Noir: British Noir Films 2. *Actresses and Their Movies
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Diminutive Irish-Italian Lisa Gastoni began her acting career in Britain after her family settled there in 1948. Though she had initially wanted to be an architect, she changed her mind and became a model and then an actress, making her debut screen appearance in 1954. She appeared mostly in B-movies, at one time under contract to British Lion. Her first featured role of note was in the naval farce The Baby and the Battleship (1956), followed by a few leads in comedies like Three Men in a Boat (1956) and Second Fiddle (1957), or crime thrillers like Menace in the Night (1957), Thunder Over Tangier (1957) and Prescription for Murder (1958). She also guest starred in two episodes of ITV's Danger Man (1960). She was briefly married in the mid-50s to a physics professor.
In 1961, Gastoni returned to Italy, following a second marriage to a Greek actor. She was immediately elevated to higher profile roles, beginning with that of legendary pirate Mary Read in the swashbuckling adventure Queen of the Seas (1961). She also paid her inevitable ornamental dues in a handful of sword-and-sandal spectacles. However, by the middle of the decade, Gastoni began to shed her 'good girl' image to parlay her prominence into a series of effective villainous portrayals: the nefarious Milady de Winter in I quattro moschettieri (1964), Lucrezia Borgia in L'uomo che ride (1966) and the wife of gangster Luciano Luttring ("the machine gun soloist") in Carlo Lizzani's Wake Up and Die (1966). This role won her a Best Actress Silver Ribbon, followed in 1968 with a Golden Plate at the David di Donatello Awards (the Italian equivalent of the Oscars) for her performance in the morbidly perverse drama Come Play with Me (1968).
In the 70s, Gastoni had yet more critical success playing seductive or sexually frustrated middle-class women in avant garde productions like Amore amaro (1974) (the story of two lovers separated by age, social background and irreconcilable political ideologies) and the morally ambiguous drama Submission (1976). She also played Benito Mussolini's mistress, Claretta Petacci, in The Last 4 Days (1974). Less well received (despite a famous score by Ennio Morricone) was the excessively arty erotic fantasy Maddalena (1971), a curious and belated foray into psychedelics.
Gastoni absented herself from the screen between 1979 and 2005 to pursue other muses (painting and writing). A more recent performance in the drama Sacred Heart (2005) won her a Best Supporting Actress nomination at the David di Donatello Awards.1935, Italy, - . 79 acting credits, 1954 - . 62 feature films.
Twist of Fate (1954). '54
Dance Little Lady (1954). '54
Thunder Over Tangier (1957). '57
Menace in the Night (1957). '57
Intent to Kill (1958). '58
Prescription for Murder (1958). '58
Female Fiends (1958). '58
Chain of Events (1958). '58
Wrong Number (1959). '59
The Great Armored Car Swindle (1961). '61
Eva (1962). 62
A Game of Crime (1964). '64. A Game of Crime.
Night of Violence (1965). '65. Night of Violence.- Actress
- Soundtrack
British stage and film actress Elizabeth Allan was born in Skegness, Lincolnshire. She made her stage debut at the age of 17; her movie debut came about four years later with an appearance in the Hercule Poirot mystery Alibi (1931).
At the beginning of her career, Allan mainly appeared in films for Julius Hagen's Twickenham Studios, but later signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 1935 was a good year for the actress, with roles in two Charles Dickens adaptations: - David Copperfield (1935) and A Tale of Two Cities (1935) - and the star-studded horror Mark of the Vampire (1935).
Allan's relationship with MGM became strained after they announced her for a leading part in The Citadel (1938), only to then replace her with Rosalind Russell. Not long following this incident, Allan was again replaced in a successful picture, this time by Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939). This was the final straw for Allan, and she successfully sued the studio, thus terminating her contract with them.
By the 1950s, Allan was taking on character roles. Notable movies of this period include No Highway in the Sky (1951), The Heart of the Matter (1953), and The Haunted Strangler (1958) (which turned out to be her final film). She also appeared on the UK version of the game show What's My Line (1951) as a panelist, which got her awarded with Great Britain's Top Female TV Personality of 1952.
Allan was married to agent Wilfred O'Bryen from 1932 to his death in 1977. She passed away on July 27, 1990 at the age of 80.1910-1990, 80. 56 acting credits, 1931-1968. 46 feature films.
The Phantom Fiend (1932). '32
Saloon Bar (1940). '40
Went the Day Well? (1942). '42
No Highway in the Sky (1951). '51
Front Page Story (1954). '54
The Brain Machine (1955). '55- Julia Arnall was a beautiful leading lady of the 1950s. Born Julia Ilse Hendrike Irmgard von Stein Liebenstein zu Bachfeld in 1928, she spent her childhood in Berlin where her father was an army officer. After the war ended she married a British Army officer, Desmond Arnall, who had been posted to Berlin. In 1950, she came to Britain with her husband and their son, Marcel. In 1952, their second son, Gabriel, was born.
She started her life as a model before becoming a Rank starlet. She appeared in bit parts in a few films before starring in the film Tears for Simon (1956), which was released in 1956 and was considered to be a reasonable film. The Rank Organisation dropped her soon afterward. She continued acting, appearing in a few television episodes, including, The Saint (1962) and Emergency-Ward 10 (1957). In 1956, she and Arnall divorced. She later remarried to Robert Ottaway, a film, television, and jazz critic. They had a daughter, Gina Carol Ottaway, who was born in 1964.1930 - . 32 acting credits, 1953-1969. 14 feature films.
Tears for Simon (1956). '56
Triple Deception (1956). '56
Chain of Events (1958). '58
Mark of the Phoenix (1958). '58
Model for Murder (1959). '59
The Trunk (1961) - Ann comes from a talented family with her sister Heather being a star actress in her own right and her father being a doctor. Ann made her television debut in 1956 and her film debut a year later. Her television work started in 1956 and includes appearances in such series as 'Emergency Ward 10','The Flying Doctor' and 'The Grove Family' while films include'The Bridge on the River Kwai', 'Crash Dive' and 'She Always Gets Their Man'.1933-1992, 59. 27 acting credits, 1956-1972. 11 feature films.
Lady of Vengeance (1957). '57
The Desperate Men (1958). '58
Man Detained (1961). '61
The Unstoppable Man (1961). '61
The Brain (1962). '62 - Muriel Aked was born on 9 November 1883 in Bingley, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Autumn Crocus (1934) and A Sister to Assist 'Er (1948). She died on 21 March 1955 in Settle, Yorkshire, England, UK.1887-1955, 67. 57 acting credits, 1922-1953.
Rome Express (1932). '32
Friday the Thirteenth (1933). '33
The Wicked Lady (1945). '45
So Evil My Love (1948). '48
The Blue Lamp (1950). '50 - Gaunt Sussex-born actress of Scottish descent whose dignified manner and plain, but expressive features qualified her for a wide range of character parts, from austere nurses and long-suffering mothers to overbearing dowagers and nosy gossips; from meddlesome chaperones to authoritarian aunts and intransigent spinsters. She rarely gave an indifferent performance and was often quite brilliant, particularly on the small screen.
Jean Anderson was the daughter of a well-to-do cloth merchant specialising in muslin. As she grew up, she aspired to become a violinist, later a tennis player. Though she did make a junior Wimbledon appearance in the 1920's, her road eventually led to training at RADA, where her acting skills were first discovered. In 1931, she joined the Richmond Repertory Company and soon found herself in a leading role opposite Robert Morley. By decade's end, she had a three year spell at Dublin's Gate Theatre as the lead in Eugene O'Neill's "Ah, Wilderness!". During the succeeding decade she regularly appeared at the West End and acted with a touring repertory company alongside Jack Hawkins in "Hamlet" and "Othello".
Following her screen debut in 1947, Anderson was able to balance both media successfully through the next half a century. Her formidable gallery of celluloid characters came to include the dependable nurses of White Corridors (1951) and Life in Her Hands (1951); the loyal maid Wilson of The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957); the matriarch in two productions of The Railway Children (1951); the cold, manipulative Mary Hammond of The Brothers (1972); forthright Lady Jocelyn Holbrook, ever troublesome to her Japanese captors in Tenko (1981), plus diverse TV guest spots and cameos, from ABC's Armchair Mystery Theatre (1960) (a notably sinister role) to Keeping Up Appearances (1990) (as the posh aristocrat Mrs. Fortescue).
In her private life Anderson enjoyed collecting porcelain, going to the races and gardening at her home in Knightsbridge .1907-2001, 93. 144 acting credits, 1947-2000. 42 feature films.
The Mark of Cain (1947). '47
Seven Days to Noon (1950). '50
High Treason (1951). '51
The Franchise Affair (1951). '51
Terror on a Train (1953). '53
Both Sides of the Law (1953). '53
Young and Willing (1954). '54
The Secret Tent (1956). '56 - Avril Angers was one of Britain's finest comedy actresses. Once dubbed Britain's answer to Lucille Ball she was a great exponent of revue, musicals, cabaret and TV and film comedy. Born in Liverpool, Angers' long and successful career in show-business began in variety. Her father was the comedian Harry Angers and her mother was Lillian Errol, a member of the original Fol-de-Rols concert party. She was 14 when she made her debut at a concert party in Brighton and the same age when she played Cinderella with Wee Georgie Wood and Clarkson Rose at Birmingham. She followed in her mother's footsteps and became a Fol-de-Rol. During the Second World War she was one of the hardest working members of ENSA, touring the remotest parts of West Africa. She was awarded the Africa Star for her work and during the forties and fifties was rarely off the London stage or the cinema screen. As an actress she played a variety of roles from Billie Fawn in Born Yesterday to Marigold in the classic film The Green Man (1956), opposite Alistair Sim. Her success in acting led her to becoming one of the first women to have a television series with a proper storyline, Dear Dotty, in 1954. She also partnered TV comedians such as Arthur Askey, Dick Emery and a young Bob Monkhouse. One of the first stand-up comediennes she regularly appeared in cabaret. She won critical appraise for her role as Liz Piper in Roy Boulting's film The Family Way (1966) and was cast opposite Richard Burton and Rex Harrison in the off-beat gay comedy Staircase (1969). In 1964 she stole the notices in the hit London production of Little Me, in which she appeared with Bruce Forsyth, and she headlined in numerous West End comedies and thrillers. Her last public appearance was in October 2005 when she was a guest of honour at the Max Wall Society in London. Her close friend, the variety artiste and strong woman Joan Rhodes, said: "Avril was one of the funniest and most gifted people in show-business. She was very unassuming and comediennes such as Victoria Wood adored working with her."1918-2005, 87. 59 acting credits, 1948-1997. 20 feature films.
Brass Monkey (1948). '48
The Six Men (1951). '51
Bond of Fear (1956). '56
Women Without Men (1956). '56
Blonde Bait (1956). '56 - Barbara Archer was born in 1934 in West Ham, London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Horror of Dracula (1958), Up the Junction (1968) and Model for Murder (1959).1925 - . 30 acting credits, 1954-1968. 20 feature films.
Tears for Simon (1956). '56
Eyewitness (1956). '56
Strangers' Meeting (1957). '57
Model for Murder (1959). '59
In the Wake of a Stranger (1959). '59
Devil's Bait (1959). '59
Libel (1959). '59 - Actress
Grace Arnold was born on 19 September 1894 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Jassy (1947), Brandy for the Parson (1952) and The Caretaker's Daughter (1952). She died on 26 February 1979 in London, England, UK.1894-1979, 84. 111 acting credits, 1939-1975. 57 feature films.
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947). '47
Temptations (1949). '49
Dark Secret (1949). '49
The Stranger in Between (1952). '52
I'll Get You (1952). '52
Circumstantial Evidence (1952). '52
Eight O'Clock Walk (1954). '54
The Secret Tent (1956). '56
Town on Trial (1957). '57
Attempt to Kill (1961). '61
Playback (1962). '62- June Ashley was born on 7 October 1911 in Camberwell, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Circumstantial Evidence (1952), Dead on Course (1952) and I'll Get You (1952). She died in November 2017 in England, UK.1911 - . 10 acting credits, 1952-1963. 9 feature films.
Circumstantial Evidence (1952). '52
Dead on Course (1952). '52
I'll Get You (1952). '52
The Blue Parrot (1953). '53
Cross Channel (1955). '55
One Jump Ahead (1955). '55
A Time to Kill (1955). '55
The Narrowing Circle (1956). '56 - Jean Aubrey was born on 8 February 1932 in Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Theatre Night (1957), Model for Murder (1959) and As Long as They're Happy (1955). She was married to Dean Mabin Warwick. She died on 26 July 2008 in Kelso, Scottish Borders, Scotland, UK.1932-2008, 76. 34 acting credits, 1954-1981. 11 feature films.
Three Cornered Fate (1955). '55
Model for Murder (1959). '59
The Desperate Man (1961). '59
Date at Midnight (1959). '59
Man Detained (1961). '61
Do You Know This Voice? (1964). '64 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Maxine Audley was born on 29 April 1923 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Peeping Tom (1960), Prime Suspect (1991) and The Vikings (1958). She was married to Leo Maguire, Frederick Granville (né Manfred Gottlieb), Leonard Cassini and Andrew Broughton. She died on 23 July 1992 in London, England, UK.1923-1992, 69. 100 acting credits, 1947-1992. 26 feature films.
