1. Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins was born on 10 November 1955 and is an English actress.
19 Facts About Clare Higgins
1. 2.
Clare Higgins is a three-time winner of the Olivier Award for Best Actress; for Sweet Bird of Youth, Vincent in Brixton, and Hecuba.
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Clare Higgins made her Broadway debut in 2003 in Vincent in Brixton, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play.
4.
Clare Higgins starred as Miss Cackle on the CBBC fantasy television series The Worst Witch, based on the children's book series of the name.
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Clare Higgins, the first of six children, was born in Bradford, to Paula Cecilia and James Stephen Clare Higgins.
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Clare Higgins's parents were from working class Irish Catholic backgrounds, and worked as teachers.
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At 23, Clare Higgins graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
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Clare Higgins starred in the premiere of David Hare's The Secret Rapture, and won the first of her three Olivier Awards in 1995.
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Clare Higgins appeared as Jocasta in the National Theatre's critically acclaimed production of Oedipus, opposite Ralph Fiennes in the title role.
10.
Clare Higgins reprised the role for Tony Randel's Hellbound: Hellraiser II.
11.
Clare Higgins was originally intended to play a major role in the third film, but requested her character be killed off at the end of the second film.
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On 30 September 2012, Clare Higgins appeared in season 3, episode 3 of Downton Abbey as Mrs Bartlett, a friend of Mrs Bates who eventually helps in the release of Mr Bates from prison.
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Clare Higgins played Ohila, the leader of the Sisterhood of Karn.
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Clare Higgins returned to the role of Ohila in 2015 in "The Magician's Apprentice", which originally aired on 19 September 2015, and in the series finale "Hell Bent" on 5 December 2015.
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In January 2017, Clare Higgins starred in CBBC's adaptation of Jill Murphy's The Worst Witch as Miss Ada Cackle, and her wicked twin sister Agatha.
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Clare Higgins was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1995 for Best Actress in a Play for her performance in Sweet Bird of Youth at the Royal National Theatre.
17.
Clare Higgins won the same award in both 2002 and 2005: in 2002 for her performance in Vincent in Brixton performed at the Royal National Theatre, Cottesloe and Wyndham's Theatres, and in 2005 for her performance as Hecuba in the Euripides tragedy at the Donmar Warehouse.
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Clare Higgins was awarded the 2002 London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in Vincent in Brixton.
19.
Clare Higgins was awarded the 2002 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress for her performance in Vincent in Brixton at the Donmar Warehouse in London.