Born: April 15, 1959 in

Emma Thompson originally intended to become a writer, but while at Cambridge University she was persuaded to join the famous comedy troupe The Footlights, and her acting career began. She got her first major break in television in 1983, writing and performing along with her fellow Footlights Group alum Stephen Fry, narrator of the UK Harry Potter audio books. She also worked on other TV comedy review programs in the mid-1980s, often with actor Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid). Her award-soaked career includes a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for the BBC television miniseries (Fortunes of War), and BAFTA and Academy Award for Howards End (1992). She portrayed dying professor Vivian Bearing in the made-for-TV version the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Wit (2001), and multiple roles in Angels in America (2003), both for HBO. Ms. Thompson writes for the screen as well; her screenplay for Sense and Sensibility, in which she also starred, garnered her a Golden Globe award. In 1996, Ms. Thompson performed alongside her mother, Phyllida Law, in The Winter Guest, directed by Alan Rickman (Severus Snape). Ms. Thompson has wowed fans with her comedic turn as Professor Trelawney, and is expected to return for Half-Blood Prince.