The Sleeping Tiger (1954). '54
Peeping Tom (1960). '60
Hell Is a City (1960). '60
tt1728207. '61
The Brain (1962). '62
Ricochet (1963). '63
Never Mention Murder (1965). '64- Actress
- Soundtrack
Eva Bartok was both a beautiful lady and a talented actor whose roots were in classical theater. Her first and only film in Hungary, Mezei próféta (1947) ("Prophet of the Fields"), was banned by communist censorship. Actually her life up to that point had been marked by confusion and tragedy. Her father,a Jew who had married a Catholic lady, disappeared without a trace during the rise of Nazism in Europe and Eva, herself, was forced to marry a Nazi officer at age 15 in order to avoid being sent to a concentration camp.
Having survived the horrors of Nazism and World War II, she found her vocation in acting but was soon threatened and persecuted by the new Communist regime. Hollywood-based producer Alexander Paal helped her escape from Hungary by marrying her and taking her to England, where she made her screen debut in Paal's production of A Tale of Five Women (1951), filmed in 1948 but shelved for several years due to financial difficulties. After divorcing Paal, Eva received valuable support from film mogul and fellow Hungarian expatriate,Alexander Korda, who was then president of MGM-England. He placed her under contract to London Films which provided a small salary, an English language coach and the opportunity to audition for developing film projects at the studio.
In spite of this, Eva spent months without finding real work and was becoming quite desperate. William Wordsworth, a public relations man who became her third husband, suggested that she attend as many premieres and theater opening nights as possible in order to bring attention to herself. Unable to buy the proper wardrobe and accessories to make a decent showing at these social events, Eva began designing and making her own gowns and hats from pieces of cheap materials. Soon the media took notice of this beautiful brunette dressed in weird costumes and Eva Bartok became a local celebrity most notable for her hats.
The publicity caught the eye of an Italian promoter who offered Eva a contract to perform in a vaudeville show. With Korda's permission, Eva flew to Italy and had great success reciting monologues on the stages of Milan, Florence and Rome. Meanwhile, in England, the film, A Tale of Five Women (1951) had finally reached movie houses and was seen by producer-actor Burt Lancaster, who was looking for a leading lady for his next film, The Crimson Pirate (1952). Impressed by Eva's beauty and talent, he wired her in Italy and she accepted promptly, sensing the importance of the project.
Thanks to the publicity and worldwide distribution of this film, Eva was perceived as a real movie queen but her next vehicles were not what you would expect from a rising superstar. It is understandable that Eva was a young woman marked by the horrendous experiences of her early years which might explain that, over time, she would become more concerned with spirituality than with the quality of the projects she took on all over Europe. Somehow, she became more famous for her off-camera antics than for her screen work. Eva's long lasting affair with David Michael Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven and related to the Royal Family, made headlines everywhere especially when David's wife, the Machioness, filed for divorce and named Eva Bartok as the culprit in her failed marriage. For a long time, the actress seemed to be divided between her image as a glamorous carefree playgirl among the European rich and a real human in desperate need to find the meaning of her own existence.
Her filmography in the 1950s is prolific both in England and in West Germany but it includes lots of low-budget turkeys (now "cult classics"), some decent vehicles and a few top productions. She also made a series of films that paired her with popular actor-director, Curd Jürgens, who became her fourth husband. Besides her work in movies, she appeared on London stages and on television in the UK and in the US. After turning down a Hollywood contract in 1956, Miss Bartok faced a serious health crisis when she was diagnosed with an ovarian tumor and was found pregnant at the same time. An Indonesian mystic helped her out of this predicament with a new spirituality called Subud. Eva reported later that she had been healed and was successful in giving birth to a "miraculous" baby girl in 1957. (see 'Deana Jürgens').
From then on, she was totally committed to Subud although she made half a dozen more films before retiring from movies altogether in 1967 at age 40. In later years, she revealed that daughter Deana had been fathered by Frank Sinatra but the claim went ignored by Sinatra and family. She continued her Subud activities during residencies in Indonesia, Hawaii, San Francisco, Los Angeles and London where she died quietly in 1998.1927, Hungary, -1998, 71. 41 acting credits, 1947-1966. 37 feature films.
Madeleine (1950). '50
The Assassin (1952). '52
Norman Conquest (1953). '53
Naked in the Night (1958). '58. Naked in the Night. West Germany.
Douze heures d'horloge (1959). '59. Twelve Hours by the Clock. France/West Germany.
I'll See You in Hell (1960). '60. I'll see You in Hell. Italy.
Blood and Black Lace (1964). '64. Blood and Black Lace. Italy/France/Monaco.- Actress
- Writer
She was born in the Transvaal but her ancestry is Irish with her family once owning Renvyle House in Connemara, She was educated in Scotland and three times won an award as Canada's Best Actress, sought fossils in the Colorado canyons and the volcanic area of her native Transvaal and archaelogical remains in Mexico but regards London as her home, She writes historical mysteries and adapted Brigid Brophy's The Snowball and Brecht's Galileo for television, the latter directed by her husband Charles Jarrett, All,this from a former stammering left handed child who was educated by nuns at Leith and who tied her left hand and forced her to write with her right but even today she does many things with her left, The one thing they did do for her was to give her elocution lessons to cure her stammer which is why she developed into an actress, At 16 she went into repertory at Perth then to Amersham and Windsor and at 17 made her West End debut with Edith Evans in Antony and Cleopatra. In the early 50's she went to Canada and worked with a group that included author/playwrite Arthur Haley and producer Sydney Newman who came to London to make Armchair Theatre in which Katherine won Best TV Actress of the Year Award in 1964 which prevented her returning to, the theatre. While she loves acting because it means working with other people the actual performances terrify her and it means losing about 5 Ilbs over 2 camera days, The first night in the theatre has the same effect on her and she always thinks 'thats it never again', She is much happier writing Her most enjoyable was how the ghost of poet affected a young boy in the tv series Haunted, She has a fear of machines which she hasn't been able to overcome so can't drive,, The fear stems from when she was a schoolgirl during the blitz and going up the steps from a tube station bombing caused a stampede of people knocking her over and trampling her resulting in her left cheek bone being crushed, Her worst experience was when she had to fly to South Africa and because of the then restrictions it took about 22 hours, She finds that her marriage to Charles Jarrett has helped her stabilise herself.1921, South Africa, -1991, 69. 63 acting credits, 1948-1981. 9 feature films.
The Dark Light (1951). '51
Assassin for Hire (1951). '51
Hammer the Toff (1952). '52
The Stranger in Between (1952). '52
To Have and to Hold (1963). '63- Gabrielle Blunt found theatre and television more productive arenas throughout a career spanning six decades.
She starred in the film Whisky Galore! (1949). In the early 1990s she appeared in a documentary about the film Whisky Galore, which was later included on a DVD release of the original 1949 film. Her small-screen breakthrough came with the 1968 George Cole-starring comedy A Man of Our Times, after which she moved comfortably between comedy and drama. In later years, she was regularly to be found in hit comedies including Shine on Harvey Moon (1982), One Foot in the Grave (1990), Pat and Margaret (1994), The Thin Blue Line (1995), Drop the Dead Donkey, The Fast Show, Harry Enfield's Television Programme and Paul Merton - The Series.
Blunt began her theatre career in regional rep in the early 1940s, and toured Europe with the Entertainments National Service Association in 1945. That same year, she was seen in Vanbrugh's The Confederacy at the York Festival.
Later appearances included Irene Coates' This Space is Mine (Hampstead Theatre, 1969); Mrs Jeffcote in Hindle Wakes (Northampton Rep, 1972); Agatha Christie's Ten Little Niggers (Palace Theatre, Westcliffe, 1975); Under Milk Wood (Thorndike Theatre, Leatherhead, 1980), Duchess of Malfi (Oxford Playhouse, 1983); and Ayshe Raif's Fail/Safe (Soho Poly, 1986).
In 1998, Blunt toured the UK and Europe in Out of Joint's premiere of Caryl Churchill's Blue Heart, travelling with it to New York the following year.
Blunt was married and divorced twice and had 3 children. Her second husband adopted her children from her first marriage.
She lived until the age of 95 years and died in Denville Hall in June 2014.1919-2014, 95. 77 acting credits, 1949-2001. 12 feature films.
The Clouded Yellow (1950). '50
The Rossiter Case (1951). '51
Noose for a Lady (1953). '53
Terror Street (1953). '53 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Glamorous, dark-eyed leading lady, touted as Britain's answer to Hollywood's Clara Bow, the 'It Girl'. She was also sometimes referred to as 'Britain's first female sex symbol', reflected by having her initially cast as vamps or flappers. Born Dorothy Irene Boucher, she started out as a typist and then joined her brother at Harrods department store, where she was employed as a fashion model. After being a finalist in a Daily Mirror beauty contest, she became a photographer's model, and, from there, segued into acting. Until 1934, she continued to be billed in some of her pictures as 'Dorothy Bouchier'. However, she had by then adopted her stage name 'Chili', derived from a novelty song, popularised by the Savoy Havana Band in 1923 ("I Love My Chili Bom Bom").
On screen from 1927, Chili was under contract to Herbert Wilcox at British & Dominions. She made a few modestly successful films at the studio, notably Venetian Nights (1931). However, her position as pre-eminent leading lady at the studio was eventually usurped by new discovery Anna Neagle (who was diligently mentored by Wilcox and later became his wife). Chili's film career thus went into decline. The situation was not helped by an unhappy interlude in Hollywood, which came about as a stipulation of her 1935 contract with Warner Brothers. Finding herself essentially unemployed, she returned to Britain, but was henceforth relegated to appearing in second features. She spent the war years entertaining troops as part of ENSA. Chili remained a busy performer on the London stage (into her eighties), interspersed with occasional character parts on screen until 1960.1909-1999, 89. 62 acting credits, 1927-1960. 55 feature films.
The Dark Stairway (1938). '38
The Return of Carol Deane (1938). '38
Query (1945). '45
The Case of Charles Peace (1949). '49
The Counterfeit Plan (1957). '57
Dead Lucky (1960). '60- Olwen Brookes was born on 26 November 1901 in Chelsea, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for An Inspector Calls (1954), The Forsyte Saga (1967) and The Six Proud Walkers (1962). She died on 17 September 1976 in Kensington, London, England, UK.1901-1976, 74. 53 acting credits, 1944-1970. 28 feature films.
The Mark of Cain (1947). '47
An Inspector Calls (1954). '54
High Terrace (1956). '56
Women Without Men (1956). '56
Blonde Bait (1956). '56 - Yet another underrated performer from the Golden Age of British films was Scottish-born character actress Jean Cadell. Jean commenced her professional stage career in 1906 with "The Inspector General" at the old Scala Theatre in the London borough of Camden. Via a stint with the Glasgow Repertory, she then made her way to Broadway (1911) and London (1912), where she appeared in small roles at major venues like the Strand and Criterion Theatres, specialising in comedy plays (her favourite was George Bernard Shaw). Though she maintained a busy theatrical career throughout, she also acted in films from 1919. During the silent era, she usually played youthfully temperamental and emancipated women. As she advanced in age, her manner became increasingly salty. This, combined with her sharp features, flaming red hair and steely blue eyes led to her being more often than not typecast as acerbic spinsters or imperious dowagers. She had a brief sojourn in Hollywood as Mrs. Micawber (opposite the inimitable W.C. Fields) in David Copperfield (1935). Back in England, she gave valuable support in Pygmalion (1938) (as Mrs. Pearce), The Young Mr. Pitt (1942) (Mrs. Sparry, sternly instructing Robert Donat to "always keep-a-hold of nurse for fear of finding something worse") and the fondly-remembered Ealing classic Whisky Galore! (1949) (as Mrs. Campbell). Jean rounded off her career with a starring role in her penultimate film, the caper comedy A Taste of Money (1961), as an ageing spinster concocting the 'perfect' Soho bank heist.1884-1967, 83. 63 acting credits, 1912-1962. 42 feature films.
A Night of Terror (1937). '37
Madeleine (1950). '50
Obsessed (1951). '51
The Surgeon's Knife (1957). '57
Serious Charge (1959). '59 - Actress
- Additional Crew
Prolific and ubiquitous British bit player and dancer Pauline Lesley Chamberlain was born on October 2, 1932 in West Ham, Essex, England. The daughter of a piano player father, Pauline attended a French convent school in Palmers Green as well as learned ballet and tap at a local dance school. Chamberlain went on to attend the Aida Foster Stage School. Pauline and her twin sister Pamela were both featured as chorus girls in a 1948 production of the pantomime "Robin Hood and His Merry Men." The Chamberlain sisters went on to appear together in the pantomime "Robinson Crusoe" and did a tour of Great Britain in "Folies Bergere" for Bernard Delfont. Moreover, Pauline and Pamela were both members of Margaret Kelly's dancing troupe Bluebell Girls, appeared in revues at the London Palladium, and even performed in cabaret together in Brussels, Italy, Scotland, and Great Britain at the Dorchester as The Chamberlain Twins - What a Pair. A pretty brunette with a warm smile and a chipper disposition, Chamberlain first began appearing in films in uncredited minor roles while still in her teens in the late 1940's. Pauline could usually be spotted in movies cutting it up on the dance floor, as a guest at a party, or performing on stage (she was often cast as a showgirl). Chamberlain was featured in scores of films and a bunch of television shows in a career that spanned several decades. Pauline died at age 88 from complications of COVID-19 on January 14, 2021.99 acting credits, 1947-1989. 76 feature films.
