Gerda Stevenson
Scottish actress, director and writer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gerda Stevenson (born April 10, 1956) is a Scottish actress, director and writer.
Gerda Stevenson | |
|---|---|
Stevenson at Authors' Reading Month, 2014 | |
| Born | 10 April 1956 West Linton, Peeblesshire, Scotland |
| Alma mater | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupations | Actress, director, writer |
| Years active | 1976-2014 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Family | Ronald Stevenson (father) Savourna Stevenson (sister) |
Known for her wide-ranging works in media, her notable stage roles include the title character in Edwin Morgan's English translation of Racine's Phèdre, and Lady Macbeth. In film, she starred alongside Celia Imrie in Margaret Tait's Blue Black Permanent (1992) and played the mother of Murron MacClannough in Braveheart (1995), winning the BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actress for the former.[1] Stevenson was described by The Scotsman in 1999 as "Scotland's finest actress".
In addition to her screen and stage work, Stevenson is also a playwright, poet, and frequently appears on radio; as a reader of short stories and as an actress in adaptations.
Early life
Stevenson was born on April 10, 1956, in the small village of West Linton in Peeblesshire, Scotland, where she was raised.[2] Her father was Scottish musician and composer Ronald Stevenson.[3][4]
Career
Stevenson's play Federer vs. Murray has toured New York City and her poetry collection If This Were Real was published by Smokestack Books in 2013. In 2019, her poems illustrated the paintings of her one-time neighbour, Scottish painter Christian Small, in the book Inside & Out - The Art of Christian Small, published by Scotland Street Press.[5] She was a contributing writer to the 2024 book Feminist Theatre Then & Now: Celebrating 50 years.
Her radio work consists of several performances of poems and songs by Robert Burns for the BBC,[6] as well as numerous radio dramas: Self-Control by Mary Brunton as Laura Montreville; For the Love of Willie by Agnes Owens as Liza; The Heart of Midlothian by Sir Walter Scott for BBC Radio 4, nominated for a Sony Award in 2008, as Jeanie Deans;[7] and Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.[8] She has also written radio dramas including: Island Blue,[9] Secrets: The Punter's Tale,[10] Secrets: The Escort's Tale[11] and The Apple Tree.[12] She directed the Afternoon Play The Price of a Fish Supper.[13]
In 2002, she played Helen Gilmore in the soap opera River City.[14]
Stevenson won a BAFTA Best Film Actress Award for her role in Margaret Tait's feature film Blue Black Permanent, and has been twice nominated for the CATS awards.[15]
Stevenson directed the film The Storm Watchers, the script for which was written by George Mackay Brown, for the St. Magnus International Festival. She wrote and directed the film Paper Portraits (2025), about workers in the Midlothian paper-making industry, for Penicuik Community Arts Association.[16]
Credits
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Tickets for the Zoo | Children's Home Worker | |
| 1992 | Blue Black Permanent | Greta Thorburn | |
| 1995 | Braveheart | Mother MacClannough | |
| 1997 | Flight: Searching for Scotland | Narrator | Short film |
| 1998 | The Boyhood of John Muir | ||
| 2004 | Dead Man Falls | Mrs. MacLeod | Short film |
| 2005 | Foighidinn: The Crimson Snowdrop | Sea Witch | |
| 2013 | Kiss the Water | Herself | Voice role |
Film (as director)
| Year | Title | Distributor | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | The Storm Watchers | St Magnus International Festival | [17] |
| 2025 | Paper Portraits | Penicuik Community Arts Association | [18] |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Play for Today | Rachel Galt | 1 episode |
| 1980 | Square Mile of Murder | Madeleine Smith | 2 episodes |
| 1983 | Grey Granite | Ellen Johns | 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Horizon | Jane Bailey | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Taggart | Mary Imrie | 1 episode |
| 1993 | The Bill | Anne Douglas | 1 episode |
| 1993 | Doctor Finlay | Agnes Miller | 1 episode |
| 1994 | The High Life | Avril | 1 episode |
| 1996 | Rough Justice | Sandra James | 1 episode |
| 1999 | Life Support | Claire Matheson | 1 episode |
| 2000 | The Bill | Annie McCluskey | 1 episode |
| 2002 | Midsomer Murders | Sandra Bradshaw | 1 episode |
| 2002-2003 | River City | Helen Gilmore | |
| 2005-2007 | Heartbeat | Mrs. Cameron | 4 episodes |
| 2014 | Shetland | Maria Markham | 2 episodes |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre Company | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaites | Hameliness | Scottish Theatre Company | Tom Fleming | play by Sir David Lyndsey, adapted by Robert Kemp |
