Humanitarian of the Week: Keeley Hawes

Model, actress and voice artist, Keeley Hawes is known throughout the U.K. for her notable appearances on long-running television programs. Her image has graced dozens of magazines and she has lent her voice to a variety of popular projects including video games.


In 2010, Miss Hawes joined the elegant and always wonderful Jean Marsh, the redoubtable Eileen Atkins (who created the program with Marsh) and Ed Stoppard for the long-awaited continuation of Upstairs, Downstairs for BBC 1. Portraying Lady Agnes Holland, the newest mistress of 165 Eaton Place, Hawes had some rather imposing shoes to fill as she continued in the path started by Rachel Gurney’s “Lady Marjorie Bellamy,” Meg Wynn Owen as Lady Marjorie’s successor, “Hazel Bellamy,” and, later, Hannah Gordon as “Virginia Bellamy, Viscountess of Haversham.” Still. Hawes doesn’t mimic her predecessors and makes her Lady Agnes a unique creation, a woman of the 1930’s with her own mind. While her portrayal offers a respectful nod to the previous ladies of 165, she commands both the address and the show with strong and sensitive performances.

In addition to her work in television, Miss Hawes has performed in several major motion pictures: The Avengers (1998), The Last September, Complicity (2000), A Cock and Bull Story (2006), The Bank Job (2008),and Flashbacks of a Fool with Daniel Craig.

Despite her impressive work, Hawes most lasting contribution, however, is her work with CHASE (Children’s Hospice Association for the South East). For quite some time, Miss Hawes has donated her time and talents to supporting CHASE, even recording voice-overs for a virtual tour of the hospice’s Surrey location, Christopher House.

For her wonderful work both onstage and off, Keeley Hawes is our “Humanitarian of the Week.” Enjoy this clip of Miss Hawes as Lady Agnes from the recent reincarnation of Upstairs, Downstairs. Here, we see Agnes encountering her mother-in-law (and her monkey-in-law) for the first time.