda Stowe in ITV’s Midsomer Murders episode 17.4, “A Vintage Murder.”
In 2019, she appeared as Aunt Mary in the Stephen Poliakoff BBC TV mini-series, Summer of Rockets.
In 2022, she appeared as Margaret Ellingham (deceased mother of Dr. Martin Ellingham) in the last episode (10.9) of the ITV series “Doc Martin.”
Marriages:
Bloom has married three times. Her first marriage, in 1959, was to actor Rod Steiger, whom she met when they both performed in the play Rashomon. Their daughter is opera singer Anna Steiger. Steiger and Bloom divorced in 1969.
In that same year, Bloom married producer Hillard Elkins. The marriage lasted for 3 years, and the couple divorced in 1972.
Bloom’s third marriage on April 29, 1990, was to writer Philip Roth, her longtime companion. They divorced in 1995.
Memoir
Bloom has written two memoirs about her life and career.
The first, Limelight and After: The Education of an Actress, was published in 1982 and was an in-depth look at her career and the film and stage roles she had portrayed.
Her second book, Leaving a Doll’s House: A Memoir, published in 1996, went into greater details about her personal life; she discussed her marriages and her affairs with Richard Burton, Laurence Olivier, and Yul Brynner. The book created stir when Bloom described her former marriage to Roth. Soon after, Roth wrote a “revenge novel,” I Married a Communist (1998), in which the character of Eve Frame represented Bloom.
Film
Year Title Role
1948 The Blind Goddess Mary Dearing
1952
The King and the Mockingbird The Shepherdess Voice
English version
Limelight Thereza
1953
Innocents in Paris Susan
The Man Between Susanne Mallison
1955
Richard III Lady Anne
1956 Alexander the Great Barsine
1958
The Brothers Karamazov Katya
The Buccaneer Bonnie Brown
1959 Look Back in Anger Helena Charles
1960 Brainwashed Irene Andreny
1962
The Wonderful World of Brothers Grimm, Dorothea Grimm
The Chapman Report, Naomi Shields
1963
80,000 Suspects Julie Monks
The Haunting Theodora
Il maestro di Vigevano Ada
1964
Alta infedeltà Laura
The Outrage Wife
1965 The Spy Who Came in from the Cold Nan Perry
1968 Charly, Alice Kinnian
1969 The Illustrated Man Felicia
Three into Two Won’t Go Frances Howard
1971 A Severed Head Honor Klein
Red Sky at Morning Ann Arnold
1973 A Doll’s House Nora Helmer
1977 Islands in the Stream[17] Audrey
1981 Clash of the Titans[17] Hera
1985 Déjà Vu Eleanor Harvey
1987 Sammy and Rosie Get Laid Alice
1989 Crimes and Misdemeanors Miriam Rosenthal
1991 The Princess and the Goblin Great Great Grandmother Irene Voice
1995 Mad Dogs and Englishmen Liz Stringer
Mighty Aphrodit, Mrs. Sloan
1996 Daylight Eleanor Trilling
1998 Wrestling WIth Alligators Lulu Fraker
2002 The Book of Eve Eva Smallwood
2003 The Republic of Love Onion
Charlie: The Life and Art of Charles Chaplin Herself
Imagining Argentina Sara Sternberg
2004 Daniel And The Superdogs Claire Martin
2006 Kalamazoo? Eleanor
2010 The King’s Speech Queen Mary
2012 And While We Were Here Grandma Eves
2013 Max Rose Eva Rose
2018 Miss Dalí Maggie
TV
Year Title Role
1952 BBC Sunday Night Theatre Martine Season 3 episode 19: Martine
1957 Goodyear Television Playhouse Rose Season 6 episode 8: “First Love”
Robert Montgomery Presents Queen Victoria Season 8 episode 31: Victoria Regina
1958 Shirley Temple’s Storybook Beauty Season 1 episode 1: “Beauty and the Beast”
1959 Playhouse 90 Hypatia Season 4 episode 3: “Misalliance”
1961 Anna Karenina Anna Karenina TV movie
1979 Backstairs at the White House Edith Bolling Galt Wilson TV mini-series
1980 Hamlet Gertrude TV movie
1981 Brideshead Revisited Lady Marchmain 6 episodes
1983 Separate Tables Miss Cooper TV movie
1984 Ellis Island Rebecca Weiller 3 episodes
1985 Ann and Debbie Debbie TV movie
Shadowlands Joy Davidman TV movie
Promises to Keep Sally TV movie
Time and the Conways Mrs Conway TV movie
1986 Oedipus the King Jocasta
1987 Queenie Vicky Kelly 2 episodes
Intimate Contact Ruth Gregory 4 episodes
1988 The Lady and the Highwayman Lady Emma Darlington TV movie
Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun Lady Delamere TV movie
1991 The Camomile Lawn Older Sophy Mini-series
1992 It’s Nothing Personal Evelyn Whitloff TV movie
Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side Marina Gregg TV movie
1994 Remember Anne Devereaux Rawlings TV movie
A Village Affair Cecily Jordan TV movie
As The World Turns Orlena Grimaldi Soap opera
1996 Family Money Fran Pye Mini series
1997 What the Deaf Man Heard Mrs. Tynan TV movie
2000 Yesterday’s Children Maggie TV movie
Love and Murder Nina Love TV movie
2004 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Marion Whitney Season 3 episode 12: “Unrequited”
2005–2022 Doc Martin Margaret Ellingham 5 episodes
2006 Agatha Christie’s Marple Aunt Ada Season 2 episode 3: “By the Pricking of My Thumbs”
2008 New Tricks Helen Brownlow Season 5 episode 2: “Final Curtain”
2009–2010 “Doctor Who: The End of Time” The Woman 2 episodes
2010 The Bill Jill Peters Season 26 episode 25: “Taking a Stand”
2015 Midsomer Murders Matilda Stowe Season 17 episode 4: A Vintage Murder
2019 Summer of Rockets Aunt Mary Mini-series
Theatre
Year Title Role Venue
1950 Ring Round the Moon Gielgud Theatre
1956 Richard II Queen to King Richard Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway
Romeo and Juliet Juliet
1959 Rashomon Wife Music Box Theatre, Broadway
1971 A Doll’s House Nora Helmer Playhouse Theater, Broadway
Hedda Gabler Hedda Tesman
1972 Vivat! Vivat Regina! Mary Queen of Scots Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway 1974 A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche DuBois Piccadilly Theatre
1976 The Innocents Miss Bolton Morosco Theatre, Broadway
1998 Electra Clytemnestra Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway
Awards and honours
Bloom was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2013 Birthday Honours for services to drama.[61][62]
1952 BAFTA Award Most Promising Newcomer Limelight Won
1982 Best Actress Brideshead Revisited Nominated
1986 Shadowlands Won [65]
1982 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special Brideshead Revisited Nominated [66]
1979 Grammy Award Best Spoken Word Album Wuthering Heights Nominated [67]
1971 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Performance Hedda Gabler / A Doll’s House Won [68]
1999 Tony Award Best Featured Actress in a Play Electra Nominated