| 1985 | Life of Galileo | Virginia | Scottish Theatre Company | Peter Dews | play by Bertolt Brecht |
| 2010 | The Government Inspector | The Governor's Wife | Commudicado | Gerry Mulgrew | play by Nikolai Gogol |
Radio
| Date | Title | Role | Director | Station |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 September 1982 – 10 October 1982 | The Bride of Lammermoor | BBC Radio 4 | ||
| 16 May 1985 | Watching Waiters | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | ||
| 13 March 1990 | Fair Kirsten | Marilyn Imrie | BBC Radio 3 | |
| 1 June 1990 | The Interview | Reader | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Morning Story |
| 11 June 1990 | Blood and Ice | Marilyn Imrie | BBC Radio 4 The Monday Play | |
| 27 October 1990 | Witchwood | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Playhouse | ||
| 7 February 1995 | The Upshot | BBC Radio 4 Thirty Minute Theatre | ||
| 14 December 1997 | The Secret Commonwealth | fairy voice | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
| 22 January 1998 | Tam o'Shanter | Hamish Wilson | BBC Radio 4 | |
| 21 March 1998 (Recorded on 22 February 1998) | Camelot[19] | Nimue | BBC Radio 2 | |
| 6 December 1999 – 13 December 1999 | The Last Days of Mankind | Giles Havergal | BBC Radio 3 Sunday Play | |
| 5 February 2001 – 16 February 2001 | Telling Liddy | Bridie | Pam Wardell | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
| 11 February 2001 | Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off | Mary, Queen of Scots / Marian | Marilyn Imrie | BBC Radio 4 |
| 11 March 2001 | Every Bit of It | Georgia | Susan Roberts | BBC Radio 4 |
| 19 February 2002 | A Hundred Miles[20] | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play | |
| 25 August 2002 – 1 September 2002 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie[21] | Jean Brodie | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial |
| 25 January 2003 – 1 February 2003 | Inspector Rebus: The Falls[22] | Jean Burchill | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 The Saturday Play |
| 31 March 2003 – 11 April 2003 | Self-Control | Laura Montreville | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
| 6 May 2003 | The Whole Story and Other Stories: Gothic by Ali Smith | Reader | David Jackson Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading |
| 5 April 2004 – 9 April 2004 | For the Love of Willie | Liza | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
| 10 January 2005 – 21 January 2005 | The Gowk Storm | Innkeeper's Wife | David Ian Neville | BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour Drama |
| 31 March 2005 | Wooden Heart | Uta | Mary Ward Lowery | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| 16 May 2005 | A Breath from Other Planets | Mathilde | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| 25 February 2006 | Christabel's Anarchist | Christabel | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play |
| 7 August 2006 – 2 October 2006 | Paul Temple and the Sullivan Mystery[23] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
| 30 August 2006 | The Madeleine Effect: Mangoes by Joanna Blythman | Reader | Kirsty Williams | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Reading |
| 9 September 2007 – 16 September 2007 | The Heart of Midlothian[7] | Jeanie Deans | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Classic Serial |
| 23 March 2008 | The Muse of Rose Street[24] | Reader | Monise Durrani | BBC Radio 4 |
| 16 May 2008 – 4 July 2008 | Paul Temple and the Madison Mystery[25] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
| 4 December 2009 | Distributing Dave[26] | BBC Radio Scotland Drama | ||
| 22 December 2009 | The Three Knots[27] | Old Woman | Kirsty Williams | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| 11 June 2010 – 30 July 2010 | Paul Temple and Steve[28] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
| 23 September 2010 | The Second Mr Bailey[29] | Margaret | Bruce Young | BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play |
| 25 January 2011 | The Culture Café: Completely Burns[30] | Reader | Esme Kennedy | BBC Radio Scotland |
| 14 February 2011 | The Book Café[31] | Reader | BBC Radio Scotland | |
| 28 February 2011 | Secrets: The Punter's Tale[10] | Cara | Bruce Young | BBC Radio Scotland Drama |
| 8 May 2011 | Hume, the Philosophical Historian[32] | Reader | Louise Yeoman | BBC Radio 3 Sunday Feature |
| 24 August 2011 – 12 October 2011 | A Case for Paul Temple[33] | Steve | Patrick Rayner | BBC Radio 4 |
| 12 October 2011 | I Confess: The Power of the Confession[34] | Isobel Gowdie | Liza Greig | BBC Radio 3 The Essay |
Personal life
Stevenson was married to Scottish Gaelic poet Aonghas MacNeacail from 1980 until his death in 2022. They have two children.[35]
Her sister, Savourna Stevenson, has recorded works on the Scottish harp, the clàrsach.
She is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.