Brighton Rock (1948). '47
Hell Drivers (1957). '57
Pickup Alley (1957). '58
The Man Inside (1958). '58
Chain of Events (1958). '58
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (1958). 58
Rebound (1959). '59
Playgirl After Dark (1960). '60
The Concrete Jungle (1960). '60
It Takes a Thief (1960). '60
The Boys (1962). '62
Danger on My Side (1962). '62
To Have and to Hold (1963). '63
The Girl Hunters (1963). 63
Bitter Harvest (1963). '63
Echo of Diana (1963). '63
Never Mention Murder (1965). '64
Cop-Out (1967). '67- Naomi Chance attended Central School of Drama. After a short period in repertory and on tour she obtained a small screen part and followed this with some starring roles in films opposite some American stars appearing in British films. She became well-known on British TV for her appearances as Amelia Huntley in The Newcomers (1965). Her second husband was a retired naval surgeon, with whom she lived in Devon for many years. Her final appearance was in 1976. She still had friends in the business in London. She frequently went to visit them and wanted to act again, but they told her to forget it. Anthony Hinds, who produced some of her early films, said of her, "She is very talented, but her trouble is she won't sell herself."1930-2003, 73. 55 acting credits, 1952-1976. 17 feature films.
The Gambler and the Lady (1952). '52
Dead on Course (1952). '52
Three Stops to Murder (1953). '53
The Saint's Girl Friday (1953). '53
Terror Ship (1954). '54
Suspended Alibi (1957). '57
The Man Inside (1958). '58
He Who Rides a Tiger (1965). '65 - Peggy Ann Clifford was born on 23 March 1921 in Poole, Dorset, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Chance of a Lifetime (1950) and Rheingold Theatre (1953). She died on 26 May 1986 in Kensington, London, England, UK.1921-1968, 65. 108 acting credits, 1944-1993. 41 feature films.
Forbidden (1949). '49
The Yellow Balloon (1953). '53
Personal Affair (1953). '53
Tears for Simon (1956). '56
The Secret Place (1957). '57
A Stranger in Town (1957). '57 - Betty Cooper was born on 1 May 1910 in Bath, Somerset, England, UK. She was an actress, known for BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), The Passionate Pilgrim (1949) and Blackmailed (1951). She was married to Gerald Andersen. She died on 3 February 1979 in Barnes, London, England, UK.1910-1979, 68. 58 acting credits, 1947-1973. 17 feature films.
The Hidden Room (1949). '49
The Dark Man (1951). '51
Blackmailed (1951). '51
Scotland Yard Inspector (1952). '52
Three Stops to Murder (1953). '53
Women Without Men (1956). '56
Blonde Bait (1956). '56
The Heart Within (1957). '57
Across the Bridge (1957). '57 - Actress
- Writer
Barbara Couper was born on 6 January 1903 in London, England, UK. She was an actress and writer, known for Doctor Knock (1961), ITV Play of the Week (1955) and Dark Secret (1949). She was married to Howard Rose. She died on 10 January 1992 in Woking, Surrey, England, UK.1903-1992, 89. 55 acting credits, 1938-1970. 12 feature films.
The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948). '48
Dark Secret (1949). '49
Paul Temple's Triumph (1950). '50
Young and Willing (1954). '54
Menace in the Night (1957). '57- Peggy Cummins was an Irish actress, appearing in several films between 1940 and 1961. Her best known role was that of trigger-happy bank robber Annie Laurie Starr in the film "Gun Crazy".
In December, 1925, Cummins was born under the name of "Augusta Margaret Diane Fuller" in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, Wales. Her parents were an Irish couple from Dublin, who visited Prestatyn during their vacation. They were reportedly seeking shelter from a storm there. Cummins' parents were Franklin Bland Fuller (1897-1943) and his wife, the actress Margaret Cummins (1889-1973). Through her father's side of the family, Cummins was a great-granddaughter of famed architect and novelist James Franklin Fuller (1835-1924).
Cummins was mostly raised and educated in Killiney, Dublin. As a child, she attended the Abbey School of ballet in Dublin. She was eventually spotted there and chosen for a non-speaking role in a performance of the play "The Duchess of Malfi" (1613/1614) by John Webster. Cummins played one of the play's murdered children and she was (in her words) "only seen in silhouette". This was her theatrical debut.
In 1938, Cummins made her London stage debut at the St James's Theatre. She performed in the role of Maryann, the juvenile lead in the children's review "Let's Pretend", In 1940, Cummins had her film debut in the drama "Dr. O'Dowd" . The film concerned Marius O'Dowd (played by Shaun Glenville) , an alcoholic doctor who has lost his license and the affection of his only son, but later attempts to befriend his young, estranged granddaughter Pat O'Dowd (Cummins).
Being only 15-year-old during her film debut's production, Cummins was (by agreement) limited to working 5 hours per day, and only under the supervision of a governess. The film was a success, and helped Cummins being cast in supporting roles in subsequent films. Meanwhile she continued her theatrical career. In 1943, Cummins played the 12-year-old Fuffy in a theatrical adaptation of the short story collection "Junior Miss" (1941) by Sally Benson. In 1944, Cummins played the leading role of Alice in a theatrical adaptation of the novel "Alice in Wonderland" (1865) by Lewis Carroll.
In 1944, Cummins played notable roles in the comedy film "English Without Tears" (1944) and the World War II-themed drama "Welcome, Mr. Washington". In 1945, Darryl F. Zanuck, head of 20th Century-Fox, brought Cummins to Hollywood. Cummins was considered for roles in both "Cluny Brown" (1946) and "Forever Amber" (1947), but was rejected for being "too young". Her first leading role in an American film was playing the blackmailer Belle Adair/Rose Lynton in the film noir "Moss Rose" (1947). The film was praised by the press but was a box office flop. Zanuck claimed that the losses from the film amounted to 1,300,000 dollars.
Cummins subsequently appeared in a handful of American films. She played Eleanor Apley, daughter of an upper-class Bostonian family, in the romantic comedy "The Late George Apley" (1947). She played Dora Winters, an escaped prisoner's love interest, in the thriller "Escape" (1948). She played Carey Greenway, the love interest of a Wyoming-based horse owner, in "Green Grass of Wyoming" (1948).
Cummins then returned to the United Kingdom to have a role in the romance film "That Dangerous Age" (1949), about a neglected wife who finds romance with a lover. Cummins played a supporting role to the film's female lead Myrna Loy. Cummins returned to the United States to play a femme fatale role as bank robber Annie Laurie Starr in the film "Gun Crazy" (1950). The film was released by the film studio United Artists,This was Cummins' last appearance in a film shot in the United States. In retrospect, the film has been considered culturally significant and chosen for preservation by the Library of Congress.
In the rest of the 1950s, Cummins mainly worked in British films. Among her best known roles in this period was the role of female lead Joanna Harrington in the cult-themed horror film "Night of the Demon" (1957). Receiving modest praise in its original release, their film has since been evaluated as one of the gems of the horror genre.
In the early 1960s, Cummins only appeared in comedies. They included the divorce-themed farce "Your Money or Your Wife" (1960), the crime comedy "Dentist in the Chair" (1960), and the veterinarian-themed comedy "In the Doghouse" (1961). "In the Doghouse" was Cummins' last film appearance, as she largely retired from acting at the age of 36. Her few subsequent appearances were guest-star roles in television.
From the 1970s onward, Cummins devoted her time to the national charity Stars Organisation for Spastics. She chaired the management committee of a holiday center for children with disabilities in Sussex. In 2008, the charity organization changed its name to Stars Foundation for Cerebral Palsy, with Cummins still among its volunteers.
In December 2017, Cummins suffered a stroke and died in London, where she had spend her last years. She died eleven days following her 92nd birthday.1925 - . 28 acting credits, 1940-1965. 23 feature films.
Moss Rose (1947). '47. lead
Escape (1948). '48
Gun Crazy (1950). '50
Operation X (1950). '50. lead
Hell Drivers (1957). '57. lead
Curse of the Demon (1957). '57
Both Sides of the Law (1953). '53. A few actresses in this movie:
Jean Anderson*
Nelly Arno
Dora Bryan*
Joyce Carey*
Anne Crawford*
Peggy Cummins*
Eunice Gayson
Isabel George
Thora Hird*
Rosamund John*
Lily Kann*
Sarah Lawson*
Kathleen Michael
Charlotte Mitchell
Barbara Murray*
Dandy Nichols*
Pat Nye
Myrtle Reed*
Marjorie Rhodes*
Fanny Rowe
Eleanor Summerfield* - Actress
- Soundtrack
Lisa Daniely was born on 4 June 1929 in Reading, Berkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Holiday Week (1952), The Invisible Man (1958) and Lilli Marlene (1950). She was married to Grey Blake. She died on 24 January 2014.1930-2014, 83. 19 acting credits, 1949-1996. 17 feature films.
Operation Diplomat (1953). '53
Cross-Up (1954). '55
The Man in the Road (1956). '56
The Circle (1957). '57
High Jump (1959). '59
Danger Tomorrow (1960). '60
An Honourable Murder (1960). '60
Cop-Out (1967). '67- Sonia Dresdel was born on 5 May 1909 in Hornsea, Yorkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Fallen Idol (1948), This Was a Woman (1948) and Wives and Daughters (1971). She died on 18 January 1976 in Canterbury, Kent, England, UK.1909-1976, 66. 61 acting credits, 1945-1975.
While I Live (1947). '47
The Fallen Idol (1948). '48
This Was a Woman (1948). '48
The Clouded Yellow (1950). '50
The Third Visitor (1951). '51
The Secret Tent (1956). '56
Death Over My Shoulder (1958). '58
The Break (1962). '63 - Valentine Dunn was born on 12 February 1905 in Hillhead, Glasgow, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for Blackmailed (1951), Gone to Earth (1950) and A Song for Tomorrow (1948). She died on 14 August 1980 in Virginia Water, Surrey, England, UK.1904-1980, 76. 27 acting credits, 1936-1953. 21 feature films.
The Ware Case (1938). '38
Great Day (1945). '45
Paper Gallows (1950). '50
Blackmailed (1951). '51
A Killer Walks (1952). '52 - Annie Esmond was born on 27 September 1873 in Croydon, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Good Companions (1933), Kipps (1921) and Mr. Pim Passes by (1921). She died on 4 January 1945 in St John's Wood, London, England, UK.1873-1945, 71. 82 acting credits, 1917-1943. 70 feature films.
The Silent Passenger (1935). '35
The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936). '36
Thunder in the City (1937). '37
Stolen Life (1939). '39
Saloon Bar (1940). '40
Bombsight Stolen (1941). '41 - Barbara Everest was born on 9 June 1883 in Wandsworth, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Gaslight (1944), The Phantom Fiend (1932) and The Uninvited (1944). She died on 9 February 1968 in Wimbledon, Surrey, England, UK.1890-1966, 77. 114 acting credits, 1916-1969. 69 feature films.
The Phantom Fiend (1932). '32
Death Cell (1941). '41
Gaslight (1944). '44
The Uninvited (1944). '44
The Fatal Witness (1945). '45
Wanted for Murder (1946). '46
Frieda (1946). '47
Madeleine (1950). '50
An Inspector Calls (1954). '54
Dangerous Afternoon (1961). '61
The Damned (1962). '63
The Man Who Finally Died (1963). '63 - Muriel George was born on 29 August 1883 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for A Song for You (1934), A Sister to Assist 'Er (1938) and The Dancing Years (1950). She was married to Arthur Davenport (author, BBC broadcaster) and Ernest Butcher. She died on 22 October 1965 in Brighton, East Sussex, England, UK.1883-1965, 82. 75 acting credits, 1932-1955. 53 feature films.
21 Days Together (1940). '40
Bombsight Stolen (1941). '41
The Voice in the Night (1941). '41
Went the Day Well? (1942). '42
Unpublished Story (1942). '42
Alibi (1942). '42
A Place of One's Own (1945). '48
Bond Street (1948). '48 - Vanda Godsell was born on 17 November 1922 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976), I Promised to Pay (1961) and A Shot in the Dark (1964). She was married to Alan J Orchard and George Selway. She died on 2 April 1990 in London, England, UK.1922-1990, 67. 95 acting credits, 1949-1983. 33 feature films.
The Long Rope (1953). '53
The Brain Machine (1955). '55
Hour of Decision (1957). '57
In the Wake of a Stranger (1959). '59
No Safety Ahead (1959). '59
Hell Is a City (1960). '60
I Promised to Pay (1961). '61
The Shadow of the Cat (1961). '61
The Frightened City (1961). '61
Night Without Pity (1961). '61
Candidate for Murder (1962). '62
Bitter Harvest (1963). '63
A Shot in the Dark (1964). '64
Escape by Night (1963). '64 - Elspet Gray was born on 12 April 1929 in Inverness, Inverness Shire, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Six with Rix (1972) and Doctor Who (1963). She was married to Brian Rix. She died on 18 February 2013 in London, England, UK.1929-2013, 83. 50 acting credits, 1948-1998. 11 feature films.
