Edith Evans

Not to be confused with Edith Corse Evans. This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2012) Dame Edith Evans, DBE Born Edith Mary Evans, (1888-02-08)8 February 1888, London, England, UK Died 14 October 1976(1976-10-14) (aged 88), Cranbrook, Kent, England, UK Occupation Actress Years active 1910-1976 Spouse(s) George Booth (1925-1935) Dame Edith Mary Evans, DBE (8 February 1888 - 14 October 1976) was a British actress. She was known for her work on the British stage. She also appeared in a number of films, for which she received three Academy Award nominations, plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award. Evans was particularly well known for portraying haughty aristocratic ladies, as in two of her most famous roles: Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest (both on stage and in the 1952 film), and Miss Western in the 1963 film of Tom Jones. By contrast, she played a poverty-stricken old woman in one of her most acclaimed film roles, in The Whisperers (1967). Theatreedit: Edith Evans was born in London, the daughter of Edward Evans, a civil servant, and his wife, Caroline Ellen Foster. She was educated at St Michael's Church of England School, Pimlico, before being apprenticed at the age of 15 in 1903 as a milliner. Her first stage appearance was with Miss Massey's Shakespeare Players in the role of Viola in Twelfth Night in October 1910. In 1912 she was discovered by the noted producer William Poel and made her first professional appearance for Poel in August of that year, playing the role of Gautami in a 6th-century Hindu classic, Sakuntala. She received much attention with her performance as Cressida in Troilus and Cressida in London and subsequently at Stratford-upon-Avon. Her career spanned sixty years during which she played over 150 different roles, in works by Shakespeare, Congreve, Ibsen, Wycherley, Wilde and dramatists of her era including George Bernard Shaw, Enid Bagnold, Christopher Fry and Noël Coward. She created six of Shaw's characters: the Serpent, the Oracle, the She-Ancient, and the Ghost of the Serpent in Back to Methuselah (1923); Orinthia in The Apple Cart (1929); and Epifania in The Millionairess (1940). Other performances which many considered definitive were as Millamant in The Way of the World (1924), Rosalind in As You Like It (1926 and 1936), the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet (1932-35 and 1961), and, most notably, as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest (1939), a role with which she became identified in the public's mind (in particular for her drippingly sarcastic delivery of the line: "A handbag?"). In 1964 she appeared as Judith Bliss in a revival of Hay Fever by Noël Coward, directed by the playwright himself, for the National Theatre Company at the Old Vic. Filmedit: Edith Evans had begun her film career in 1915, but was noted mostly for her stage work until she appeared in the 1949 films The Queen of Spades and The Last Days of Dolwyn. In 1952, she reprised her celebrated stage role as Lady Bracknell in Anthony Asquith's screen version of The Importance of Being Earnest. She continued to make occasional film appearances, usually in supporting roles, including such popular films as The Nun's Story (1959), Tom Jones (1963) and Scrooge (1970, as the Ghost of Christmas Past). Her performance as an old woman with a rich fantasy life in The Whisperers (1967) earned her a BAFTA best actress award and an Academy Award nomination. Edith Evans made her American television debut in 1961 in Jean Anouilh's comedy, Time Remembered with Christopher Plummer. Despite suffering a heart attack in the 1970s, she continued to appear in television dramas in the U.S. and the U.K. until shortly before her death. In 1925, Edith Evans married George (Guy) Booth. He died a decade later from a brain tumour. There were no children of this marriage, and Evans never remarried. Portraitsedit: Walter Sickert painted Edith Evans as Katharina, the lead character in Shakespeare's romantic comedy, The Taming of the Shrew. Henry Glintenkamp painted Edith Evans in 1922; the portrait was sold as part of her estate at Sotheby's in 1977. A sculpted head of her was for many years on display at the Royal Court Theatre, London. Edith Evans was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1946. She also received four honorary degrees from the universities of London (1950), Cambridge (1951), Oxford (1954) and Hull (1968). Her ashes rest at St Paul's, Covent Garden, London. There is a blue plaque outside her house at 109 Ebury Street, London. Theatreedit: 1912: Elizabeth Cooper, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 1917: Manfred, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, 1917: The Merry Wives of