• Attended La Sainte Union Convent, London.
• She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1986 (1985 season) for Best Performance in a Supporting a Role for A Chorus of Disapproval and The Corn is Green.
• She was nominated for a 1997 Laurence Olivier Theatre Awards for Best Actress in a Musical of the 1996 season for her performance in Guys and Dolls.
• Became an Associate Member of RADA.
• Her talent agent is the mother of Freddie Highmore.

After nearly three decades of acting in plays, films and TV shows, Imelda Staunton starred in Vera Drake (2004) and suddenly became a front-runner in the Oscar race for Best Actress. On stage she has had starring roles in dramas and musicals, and she turned in award-winning performances in supporting roles in 1985's A Chorus of Disapproval and The Corn is a Green. On British television she has appeared in movies and the series The Singing Detective (1986), Up the Garden Path (1990) and Murder (2002).