From Grokipedia
Full articleDame Janet Suzman DBE (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress and theatre director recognized for her commanding performances in Shakespearean roles, particularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1962 onward, and for her Academy Award-nominated portrayal of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna in the film Nicholas and Alexandra (1971).
Raised in a liberal Jewish family in Johannesburg—with her aunt Helen Suzman serving as a prominent anti-apartheid parliamentarian—Suzman emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1959 after studying at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she honed her craft in classical theatre. Her stage career flourished through roles such as Ophelia, Portia, Cleopatra, and Joan of Arc at the RSC, earning her two Evening Standard Awards for Best Actress in 1973 and 1976, while her screen work extended to films like A Dry White Season (1989), critiquing apartheid's brutality.
Suzman's directorial efforts, notably staging a multiracial production of Othello at Johannesburg's Market Theatre in 1987 with John Kani in the lead—defying apartheid-era restrictions on interracial casting—underscored her opposition to South Africa's racial policies, for which she had previously supported international cultural boycotts. Appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2011 and holder of multiple honorary doctorates, she has remained a forthright commentator on cultural matters, including a 2014 remark attributing limited black attendance at South African theatre to preferences for other pursuits like football over what she termed a "white invention," drawing criticism despite her lifelong anti-racist stance.
In brief
Dame Janet Suzman (born 9 February 1939) is a South African-born British actress who had a successful early career in the Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles on television. In her first film, Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), her performance as Empress Alexandra Feodorovna earned her several honours, including a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. Suzman later starred in a wide range of classical and modern drama as well as directing many productions in the UK and South Africa.
Suzman appeared in A Dry White Season (1989), a film that examined apartheid. == Early life == Janet Suzman was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to a Jewish family, the daughter of Betty (née Sonnenberg) and Saul Suzman, a wealthy tobacco importer. Her grandfather, Max Sonnenberg, was a member of the South African parliament, and her aunt was the civil rights and anti-apartheid campaigner Helen Suzman.
