Joan Washington trained as a voice teacher at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. For the last twenty years Joan has been the regular dialect coach at the Royal Court and the Royal National Theatres, where she first worked with John Madden. She has also taught at RADA.
She has worked on numerous productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End of London and extensively on television films. She has coached over 350 accents.
Feature films include: The Bounty, Yentl, Greystoke, Plenty, Prick Up Your Ears, A World Apart, Buster, Damage, Second Best, Deadly Advice, 101 and 102 Dalmatians, Little Drummer Girl, Cry Freedom, French Kiss, Eugene Onegin, Jane Eyre and the forthcoming Charlotte Gray..
Actors coached include Mel Gibson, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Emma Thompson, Michael Gambon, Juliet Stephenson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Joseph Fiennes, Julie Walters, Kevin Costner, Jude Law, Ewan McGregor, Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, Jim Broadbent, Jeremy Irons, Glenn Close, Richard E. Grant, Miranda Richardson, John Gielgud, Olivia Williams, Kate Beckinsale, Juliette Binoche, Liv Tyler, Kevin Kline, Denzel Washington, Jodhi May, Joely Richardson, William Hurt, Julie Christie, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Vanessa Redgrave, Lynn Redgrave, Ian McKellen, Eileen Atkins, Greta Scacchi, Elaine Paige, Donald Sutherland.