Florence Pugh gives life to the Marvel Comics character Yelena Belova, the Black Widow’s younger sister. Today is her 26th birthday.

The English actress/singer worked in her first Marvel movie with the Black Widow movie and reprised the role in the Hawkeye Disney+ miniseries, Audiences had recently seen her in the 2019 horror film Midsommar.

Who is Florence Pugh?

Florence Pugh was born January 3, 1996 (Professor J. R. R. Tolkien’s birthday) in Oxford, England. Between the ages of three and six, she and her family lived in Spain. She suffered from tracheomalacia, a collapsed windpipe, and her family hoped the warmer climate would be beneficial to her health and preclude the need for further hospitalizations.

She comes from a talented family. Her mother was a dancer. Her brother is actor/musician Toby Sebastian, (Trystane Martell in The Game of Thrones). One of her sisters, Arabella Gibbins, is also an actress. From 2013 to 2016, Florence Pugh sang songs on YouTube under the name Flossie Rose.

She made her professional acting debut in 2014, playing Abbie Mortimer in The Falling. Her performance earned praise from film critics. The London Fim Critics Circle nominated her for young British/Irish Performer of the Year. At the BFI London Film Festival, she was nominated for Best British Newcomer.

In 2017, Florence Pugh was nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award, but that year the prize went to Black Panther‘s Daniel Kaluuya (W’Kabi, Chief of the Border Tribe, trainer of war rhinos. husband of General Okoye).

F. Pugh in 2020

2018 was a busy year for Florence Pugh. She played Princess Cordelia to Sir Anthony Hopkins’ King Lear. In Outlaw/King she played Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of the Earl of Ulster and second wife of Robert the Bruce. She starred as Charmian “Charlie” Ross in the mini-series The Little Drummer Girl, based on the John Le Carre novel.

Florence Pugh went from a British starlet to an international star in 2019. She starred as Paige in Fighting With My Family . She played Amy March in Little Women. She was nominated for both the Oscar and the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress as Amy March, and of course she starred as Dani Ardor in the jarring horror film Midsommar.

Florence Pugh is not yet thirty, but has already had a career more experienced actors can envy. We wish her a happy birthday and a career as long and fruitful as Betty White‘s. We can expect great things from her in the years to come.

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Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children's book "R is for Renaissance Faire", as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in "Alternative Truths", "Swords and Sorceress #30", Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, "Cat Tails" "Under Western Stars", and "Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid". Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio's web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.