Alison Skipworth

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alison Skipworth (born July 25, 1863 in London as Alison Mary Elliott Margaret Groom , † July 5, 1952 in New York City ) was a British - American actress.

life and career

Alison Skipworth was born into a middle-class family to a doctor and received her secondary education at Oxford University . Her acting debut came relatively late in order to support her husband - an impoverished artist - financially: in 1894, already over 30 years old, she had her first appearance at Daly's Theater in London. Skipworth, who at times had a reputation as a stage beauty, moved to the United States just a few years later. In 1899 Skipworth first appeared on Broadway in New York, where she appeared in nearly 50 productions by 1942, making her a busy character actress. She worked with theater greats of the time such as Daniel Frohman , Viola Allen , James Keteltas Hackett and John Drew junior .

Skipworth had been working as a film actress since 1912, but it was only with the onset of talkies that she mainly turned to talkies. In the 1930s, she was considered one of Hollywood's most reliable character actresses, who played mostly aristocratic-looking older women, often with a comical touch. She formed a comic screen pair with comedian WC Fields in the 1933 and 1934 films Tillie and Gus , If I Had a Million and Six of a Kind . At the side of Marlene Dietrich she took on important supporting roles in the film dramas Das Hohe Lied (1933) and The Devil is a Woman (1935). The stately-looking actress was most often seen as a widow, duchess or socialite. In 1936 Skipworth starred alongside Bette Davis in Satan and the Lady , a comedy version of The Maltese Falcon , where she took on the Kaspar Gutman role, which was taken six years later in The Trail of the Falcon by Sydney Greenstreet . In the star-studded film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland from 1933, she played the role of the Duchess.

After 54 films, Skipworth retired from the film business in 1938, on Broadway she could still be seen in Lily of the Valley in January 1942 . Alison Skipworth died in New York City in 1952 at the age of 88.

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Alison Skipworth  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Alison Skipworth: Frequent Foil of WC Fields . July 25, 2016 ( wordpress.com [accessed February 2, 2018]).
  2. ↑ The Broadway League: Alison Skipworth - Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB. Retrieved February 2, 2018 .
  3. ^ Alison Skipworth | Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos | AllMovie. Retrieved February 2, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Skipworth, Alison
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Groom, Alison Mary Elliott Margaret (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH July 25, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH 5th July 1952
Place of death New York City