Miranda Richardson she prefers new work rather than the classics because of the history which goes with them. In 1985, Richardson made her film debut as Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, in the biographical drama "Dance with a Stranger". Around the same time, Richardson played a comedic Queen Elizabeth I, aka Queenie, in the British television comedy "Blackadder II". Following "Dance with a Stranger", Richardson turned down numerous parts in which her character was unstable or disreputable, including the Glenn Close role in "Fatal Attraction". In this period, she appeared in "Empire of the Sun"
Cross-dressing in film and television as a central plot element. Movies in which cross-dressing plays a minor but important role include: Milton Berle was one of the most famous early cross-dressing comedians in skits and such on his NBC shows from 1948 to 1956. Harvey Korman played a hefty Jewish mother character on "The Carol Burnett Show". Flip Wilson created the memorable recurring character Geraldine Jones on "The Flip Wilson Show". The first episode of the Blackadder II series ends with Blackadder's servant, Baldrick, acting as bridesmaid, and Lord Flashheart swapping clothes and running off with Blackadder's bride. Some other comedy sketch shows, such as