Biography

Matilda Ziegler is an English actress, best known for her roles as Donna Ludlow in EastEnders, Irma Gobb in Mr. Bean, and Pearl Pratt in Lark Rise to Candleford. Ziegler's first screen role was in her early twenties, during 1987–89; she appeared in the BBC One soap opera EastEnders, playing Donna Ludlow, the illegitimate daughter of series regular Kathy Beale. Donna contended with prostitution, an attempted gang rape, heroin addiction and finally suicide (dying of a heroin overdose). The final death scenes of Ziegler's character, who had choked to death on her own vomit, have been hailed as one of the most powerful anti-drug images ever screened on the programme. She left EastEnders in April 1989. In the early 1990s, Ziegler starred in the ITV comedy Mr. Bean, where she played multiple characters, especially a three-episode stint as Irma Gobb, the title character's long-suffering girlfriend. She reprised her role as Gobb, voicing her in Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, from 2002 to 2004, and in the revived series from 2015 to 2019. Other television credits include: Lark Rise to Candleford (2008–2010) in which she played the part of Pearl Pratt, in the BBC adaptation of Flora Thompson's novel; Harbour Lights (1999); Where the Heart Is (2000); Holby City (2003); An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (1998); The Bill (2003), and Home, alongside Anthony Sher in an adaptation of J.G. Ballard's novel. Ziegler played Ruth, wife of car salesman Toni, in the BBC sitcom Swiss Toni (2003–04). She also appeared in the BAFTA Television Award winning drama, Sex Traffic (2004). In 2005, she played Christine Miller in the fourth series of The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, and in 2007, she guest starred in the BBC One daytime medical drama Doctors as Jess Butler. She also appeared in Outnumbered, Lewis (in the episode 'The Soul of Genius', 2012), Death in Paradise (2013), and Vera (in the episode "Young Gods", 2013). In 2015, she appeared in an episode of Foyle's War, and in series 4 episode of Call the Midwife. In 2020 she appeared in a second season episode of The Alienist, and appeared in two episodes of The Girlfriend Experience in 2021. Ziegler's film roles include Decadence (1994), Jilting Joe (1998), City Slacker (2012), and The Rhythm Section (2019) where she played Blake Lively's mother.