Dame Janet Suzman, DBE (born 9 February 1939) is a South
African/British actress who enjoyed a successful early career in the
Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles,
among others, on TV. 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, both in Britain and South
Africa. She is a niece of Helen Suzman, South African politician and
anti-apartheid campaigner. Suzman herself appeared in a film that
looked closely at the apartheid issue, A Dry White Season (1989).Janet
Suzman was born in Johannesburg 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 she is a niece of the late civil
rights/anti-apartheid campaigner, Helen Suzman. Suzman was educated at
the independent school Kingsmead College, Johannesburg, and at the
University of the Witwatersrand, where she studied English and French.
She moved to London in 1959.
African/British actress who enjoyed a successful early career in the
Royal Shakespeare Company, later replaying many Shakespearean roles,
among others, on TV. 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, both in Britain and South
Africa. She is a niece of Helen Suzman, South African politician and
anti-apartheid campaigner. Suzman herself appeared in a film that
looked closely at the apartheid issue, A Dry White Season (1989).Janet
Suzman was born in Johannesburg 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 she is a niece of the late civil
rights/anti-apartheid campaigner, Helen Suzman. Suzman was educated at
the independent school Kingsmead College, Johannesburg, and at the
University of the Witwatersrand, where she studied English and French.
She moved to London in 1959.
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