Vera’s investigations is one of the sure values ​​of France 3. With each broadcast, the British detective series brings together between 3 and 4 million viewers. Carried by Brenda Blethyn, the 76-year-old actress is as determined as her character, Inspector Vera Stanhope, and also had a difficult childhood. Born February 20, 1946, Brenda Blethyn is the last of nine siblings. She lived her youth in precariousness with her family in Ramsgate in the Kent region, in the south of Great Britain. It is thanks to her parents, film lovers, that she developed her passion for the seventh art.

After her university studies, Brenda Blethyn worked for a long time as a stenographer. At the age of 27, she decided to drop everything to become an actress. She then enrolled at the Guilford School of Acting. before moving to London in 1976, with the aim of integrating the theatrical circuit of the English capital.

Brenda Blethyn’s life changes when she manages to join the troupe of the Royal National Theatre. She played key roles in great classics of British theater and allowed him to forge a fine reputation in the world of British comedy. It was in the 80s that the actress made her first screen appearances, notably in Play For Today, Yes Minister, King Lear and Tales of the Unexpected. But it was in the sitcom Chance in a Million that she really made herself known to the general British public.

In the early 90s, Brenda Blethyn made her film debut. She began her career on the big screen in Les Sorcières by Nicolas Roeg. In 1996, she starred in Mike Leigh’s Secrets and Lies. Thanks to this film, she won the Palme d’Or in the Best Actress category at the Cannes Film Festival, the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Dramatic Film. She was also nominated for an Oscar as best actress. In 1998, she was this time nominated in the category best actress in a supporting role at the Oscars thanks to her interpretation in Little Voice by Mark Herman. After several appearances on the big screen, Brenda Blethyn’s career took on a new lease of life thanks to the series Vera’s Investigations in 2011. For its first season, the series gathered nearly 6.6 million viewers on the British channel ITV. A success that has been confirmed over the years… and for good reason, it already has 11 seasons!

For more than 30 years, Brenda Blethyn has shared her life with Michael Mayhew, former head of graphic design at the National Theater in London. In an interview with the Guardian in 2010, she revealed that she finally married her partner this year… 35 years after his marriage proposal!

With the Dailymail in 2014, the actress revealed the ingredients of the success of her couple: “I think it helps that I am in Northumberland half the time filming Vera […] But more seriously, I sincerely think it’s about having our own space,” she said. Before continuing: “We have a place on the coast in my home town of Ramsgate in Kent, and even when we are there we sit in separate rooms, Michael with his music in one, me with my crossword in another one”. The actress indicates that humor is the other essential ingredient for a couple that lasts, specifying that her husband is the only man who made her laugh “like no one else”.

Brenda Blethyn is fully fulfilled in her personal and professional life. The actress also assumes that she does not have children. “Do I regret not having children? No. Do I ever think about it? Yes,” she told the Guardian. The actress also explains that she considered adoption for a while. “But it’s no use having regrets, it’s a waste of energy,” she said.