Beatie Edney

Beatie Edney is an English actress born in London on 23 October 1962. The daughter of actress Sylvia Syms and her husband Alan Edney, she grew up in a family with strong ties to the entertainment industry. Her brother is Benjamin Edney, and her cousin was musician Nick Webb.

Edney first gained widespread attention through her film work in the mid-1980s. Her portrayal of Heather MacLeod in the 1986 fantasy film Highlander introduced her to international audiences, and she reprised the role in the 2000 sequel Highlander: Endgame. That same year, 1986, she appeared in the television series Lost Empires, based on J. B. Priestley's novel, in a leading role alongside Colin Firth. In 1990, she appeared in Bruce Beresford's film Mister Johnson, which also starred Pierce Brosnan and Edward Woodward.

Her stage career includes a 1987 Broadway appearance in Les Liaisons Dangereuses. On the London stage, she played Queen Charlotte in The Madness of George III at the Apollo Theatre in 2012, and she has also appeared in The Girlfriend Experience at the Royal Court.

Edney's television work spans several decades and a wide range of British drama. In 1989, she starred as Maud opposite Peter O'Toole in the television production of Uncle Silas, broadcast in the United States under the title The Dark Angel. In 1994, she played Louisa Gradgrind in a television adaptation of Charles Dickens' Hard Times, and in 1995 she had a starring role in the Channel 4 sitcom Dressing for Breakfast. Her episodic television credits include Prime Suspect, Inspector Morse, Lewis, A Touch of Frost, Rosemary and Thyme, Wallander, and two episodes of Agatha Christie's Poirot, specifically The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Clocks. From 2015 to 2019, she played Prudie Paynter in the BBC One period drama Poldark.