‘My Own Family Now Is Just Me’: Miriam Margolyes Opens up About Her Personal Life in Honest Conversation

She has spent over 60 years making the world laugh, shared screens with Hollywood royalty, and built a reputation for saying exactly what everyone else only thinks. But behind the irreverence and the joy, the actress carries a story of quiet grief.

Miriam Margolyes, the actress and comedian beloved by millions, has opened up in a series of candid interviews over the years about the deeply personal life beneath her famous wit.

Miriam Margolyes during the filming of "The Graham Norton Show" on 20 February 2014 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

From a fiercely loving Oxford childhood to the slow disappearance of a family she now describes as "just me," the portrait she paints is one of warmth, grief, and extraordinary resilience.

Miriam Margolyes at the "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2" premiere in Trafalgar Square on 7 July 2011 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

Born in Oxford, where she was reportedly dubbed the naughtiest girl at school, Margolyes went on to study at Newnham College, Cambridge.

It was there, performing with the Footlights theatrical group, that she became the sole woman in the 1962 Cambridge Footlights, alongside John Cleese, Graham Chapman, and the cohort of men who would go on to form Monty Python and the Goodies.

Miriam Margolyes photographed during an interview for the BBC Radio 4 play "Afternoon Theatre - The Bashful Canary" as well as the BBC Radio 2 soap opera "Waggoners' Walk" on 26 October 1972. | Source: Getty Images

However, the experience was far from entirely happy. In her autobiography, the actress recalled that Cleese, alongside Bill Oddie and Tim Brooke-Taylor, sent her "to Coventry," leaving her bullied and ridiculed. She wrote:

"I'd not met studied cruelty like that before. I was 19 and it was painful. I used to go back to my room and weep, but I got over it…sort of."

Miriam Margolyes as Nanette Streicherova in the film "Immortal Beloved," circa 1994. | Source: Getty Images

Still, it did nothing to dull her spirit. Over the decades that followed, Margolyes built a remarkable career alongside Leonardo DiCaprio, Barbra Streisand, and Martin Scorsese, among many others.

The actress has also traced her family roots to Glasgow's Gorbals, Govanhill, and Pollokshields with great feeling, and although she holds both British and Australian nationality, she identifies as a Scot.

Miriam Margolyes at the BAFTA/LA's Eighth Annual Britannia Award Salute to John Travolta on 15 October 1998 in California, United States. | Source: Getty Images

"I was thrilled Alan [Cumming] asked me to join him on the trip around Scotland," Margolyes shared. "It was a very emotional experience, revisiting the very places where my father was born and lived and all the sites around that were familiar to him."

Miriam Margolyes during the premiere of "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People" on 24 September 2008. | Source: Getty Images

Growing up an only child in Oxford, Margolyes was raised with such fierce and consuming love by her GP father, Joseph, and her property developer mother, Ruth, that she once described the family as a "fortress." The closeness, she has said, never truly left her.

Miriam Margolyes at the Women in Film and TV Awards on 4 December 2009 at the Hilton Hotel in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

"I don't for a second regret my closeness to them because they were wonderful, golden parents who gave me so much confidence," she once revealed. "The umbilical cord was never completely cut, metaphorically speaking, so I still feel massively connected to them long after their deaths."

Miriam Margolyes during the filming of "The Graham Norton Show" on 20 February 2014 in London, Englnd. | Source: Getty Images

However, being an only child came with its own complications. In a 2012 interview, the actress reflected that the intensity of that family bond had focused her perhaps too narrowly on her parents, and she admitted it had made her "appallingly selfish throughout my life."

Miriam Margolyes at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards on 31 October 2016 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

She was also, she said, terribly anxious to make friends. Then, in her 20s, Margolyes told her mother about her relationship with a woman. The revelation was a significant shock.

Her parents had longed for their daughter to have a conventional Jewish marriage with children, and she has since said she cannot be entirely certain the shock did not contribute to the severe stroke her mother suffered shortly afterwards.

