Editing Brenda Blethyn (section)

==Early life and education==
Born in [[Ramsgate]], [[Kent]], Blethyn was the youngest of nine children in a [[Roman Catholic]], working-class family. Her mother, Louisa Kathleen (née Supple; 10 May 1904 – 21 June 1992), was a housewife and former maid who had met Blethyn's father, William Charles Bottle (5 March 1894 – 9 January 1985) in approximately 1922 while working for the same household in [[Broadstairs]], Kent.<ref name="ss">[http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=73&pid=643256&agid=2] {{Dead link|date=September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/2012/05/famous-family-trees-brenda-blethyn/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202052416/http://blog.findmypast.co.uk/2012/05/famous-family-trees-brenda-blethyn/|url-status=dead|title=Famous family trees: Brenda Blethyn |archive-date=2 February 2013}}</ref> Bottle had previously worked as a [[shepherd]], and spent six years in [[British India]] with the [[Royal Field Artillery]] immediately prior to returning home to Broadstairs to become the family's [[chauffeur]].<ref name="ss"/> Before [[WWII]], he found work as a mechanic at the [[Vauxhall]] [[car factory]] in [[Luton]], [[Bedfordshire]].<ref name="ss"/>

The family lived in poor circumstances at their<!-- whose? --> maternal grandmother's home.{{when|date=September 2024}} In 1944, after an engagement of 20 years and the births of eight children, the couple wed and moved into a small rented house in Ramsgate.<ref name="ss"/> By the time Blethyn was born in 1946, her three eldest siblings—Pam, Ted, and Bernard—had already left home.<ref name="ss"/> Her parents introduced Blethyn to film, taking her to the cinema weekly.<ref>[http://brendablethyn.info/transcripts/torontosun.php New High For Brenda]. ''Toronto Sun''. 8 August 2000 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114152627/http://brendablethyn.info/transcripts/torontosun.php |date=14 January 2009 }}</ref>

Blethyn trained at [[technical college]] and worked as a [[stenographer]] and [[bookkeeper]] for a bank as a young adult. Towards the end of her first marriage, she opted to turn her hobby of [[amateur theatre|amateur dramatics]] to her professional advantage. After studying at the [[Guildford School of Acting]], she went onto the London stage in 1976, performing several seasons at the [[Royal National Theatre]]. In the following three years, she participated in ''[[Troilus and Cressida]]'', ''[[Tamburlaine the Great]]'', ''[[The Fruits of Enlightenment]]'' opposite Sir [[Ralph Richardson]], ''[[Bedroom Farce (play)|Bedroom Farce]]'', ''The Passion'', and ''Strife''.<ref>[https://www.broadway.com//gen/Buzz_Star_File.aspx?ci=42254 Profile at Broadway.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061111032244/http://www.broadway.com/gen/Buzz_Star_File.aspx?ci=42254 |date=11 November 2006 }}. Retrieved December 2005</ref>