Harry Potter's Miriam Margolyes 'should be stripped of OBE'

Miriam Margolyes played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. <i>(Image: PA MEDIA)</i>
Miriam Margolyes played Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films. (Image: PA MEDIA)
This article is brought to you by our exclusive subscriber partnership with our sister title USA Today, and has been written by our American colleagues. It does not necessarily reflect the view of The Herald.

Calls have been made for Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes to be stripped of her OBE by a leading anti-semitism group.

The actress starred in several of the wizarding world's films as Professor Sprout.

Known for her character actor work across film, television, and stage, she received the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Mrs Mingott in Martin Scorsese's 1993 film, The Age of Innocence.

The 84-year-old was awarded an OBE in 2002 for Services to drama, but there are now calls for this to be taken back.

The actress was born in Oxford and grew up in the city.The actress was born in Oxford and grew up in the city. (Image: Jennifer Robertson)

Ms Margolyes, who is Jewish, recently spoke to The Big Issue about Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.

The actress said that it reminded her of the Holocaust and added: “The terrible thing I face is that Hitler won.

"He changed us, made us like him.”

The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) has responded to Ms Margolyes' remarks and has labelled them as “repugnant”.

A statement from the CAA said: "The fact she was born Jewish does not give her license to use her immense platform to spread anti-Jewish venom.

“This has to be the end of the road. She must be shunned by the showbiz world that has fawned and bowed until now.”

CAA added that it would write to the Honours Forfeiture Committee as well as BAFTA and urge them to revoke her titles, including her OBE.

Ms Margolyes is yet to respond publicly to the CAA's comments.

Get involved
with the news

Send your news & photos