The Blind Goddess (1948). '48
Johnny on the Spot (1954). '54
Devil's Harbor (1954). '54 - Thin-lipped, dark-haired British character actress who had a penchant for playing nosy neighbours, snivelling sycophants and acidulous spinsters. She was born Eileen Russell-Gregg, trained at RADA and was primarily active on London's West End stage in plays like "Grand Hotel" (1931) and "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1946), among many others. Over the years, she developed a fondness for comedic interpretations in works by Noël Coward. On Broadway she appeared just once, in "Point Valaine" (1935). Just two years prior she had made her screen debut as Henry VIII's shrewish wife Katherine Parr in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933). Her two other memorable moments on the screen saw her as the ever-prattling busybody Dolly Messiter in Brief Encounter (1945) and as Sarah Pocket, a fawning relative of Miss Faversham in Great Expectations (1946).1903-1959, 55. 57 acting credits, 1933-1959. 40 feature films.
The Scoundrel (1935). '35
Thunder in the City (1937). '37
Uncensored (1942). '42
I See a Dark Stranger (1946). '46
Stage Fright (1950). '50
High Treason (1951). '51
The Franchise Affair (1951). '51
Stolen Face (1952). '52
Personal Affair (1953). '53
The Detective (1954). '54
Tears for Simon (1956). '56
The Man Who Never Was (1956). '56
Deadly Record (1959). '59
Five Angles on Murder (1950). '50. Or Five Angles on Murder. A few of the actresses in this movie:
Hermione Baddeley*
Nora Gordon*
Helen Goss*
Everley Gregg*
Vida Hope*
Jean Kent*
Lana Morris*
Susan Shaw* - Jane Griffiths was born on 16 October 1929 in Peacehaven, Sussex, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Man with a Million (1954), Softly Softly (1966) and The Accursed (1957). She was married to Gerhard Heinz Herman Nell. She died on 11 June 1975 in London, England, UK.1929-1975, 45. 33 acting credits, 1937-1966. 13 feature films.
Double Confession (1950). '50
The Gambler and the Lady (1952). '52
The Green Scarf (1954). '54
Shadow of a Man (1955). '56
Three Sundays to Live (1957). '57
Tread Softly Stranger (1958). '58
The Double (1963). '60
The Impersonator (1961). '61
The Third Alibi (1961). '61
Dead Man's Evidence (1962). '62 - May Hallatt was born on 1 May 1876 in Scarborough, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Black Narcissus (1947), Separate Tables (1958) and Me and My Girl (1939). She died on 20 May 1969 in London, England, UK.1876-1969, 93. 32 acting credits, 1934-1965. 24 Feature films.
The Human Monster (1939). '39
The Spider and the Fly (1949). '49
Wicked Wife (1953). '53
The Stateless Man (1955). '55
Dangerous Afternoon (1961). '61
Bitter Harvest (1963). '63 - Doris Hare was born on 1 March 1905 in Bargoed, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for On the Buses (1969), The Avengers (1961) and Second Best (1994). She was married to John Fraser Roberts. She died on 30 May 2000 in Denville Hall, Northwood, Hillingdon, London, England, UK.1905-2000, 95. 70 acting credits, 1935-1994. 26 feature films.
Double Exposure (1954). '54
Cross-Up (1954). '55
Strangers' Meeting (1957). '57
The League of Gentlemen (1960). '60
A Place to Go (1963). '64 - Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
She became an actress because her mother had been stage struck so attended RADA and won a gold medal but despite that she was out of work for a year. An early success was as Ruby in Getting Married at St Martins Theatre in 1938, Probably best remembered for her role as Edna the Inebriated Woman for which she won the Television Actress of the ~Year Award in 1972. As a small child she was sent to an acting teacher who taught her to recite The Murder of Nancy Drew by Charles Dickens and used to recite it in childrens competitions and win prizes1909-1998, 88. 125 acting credits, 1936-2002. 41 feature films.
Went the Day Well? (1942). '42
Hotel Reserve (1944). '44
Great Day (1945). '45
The Enforcer (1951). '51
The Sicilians (1964). '63- Joan Haythorne was born on 12 April 1915 in Ealing, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Jassy (1947), Svengali (1954) and Dry Rot (1956). She was married to Lindsay Shankland. She died on 27 August 1987 in Surrey, England, UK.1915-1987, 72. 67 acting credits, 1946-1983. 19 feature films.
Highly Dangerous (1950). '50
Young and Willing (1954). '54
Svengali (1954). '54
The Shakedown (1960). '60
The Frightened City (1961). '61
So Evil, So Young (1961). '61 - Joyce Heron was born on 6 November 1916 in Port Said, Egypt. She was an actress, known for Au Pair Girls (1972), Emma (1948) and Young and Willing (1954). She was married to Ralph Michael. She died on 1 April 1980 in London, England, UK.1916, Egypt, - 1980, 63. 67 acting credits. 1938-1977. 12 feature films.
The Shop at Sly Corner (1947). '47
She Shall Have Murder (1950). '50
Young and Willing (1954). '54
Three Cornered Fate (1955). '55
Web of Evidence (1959). '59 - Brenda Hogan was born on 6 September 1928 in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Jane Eyre (1956), BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950) and The Vise (1954). She was previously married to Donald Houston.1928 - . 24 acting credits, 1948-1961. 13 feature films.
The Fatal Night (1948). '48
The Monkey's Paw (1948). '48
The Silk Noose (1948). '48
Time Is My Enemy (1954). '54
Tears for Simon (1956). '56 - Actress
- Writer
Born in London, England on February 28, 1922, the very lovely and light-haired British actress Joyce Howard left school at age 17 and initially studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). One of her first professional starring roles was in the play "Temporary Residence" at the Embassy Theatre in London.
Howard's first film was as a second female lead opposite Derek Farr in the propaganda war drama The Voice in the Night (1941) (aka A Voice in the Night) directed by Anthony Asquith and starring Clive Brook and Diana Wynyard. She then went on to appear in a number of WWII-era films, including noteworthy supports in the working class drama Love on the Dole (1941), The Common Touch (1941) (as another love interest), and the Arthur Askey comedy Back-Room Boy (1942), before co-starring opposite James Mason in the mystery thriller Terror House (1942) (aka Terror House). Their pairing proved so compatible that they were signed up again to co-star in another effective mystery thriller They Met in the Dark (1943).
During WWII, Joyce continued to co-star in a host of London stage plays, including "Romeo and Juliet" at the Old Vic. Following the war, Joyce made a return to films with lead and second lead roles in They Knew Mr. Knight (1946), Woman to Woman (1947) opposite Douglass Montgomery, Mrs. Fitzherbert (1947) (in the title role with Peter Graves starring as the Prince of Wales), and her final movie Shadow of the Past (1950) earning top billing as the "Lady in Black."
Save for a few TV roles in the late 1950s, Howard pretty much abandoned her acting career following her marriage to actor Basil Sydney and the raising of their three children. Instead she extended her talents off camera to that of author, novelist and playwright. She first worked in the writing field with such plays as the BBC-produced "Broken Silence" and the novels "Two Persons Singular" and "A Private View."
Following her divorce from Basil Sydney , who would subsequently die from pleurisy in 1968 at the age of 73, Howard remarried in 1962 and made a transcontinental move with her family to the U.S.A. She worked as a story analyst in Burbank, then was hired as executive assistant at Paramount. She moved up the ladder with a position as executive story editor for Paramount TV and was also responsible for property acquisition and development.
Howard would continue to write for TV from time to time. She died in Santa Monica, California of natural causes at age 88 and was survived by her three children by Sydney.1922-2010, 88. 18 acting credits, 1941-1961. 13 feature films.
Terror House (1942). '42
They Met in the Dark (1943). '43
Appointment with Crime (1946). '46
Shadow of the Past (1950). '50- Ursula Howells was educated at St Paul's Girls' School in London, where her father Herbert Howells, a doyen of English church music taught music for 26 years. Following the death of her brother Michael from polio in 1935, her father composed his great choral masterpiece "Hymnus Paradisi".
She was evacuated to Scotland during the Second World War and made her stage debut in 1940 with Dundee rep. She made her London debut at the Embassy Theatre in Swiss Cottage in 1945. Her broadcasting debut came in 1946 with Sweet Lavender and she made her screen debut in 1950, with Flesh and Blood (1951).
Although she continued to make West End appearances during the following thirty years, she remained in demand as a television and film actress. Her successes included Marriage a la Mode (1955), The Third Key (1956), Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and Girly (1970).
She made an impression as Frances Forsyte (the first of Young Jo's three wives) in the BBC's 1967 television adaptation of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga (1967). She became a regular feature in television comedy and drama, ranging from Father, Dear Father (1968) and A Rather English Marriage (1998) to The Cazalets (2001).
Her television credits also included playing a psychopath Lettie Blacklock in Miss Marple: A Murder Is Announced (1985). She also appeared in Sins of the Fathers (1985) and Warriors (1991), Somewhere - Over the Rainbow? (1994), Vigilante (1995) and The Electric Vendetta (2001).
She instigated the "Herbert Howells Society" following her father's death in 1983 and became a standard bearer for the promotion of his work. She financially supported the recording of his compositions and did much to encourage the publishing and promotion of church music.
She was married twice. Following a brief first marriage to Davy Dodd in 1949, she remarried in 1968 to the theatre director Anthony Pelissier . She was widowed in 1988 and moved to Petworth in Sussex. Although she had no children of her own, she was a loving stepmother to her husband's son and three daughters who survived her.1922-2005, 83. 133 acting credits, 1946-2001. 23 feature films.
I Believe in You (1952). '52
Young and Willing (1954). '54
The Gilded Cage (1955). '55
Track the Man Down (1955). '55
They Can't Hang Me (1955). '55
Handcuffs, London (1955). '55
The Third Key (1956). '56
Account Rendered (1957). '57
Death and the Sky Above (1961). 62
The Sicilians (1964). '63 - Actress
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
Popular British character actress known for her rich cluster of queens, dowagers, shrews and evildoers, Martita Hunt was born on a ranch in Argentina to British parents, but moved with her family to England at age 10 for her formal education. On stage at age 21 with the Liverpool Repertory Theatre, she grew in stature as a dramatic actress with the Old Vic before expanding her sights to include film in the 30s. Her imposing glare and fervent gait reminded one of the equally horsey-looking Edna May Oliver, and lent itself to a number of scene-stealing supports in such top-quality British efforts as When Knights Were Bold (1936), Nine Days a Queen (1936), The Mill on the Floss (1936), and The Wicked Lady (1945). But it was her brilliant performance as the mad, reclusive Miss Havisham in the classic period piece Great Expectations (1946) that earned her international recognition and Hollywood quickly took notice. More flavorful roles came her way in the post-war years, both regal and ravaged, with Anastasia (1956), Becket (1964) and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964) the highlights. In 1949, she won a Broadway Tony award for her "The Madwoman of Chaillot". Martita Hunt died at age 69 of natural causes in London.1899, Argentina -1969, 70. 97 acting credits, 1920-1969. 78 feature films.
Friday the Thirteenth (1933). '33
Prison Without Bars (1938). '38
Strange Boarders (1938). '38
The Strangler (1941). '41
The Man in Grey (1943). '43
The Wicked Lady (1945). '45
So Evil My Love (1948). '48- She was born Patricia Wilmshurst on the island of Malta and grew up in London. A honey blonde, green-eyed beauty, she won a scholarship to RADA at 17. Graduating two years later, she debuted in Mario Zampi's comedy Laughter in Paradise (1951), alongside fellow screen newcomer Audrey Hepburn. Zampi saw her as a significant potential talent and this undoubtedly led to Veronica being signed to a seven year contract by Associated British Pictures at Elstree Studios at the (then princely) salary of £2500 a year. Her first notable movie credit was playing second fiddle to Dulcie Gray in the stiff-upper-lip war picture Angels One Five (1952), starring Jack Hawkins and John Gregson as fighter pilots during the Battle of Britain. She was then flown to Hollywood to star opposite Richard Carlson in The Maze (1953), a 3-D gothic horror thriller set in a Scottish castle. Directed and designed by the renowned William Cameron Menzies, it opened to mixed reviews but has since gained a cult following. Veronica made a second appearance for Allied Artists in the wartime adventure yarn The Royal African Rifles (1953), co-starring Louis Hayward.
Her leading lady status now confirmed, Veronica returned to Britain to provide svelte elegance and glamour for several lightweight B-grade comedies (Will Any Gentleman...? (1953), Don't Blame the Stork (1954)), and -- often as flirtatious girls -- in florid crime dramas (The Girl on the Pier (1953), Game of Danger (1954), The Gilded Cage (1955), Dead Man's Evidence (1962)). She had segued into television by the middle of the decade, guest-starring in popular serials like Man in a Suitcase (1967), The Baron (1966) and The Persuaders! (1971). Though perhaps unable to live up to the early hype accorded her, Veronica nonetheless managed to carve out a solid acting career which ended with her retirement in 1975.
