Fiona Shaw Movies and Career Information

Fiona Mary Shaw, CBE (born 10 July 1958) is a leading Irish actress and theatre director. Although to international audiences she is probably most familiar for her minor role as Petunia Dursley in the Harry Potter films, she is regarded as one of the finest classical actresses of her generation. Shaw was awarded an honorary CBE in 2001. Shaw was born Fiona Mary Wilson in County Cork, Ireland, to a mixed-religious couple, and was raised Roman Catholic. Her father was an eye surgeon and her mother was a physicist. She liked to be called "Fe Fe" in her childhood years and attended secondary school at Scoil Mhuire In Cork City. She received her degree in University College Cork. She trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and was part of 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Jonathan Pryce, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Bruce Payne and Kenneth Branagh. She received much acclaim as Julia in the National Theatre production of Richard Sheridan's The Rivals (1983), a role which demonstrated her gift for comedy. Despite her natural comic abilities, Shaw has opted more often than not for roles showcasing her extreme but