ITV Vera star Brenda Blethyn's 35-year engagement after devastating divorce
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Tonight is the final time Brenda Blethyn will appear on our TV screens as DCI Vera Stanhope. The TV legend joined ITV's long-running crime drama Vera in 2011, and now, the series is coming to an end after 14 years. Oscar-nominated actress Brenda, 78, has said she is "sad to be saying Cheerio" but is incredibly proud of the cast's achievements over the last 14 series.
"I'll be forever grateful to the wonderful Ann Cleeves who created Vera, and to Elaine Collins who saw fit to cast me in the role," Brenda said in an emotional statement last year. As the last episode unravels, the Mirror takes a look at the actress' life away from the cameras.
Brenda Blethyn is a British actress who was born and raised in Ramsgate, Kent. She was born in February 1946 and is the youngest of nine children. Her mother, Louisa, was a maid and her father, William, was a chauffeur who worked as a mechanic before World War II.
Brenda was introduced to the magic of acting by her parents who would take her to the cinema as a child. She enjoyed performing in an amateur dramatics club, but went on to study at the Guilford School of Acting. Her career soon took off as she won roles on stage, landing parts with the Royal National Theatre in the mid-1970s.
After winning the London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1980 for her performance in the Nell Dunn play Steaming, she landed her first on-screen role in the play Grown Ups as part of the BBC's Playhouse strand - and directed by Mike Leigh. She then starred in a range of TV shows and films including the political satire show Yes Minister, Roald Dahl's The Witches, and Joe Wright's Pride & Prejudice.
