Trivia

She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1989 (1988 season) for Best Actress in a Revival in "Twelfth Night", "A Question of" and "Three Sisters".

She was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2000 Queen's New Years Honours List and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2011 Queen's New Years Honours List for her services to drama.

Both she and her uncle Christopher Lee appeared in "Star Wars" films: Lee played Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002), Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) and Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) and Walter played Dr. Kalania in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015).

She was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 2001 (2000 season) for Best Actress in "Life X 3" at the Royal National Theatre, Lyttelton stage.

She studied acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts (LAMDA) in London, England.

Her partner was actor Peter Blythe from 1996 until his death on June 27, 2004.

She played Mary Wollstonecraft, the mother of "Frankenstein" author Mary Shelley, in Frankenstein: Birth of a Monster (2003) while her uncle Christopher Lee played Frankenstein's Monster in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957).

Nominated for the 2009 Tony Award for Best Performance for a Leading Actress in a Play for "Mary Stuart".

She won the London Evening Standard Best Actress award for her stage portrayal in "Mary Stuart".

Patron of the Shakespeare Schools Foundation, Prisoners Abroad and Clean Break.

Associate artist with Peter Hall's "Cannon's Mouth" classical theatre company (2003).

She has appeared in three films that have been nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Sense and Sensibility (1995), Babel (2006) and Atonement (2007).

Daughter of Roderick Walter (1911-1996) and Lady Xandra Carandini Walter (1917-2002). Her Eton-educated father was a legal consultant for a shipping firm, and her mother Xandra worked for the Admiralty during the war. When Harriet was ten years old, she saw 'The Parent Trap' and decided to become an actress.

On her father's side, Walter is a great-great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The Times.

Cousin of Christina Erika Lee.

After turning down a university education, she was rejected by five drama schools before being admitted to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Following her training, she gained early experience with the Joint Stock Theatre Company, Paines Plough touring, and the Duke's Playhouse, Lancaster.