Biography

Michelle Fairley

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Michelle is the second child of publican Brian and nurse Theresa Fairley. As a teenager she attended the Ulster Youth Theatre before moving to Belfast, where she was a member of Fringe Benefit, a repertory company where she acted alongside Conleth Hill, with whom she would later appear in television juggernaut 'Game of Thrones.' In 1986 she came to London and established herself as a considerable stage actress in 'Oleanna' at the Royal Court, 'Dancing at Lughnasa' at the Old Vic, as Lady Macbeth with the West Yorkshire Playhouse and as Emilia, wife of the villainous Iago in the Donmar Warehouse's production of 'Othello,' for which she was nominated for an Olivier award and on the strength of which she was offered the part of the fiercely matriarchal Lady Stark in 'Game of Thrones.' Following that character's demise she appeared in several American television series - '24,' 'Suits' and 'The Lizzie Borden Chronicles.' As well as playing the wife of (Southern) Irish Brendan Gleeson in the epic period film 'In the Heart of the Sea.' In 2015 she returned to Britain to appear in the play 'Splendour' in London and the television series 'Rebellion' chronicling the 1916 Easter Rising.
- IMDb mini biography by: don @ minifie-1

Great friends with Game of Thrones co-workers Lena Headey (Cersei) and Richard Madden (Robb Stark).
Michelle Fairley has been nominated for an Olivier award for her role in Othello.
Replaced Judy Davis as Margot Al-Harazi in 24: Live Another Day (2014).
Various sources show her date of birth was being as early as 1963, to as late as July, 1965. One source actually lists both 1963 and January 17, 1964.
Had roles in 2 epic fantasy series playing the mother of a principal character: In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) as Hermione's mother, and in Game of Thrones (2011) as the mother of all the Stark children.

[on the Red Wedding, Game of Thrones] That was a lovely wedding! (laughs) I particularly liked the bride, I thought her dress was lovely.
I remember having a conversation with one of the new actors in Season 2 [In Game of Thrones], when we were on horseback and we're doing a scene on a cliff. And he was saying 'How do you do this language? It's very flowery.' and I said 'Well, treat it like Shakespeare. Give it a rhythm, and let it flow.'

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