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IMDbPro

Ethel Griffies(1878-1975)

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Ethel Griffies
The daughter of actor-manager Samuel Rupert Woods and actress Lillie Roberts, Ethel Griffies began her own stage career at the age of 3. She was 21 when she finally made her London debut in 1899, and 46 when she made her first Broadway appearance in "Havoc" (1924). Discounting a tentative stab at filmmaking in 1917, she made her movie bow in 1930, repeating her stage role in Old English (1930). Habitually cast as a crotchety old lady with the proverbial golden heart, she alternated between bits and prominently featured roles for the next 35 years. Her larger parts included Grace Poole in both the 1934 (Jane Eyre (1934)) and 1943 (Jane Eyre (1943)) versions of "Jane Eyre" and "Mrs. Bundy", the amateur ornithologist in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). Every so often she'd take a sabbatical from film work to concentrate on the stage; she made her last Broadway appearance in 1967, at which time she was England's oldest working actress. Presumably at the invitation of fellow Briton Arthur Treacher, Ethel was a frequent guest on TV's The Merv Griffin Show (1962), never failing to bring down the house with her wickedly witty comments on her 80 years in show business.
BornApril 26, 1878
DiedSeptember 9, 1975(97)
BornApril 26, 1878
DiedSeptember 9, 1975(97)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos17

Ethel Griffies, George Raft, and Helen Vinson in Midnight Club (1933)
Tippi Hedren, Lonny Chapman, and Ethel Griffies in The Birds (1963)
Ethel Griffies and Zeffie Tilbury in Werewolf of London (1935)
Ethel Griffies, Charles Halton, John McGuire, and Margaret Tallichet in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)
Brian Donlevy, Ruth Pickard Colwell, Ethel Griffies, Mary Howard, Ian Hunter, Obed 'Bubb' Pickard Jr., James Pickard, Leila May Pickard, and Ann Pickard Rhea in Billy the Kid (1941)
Jessie Arnold, Ethel Griffies, Sam Jaffe, Gwendolyn Logan, Jessie Ralph, and Anna Sten in We Live Again (1934)
Ellen Drew, Ethel Griffies, and Bob Haymes in Sing While You Dance (1946)
Ethel Griffies and Lauritz Melchior
Ethel Griffies
Fay Bainter, Betty Brewer, Betty Farrington, Ethel Griffies, Carolyn Lee, Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer, and Joyce Arleen in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1942)
Ethel Griffies, Sheila Ryan, Robert Weldon, Sidney Toler, and Victor Sen Yung in Dead Men Tell (1941)
Peter Lorre, Ethel Griffies, John McGuire, and Margaret Tallichet in Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

Known for

Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren in The Birds (1963)
The Birds
7.6
  • Mrs. Bundy
  • 1963
Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in Love Me Tonight (1932)
Love Me Tonight
7.5
  • Second Aunt
  • 1932
Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)
Mystery of Edwin Drood
6.4
  • Miss Twinkleton
  • 1935
Mae Clarke and Douglass Montgomery in Waterloo Bridge (1931)
Waterloo Bridge
7.4
  • Mrs. Hobley
  • 1931

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • The Trials of O'Brien (1965)
    The Trials of O'Brien
    • Gypsy Woman
    • TV Series
    • 1966
  • Ann-Margret and Michael Parks in Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965)
    Bus Riley's Back in Town
    • Mrs. Spencer
    • 1965
  • Zina Bethune and Shirl Conway in The Doctors and the Nurses (1962)
    The Doctors and the Nurses
    • Mrs. Jameson Pierce
    • TV Series
    • 1965
  • The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)
    The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
    • Lulu
    • TV Series
    • 1964
  • Billy Liar (1963)
    Billy Liar
    • Grandma Florence
    • 1963
  • Kraft Theatre (1947)
    The United States Steel Hour
    • Mrs. McEwan
    • TV Series
    • 1963
  • Alfred Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren in The Birds (1963)
    The Birds
    • Mrs. Bundy
    • 1963
  • The Bun House Wedding
    • Miss Butterworth
    • TV Movie
    • 1961
  • ITV Play of the Week (1955)
    ITV Play of the Week
    • Lady Margaret
    • Mrs. Mary Ellis
    • TV Series
    • 1959–1960
  • Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and Rod Serling in Suspense (1949)
    Suspense
    • TV Series
    • 1950
  • Mady Christians in The Clock (1949)
    The Clock
    • TV Series
    • 1950
  • Kraft Theatre (1947)
    Kraft Theatre
    • TV Series
    • 1948–1950
  • Kraft Theatre (1947)
    The Philco Television Playhouse
    • Grandmother
    • Mrs. White
    • TV Series
    • 1949–1950
  • Lights Out (1946)
    Lights Out
    • TV Series
    • 1950
  • The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre (1948)
    The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
    • TV Series
    • 1948–1949

Soundtrack

  • Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald in Love Me Tonight (1932)
    Love Me Tonight
    • performer: "Mimi", "The Son of a Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor" (1932) (uncredited)
    • 1932

Personal details

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  • Height
    • 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
  • Born
    • April 26, 1878
    • Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, UK
  • Died
    • September 9, 1975
    • London, England, UK(stroke)
  • Spouses
      Edward Cooper1917 - July 15, 1956 (his death)
  • Other works
    Stage: Appeared (as "Alice Derring"; Broadway debut) in "Havoc" on Broadway. Written by Harry Wall. Directed by Leo G. Carroll. Maxine Elliott's Theatre: 1 Sep 1924-Oct 1924 (closing date unknown/48 performances). Cast: Claud Allister (as "Capt. Taylor"; Broadway debut), Joyce Barbour (as "Violet Derring"; Broadway debut), Cosmo Kyrle Bellew (as "Mr. Stephens"), Richard Bird (as "The Babe"), Leo G. Carroll (as "Roddy Dunton"), Jack Esmond (as "Hospital Orderly"), Ralph Forbes (as "Dick Chappell"; Broadway debut), Gurney, Denis (as "Pvt. Jones"), Forrester Harvey (as "Biddie"), Vincent Holman (as "Sgt. Maj. Paley"), Mollie Johnson (as "Tessie Dunton"), William Kershaw (as "Smithy"), Donovan Maule (as "Lance-Cpl. Higgins"), Ruth Raymonde (as "Bennett"). Produced by Lee Shubert and J.J. Shubert.
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    At the time of her death she was the oldest working actress in English Theatre. Her career began as a baby in 1881 when she was carried onstage by her acting parents.
  • Quotes
    They get to know your face too well out there in Hollywood, and you're finished.

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