Miriam Margolyes is a British-Australian character actress and voice artist. Born in Oxford to a Jewish family with ancestry from Belarus and Poland, she often credits her cultural upbringing with shaping her views on social politics and human rights.
Margolyes’s acting career spans over six decades across theater, television, and film. She won a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Martin Scorsese’s “The Age of Innocence” (1993) and played Professor Sprout in the “Harry Potter” film series. Her work includes one-woman stage adaptations of Charles Dickens’s works, as well as roles in television series such as “Call the Midwife” and “Blackadder.” In 2001, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to drama.
Margolyes is a long-time signatory and supporter of Jews for Justice for Palestinians (JfJfP). She frequently uses her public platform to address Middle Eastern politics, criticizing Israeli state policies as a departure from core Jewish ethical principles. In 2024, in a video statement released through Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) calling for an immediate ceasefire, she stated: “As a Jew, I have to condemn this inhumanity.” She regularly makes a distinction between antisemitism and criticism of the Israeli government, arguing that defense of Palestinian rights is consistent with Jewish moral values.