In private life, she was said to have enjoyed writing poetry, watercolour painting, gardening and collecting antique furniture. She was initially married to the actor William Sylvester whom she first met on the Elstree studio set during the filming of The Yellow Balloon (1953). This union ended in divorce. Her second husband was the television producer and director Ian Fordyce who predeceased her in 1988.1931, Malta, - . 43 acting credits, 1951-1975. 16 feature films.
The Maze (1953). '53
The Yellow Balloon (1953). '53
The Girl on the Pier (1953). '53
Game of Danger (1954). '54
The Gilded Cage (1955). '55
Peeping Tom (1960). '60
Dead Man's Evidence (1962). '62
The Boy Cried Murder (1966). '66 - British character actress, on stage from 1894. Her many notable theatrical appearances include "Little Lord Fauntleroy" at the Prince's Theatre in Bristol, and, as Lady McClean, in "Escape Me Never" at the Apollo in London (1933) - a part she subsequently took to Broadway two years later. Until well into her seventies, Katie's screen career consisted almost exclusively of smallish parts, until she was cast as sweet, frail Mrs. Wilberforce in the classic Ealing comedy The Ladykillers (1955). A most quintessentially British role, it finds her in a crumbling boarding house with dodgy plumbing, surrounded by Victorian memorabilia, a parrot named General Gordon, and an assortment of genteel, but pixillated, old friends. Her innocence and moral fortitude ultimately precipitate the downfall of a gang of bank robbers, posing as a string quartet.
This was the defining role of Katie's career and it won her the 1955 BAFTA Award as Best Actress. She had another juicy role, as eavesdropping would-be sleuth Aunt Alice, in How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957). Sadly, there was to be no more from this delightful scene stealer, as she passed away shortly after, at the age of 78.1878-1957, 78. 40 acting credits, 1932-1956. 33 feature films.
The Dark Stairway (1938). '38
Gaslight (1940). '40
The Voice in the Night (1941). '41
Love Letters (1945). '45
I See a Dark Stranger (1946). '46
The Shop at Sly Corner (1947). '47
I Believe in You (1952). '52
Scotland Yard Inspector (1952). '52
Death of an Angel (1952). '52
The Long Rope (1953). '53
Three Steps in the Dark (1953). '53
The Delavine Affair (1955). '55 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Kay Kendall was born on 21 May 1927 in Withernsea, Yorkshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Les Girls (1957), The Reluctant Debutante (1958) and Simon and Laura (1955). She was married to Rex Harrison. She died on 6 September 1959 in London, England, UK.1926-1959, 33. 30 acting credits, 1944-1960. 27 feature films.
Night and the City (1950). '50
Dead on Course (1952). '52
Man in Hiding (1953). '53
The Square Ring (1953). '53
The Shadow Man (1953). '53- Diana King was born on 2 August 1918 in Buckinghamshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Pride and Prejudice (1967), The Scarf (1959) and Pink Floyd: The Wall (1982). She was married to John Harvey. She died on 31 July 1986 in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, England, UK.1918-1986, 67. 111 acting credits, 1939-1986. 18 feature films.
The Spell of Amy Nugent (1941). '41
The Man in Grey (1943). '43
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (1958). '58
The Devil Inside (1961). '61
Die! Die! My Darling! (1965). '65 - Delphi Lawrence was born on 23 March 1932 in Hampstead, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), The Man Who Finally Died (1959) and The Avengers (1961). She died on 11 April 2002 in Northport, Long Island, New York, USA.1932-2002, 70. 82 acting credits, 1952-1973. 27 feature films.
Three Stops to Murder (1953). '53
Blackout (1954). '54
Meet Mr. Callaghan (1954). '54
Murder on Approval (1955). '55
Doublecross (1956). '56
Strangers' Meeting (1957). '57
Blind Spot (1958). '58
tt0274827/. '61
The Fourth Square (1961). '61
On the Run (1963). '63
Farewell Performance (1963). '63
Frozen Alive (1964). '64. Frozen Alive. - Auburn-haired British actress of stage and screen, the youngest of three siblings born in London to naval officer Noel Lawson and his wife Edith (née Monteith). Her grandfather, Francis Wilfred Lawson (1842-1935), was a noted Victorian painter and illustrator. Young Sarah grew up in West Sussex and first went on stage in amateur productions at the Herons Ghyll Roman Catholic School. Afterwards, she studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1947. Her professional theatrical debut duly followed a year later at the Perth Theatre repertory company. In 1951, Lawson debuted in the West End in a production of Jean Cocteau's play Intimate Relations.Five years later, she appeared as film producer's wife Brenda Paulton in the original cast of Philip Mackie's thriller The Whole Truth at the Aldwych Theatre in London.
On screen from 1951, Lawson started off playing a succession of ingénues and juvenile second leads in B-movies and quota quickies, her first leading role being in a forgotten mystery drama, Meet Mr. Malcolm (1954). She had the nominal female lead as one of several beauties in the satirical cold war naval farce You Know What Sailors Are (1954).
Rather better known for her roles in the genres of horror and science fiction, Lawson starred as one of two psychic sisters investigating the gruesome deaths of climbers in the Swiss Alps in the 6-part TV series The Trollenberg Terror (1956). She was also good value in a couple of thrillers directed by horror expert Terence Fisher, both also featuring Christopher Lee. In Night of the Big Heat (1967), she co-starred with her real-life husband Patrick Allen as a couple of pub owners on a remote island invaded by aliens. As Marie Eaton in the Hammer Film production The Devil Rides Out (1968) (based on Dennis Wheatley's 1934 novel), Lawson was menaced by the leader of a satanic cult (Charles Gray) and then possessed by the spirit of a dead girl. Surprisingly, perennial Dracula impersonator Christopher Lee wore the white hat in both films.
From the late 60s onward, Lawson was seen most often in 'crime time' television dramas, as featured player or guest star in iconic series like Department S (1969), The Persuaders! (1971), Callan (1967) (as Soviet spy Flo Mayhew), Father Brown (1974) and Bergerac (1981). She also played prison governess Sarah Marshall in twelve episodes of Within These Walls (1974) (the third actress in that role, succeeding Googie Withers and Katharine Blake).
Sarah Elizabeth Lawson retired from acting in 1989 and died on August 18 2023, aged 95.1928 - . 73 acting credits, 1951-1989. 18 feature films.
The Night Won't Talk (1952). '52
Both Sides of the Law (1953). '53
Three Steps in the Dark (1953). '53
Meet Mr. Malcolm (1954). '54
Three Crooked Men (1959). '58
Links of Justice (1958). '58
The Solitary Child (1958). '58
Night Without Pity (1961). '61
On the Run (1963). '63 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Alison Leggatt was born on 7 February 1904 in Kensington, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976), This Happy Breed (1944) and Never Take Candy from A Stranger (1960). She died on 15 July 1990 in London, England, UK.1904-1990, 86. 53 acting credits, 1932-1977. 22 feature films.
Waterloo Road (1945). '45
Noose for a Lady (1953). '53
A Woman Possessed (1958). '58
Never Take Candy from A Stranger (1960). '60- Jean Lodge was born on 4 August 1927 in Hull, Yorkshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Brandy for the Parson (1952), The Black Knight (1954) and Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress (1949). She was previously married to Alfred Shaughnessy.1927 - . 31 acting credits, 1949-1966. 19 feature films.
Dr. Morelle: The Case of the Missing Heiress (1949). '49
Blackout (1950). '50
Death of an Angel (1952). '52
The Accused (1953). '53
Johnny on the Spot (1954). '54
The Last Appointment (1954). '54
Terror Ship (1954). '54
The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964). '64 - Justine Lord was born on 8 March 1937 in Bromley, Kent, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Saint (1962), Ring of Treason (1964) and The Fiction-Makers (1968).1937 - . 47 acting credits, 1959-1982. 12 feature films.
Incident at Midnight (1963). '63
Maniac (1963). '63
Act of Murder (1964). '64
Ring of Treason (1964). '64
Deadlier Than the Male (1967). '67 - Ann Lynn was born on 7 November 1933 in Fulham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Just Good Friends (1983), A Shot in the Dark (1964) and Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). She was married to Anthony Newley. She died on 30 August 2020 in Oxfordshire, England, UK.1933 - . 94 acting credits, 1956-1966. 25 feature films.
Johnny You're Wanted (1956). '56
Moment of Indiscretion (1958). '58
Naked Fury (1959). '59
Piccadilly Third Stop (1960). '60
Strip Tease Murder (1961). '61
Strongroom (1962). '62
A Shot in the Dark (1964). '64 - Mary Mackenzie (3 May 1922 - 20 September 1966) was born in Burnley, Lancashire, where she spent her early years. Although by 1954 she had performed in ten feature films and two BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950) episodes, she was known as a radio star. At this time and to publicize her upcoming radio program, "Spanner in the Works," that she was photographed sitting in a sports Maserati conversing with British motor racing driver and manager Roy Salvadori. In 1966, Mary died in London in a car accident at the age of 44.1922-1966, 44. 36 acting credits, 1946-1953. 17 feature films.
Wanted for Murder (1946). '46
Stolen Face (1952). '52
Scotland Yard Inspector (1952). '52
The Paris Express (1952). '52
The Long Memory (1953). '53
The Master Plan (1954). '55
Track the Man Down (1955), '55
Operation Conspiracy (1956). '56. lead
Yield to the Night (1956). '56
The Flesh Is Weak (1957). '57
Decision Against Time (1957). '57 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Leigh Madison was born on 11 March 1934 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Our House (1960), The Giant Behemoth (1959) and The Invisible Man (1958). She was married to Ernest Maxin. She died on 8 January 2009 in England, UK.1934-2009, 74. 21 acting credits, 1958-1979. 10 feature films.
Blind Spot (1958). '58
Serious Charge (1959). '59
Naked Fury (1959). '59
High Jump (1959). '59- Elspeth March was one of a golden generation of Central School of Speech and Drama students trained under the rigorous and inspiring Elsie Fogerty - Laurence Olivier, amongst others, always stressed Fogerty's contribution to the British stage. March also enjoyed the very best years of the British repertory system, with the kind of career denied young actors today, playing an enormous variety of roles in a crucial early period at the Birmingham Rep at one of its highest points.
Later in her career, with her formidable stage presence, commanding eyes and expressively wide-ranging voice, she was much in demand as a valued supporting character actress, playing a good number of battle-axes and dragonesses, often with whiplash comic precision, more than occasionally enlivening some less than effervescent scripts.
Her career never quite flowered as it should have; she never had the luck to play some parts for which she would have been ideal - Lady Bracknell or a number of Restoration comedy's gallery of deluded dowagers - and poor health clouded her later years. At her peak, however, she was one of the most distinctive, stylish actors of her generation.
Born Jean Elspeth Mackenzie into the comfortable world of a military family and given an excellent education at Sherborne School for Girls in Dorset, she gravitated early to the stage, and after her Central School training and a first professional appearance in a tiny part in Jonah and the Whale (Westminster Theatre, 1932) she played a few more minor roles and understudied in the West End until she was offered a season at the Birmingham Rep.
Between 1934 and 1937 she had a glorious run of rewarding leading roles there including the title role in Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan and Elizabeth in Rudolf Besier's 1930s smash-hit The Barretts of Wimpole Street. She also appeared at the Malvern Festivals between 1935 and 1937 when Shaw himself was often in evidence and in charge.
Her attack and vocal variety were supremely suited to Shaw and her many Shavian roles at Malvern included the rarity of Vashti in The Simpleton of the Unexpected Isles, the rebellious Hypatia in Misalliance, Miss Brollikins in the political satire On the Rocks, the enormously demanding vocal pyrotechnics and physical agility of Epifania in The Millionairess, and Orinthia the seductive royal mistress in The Apple Cart.
More unexpectedly - although discerning directors had noted her versatility - she had a great personal success as The Widow Quin in Synge's Playboy of the Western World (a Mercury Theatre production, later transferring to the Duchess, in 1939) and she also played the part equally successfully nearly 20 years later for the Irish Players in New York (Tara Theatre, 1958).
While at Birmingham in the mid-1930s March had met fellow actor Stewart Granger. They married in 1938 and the following year performed together in a number of plays in Aberdeen, including Arms and the Man and Hay Fever (Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray performed the juvenile roles).
During the Second World War, rather than join Ensa, March left the stage for nearly five years to serve as a driver for the American Red Cross. Her immediate post-war career was unsettled, with some unrewarding roles and some disappointing London productions, although Noel Coward's large- cast Peace in Our Time (Lyric, 1947), set in a London pub against the background of an imagined 1940-45 Britain under Nazi occupation, gave her a meaty part as a novelist whose son has been killed in the Battle of Britain (Coward admired both her performance and the quality she maintained throughout the run).
She also had a happy return to Shaw with a much-praised Ftateeta in the Olivier/Vivien Leigh production of Caesar and Cleopatra (St James's, 1951) for the Festival of Britain. During the 1950s, good parts continued to be frustratingly sporadic following the break-up of her marriage to Stewart Granger, who had become a major movie star.
