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IMDbPro

Isobel Elsom(1893-1981)

  • Actress
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Isobel Elsom
Eliza sings The Rain in Spain
Play trailer1:50
My Fair Lady (1964)
11 Videos
12 Photos
The epitome of opulent, grande dame pomposity, British character actress Isobel Elsom was born Isabelle Reed in Cambridge, England on March 16, 1893. She began on the stage in 1911 and went on to grace a number of silent and sound pictures in England, marrying and divorcing director Maurice Elvey in the interim.

Isobel made an elegant entry into British feature films as Lady Monkhurst in the drama Milestones (1916) and continued in leading roles with the silent films Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor (1918), Onward Christian Soldiers (1918), A Member of Tattersall's (1919), For Her Father's Sake (1921), Dick Turpin's Ride to York (1922), the title role in The Love Story of Aliette Brunton (1924), The Last Witness (1925) and Tragödie einer Ehe (1927). Her voice suitable for sound pictures, she continued her leading status with such early British talkies as The Other Woman (1931), Stranglehold (1931), The Crooked Lady (1932), The Thirteenth Candle (1933), and The Primrose Path (1934).

In the late 1920s, she made a transatlantic visit to the American stage, taking her first Broadway curtain all in "The Ghost Train" in 1926. She continued on the New York stage with such plays as "The Mulberry Bush" (1927), "People Don't Do Such Things" (1927), "The Silver Box" (1928), "The Behavior of Mrs. Crane" (1928) and "The Outsider" (1928).

Settling in America in the 1930s, Isobel achieved great character success in the role of retired actress Leonora Fiske in the play "Ladies in Retirement" (1940), which she also took to film (Ladies in Retirement (1941)) starring Ida Lupino). She would alternate between film and the Broadway stage for the next two decades. Broadway shows included "Hand in Glove" (1944), "The Innocents" (1950), "Romeo and Juliet" (as Lady Capulet) (1951), "The Climate in Eden" (1952), "The Burning Glass" (1954) and "The First Gentleman" (1957).

What the tiny-framed Elsom lacked in stature, she certainly made up for in pure chutzpah. The matronly actress remained in Hollywood and played a number of huffy blue-bloods in both comedies and drama for over two decades, including The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942), You Were Never Lovelier (1942), Between Two Worlds (1944), Of Human Bondage (1946), The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Ivy (1947), Smart Woman (1948), The Secret Garden (1949), Lust for Life (1956), The Miracle (1959) and The Second Time Around (1961). One standout blue-blooded role was as one of Charles Chaplin's intended victims in the black comedy Monsieur Verdoux (1947).

In later years, Isobel served as a frequent foil to Jerry Lewis in a few of his solo pictures (Rock-a-Bye Baby (1958), The Bellboy (1960), The Errand Boy (1961), Who's Minding the Store? (1963)). She ended her film career playing Mrs. Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady (1964). Isabel remarried in 1942 and was the widow of actor Carl Harbord in 1958. The couple both met when they appeared in the film Eagle Squadron (1942). Isobel Elsom died at age 87 of heart failure at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California on January 12, 1981. She had no children.
BornMarch 16, 1893
DiedJanuary 12, 1981(87)
BornMarch 16, 1893
DiedJanuary 12, 1981(87)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 1 win total

Photos12

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Known for

My Fair Lady (1964)
My Fair Lady
7.7
  • Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
  • 1964
John Garfield, Paul Henreid, Faye Emerson, and Eleanor Parker in Between Two Worlds (1944)
Between Two Worlds
7.1
  • Genevieve Cliveden-Banks
  • 1944
Louis Hayward, Evelyn Keyes, and Ida Lupino in Ladies in Retirement (1941)
Ladies in Retirement
7.1
  • Leonora Fiske
  • 1941
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Monsieur Verdoux
7.8
  • Marie Grosnay
  • 1947

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress



  • William Frawley, Don Grady, Stanley Livingston, and Fred MacMurray in My Three Sons (1960)
    My Three Sons
    7.1
    TV Series
    • Mrs. Briggs
    • 1965
  • Ann-Margret, Carol Lynley, and Pamela Tiffin in The Pleasure Seekers (1964)
    The Pleasure Seekers
    5.6
    • Dona Teresa Lacayo
    • 1964
  • Dr. Kildare (1961)
    Dr. Kildare
    7.0
    TV Series
    • Mrs. Silver
    • Mrs. Walker
    • 1963–1964
  • My Fair Lady (1964)
    My Fair Lady
    7.7
    • Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
    • 1964
  • Michael Rennie in The Third Man (1959)
    The Third Man
    7.7
    TV Series
    • Miss Julia Redfield
    • 1964
  • Inger Stevens and William Windom in The Farmer's Daughter (1963)
    The Farmer's Daughter
    7.4
    TV Series
    • Auntie
    • 1964
  • Who's Minding the Store? (1963)
    Who's Minding the Store?
    6.7
    • Hazel, a Dowager
    • 1963
  • Alfred Hitchcock in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962)
    The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
    8.5
    TV Series
    • Sister Marie Therese
    • Reverend Mother
    • 1962–1963
  • Robert Conrad, Anthony Eisley, Poncie Ponce, and Connie Stevens in Hawaiian Eye (1959)
    Hawaiian Eye
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Eunice Chalfrey
    • Lillian Vanalden
    • 1961–1962
  • Tuesday Weld in Follow the Sun (1961)
    Follow the Sun
    7.3
    TV Series
    • Mrs. Runciford
    • 1962
  • Straightaway (1961)
    Straightaway
    8.5
    TV Series
    • Mrs. Courtney
    • 1962
  • 87th Precinct (1961)
    87th Precinct
    8.0
    TV Series
    • Andrea Edgerton
    • 1962
  • Dale Robertson in Tales of Wells Fargo (1957)
    Tales of Wells Fargo
    7.9
    TV Series
    • Madeline Montclair
    • 1961
  • Debbie Reynolds, Steve Forrest, Andy Griffith, and Juliet Prowse in The Second Time Around (1961)
    The Second Time Around
    6.5
    • Mrs. Rogers
    • 1961
  • Thriller (1960)
    Thriller
    8.2
    TV Series
    • Mrs. Purdy (uncredited)
    • 1961

Videos11

My Fair Lady
Clip 1:25
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
Clip 1:20
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
Clip 1:20
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
Clip 1:29
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
Clip 2:10
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
Clip 0:47
My Fair Lady
Trailer
Trailer 1:42
Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Alternative name
    • Isabel Elsom
  • Height
    • 5′ 4″ (1.63 m)
  • Born
    • March 16, 1893
    • Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
  • Died
    • January 12, 1981
    • Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California, USA(heart failure)
  • Spouses
      Carl HarbordApril 25, 1947 - October 18, 1958 (his death)
  • Parents
      Joseph Reed
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following productions:
  • Publicity listings
    • 3 Articles

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    She appeared with Dame Gladys Cooper in four films: Eagle Squadron (1942), Forever and a Day (1943), The Secret Garden (1949) and The Last Tomahawk (1965).

FAQ13

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