MacLaine, the 77-year-old American actress who also has six Emmy awards and seven golden globes, will be joining the cast of Downton when they begin filming the third series next month.
She will play a new character, Martha Levinson, who is the mother of the Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern).
Martha Levinson has been created by writer Julian Fellowes as a sparring partner for the imperious Dowager Countess, played by the equally imperious Dame Maggie Smith.
Laura Mackie, the director of drama at ITV, said, 'It is so exciting to have an actress of Shirley MacLaine's stature joining our brilliant Downton Abbey cast for series three and a tribute to the show's success on both sides of the Atlantic.'
MacLaine is the sister of actor Warren Beatty, and has starred in more than 60 films.
She made her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry in 1955 and was nominated for five Academy Awards before she finally won the Best Actress award for her performance in James L Brooks's Terms of Endearment in 1983. MacLaine last appeared in Richard Linklater's comedy Bernie, where she starred opposite Jack Black.
Downton Abbey, which follows life above and below stairs in a country house in Yorkshire between 1912 and 1920, has proved a huge success in the UK with over 11.6 million viewers tuning in to watch a special episode broadcast on Christmas Day.
But the series has also been a hit in the United States, with 4.2 million viewers watching the first episode of the second series on US TV network PBS.
American TV critics have also been enthusiastic. The New York Post awarded the first episode four stars, saying that the series 'seamlessly moves between the horrors of war and the gentility of life in the show’s titular 100-room manor.'
Series three of Downton Abbey will be broadcast on ITV1 in September.
Credits: telegraph.co.uk and facebook.com/Downton Abbey Series 3.2012.
Interviews about Upstairs, Downstairs and DA and more, perhaps interesting to take a look at:
Credit: facebook, Downton Abbey Series 3.2012.
She will play a new character, Martha Levinson, who is the mother of the Countess of Grantham (Elizabeth McGovern).
Martha Levinson has been created by writer Julian Fellowes as a sparring partner for the imperious Dowager Countess, played by the equally imperious Dame Maggie Smith.
Laura Mackie, the director of drama at ITV, said, 'It is so exciting to have an actress of Shirley MacLaine's stature joining our brilliant Downton Abbey cast for series three and a tribute to the show's success on both sides of the Atlantic.'
MacLaine is the sister of actor Warren Beatty, and has starred in more than 60 films.
She made her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble with Harry in 1955 and was nominated for five Academy Awards before she finally won the Best Actress award for her performance in James L Brooks's Terms of Endearment in 1983. MacLaine last appeared in Richard Linklater's comedy Bernie, where she starred opposite Jack Black.
Downton Abbey, which follows life above and below stairs in a country house in Yorkshire between 1912 and 1920, has proved a huge success in the UK with over 11.6 million viewers tuning in to watch a special episode broadcast on Christmas Day.
But the series has also been a hit in the United States, with 4.2 million viewers watching the first episode of the second series on US TV network PBS.
American TV critics have also been enthusiastic. The New York Post awarded the first episode four stars, saying that the series 'seamlessly moves between the horrors of war and the gentility of life in the show’s titular 100-room manor.'
Series three of Downton Abbey will be broadcast on ITV1 in September.
Credits: telegraph.co.uk and facebook.com/Downton Abbey Series 3.2012.
Interviews about Upstairs, Downstairs and DA and more, perhaps interesting to take a look at:
Credit: facebook, Downton Abbey Series 3.2012.
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