Even if some of her later performances were in productions which failed to reach London, March at least occasionally had the consolation - important, to one so well-read herself - of appearing in some work of distinguished pedigree. At the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford in 1966 she played the relatively small but pivotal role of Maria, a handsomely enigmatic woman who enters as the fiancee of a newly enriched Edwardian bachelor gentleman only to become the wife of his recently bereaved brother, in Julian Mitchell's subtle distillation of Ivy Compton-Burnett's lethally mordant portrait of family spites and tensions in A Family and a Fortune.
Also at Guildford (1967) she was glittering as the doctor hero's mother in Tennessee Williams's Eccentricities of a Nightingale (a reworking of Summer and Smoke), and she toured in Rodney Ackland's masterpiece maudit The Dark River.
Never one to be fazed by the seesaw vagaries of a theatrical career, she enjoyed her surprisingly long run in Ronald Millar's piece of medieval pish-tushery Abelard and Heloise (Wyndham's, 1970) as a severely wimpled Abbess just as much as her very much shorter run in the same author's sprawling generation-gap flop Parents' Day (Globe, 1972).
One of her most memorable later appearances was in a dire West End comedy written as a vehicle for Maggie Smith's then somewhat baroque comic technique. Snap (originally titled Clap, Vaudeville, 1974) was a kind of modern-day La Ronde set in a Bohemian fashionable London involving most of its characters in a chain of sexually transmitted diseases. Time has mercifully obliterated the memory of most of the details of this hapless piece - directed, amazingly enough, by William Gaskill - but not that of Elspeth March as Maude, a barking vision in heavy tweeds, up in London from her country retreat (nudgingly named Radclyffe Hall) and hilariously aghast at the ways of this new-age Sodom.
Elspeth March also had a long and successful television and film career, starting with Mr. Emmanuel (1944), and helped to enliven the dim musical remake of 'Goodbye, Mr Chips'. A woman of great taste and strong loyalties, she was a genuinely generous personality with a very wide circle of family and friends.1911-1999, 88. 59 acting credits, 1939-1993. 23 feature films.
Boys in Brown (1949). '49
Midnight Lace (1960). '60
Dr. Crippen (1963). '63
Psyche 59 (1964). '64 - Edie Martin was born on 1 January 1880 in Marylebone, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Man in the White Suit (1951), Great Expectations (1946) and Kidnapped (1960). She was married to Felix William Pitt (actor). She died on 21 February 1964 in Brixton, London, England, UK.1880-1964, 84. 69 acting credits, 1931-1963. 59 feature films.
Late Extra (1935). '35
Unpublished Story (1942). '42
A Place of One's Own (1945). '45
They Were Sisters (1945). '45
Carnival (1946). '46
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947). '47
My Brother's Keeper (1948). '48
Night Was Our Friend (1951). '51
Blackmailed (1951). '51
The Black Rider (1954). '54
The Mysterious Bullet (1955). '55 - Betty McDowall was born on 14 August 1924 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. She was an actress, known for The Omen (1976), Dead Lucky (1960) and Little Lord Fauntleroy (1976). She died on 31 December 1993 in London, England, UK.1924, Australia, - 1993, 69. 70 acting credits, 1948-1978. 16 feature films.
Pickup Alley (1957). '57
Time Lock (1957). '57
Dead Lucky (1960). '60
Jackpot (1960), '60
Echo of Diana (1963). '63
Tomorrow at Ten (1963). '65 - Olive Milbourne was born on 16 June 1909 in Pancras, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Likely Lads (1964), The Avengers (1961) and New Scotland Yard (1972). She was married to Cary Ellison. She died on 23 June 1994 in Guildford, Surrey, England, UK.1909-1994, 85. 41 acting credits, 1938-1985. 11 feature films.
Her Panelled Door (1950). '50
Contraband Spain (1955). '55
One Way Out (1955). '55
The Third Alibi (1961). '61 - Eileen Moore was born in August 1932 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for An Inspector Calls (1954), The Green Man (1956) and Les Misérables (1967). She has been married to Michael Anthony Owens since 1968. She was previously married to George Cole.1932 - . 23 acting credits, 1951-1970. 12 feature films.
Mr. Denning Drives North (1951). '51
The Girl on the Pier (1953). '53
An Inspector Calls (1954). '54
A Town Like Alice (1956). '56
Devil's Bait (1959). '59 - Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Prior to going to RADA she'd had a small part in 'The Rebel' with Tony Hancock but after the first day she went home in tears as she'd been made up with bright green lips and mud in her hair for her part as an extra sensualist. While she liked making the film and working with Tony she didn't enjoy the part. Just before she left RADA she went to see a producer about a part of a brassy blonde in "Wheel of Fate" (1953). He was pleased with her but said that she needed to see the director for approval and that he was doing a night shoot at Marylebone shunting yards. If she went to see him there and if he approved she'd start filming the next week.. She got to the yard and saw a man 'committing suicide' by jumping onto tracks in front of a train. After shooting the scene, he climbed onto the platform and asked who she was and what she was doing there. She'd already found out he was Bryan Forbes and introduced herself saying that she understood that she might be in the film. He replied that this had been the last night of shooting to which she said that she'd come all the way from Streatham. He said he'd take her home to make sure that she'd be safe, and continued to do so for nearly 60 years. He'd done quite a few films by that time, plus a lot of stage work. They did a play together at the Aldwych Theatre and worked separately until he started to produce and direct, casting her in a number of his films.1934 - . 53 acting credits, 1945-2006. 28 feature films.
Personal Affair (1953). '53
The League of Gentlemen (1960). '60
Faces in the Dark (1960). '60
Pit of Darkness (1961). 61
House of Mystery (1961). '61
Murder Can Be Deadly (1962). '62
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). '64- Actress
Marie Ney was born on 18 July 1895 in Chelsea, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Simba (1955), Escape! (1930) and Witchcraft (1964). She was married to Thomas Menzies. She died on 11 April 1981 in London, England, UK.1895-1981, 85. 40 acting credits, 1919-1969. 21 feature films.
Uneasy Terms (1948). '48
Conspirator (1949). '49
Shadow of the Past (1950). '50
Seven Days to Noon (1950). '50
Night Was Our Friend (1951). '51
Yield to the Night (1956). '55
West 11 (1963). '63- Actress
- Soundtrack
Dandy Nichols was born on 21 May 1907 in Fulham, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Alf Garnett Saga (1972), The Vikings (1958) and The Deep Blue Sea (1955). She was married to Stephen Baguley Waters. She died on 6 February 1986 in Whitechapel, London, England, UK.1907-1986, 78. 140 acting credits, 1947-1985. 67 feature films.
Hue and Cry (1947). '47
The Fallen Idol (1948). '48
Now Barabbas (1949). '49
Eye Witness (1950). '50
The Clouded Yellow (1950). '50
High Treason (1951). '51
The Hundred Hour Hunt (1952). '52
Twilight Women (1952). '52
Both Sides of the Law (1953). '53
Time Is My Enemy (1954). '54
The Glass Tomb (1955). '55
A Time to Kill (1955). '55
Tears for Simon (1956). '56
Yield to the Night (1956). '56
Tiger in the Smoke (1956). '56
Town on Trial (1957). '57
Don't Talk to Strange Men (1962). '62
Act of Murder (1964). '64- Lovely, delicate-looking actress Muriel Pavlow belongs firmly to the British cinema of the 1950s and often provided a nice counterbalance to the hectic goings-on in many comedies. Born in 1921 in Leigh, Kent, England, she was a dominant stage actress despite her petite frame and made her theatrical debut at age 15 with a production of "The Old Maid" (1936). Other sprightly teen roles on stage followed including "Oedipus Rex" (1936), "Victoria Regina" (1937), "Dear Octopus" (1938), "Dear Brutus" (1940) and "Old Acquaintance" before she began to get a strong foothold in films.
Muriel started out with a bit role in a 1934 Gracie Fields musical comedy film, but wouldn't come into her own for nearly two decades. Perennially radiant and youthful, she often times played ingénue roles much younger than her actual age. She appeared in the film Quiet Wedding (1941) starring Margaret Lockwood and Derek Farr and was prominently seen in the war-time film Night Boat to Dublin (1946). While making a beguiling Ophelia on a live, early TV version of Hamlet Part 1 (1947), for the most part she tried to build up her theatrical credits.
A comely heroine in thrillers, light comedies and war-themed pictures she was usually cast as an altruistic bride, wife or girlfriend. In 1947 she married actor Farr and went on to appear with him in such British-made films as The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) and Doctor at Large (1957). Peaking in mid-50s films opposite such established British actors as Dirk Bogarde, Peter Finch, John Gregson, Kenneth More and Donald Sinden, Muriel also continued to perform theater roles, notably in Shakespeare pieces -- "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Othello", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Troilus and Cressida".
Her film career waned in the early 60s and she and her husband worked for the most part on stage and in television. The couple appeared together in such plays as "Wolf's Clothing" (1959) and "Mary, Mary" (1963). Following Farr's death in 1986, she resumed her career and was spotted in the late 80s and 90s in a number of matronly roles. Some of her last roles were in TV movies -- Daisies in December (1995), Heaven on Earth (1998) and Belonging (2004), the last in which she was in the company of such elites as Brenda Blethyn, Rosemary Harris and Anna Massey.
She made a brief appearance in her final movie, Glorious 39 (2009). She died in England, at age 97 on January 19, 2019.1921 - . 58 acting credits, 1934-2009. 19 feature films.
Night Boat to Dublin (1946). '46
The Shop at Sly Corner (1947). '47
Tiger in the Smoke (1956). '56
Eyewitness (1956). '56
Whirlpool (1959). '59 - Ambrosine Phillpotts was born on 13 September 1912 in St George Hanover Square, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Room at the Top (1958), Expresso Bongo (1959) and Armchair Theatre (1956). She died on 12 October 1980 in Bracknell, Berkshire, England, UK.1912-1980, 68. 63 acting credits, 1946-1980. 29 feature films.
Mr. Denning Drives North (1951). '51
The Franchise Affair (1951). '51
Stolen Face (1952). '52 - Irene Prador was born on 16 July 1911 in Vienna, Austria. She was an actress, known for Danger Man (1960), Lady Killers (1980) and Dear John.... (1986). She died on 8 July 1996 in Berlin, Germany.1911, Austria, - 1996, 84. 57 acting credits, 1937-1994. 14 feature films.
No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1948). '48
The Snorkel (1958). '58
The Devil's Daffodil (1961). '61
Tears for Simon (1956). '56. A few of the actresses in Lost:
Barbara Archer*
Julia Arnall*
nm0166675*
Dorothy Gordon*
Everley Gregg*
Joan Hickson*
Thora Hird*
Brenda Hogan*
Dandy Nichols*
Irene Prador*
Marjorie Rhodes*
Grace Denbeigh-Russell*
Anita Sharp-Bolster*
Marianne Stone*
Eleanor Summerfield*
Anna Turner*
Mona Washbourne* - Actress
- Producer
Sheila Raynor was born on 15 March 1906 in London, England, UK. She was an actress and producer, known for A Clockwork Orange (1971), The Omen (1976) and Man in the Wilderness (1971). She was married to Keith Pyott. She died on 17 February 1998 in Suffolk, England, UK.1908-1998, 89. 89 acting credits, 1946-1988. 20 feature films.
The Mark of Cain (1947). '47
Madness of the Heart (1949). '49
Dead on Course (1952). '52
Violent Playground (1958). '58
October Moth (1960). '60- Actress
- Soundtrack
Moira Redmond was born on 14 July 1928 in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England, UK. She was an actress, known for A Shot in the Dark (1964), Melissa (1974) and The Winter's Tale (1967). She was married to Herbert Wise and Anthony Hughes. She died on 16 March 2006 in London, England, UK.1928-2006, 77. 84 acting credits, 1957-1997. 11 feature films.
Rebound (1959). '59
Pit of Darkness (1961). '61
The Share Out (1962). '62
Jigsaw (1962). '62
Nightmare (1964). '64- Myrtle Reed was born in 1920 in Hackney, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Shop at Sly Corner (1948), The Crime of the Century (1956) and Home at Seven (1957). She died on 30 June 2007 in Denville Hall, Northwood, London, England, UK.1920-2007, 87. 46 acting credits, 1948-1976. 14 feature films.
Both Sides of the Law (1953). '53
Delayed Action (1954). '54
Cast a Dark Shadow (1955). '55
The Weapon (1956). '56
Chain of Events (1958). '58
Snowball (1960). '60
The Eyes of Annie Jones (1964). '64 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Maggie Rennie was born on 11 February 1919 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Intent to Kill (1958), Fox Mystery Theater (1984) and Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). She was married to Michael Rennie. She died on 5 August 2017 in Brinsworth House, Twickenham, Middlesex, England, UK.1919 - . 35 acting credits, 1942-1988. 18 feature films.
23 Paces to Baker Street (1956). '56. USA. Filmed in London.
Intent to Kill (1958). '58. UK. Filmed in Canada.
