Sian Phillips

Sian Phillips has been thrice married in her lifetime. Her first marriage was to Don Roy in 1956. The couple divorced in 1959. At that time, Phillips was expecting her first child.

She then married Peter O'Toole in December 1959. The couple welcomed their two daughters Kate and Patricia in 1960 and 1963. Not all was well between Phillips and Toole and the marriage hit the rocks in 1979. Meanwhile since 1975, she was in a relationship with actor Robin Sachs, with whom she tied the knot in 1979. In 1991, her divorce with Toole legalized.

In 1999, she came up with the first volume of her two-part autobiography ‘Private Faces’. Two years later, in 2001, the second volume followed titled ‘Public Places’.

Sian Phillips was born as Jane Elizabeth Ailwên Phillips on May 14, 1933 in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen, Glamorgan, Wales, to Sally (née Thomas) and David Phillips. Her mother was a teacher and her father served in police.

Born in Wales, she spoke Welsh for much of her childhood. It was only after listening to radio that she learned English as a language. Completing her preliminary education from Pontardawe Grammar School, she enrolled at the University College Cardiff studying English and philosophy. In 1955, she graduated from the University of Wales.

Immediately after her graduation in 1955, she gained a scholarship and entered Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). It was at RADA that she polished her acting skills to perfection.

Sian Phillips journey as a professional actor began at the age of 11. Her first ever acting assignment was with the Home Service of BBC Radio in Wales as a ginger tom cat.

At the age of 17, she made her first television appearance and a year later bagged a prominent Welsh acting award. During her years at Cardiff, she worked as a newsreader and announcer for the BBC in Wales.

From 1953 to 1955, she served as a member of the BBC Repertory Company and the National Theatre Company. She toured Wales and featured in several Welsh and English language productions of the Welsh Arts Council.

In 1957, while still being a student in RADA, Phillips made her first appearance on the London stage in the titular role of the self-titled Hermann Sudermann’s theatrical ‘Magda’. The play was officially her first super hit show in London. She got a lot of appreciation from fans and critics.

In 1957, Sian Phillips performed the title role in Ibsen's ‘Hedda Gabler’. The show took the success story of her London diaries steeply further as it won her the prestigious Bancroft Gold Medal. Next, she was seen as Margaret Muir in John Hall’s ‘The Holiday’ at Oxford New Theatre.

Sian Phillips career has been adorned with several landmark roles in theatre, films and television but the most prominent amongst them was her role of Livia in the popular BBC adaptation of Robert Graves's novel ‘I, Claudius’. Forever identified as the tarantula mother/Empress Livia, the role allowed her to explore her creative strength and energies to the fullest. She was natural in her act and absolutely brilliant and her performance in the show earned her the prestigious BAFTA Award in the category of Best Television Actress.