Miriam Margolyes seen at the ITV Studios on 8 January 2018 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

Her father's reaction was no easier to bear. He was appalled and disgusted, she said, and made her promise she would never sleep with a woman again. The actress added:

"But I don't think it ever affected the love he had for me."

Miriam Margolyes photographed for the play "The Lady in the Van" at the Melbourne Theatre Company on 7 January 2018 in Australia. | Source: Getty Images

Margolyes's mother sadly died in 1974 at 69, after seven years of illness following the stroke. Her father lived until he was 96 and spent the final decade of his life at her London home.

"I think of my parents every day. I hear the echo of them all the time and I see them in my mind's eye," she said. "I can hear my father because he lived until he was 96 and stayed with me in my house in London for the last 10 years of his life."

Miriam Margolyes photographed for the play "The Lady in the Van" at the Melbourne Theatre Company on 7 January 2018 in Australia. | Source: Getty Images

Her mother's silence also weighs on her still. "[...] For seven-and-a-half years, she couldn't really speak or move. I have forgotten the sound of her voice and that makes me so sad," Margolyes shared.

It was this slow disappearance of the family she had always known that drew her towards genealogy in later life. "My own family now is just me, and the few cousins who are left. I went into genealogy to find my family," the famous actress revealed.

In recent years, writing her autobiography gave Margolyes the space to take honest stock of an extraordinary life. "I am more famous now than I have ever been which is funny when you are 80. I could never have envisaged this," she reflected.

"I don't think you do when you're young; you just live the moment. Now I do think into the future and I know there is not much of it," the actress added.

Miriam Margolyes at the "Where is Peter Rabbit?" gala performance at Theatre Royal Haymarket on 9 April 2019 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

Chat show invitations have been plentiful, she admitted, but she declined them all. The theatre, too, was something she no longer had the stamina for.

Even "Strictly Come Dancing" had failed to tempt her. Instead, her priorities settled quietly into place — more documentaries, radio, and the woman she has loved for over 50 years.

Miriam Margolyes at the "Where is Peter Rabbit?" gala performance at Theatre Royal Haymarket on 9 April 2019 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

Margolyes and her partner spent more than a year apart during the pandemic, and have since reunited at their home in Italy. Time together, she has made clear, is now her highest priority. The actress revealed:

"When you think about death, about the nothingness ahead and you don't know what it is going to be like, it is scary. But you can't think about it too much or you wouldn't enjoy the joy. You have to live for now."

Miriam Margolyes during the filming for "The Graham Norton Show" at BBC Studioworks 6 Television on 9 January 2020 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

As for her parents, she still feels her mother most strongly in music. "When I hear pieces of music that my mother liked, I weep," Margolyes said. "I think it's true that the people you've loved in your life never leave you because seeds of that love always remain flowering somewhere."

Miriam Margolyes during the filming for "The Graham Norton Show" at BBC Studioworks 6 Television on 9 January 2020 in London, England. | Source: Getty Images

Margolyes's candid reflections have since resonated strongly with many who admire her outspoken personality. "Goddess Queen Warrior Woman thank you. Hugs 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥❤️," one person shared.

"Miriam is usually known for having no filters at all. What I really see in her is not only a very good and funny artist, but a human being so full of love and kindness to give. She's a real treasure! 🥰" another wrote.

Miriam Margolyes during the Oxford Literary Festival on 29 March 2025 in Oxford, England. | Source: Getty Images

Others were simply glad to hear her speak so freely, as a third netizen commented, "Funny, dirty, very open and honest. love to hear her talk. 😎"

However, another person offered the more searching observation, "She's often crude and rude, in a desperate need for attention. So when she's being vulnerable, it's a surprise."

Miriam Margolyes photographed ahead of the 98th Oscars Nominees Luncheon on 10 February 2026 in California, United States. | Source: Getty Images

Still, even among differing opinions, Margolyes's honesty remains unmistakable — a trait that has defined both her career and her life story. But behind the irreverent jokes and famously naughty humour stands a woman who has lived boldly, loved deeply, and continues to reflect on the experiences that shaped her.