Peggy Ashcroft
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| Peggy Ashcroft | |
 Peggy Ashcroft on the cover of her biography by Michael Billington |
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| Birth name | Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft |
| Born | December 22, 1907 Croydon |
| Died | June 14, 1991 (aged 83) London, England |
| Spouse(s) | Rupert Hart-Davis (1929- ) Theodore Komisarjevsky Jeremy Hutchinson (1940-1965) |
Dame Peggy Ashcroft DBE (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an acclaimed Academy Award-winning English actress.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Born Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, Peggy Ashcroft attended the Central School of Speech and Drama. A prolific stage actress from a young age, her film and television appearances were rare but memorable. One of her earliest film roles was the minor part of the crofter's wife in the Robert Donat version of The Thirty-Nine Steps.
In 1937 she appeared in a thirty-minute excerpt of Twelfth Night on the BBC Television Service, alongside Greer Garson, the first known instance of a Shakespeare play to be performed on television.
Possibly her best known celluloid role was that of Mrs. Moore in the film version of A Passage to India — a role for which she won an Oscar in 1984 for Best Supporting Actress. To this day, Ashcroft remains the oldest person ever to win this award; she was 77 years old at the time. Although she did not appear in person at the telecast to accept the Oscar, Angela Lansbury accepted it on Ashcroft's behalf.
On television, 1984 saw Peggy Ashcroft appear in the role of Barbie Batchelor on the internationally acclaimed British mini-series The Jewel in the Crown, for which she won a BAFTA Best Television Actress award.
She was painted by Walter Sickert.
[edit] Life
Peggy Ashcroft was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951, and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1956.
She was thrice-married and divorced, with 2 children by her last husband, Jeremy Hutchinson, whom she married in 1940 and divorced in 1965. Her first husband (married 1929) was Rupert Hart-Davis, and her second husband was Theodore Komisarjevsky.
She reportedly had an affair with African-American actor and activist, Paul Robeson, during a production of Othello[citation needed].
She died in London, following a stroke, aged 83.
[edit] Selected Appearances
[edit] Film
- Madame Sousatzka (1988) — Lady Emily
- A Passage to India (1984) — Mrs Moore
- The Nun's Story (1959) — Mother Mathilde
- The 39 Steps (1935) — Margaret Crofter
- The Wandering Jew (1933) — Olalla Quintana
[edit] Television
- She's Been Away
- The Jewel in the Crown — Barbie Batchelor
- Play of the Month: The Rat Wife (1982)
- Play of the Month: Little Eyolf (1982)
- Caught on a Train (1980) — Frau Messner
- Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978) — Queen Mary
- Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1978)
- Play of the Month The Cherry Orchard (1971)
- The Wednesday Play – Days in the Trees (1967)
- Twelfth Night (1937)
| Preceded by Linda Hunt for The Year of Living Dangerously |
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1984 for A Passage to India |
Succeeded by Anjelica Huston for Prizzi's Honor |
[edit] External links
- Peggy Ashcroft at the Internet Movie Database
- Dame Peggy Ashcroft biography at BFI Screenonline
- Entry #1 and Entry #2 for Peggy Ashcroft on Find-A-Grave
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1907 births | 1991 deaths | Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners | BAFTA winners (people) | Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire | Deaths by stroke | English film actors | English stage actors | People from Croydon | Royal Shakespeare Company members | Royal National Theatre Company members | Shakespearean actors | Alumni of the Central School of Speech and Drama
