Most of us know Miriam Margolyes as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter movies. Some recognize her as Aunt Prudence Stanley in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries or as Sister Mildred in Call the Midwife. In script-free real life, Margolyes is an octogenarian who refers to herself as a Jewish lesbian.
Margolyes enjoys chatting with people, with good friends such as actor Alan Cumming, and with people she has just met. She has no visible hesitation walking up to a person on the street and asking them direct and probing questions that begin extended conversations. A few years ago, I was standing with others in the lobby of the Vaudeville Theatre on the Strand in London, waiting for a matinee performance to begin, when Margolyes entered. At four foot something, wide around the tummy and waist with huge breasts and wild curly grey hair, she resembled an aging sprite or maybe Mrs. Santa Claus. She was having difficulty walking, so she sat down on a step and began chatting with a member of the theater staff. As she spoke with him, she beamed. Her smile could heat up the Arctic.
Over the past few years, due to age and illnesses, her movement has become restricted. She uses a cane, walker, or drives a small cart to get around. Her short, squat body and restrained walking do not stop her from exploring her world, or should I say worlds.
In recent years Margolyes has made several non-fiction TV series which feature her traveling through meaningful places of her life. I learned about this phase of her career from my friend Lois Farber who was deeply impressed by the docu series Miriam and Alan: Lost in Scotland which is streaming, is available on a few PBS stations, and on region 2 disc. With her old and dear friend Alan Cumming, Margolyes travels through Scotland where interesting, and occasionally fascinating, occurrences take place. Cumming is Scottish, and Margolyes has Scottish ties.
Over two seasons in 2021 and 22, they share their firsthand knowledge of Scotland, and, even more importantly, ride side by side in a huge trailer which Cumming drives, sharing their friendship. They discuss memories of childhood, good and bad, plus their current lives. Cumming arranges for a Scottish mill to create a special tartan for them. They laugh and find joy in each other as their foibles come more and more to the surface. For instance, Margolyes eats red onions like apples! Eventually they explore parts of the Western United States together.
Just before making that series,she struck out on her own for two months through 10,000 kilometers of mainly rural Australia. Decades ago, she partnered with an Australian woman, and has spent years there. In 2013 she became an Australian citizen. In Almost Australian, which is streaming on Netflix, she sets out to learn what her Australia is all about. What does “mateship” mean? How do the First Nation people interact with Caucasian Aussies? In the Northern Territories and the Gold Coast, she encounters problems. Farmlands have dried up, animals have perished. She visits mining areas and discusses the pros and cons of taking ore from the earth. She admires the modernity and greenery of urban areas. Wherever Margolyes goes, she talks to strangers. She learns from strangers. Some do not like her, but she keeps the conversation going.
Miriam Margolyes, as well as Alan Cumming, may be celebrities, actors; however, in these TV documentaries they show a different side of themselves, a keen interest in the worlds in which they live and a rapport with people like themselves as well as those who are quite different!
Audrey Kupferberg is a film and video archivist and retired appraiser. She is lecturer emeritus and the former director of Film Studies at the University at Albany and co-authored several entertainment biographies with her late husband and creative partner, Rob Edelman.
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