Aitken was born in Dublin, Ireland, the daughter of Sir William Aitken, a Conservative MP, and Penelope Aitken, whose father was John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby. Her grandfather was the UK Representative to Ireland (1939–49). She is a great-niece of newspaper magnate and war-time minister Lord Beaverbrook, and sister to former Conservative cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken. She attended Riddlesworth Hall Preparatory School in Norfolk, Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset and St Anne's College, Oxford, where she graduated with a degree in English Language and Literature. She has directed several plays in the West End and on Broadway. Her production of The 39 Steps, which ran in London for nine years, also played three years on Broadway and won Olivier and Tony Awards. In 2011, she directed Frank Langella in Man and Boy on Broadway. She is a Visiting Lecturer at Yale, NYU and Juilliard drama schools. Her extensive acting career includes leading roles at the Royal National Theatre, the Royal Shakespeare Company and in the West End. She has played more Noël Coward leads than any other actress. Her film career includes appearances in Doctor Faustus (1967), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Half Moon Street (1986), A Fish Called Wanda (1988) (for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award), The Fool (1990), The Grotesque (1995), Fierce Creatures (1997), Jinnah (1998) and Asylum (2005). She is the author of A Girdle Round the Earth, a story of some of the more remarkable women travellers of the last 200 years, and Style: Acting in High Comedy, published in 1996, which contends that "High comedies are not bloodless, refined, wordy plays — their themes are sex, money and social advancement. They contain a splendid contradiction: wit and elegance at the service of man's basest drives." From Wikipedia
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 12, 1945 (81)
- Dublin, Ireland
- Actor, also producer
- 10 on MovieCove · 31 credits in all
What are Maria Aitken's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Survival.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 1 · Wry 0 · Earnest 5
A split, not a type: Light 2 · Serious 1 · Dark 3
Grounded 2 · Stylized 3 · Heightened 1
Gentle 1 · Charged 3 · Intense 2
Steady 1 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 2
A split, not a type: Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 2
A split, not a type: Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 1
Casual 1 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 2
Easy watch 2 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 2
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Maria Aitken's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 10 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on MGM+ (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Maria Aitken's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
31 credits, 10 with a MovieCove page; 3 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Asylum(2005)
Midcredits score: 40th percentile of all films
Spider(2002)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all films
Jinnah(1998)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Fierce Creatures(1997)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all films
The Grotesque (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1995)
Love on a Branch Line (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1994)
The Fool (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1990)
A Fish Called Wanda(1988)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all films
Michael Caine on Acting in Film, Arts and Entertainment (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1987)
Half Moon Street(1986)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films
Poor Little Rich Girls (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1984)
Bedroom Farce (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Company and Co (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1980)
Whinfrey's Last Case (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
Don't Be Silly (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1979)
Jemima Shore Investigates (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
Quiet as a Nun (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1978)
Romance (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1977)
Out of the Trees(1976)
Midcredits score: 64th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Scotch on the Rocks (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1973)
The Edwardians (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)
Crown Court (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)
The Regiment (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1972)
Mary, Queen of Scots(1971)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
Justice (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1971)
Codename (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1970)
Manhunt (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1970)
Counterstrike (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1969)
Some Girls Do(1969)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Doctor Faustus(1967)
Midcredits score: 29th percentile of all films
ITV Playhouse (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1967)
Career shape
Star power in the 87th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 31 titles from 1967 to 2005; peak year 1987.
Film career
Peak 1987 · fewer prominent film roles lately. Film roles by billing, audience size and rating; 25+ votes. A show carries a single first-air date, so shows are not on the curve.
- 1967Screen debut· Doctor Faustus
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored. Billing is TMDB cast order for roles with 25+ votes, billed in the top 30.
How do Maria Aitken's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 60th percentile, the median of all 10; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 72nd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th3
- 25th to 49th3
- Below 25th1
Shape of the crowd
5 of their 10 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser4
- Mixed5
Reviewers score the acting 79/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles; fans 85, detractors 52. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Maria Aitken's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Maria Aitken work with?
People who share at least 2 of Maria Aitken's MovieCove titles; Patrick McGrath shares the most, 2.
- Patrick McGrathShared titles: Asylum (2005), Spider (2002)See all 2 shared titles with Patrick McGrath