Windsor, London Coliseum, 1919: The Merchant of Venice, Royal Court Theatre, 1920: Mother Eve, Ambassadors Theatre, 1920: Venice Preserv'd, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 1921: The Witch of Edmonton, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 1921: Heartbreak House, Royal Court Theatre, 1922: Rumour, Globe Theatre, 1923: Adding Machine, Strand Theatre, 1923: Back to Methuselah, Birmingham Repertory, 1924: The Way of the World, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, 1924-25: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, 1925: The Painted Swan, Everyman Theatre, 1925-26: Much Ado About Nothing, Old Vic, 1925-26: She Stoops To Conquer, Old Vic, 1925-26: Julius Caesar, Old Vic, 1925-26: As You Like It, Old Vic, 1925-26: Romeo and Juliet, Old Vic, 1925-26: Shoemaker's Holiday, Old Vic, 1925-26: The Taming of the Shrew, Old Vic, 1925-26: Antony and Cleopatra, Old Vic, 1925-26: Measure for Measure, Old Vic, 1925-26: Child in Flanders, Old Vic, 1925-26: Everyman, Old Vic, 1925-26: The Merchant of Venice, Old Vic, 1925-26: Richard III, Old Vic, 1925-26: The Merry Wives of Windsor, Old Vic, 1927: Rosmersholm, Kingsway Theatre, 1927: The Way of the World, Wyndham's Theatre, 1929: The Apple Cart, Malvern Theatre, 1929: Heartbreak House, Malvern Theatre, 1929: The Lady with the Lamp, Arts Theatre and Garrick Theatre (also New York, 1931), 1930: The Beaux' Stratagem, Royalty Theatre, 1931-32: Twelfth Night, Old Vic, 1931-32: Othello, Old Vic, 1933: The Late Christopher Bean, St. James's Theatre, 1935-36: Romeo and Juliet, New Theatre (also New York, 1934-35), 1936-37: The Taming of The Shrew, New Theatre, 1936-37: The Witch of Edmonton, Old Vic, 1936-37: As You Like It, Old Vic, 1936-37: The Country Wife, Old Vic, 1937-38: The Taming of The Shrew, New Theatre, 1938: Robert's Wife, Globe Theatre, 1939: The Importance of Being Earnest, Globe Theatre, 1941: Old Accquintance, Apollo Theatre, 1942: Heartbreak House, Cambridge Theatre, 1942: The Importance of Being Earnest, Phoenix Theatre, 1945: The Rivals, Criterion Theatre, 1946: Crime and Punishment, New Theatre, 1948-49: The Way of the World, New Theatre/Old Vic, 1948-49: The Cherry Orchard, New Theatre/Old Vic, 1949: Daphne Loreola, Wyndham's Theatre (also New York, 1950), 1951-52: Waters of the Moon, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 1954: The Dark is Light Enough, Arts Theatre, 1956-57: The Chalk Garden, Theatre Royal Haymarket, 1958-59: Henry VIII, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1958-59: All's Well That Ends Well, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1958-59: Coriolanus, Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, 1961: Richard III, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1961: Romeo and Juliet, Royal Shakespeare Company, 1963: Gentle Jack, Queen's Theatre, 1964: Hay Fever, National Theatre/Old Vic, 1965: The Chinese Prime Minister, Globe Theatre, 1968: Aerial Football and The Black Girl in Search of God, Mermaid Theatre, 1971: Dear Antoine, Chichester Festival Theatre, 1974: Edith Evans and Friends, Theatre Royal Haymarket, Filmographyedit: Year Film Role Notes 1915 Honeymoon for Three A Welsh Singer Mrs. Pomfrey 1916 East Is East Aunt 1949 The Queen of Spades The Old Countess Ranevskaya The Last Days of Dolwyn Merri aka Women of Dolwyn 1952 The Importance of Being Earnest Augusta Lady Bracknell 1958 Look Back in Anger Mrs. Tanner 1959 The Nun's Story Rev. Mother Emmanuel (as Dame Edith Evans), National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, Nominated -- Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture 1963 Tom Jones Miss Western Nominated -- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Nominated -- BAFTA Award for Best British Actress 1964 The Chalk Garden Mrs. St. Maugham National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, Nominated -- Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Nominated -- BAFTA Award for Best British Actress 1965 Young Cassidy Lady Gregory 1967 The Whisperers Mrs. Maggie Ross BAFTA Award for Best British Actress, Silver Bear for Best Actress (Berlin), Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama, National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, Nominated -- Academy Award for Best Actress Fitzwilly Miss Victoria Woodworth 1968 Prudence and the Pill Lady Roberta Bates 1969 The Madwoman of Chaillot Josephine Crooks and Coronets Lady Sophie Fitzmore 1970 Scrooge Ghost of Christmas Past 1973 A Doll's House Anne-Marie El caballo torero 1974 Craze Aunt Louise 1976 The Slipper and the Rose Dowager Queen 1977 Nasty Habits Sister Hildegard Notesedit: 1977 - Ned's Girl by Bryan Forbes, Elm Tree Books

Source: Wikipedia

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