Desdemona Desdemona Desdemona () is a character in William Shakespeare's play "Othello" (c. 1601–1604). Shakespeare's Desdemona is a Venetian beauty who enrages and disappoints her father, a Venetian senator, when she elopes with Othello, a Moorish man several years her senior. When her husband is deployed to Cyprus in the service of the Republic of Venice, Desdemona accompanies him. There, her husband is manipulated by his ensign Iago into believing she is an adulteress, and, in the last act, she is murdered by her estranged spouse. The role has attracted notable actresses through the centuries and has the distinction of being
Joyce Redman Woman". Redman also appeared in a few films. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in "Tom Jones" (1963); and again for "Othello" (1965), in which she appeared as Emilia to the Desdemona of Maggie Smith and the Othello of Laurence Olivier. Her work on "Othello" also earned her a Golden Globe nomination. Redman married Charles Wynne Roberts in New York City in 1949; he predeceased her. She is survived by their three children and five grandchildren. Her niece is actress Amanda Redman. Redman died in Pembury, Kent, England, on 9 May 2012