Nowhere to Go (1958). '58
Urge to Kill (1960). '60
Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964). '64- Joan Rice was born on 3 February 1930 in Derby, Derbyshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Story of Robin Hood and His Merrie Men (1952), His Majesty O'Keefe (1954) and I Promised to Pay (1961). She was married to Ken McKenzie and David Green. She died on 1 January 1997 in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, UK.1930-1997, 66. 23 acting credits, 1951-1970. 17 feature films.
Blackmailed (1951). '51
The Steel Key (1953). '53
Women Without Men (1956). '56
Blonde Bait (1956). '56
The Long Knife (1958). '58
I Promised to Pay (1961). '61 - Yvonne Romain was born on 17 February 1938 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Corridors of Blood (1958), Double Trouble (1967) and The Swinger (1966). She was previously married to Leslie Bricusse.1938 - . 40 acting credits, 1952-1973. 21 feature films.
Triple Deception (1956). '56
Pickup Alley (1957). '57
Murder Reported (1957). '58
The Frightened City (1961). '61
Return to Sender (1963). '63
Smokescreen (1964). '64 - Anne Sharp was born in November 1934 in Haltwhistle, Northumberland, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Jack the Ripper (1959), The Champions (1968) and The Crawling Eye (1958). She was married to Monty Berman. She died on 23 June 2010 in London, England, UK.1934-2010, 76. 22 acting credits, 1950-1973. 10 feature films.
Hour of Decision (1957). '57
Blind Spot (1958). '58
Naked Fury (1959). '59
Murder on the Campus (1961). '61 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Anita Sharp-Bolster was born on 28 August 1895 in Glenlohane, Kanturk, County Cork, Ireland. She was an actress, known for My Name Is Julia Ross (1945), Saboteur (1942) and The Lost Weekend (1945). She died on 1 June 1985 in North Miami, Florida, USA.1895-1985, 89. 108 acting credits, 1928-1978. 64 feature films.
UK movies first, followed by USA movies.
Dangerous Masquerade (1939). '39
Waterfront Women (1950). '50
Tears for Simon (1956). '56
Black Tide (1958). '56
The Day They Robbed the Bank of England (1960). '60
The House in Marsh Road (1960). '60
I Promised to Pay (1961). '61
The Boy Cried Murder (1966). '66
Nightmare (1942). '42
The Lodger (1944). '44
Scarlet Street (1945). '45
My Name Is Julia Ross (1945). '45
Dark Passage (1947). '47
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947). '47
Love from a Stranger (1947). '47- Edith Sharpe was born on 14 September 1894 in Hackney, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Cash on Demand (1961), The Outsider (1948) and Happy Is the Bride (1958). She was married to Alexander Francis Part. She died on 6 June 1984 in Harrow-on-the-Hill, London, England, UK.1893-1984, 90. 33 acting credits, 1921-1972. 19 feature films.
Once a Sinner (1950). '50
Cloudburst (1951). '51
Cash on Demand (1961). '61 - The sexy Barbara Shelley was born Barbara Kowin on February 13, 1932 in London, England. With her beautiful looks and stature, she worked as a model during her salad days. Her film career began in Italy in the mid-1950s in such tempting fare as Luna nova (1955) and Nero's Mistress (1956), but when this seemed like she was going to remain in the minor ranks, she returned to England to attempt to better her career. After appearing in the minor sex farce The Little Hut (1957) with Stewart Granger, David Niven and Ava Gardner, Barbara caught notoriety in the title role of Cat Girl (1957), a low budget production in which she played a woman possessed by a family curse who develops psychic links with a leopard.
This paid off and she quickly evolved into a popular Gothic glamour woman at Hammer Studios. Starting things off with The Camp on Blood Island (1958) and Blood of the Vampire (1958), the lovely actress proceeded to stake out her own lucrative territory in the horror genres. Through the 1960s, she co-starred in the classic Village of the Damned (1960), along with The Shadow of the Cat (1961), The Gorgon (1964), The Secret of Blood Island (1965), Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), Rasputin: The Mad Monk (1966) and Quatermass and the Pit (1967). However, Barbara's film career had fallen aside by the late 1960s and she turned to television.
In her retirement, she pursued interior decorating. Whether playing female monsters or their intended victims, Barbara played them straight and handled them all with requisite style and grace. For this, she was occasionally seen by motion picture fans at conventions as an integral figure of camp horror history.1932 - . 104 acting credits, 1953-1992. 32 feature films.
Man in Hiding (1953). '53
The End of the Line (1957). '57. lead
The Solitary Child (1958). '58. lead
Deadly Record (1959). '59. lead
Murder at Site 3 (1959). '59. lead
The Shadow of the Cat (1961). '61. lead
Death Trap (1962). '62
Stranglehold (1963). '62. lead
Man in the Dark (1964). '65. lead - Cheerful-looking actress Dinah Sheridan was considered the quintessential English rose of late 30's and 40's British films. With an alertness, elegance and quiet beauty second to none, she won the hearts of war-torn England during WWII.
She was born Dinah Nadyejda Ginsburg in London on September 17, 1920. Her Russian father and German mother were photographers to the Royal Family, by appointment to both the Queen and Queen Mother. Dinah's first professional role was an understudy part of Rsoamund in "Where the Rainbow End." She subsequently went on tour as Wendy in "Peter Pan" starring Charles Laughton as Captain Hook and wife Elsa Lanchester in the title role, and appeared in repertory during the war years.
Dinah broke into films at the tender age of 16 with a starring role in a meek, lowbudget piece Landslide (1937). Her co-star was young Jimmy Hanley, in his first adult role, and the two would later marry in 1942, having three children (one died in childbirth). Dinah continued in both drama and light comedy as the youthful ingenue in such films as Behind Your Back (1937), Father Steps Out (1937), Merely Mr. Hawkins (1938) and Irish and Proud of It (1938). Jimmy and Dinah became a popular WWII-era film couple, appearing quite winningly together in Salute John Citizen (1942), The Facts of Love (1945) and The Huggetts Abroad (1949). One of their children, Jenny Hanley, followed in her parents' footsteps as an actress and TV presenter.
Dinah remained a lovely presence in a variety of post-war films, gracing such productions as the stark melodrama The Hills of Donegal (1947); in the whodunnit Calling Paul Temple (1948) opposite John Bentley as part of a husband/wife detective team; in the crime drama The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948) as the title nurse; the adventure drama Ivory Hunter (1951); and the romantic war piece The Sound Barrier (1952).
Divorced from Hanley in 1952, Dinah, following a secondary role in the biopic Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) and after starring role in one of Britain's most delightful 50's comedies, Genevieve (1953), co-starring John Gregson, Kenneth More and the sublime Kay Kendall, abruptly retired on a high note after marrying Sir John Davis, the President of the Rank Organization, in 1954. Following her second divorce, and after 11 years of obscurity, Dinah made a return to the stage in 1967 with the play "Let's All Go Down the Strand." She continued with prominent 70's roles in "A Boston Story," "A Touch of Purple, "Move Over Mrs. Markham" (title role), "The Card," "The Gentle Hook," "The Please of His Company," "A Murder Is Announced" and toured in the play "Half Life."
After impressing as the hard-luck mother who is forced to raise three children alone after her husband abandons the family in the drama The Railway Children (1970), Dinah chose to focus squarely on TV with roles in such programs as "Seasons of the Year," "Zodiac," "Crown Court," "Village Hall," "Whodunnit?," "Doctor Who," and her final TV appearance in a 1999 episode of "Jonathan Creek." She also appeared in the mini-series The Winning Streak (1985) and co-starred in two British comedy series Don't Wait Up (1983) and All Night Long (1994).
Dinah married for a third time to actor John Merivale in 1986, but he died four years later. Her fourth marriage, to American businessman Aubrey Ison, ended with his death in 2007. Dinah died in London at age 92 on November 25, 2012.1920-2012, 92. 51 acting credits, 1937-1999. 26 feature films.
Query (1945). '45
The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948). '48
Dark Secret (1949). '49
No Trace (1950). '50
Blackout (1950). '50 - This pert and perky blonde Londoner was born on July 16, 1931. Susan Rennie Stephen took an interest in acting while still a youth and began performing on stage as an adolescent. She also received early training at a dramatic school.
Susan pursued TV roles as early as her late teens and earned major notice portraying Amy March in the British series Little Women (1950). Following this, she moved into films making her debut with a eye-catching role as the daughter of governor Eric Portman in the Ealing comedy His Excellency (1952). From there she continued with prime parts in such films as the crime drama Stolen Face (1952) and the comedies Treasure Hunt (1952) and Father's Doing Fine (1952).
Susan's demure, slightly elfin loveliness seemed to coincide with the duteous daughters and/or faithful wives she seemed designed to play. The actress was given top billing as a college co-ed in the romantic comedy Fanciulle di lusso (1952) which featured then-husband Lawrence Ward in a lesser role. She followed this with a cluster of dramatic parts, including the femme lead opposite Alan Ladd in Paratrooper (1953); and with second femme leads alongside Alex Nicol in Heat Wave (1954) and Jack Watling in Dangerous Cargo (1954).
Mainly confined to "B" level films, Susan's more noticeable co-star roles occurred in romantic comedies opposite the likes of Dirk Bogarde in Cocktails in the Kitchen (1954) (aka For Better, For Worse) and John Gregson in Value for Money (1955). Later in the decade she appeared in As Long as They're Happy (1955), It's Never Too Late (1956), and the Jennifer Jones version of The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957).
Susan's career began to take a back seat in 1957 when she married her second husband, director Nicolas Roeg. After filming major roles in the rollicking comedy Carry on Nurse (1959), the crime thriller Return of a Stranger (1961) and the low-budgeted courtroom drama The Court Martial of Major Keller (1961), along with TV guest parts on such series as "The Adventures of Robin Hood," and "Stryker of the Yard," Susan gently phased her career out and away from the limelight. Her last on-camera appearance was a lead in the low-budgeted Danzinger film comedy Three Spare Wives (1962).
She and Roeg had four children before divorcing in 1977. He subsequently married Hollywood actress Theresa Russell. Focusing henceforth on her children, very little was heard of Susan until her death was announced at age 68 on April 24, 2000, in Sussex, England.1931-2000, 68. 28 acting credits, 1951-1962. 21 feature films.
Stolen Face (1952). '52
Heat Wave (1954). '54
Dangerous Cargo (1954). '54
Return of a Stranger (1961). '61 - Dorinda Stevens was born on 16 August 1932 in Southampton, Hampshire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Avengers (1961), Jack the Ripper (1959) and Night Train to Paris (1964). She was married to Michael Boultbee. She died on 25 October 2012 in Winchester, Hampshire, England, UK.1932-2012, 80. 37 acting credits, 1952-1965. 20 feature films.
Scotland Yard Inspector (1952). '52
The Golden Link (1954). '54
The Deadliest Sin (1955). '55
Handcuffs, London (1955). '55
Man with a Gun (1958). '58
The Shakedown (1960). '60
The Gentle Trap (1960). '60
Night Without Pity (1961). '61
Night Train to Paris (1964). '64 - Known for her genteel ways and stately beauty in tea service drama, British actress Nora Swinburne was born Elinore Johnson on July 24, 1902, in Bath, England. Performing on stage as both actress and dancer from the age of 10, her father, Henry Swinburne Johnson, manufactured toys for a living.
She was a member of Clive Currie's Young Players in 1914 and appeared in shows during that year. Educated at Rosholme College, she trained for the arts at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Building up her stage reputation with such pieces as "Suzette" (1917), "Yes, Uncle!" (1918), "Scandal" (1919), and the title role in "Tilly of Bloomsbury" (1921), her attractiveness proved quite suitable for films, entering silent pictures in 1920. She appeared in a handful of sophisticated fare throughout the early part of the decade such as Branded (1920), The Fortune of Christina McNab (1921), Hornet's Nest (1923), and A Girl of London (1925).
Divorced from actor Francis Lister, she was married to actor Edward Ashley at the time she met Esmond Knight while appearing in the play "Wise Tomorrow" in 1937. Actually, both actors were married at the time, but they engaged in a long, discreet affair until both were free. They finally married in the late 1940s and enjoyed a long union together. They would appear in several plays over the years from "Autumn Crocus" (1939) to "The Cocktail Party" (1974). Ms. Swinburne enjoyed great theatrical success playing the role of Dinah Lot in the play "Lot's Wife" (1938), which she subsequently reproduced under her own management, and later replaced Diana Wynyard in the memorable war drama "Watch on the Rhine" in 1943.
By the advent of sound, Ms. Swinburne had been related to opulent supports in films, usually appearing as ladylike mothers or socialite types in plush Gainsborough dramas. Some of her later films would include Perfect Understanding (1933), The Citadel (1938), The Man in Grey (1943), Man of Evil (1944), Jassy (1947), Christopher Columbus (1949), Quartet (1948), The River (1951) (with husband Knight), Quo Vadis (1951) (as Pomponia), Helen of Troy (1956) (as Hecuba), Decision at Midnight (1965) (again with Knight), Interlude (1968) and Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).
An avid gardener by nature, Ms. Swinburne would die of old age in 2000, thirteen years after husband Knight.1902-2000, 97. 91 acting credits, 1920-1974. 57 feature films.
