Mother "...In between keeping a watchful eye on us all, Mother was settling down in her own way. The house was redolent with the scent of herbs and the sharp tang of garlic and onions, and the kitchen was full of a bubbling selection of pots, among which she moved, spectacles askew, muttering to herself. On the table was a tottering pile of books which she consulted from time to time. When she could drag herself away from the kitchen, she would drift happily about the garden, reluctantly pruning and cutting, enthusiastically weeding and planting..." 2005 proved to be a benchmark year for Imelda Staunton, who was born in Archway, north London, in January 1956. She won a BAFTA for the role as post-war backstreet abortionist Vera Drake, and attended the Golden Globes, the Screen Actors Guild awards, and the Academy Awards, where she was nominated for Best Actress. She finished off the year with a memorable performance as the cook, Mrs. Blatherwick, in Nanny McPhee and received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to drama. At 17, Staunton was offered a place at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. A variety of successful stage roles followed, including A Chorus of Disapproval and The Corn is Green, for which she won Laurence Olivier Awards for best supporting actress. She also won an Olivier Award in 1991 for best actress in a musical for Into the Woods. It was in 1993 that Staunton captured international attention when she appeared in Kenneth Branagh's version of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. Director Mike Leigh has described Staunton as "...brilliant. She has great warmth, compassion and humanity and a great sense of humor. Also she has not a grain of sentimentality, she is very rooted in the real world."