Rebecca Saire

Rebecca Saire is a British actress and writer born on 16 April 1963 in London, England. She first drew significant attention at the age of fourteen when she was cast as Juliet in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Romeo and Juliet in 1978, a role that established her early in her career.

Saire's stage work has spanned several major British institutions. At the Royal Shakespeare Company she took on roles including Ophelia opposite Mark Rylance's Hamlet in 1989, a performance that earned praise from Time Out, as well as Diana in All's Well That Ends Well, Audrey Walsingham in The School of Night, Rachel in A Jovial Crew, and Gwendolen in Travesties, which transferred to the Savoy Theatre. Additional West End and regional credits include Sybil in Private Lives at the National Theatre, Eliante in The Misanthrope at the Piccadilly Theatre, Mabel in An Ideal Husband at the Gielgud Theatre, and Princess Mary in Crown Matrimonial at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre. In 1986 she appeared on Broadway in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.

Her television work spans four decades. Early credits include Quatermass in 1979, the serial Love in a Cold Climate in 1980 in which she played Victoria, and the television film A.D. in 1985. Later appearances include Vanity Fair in 1987, Jeeves and Wooster in 1991 as Aline Hemmingway, and a recurring role as Shona in the long-running ITV drama The Bill. She portrayed Lady Alexandra Metcalfe in season two of The Crown in 2017, appeared as Mrs. Radowicz in seasons five and seven of Endeavour in 2019, and played Bertha Kruger in season three of Killing Eve in 2020. Additional television credits include Midsomer Murders, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, My Dad's the PM, A Taste for Death, and Doctors in 2022. Her film work includes The Shooting Party in 1985.

Saire has also worked extensively in radio, taking on roles including Caroline of Brunswick in The People's Princess, Philippa in The Experiences of an Irish RM, Sue in The Small Back Room, and Joan Greenwood in Kind Hearts. Beyond performing, she has written three plays for BBC Radio 4, all produced by Eoin O'Callaghan: Standing on Tiptoe, The Detox, and Clapham Junction, the last of which received a Pick of the Week designation from the Radio Times.