Edgar Wallace's White Face the Fiend (1932). '32
Man of Evil (1944). '44
Good-Time Girl (1948). '48
The Blind Goddess (1948). '48
Operation X (1950). '50
Female Fiends (1958). '58 - Marjorie Taylor was born on 23 May 1912 in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, UK. She was an actress, known for The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936), The Ticket of Leave Man (1937) and It's Never Too Late to Mend (1937). She died on 11 May 1974 in Chichester, Sussex, England, UK.1912-1974, 61. 15 acting credits, 1936-1940. 15 feature films.
The Crimes of Stephen Hawke (1936). '36
The Ticket of Leave Man (1937). '37
The Face at the Window (1939). '39
Three Silent Men (1940). '40 - Madoline Thomas was born on 2 January 1890 in Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales, UK. She was an actress, known for No Trace (1950), How Green Was My Valley (1960) and Pride and Prejudice (1958). She was married to John W. H. Thomas. She died on 30 December 1989 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, UK.1890-1989, 99. 74 acting credits, 1945-1985. 15 feature films.
No Trace (1950). '50
Blackout (1950). '50
The Black Widow (1951). '51
The Square Ring (1953). '53
Radio Cab Murder (1954). '54
Suspended Alibi (1957). '57
Rogue's Yarn (1957). '57
Something to Hide (1972). '72 - Merle Tottenham was born on 22 January 1901 in Quetta, India. She was an actress, known for The Invisible Man (1933), Night Must Fall (1937) and Cavalcade (1933). She died on 18 July 1958 in Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, England, UK.1901, India, -1958, 57. 37 acting credits, 1931-1950. 32 feature films
Night Must Fall (1937). '37
Dangerous Masquerade (1939). '39
Poison Pen (1939). '39
Headline (1943). '43
Calling Paul Temple (1948). '58
Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948). '48
Five Angles on Murder (1950). '50
Room to Let (1950). '50 - Iris Vandeleur was born on 14 December 1884 in Stirling, Scotland, UK. She was an actress, known for Sherlock Holmes (1951), Gert and Daisy's Week-end (1942) and Gert and Daisy Clean Up (1942). She died on 27 June 1969 in Chelsea, London, England, UK.1884-1969, 84. 27 acting credits, 1938-1961. 18 feature films.
They Drive by Night (1938). '38
Daughter of Darkness (1948). '48
Good-Time Girl (1948). '48
The Spider and the Fly (1949). '49
The Hundred Hour Hunt (1952). '52
Track the Man Down (1955). '55 - Mavis Villiers was born Mavis Clare Cooney on December 10, 1909 at Neurtal Bay; a suburb of Sydney Harbour's 'north shore', where her father was a milk vendor. Her parents relocated to the mountain-resort town of Katoomba when she was aged four. She began performing at the age of seven and quickly showed a prodigious talent. At age ten she was being tutored to become a professional actress. In 1919 she was invited to perform solo at Sydney's Tivoli Theatre.
In 1921, aged twelve, her family emigrated to Hollywood, USA, in order to further her career. She began her career, as a child film actress, under the stewardship of Mary Pickford, who gave her a role in Little Lord Fauntleroy (1921). Her career in Hollywood lasted twelve years; much of her activity is uncredited, undocumented or lost. She was playing female leads in comedies and cowboy movies. In 1933 she emigrated again to London, England, where she began a long career in British film, television and radio; and in live theatre.
She was known for her roles in The Bum's Rush (1927), A Lady's Morals (1930), Saloon Bar (1940), You Can't Do Without Love (1944), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Victim (1961), BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950), Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1974).
She married an American Pilot Officer who she met in London during WWII. He died in a car accident nine months after they were married. She never remarried and had no children.1911-1976, 65. 71 acting credits, 1921-1975. 32 feature films.
Saloon Bar (1940). '40
Went the Day Well? (1942). '42
Corridor of Mirrors (1948). '48
Pool of London (1951). '51
Time Is My Enemy (1954). '54
Victim (1961). '61
The Boys (1962). '62 - British actress Zena Walker would become better known for her output of theatre work than film. Born on March 7, 1934, in Birmingham, she was the daughter of George Walker, a grocer, and wife Elizabeth Louise (Hammond). A sensuous, graceful, dusky-voiced presence, she was educated at St. Martin's School and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She turned down a film contract by Alexander Korda at this time in favor of additional training.
Zena made her professional stage debut in Birmingham in 1950 in a walk-on part in "Smooth-Faced Gentleman". From there, she played a number of lovely Shakespearean femmes in repertory at the Stratford and the Old Vic, including "Miranda" in "The Tempest" (1952), "Juliet" in "Romeo and Juliet" (1954), "Katharine" in "Henry V" (1955) and "Perdita" in "The Winter's Tale" (1955).
Following occasional TV work in the late 1950s, she entered 1960s films with little fanfare although she did meet and subsequently marry her first husband, actor Robert Urquhart, while making Danger Tomorrow (1960). She had a tendency to be a prime emoter in quickie little "B" crimers and while her film work in Snowball (1960), The Hellions (1961), Emergency (1962) and The Model Murder Case (1963) and Daylight Robbery (1964) was commendable, it certainly did not advance her career.
She returned to the theater after some time to raise a child and impressed in a number of classical roles including "Man and Superman", "The Cherry Orchard", "The Fighting Cock" and as "Lady MacDuff" in "Macbeth". In 1967, she was critically lauded for her role as "Sheila", the mother of a handicapped child, in the black comedy "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg", which she took to Broadway and earned the Tony award for "featured actress" opposite Albert Finney.
Noted earlier for her ethereal beauty, she later earned respect for the vulnerability, maturity and emotional depth of her matronly roles. Neglected for the most part in films, she found more prolific work on TV, notably the series Man at the Top (1970). One of her last roles was an episode of Rosemary & Thyme (2003) in 2003.
Zena died on August 23, 2003 in Brockenhurst, Hampshire at age 69. Following her divorce to Urquhart, she married and divorced actor Julian Holloway, who was the son of "My Fair Lady" actor Stanley Holloway, and then theatrical agent John French. She had two children by her first marriage; her son tragically died while in his teens. Like other British stage notables, she was sinfully wasted in films. She could have easily pulled off a remarkable senior career (i.e., Judi Dench) had the opportunity appeared.1934-2003, 69. 81 acting credits, 1956-2003. 17 feature films.
Danger Tomorrow (1960). '60
Snowball (1960). '60
The Traitors (1962). '62
The Model Murder Case (1963). '63
The Marked One (1963). '63
Man with Two Faces (1964). '64
Change Partners (1965). '65 - Actress
- Soundtrack
British character player Mona Washbourne was a natural symbol for the working-class as much of her early career was in playing midwives, barmaids, nannies, landladies and factory workers. Born November 27, 1903, in Birmingham, England, where she attended Yardley Secondary School. The daughter of Arthur Edmund Washbourne and Kate (nee Robinson) Washbourne, the piano was her early passion and she initially trained at the Birmingham School of Music to be a concert pianist. Following concerting on the stage and broadcast playing on radio, she made her professional stage debut in April 1924 in Yarmouth with the "Modern Follies" concert party, as both pianist and soubrette.
From this point, she delved herself completely into acting and went on tour with the "Fol-De-Rols" revue for three seasons, developing a special flair for bawdy, eccentric comedy. She performed in various repertory companies and earned her first major dramatic success on the London stage at the Westminster Theatre in 1937 with "Mourning Becomes Electra" in the dual roles of Minnie and Mrs Hills. On the quirkier side, she won kudos for her Madame Arcati in "Blithe Spirit" (1945) and for her doting journalist in "The Winslow Boy" (1946). She went on to transfer her role in The Winslow Boy (1948) to film in the postwar years and saw a new avenue for her talents open up.
While most of her early film roles tended toward the small and dowdy, they were also quite colorful and seldom failed to make some sort of impression. They also grew in size as years passed. She played a midwife in Doctor in the House (1954); the older, ill-fated first wife to Bluebeard-like charmer Dirk Bogarde in Cast a Dark Shadow (1955); the protagonist's mum in Billy Liar (1963) (another role she originated on stage in 1960); the no-nonsense Mrs. Pearce in My Fair Lady (1964); an aristocratic old shrew who unknowingly employs a psychopath Albert Finney in the remake of Night Must Fall (1964); and a doddering aunt to another psychopath, Terence Stamp, in The Collector (1965).
Continuing to impress on the stage with roles in Noël Coward's "Nude with Violin" (1957) and "Present Laughter" (1958), she also appeared to great effect in "Misalliance" (1967) and was a natural for her role as the perpetually perplexed and flummoxed Veta Simmons in a madcap production of "Harvey" (1975), replacing Helen Hayes. In the United States, she earned a Tony nomination for her contribution in "Home" (1970). She crowned her career remarkably alongside Glenda Jackson as the dithery maiden aunt who lives with her eccentric niece, the poet "Stevie Smith", in the play "Stevie". A two-person show, she and Jackson won additional acclaim when they took Stevie (1978) to film. Washbourne won the top critics supporting awards, including New York, Boston and Los Angeles, but was not nominated for the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.
Her final career years (in the early 1980s) were spent on TV with roles as "Mrs. Higgins" in a version of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (1981) starring Twiggy and Robert Powell; "Nanny Hawkins" in the epic miniseries, Brideshead Revisited (1981) and the "Queen Mum" in Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story (1982). Long married to actor Basil Dignam, he died in 1979. She died less than a decade later, in 1988, at age 84. The couple had no children.1903-1988, 84. 91 acting credits, 1934-1987. 55 feature films.
Double Confession (1950). '50
Dark Interval (1950). '50
The Gambler and the Lady (1952). '52
Cast a Dark Shadow (1955). '55
Alias John Preston (1955). '55
Tears for Simon (1956). '56
Yield to the Night (1956). '56
A Stranger in Town (1957). '57
Son of a Stranger (1957). '57
Night Must Fall (1964). '64
Fragment of Fear (1970). '70- Gillian Watt is known for So Evil, So Young (1961), Jungle Street Girls (1960) and The Marked One (1963).11 acting credits, 1949-1965. 7 feature films.
Forbidden (1949). '49
Jungle Street Girls (1960). '60
So Evil, So Young (1961).
The Marked One (1963). '63 - Rita Webb was born on 25 February 1904 in Willesden, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Up Pompeii (1971), The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1959) and BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1950). She was married to Lionel Stanley "Thommie" Thompson. She died on 30 August 1981 in Westminster, London, England, UK.1904-1981, 77. 121 acting credits, 1950-1983. 39 feature films.
Double Exposure (1954). '54
No Trees in the Street (1959). '59
Urge to Kill (1960). '60
The Naked Edge (1961). ]61
The Boys (1962). '62
The Small World of Sammy Lee (1963). '63
A Place to Go (1963). '64
He Who Rides a Tiger (1965), '65
Cop-Out (1967). '67
The Strange Affair (1968). '68 - Actress
- Soundtrack
Carol White was born on 1 April 1943 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Poor Cow (1967), The Wednesday Play (1964) and Some Call It Loving (1973). She was married to Mike King, Stuart Lerner and Mike Arnold. She died on 16 September 1991 in Miami, Florida, USA.1943-1991, 48. 51 acting credits, 1949-1983. 42 feature films.
A Prize of Gold (1955). '55
The 39 Steps (1959). '59
Web of Suspicion (1959). '59
Never Let Go (1960). '60
The Man in the Back Seat (1961). '61
The Boys (1962). '62
Jailbreak (1962). '62
The Squeeze (1977). '77- Valerie White was born on 26 December 1915 in Simonstown, Cape Colony, South Africa. She was an actress, known for The Halfway House (1944), Theatre Night (1957) and World Theatre (1959). She was married to Albert Lieven. She died on 3 December 1975 in London, England, UK.1915, South Africa, - 1975, 59. 43 acting credits, 1943-1976. 10 feature films.
The Halfway House (1944). '44
The Wicked Lady (1945). '45
The Blue Parrot (1953). '53
Women Without Men (1956). '56
Blonde Bait (1956). '56 - Doris Yorke was born on 18 April 1897 in Islington, London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Crow Hollow (1952), The Franchise Affair (1951) and The Little Beggars (1958). She was married to William J. Heneghan. She died in 1976 in Cuckfield, Sussex, England, UK.1897-1976, 78. 28 acting credits, 1948-1961. 17 feature films.
Train of Events (1949). '49
The Blue Lamp (1950). '50
Cage of Gold (1950). '50
The Franchise Affair (1951). '51
The Dark Man (1951). '51
The Gentle Gunman (1952). '52
Crow Hollow (1952). '52
Noose for a Lady (1953). '53
The Flaw (1955). '55
Doublecross (1956). '56
Account Rendered (1957). '57
Die grosse Chance (1957). '57
The Desperate Man (1961). '59 - Actress
- Producer
Joan Young was born on 1 February 1900 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England, UK. She was an actress and producer, known for Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), The Fallen Idol (1948) and Doctor Who (1963). She died on 9 October 1984 in Hammersmith, London, England, UK.1900-1984, 84. 92 acting credits, 1937-1980. 31 feature films.
The Fallen Idol (1948). '48
Good-Time Girl (1948). '48
The Hideout (1948). '48
Easy Money (1948). '48
The Unguarded Moment (1956). '56