Lesbian BAFTA-winning actress Miriam Margolyes has been in a romantic relationship with her partner, Heather Sutherland for decades. Does she have any children?
British-Australian actress, Miriam Margolyes is a national treasure and household name. She has gained prominence as a character actor on stage and screen.
She is an actress who is best known for her roles in Harry Potter, Call The Midwife, and The Age of Innocence which earned her a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
In October, the legendary movie star revealed she had had a major heart surgery procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).
And while we wish her good health, many fans want to know more about her personal life which has often made headlines. Here’s what we know about the film icon’s partner and children (if any).
Who is Miriam Margolyes?
Miriam Margolyes was born in Oxford in May 1941 and is a TV, theatre, and film actress.
She started her career as a voice actor in the 1970s.
Miriam then had her first major role in a film as Elephant Ethel in Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers (1977).
In 2013, Miriam became an Australian citizen on National Australia Day.
Miriam is undoubtedly best known for her role as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter franchise.
The actress appeared as the Head of Herbology at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and helped Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger in The Philosopher’s Stone and The Chamber Of Secrets before returning to battle Voldemort in The Deathly Hallows.
Miriam’s other screen credits include Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo And Juliet and the 1996 adaptation of James And The Giant Peach.
She’s also no stranger to the small screen having had cameo appearances in Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple series and iconic animation, Rugrats.
The award-winning actress scooped a Bafta for her role in Martin Scorsese’s The Age Of Innocence in 1993.
She also voiced Fly in the hit movie Babe.
Her TV work includes Call The Midwife, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, and Trollied.
She has starred in theatre productions on Broadway and London’s West End and took on the role of Madame Morrible in the original cast of Wicked.
Who is Miriam Margolyes married to?
Miriam Margolyes has never been legally or officially married in life, hence, she has no husband, wife, or spouse.
Die-hard fans of the ‘militant atheist’ actress know she is a proud member of the LGBTQ and she came out as a lesbian in 1966 – at a time when homosexual acts between men were illegal, per BBC.
The award-winning actress also revealed she regretted coming out to her parents, who she says never accepted her sexuality. “It hurt them and I don’t want to hurt people,” she said.
“I never had any shame about being gay or anything really. I knew it wasn’t criminal because it was me. I couldn’t be criminal,” she told the fashion magazine.
She has been in a longtime relationship with her Australian historian partner, Heather Sutherland.
Margolyes and Sutherland have been together for over 50 years after first meeting in 1967 while working on a BBC radio drama in 1967 after Margolyes had graduated from studying at the University of Cambridge.
Their relationship has been tagged as a “civil partnership” by a report.
Even before Heather, Miriam had her first kiss at the age of 17 to an Indian guy she didn’t have an interest in. Talking about her first kiss, she notes “I think it was a very nice Indian man who asked me out when he saw me collecting for the blind in Oxford when I was about 17”.
“I didn’t fancy him at all, but it was nice to be asked out so I went. It wasn’t a slathering tongue kiss, simply the meeting of mouths.”
In a 2020 interview with The Sun Miriam opened up about her sex life and her greatest achievements. When asked about her celebrity crush, she revealed Anjelica Huston, an American actress, and director known for often portraying eccentric and distinctive characters.
She also mentioned Charles Dickens as her ‘love of my life’. Dickens was an English novelist and social critic who created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era.
Who is Heather Sutherland, Miriam Margolyes’s partner?
Heather Sutherland is famous as the partner of Harry Porter legend, Miriam Margolyes.
Heather is an Australian historian and a former professor at a university in Amsterdam.
They don’t live together but they spend time together in London, Tuscany, and Australia.
Miriam has said the beauty of the pair’s long-lasting relationship is “not living together” according to the Express.
Despite living apart, they spend sporadic periods in London, Tuscany, and Australia. Margolyes described Sutherland as an “introvert”.
In the wide-ranging interview, she revealed that she doesn’t have sex at all. “I don’t have sex at all. I think about it a bit and I talk about it a bit, but I don’t have it.”
Sutherland likes to keep out of the public eye.
Does Miriam Margolyes have any children?
British movie icon, Miriam Margolyes is not known to be a mother, hence, she has no children despite being 82 years old.
There are no reports about her welcoming a son or a daughter.
In an interview on The Project, Miriam shared that she isn’t a fan of youngsters, despite her various work with children and children’s charities.
‘I don’t like children. I don’t want to be with children. I wish them well. I genuinely do. I’d kill anyone who hurt a child.’
‘But I just don’t want them near me!’