The Harry Potter and The Crown star, who lives in West Hampstead with Downton Abbey actor Jim Carter, picked up the honour at the UK’s top theatre awards last night. (Sunday April 9.)
On stage Dame Imelda, who played the role of middle-aged widow Dolly Levi, wished her Irish mother Bridie McNicholas was still with her.
She said: “Mum I’m here at the Albert Hall, I’ve got a prize, but more importantly, I’m about to do a play with your granddaughter”.
She will next appear on the West End stage in George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession, starring her daughter Bessie Carter as a woman who learns her mother has earned her wealth in brothels.
Dame Imelda’s first Olivier award came in 1985, for her supporting roles in A Chorus Of Disapproval and The Corn Is Green, and was followed by an award for Into The Woods in 1991.
In 2013, the 69-year-old won the best actress in a musical award for her role in Sweeney Todd, and in 2016 she won in the same category for Mama Rose in Gypsy.
Another winner at The Royal Albert Hall was Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre’s revival of Fiddler on The Roof, which won best musical revival, best sound design, and best set design for Tom Scutt.
Director Jordan Fein picked up the award for the show, which transfers to The Barbican in May.
He said: “It’s a musical about love, not in the romantic abstract sense, but active love, brave and rebellious love that demands empathy and compassion, and that seems to be what we desperately need right now.”
On the night, Romola Garai won best supporting actress for The Years, Lesley Manville took best actress for her role in Oedipus, and John Dagleish won best actor in a musical for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – which also earned the award for Best New Musical.
John Lithgow in the Winner’s Room with the Best Actor award during the 2025 Olivier Awards with Mastercard at the Royal Albert Hall (Image: IAN WEST/PA Wire)
Giant, which follows the later life of children’s author Roald Dahl, won best new play, best supporting actor for Elliot Levey, and best actor for US star John Lithgow.
Onstage, the 79-year-old Conclave star told the audience that he wanted to “assure you that the special relationship is still firmly intact”, between the UK and the US.
He added: “It’s not always easy to welcome an American into your midst, and at this particular moment, it’s probably a little more complicated than usual.”
