Dinah Sheridan

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Dinah Sheridan (born September 17, 1920 in Hampstead , London , England - † November 25, 2012 in Northwood , London, England) was a British actress .

Life

Origin, education and first theater appearances

Dinah Sheridan was born Dinah Nadyejda Mec in the London borough of Hampstead. Her father Fernand Archer Mec, a native of Russia , was a photographer ; her mother Lisa Everth was German . Her mother was also a photographer and had her own photo studio , Studio Lisa , in London before the Second World War . Her parents later also worked as court photographers after being appointed by Queen Elizabeth , who later became Queen Mother, for the Royal Family and were exclusively allowed to photograph the royal pantomimes at Christmas .

At the age of five, Sheridan, always a sickly child, developed tuberculosis . She attended Sherrards School in Welwyn Garden City in Hertfordshire . She completed an acting training at the Italia Conti Stage School. She had her first stage role in 1932, at the age of twelve, as an understudy in the children's play Where the Rainbow Ends (Holborn Empire Theater) by Clifford Mills and John Ramsey. In 1934 she appeared in a children's stage version as Wendy in Peter Pan ; she played this role in over 100 performances. Her partners were Charles Laughton (as Captain Hook ) and Elsa Lanchester in the title role. During auditions and auditions, she changed her family name to her future stage name "Sheridan"; she had chosen the name at random from the telephone book. Two years later, in 1936, she took on the title role of Peter Pan in the same production.

First film roles and film career

From 1935 Sheridan could also be seen in film roles . She made her film debut in 1935 in the period film I Give My Heart , a film adaptation of the operetta Die Dubarry , with Gitta Alpár in the leading role. Her first film lead role she had in 1936 in the feature film Irish and Proud of It. Sheridan's other films, mostly with a British background, were Father Steps Out (1937), Merely Mr Hawkins (1938) and Full Speed ​​Ahead (1939).

After that she played for two years mainly theater in the English provinces; she was at various repertory theaters and was mainly used in the popular entertainment pieces and comedies, in a stage repertoire that was essentially oriented towards the tastes of the middle class . During the Second World War she was on duty in Welwyn Garden City as a driver of an ambulance .

In 1942 she played the role of Evie in the drama Salute John Citizen (1942). She embodied a nurse who eventually marries the eldest son of the house (played by Jimmy Hanley ) against some resistance. In the following years Sheridan was among other things in the films Get Cracking (1942/1943, with George Formby Jr. ), Murder in Reverse (1947); Who is rex Star (1948, in a glamorous role as Steve Temple), The Mask Falls (1949), The Huggetts Abroad (1949), and The Hunt for Z (1950); As a rule, these were roles with average acting demands.

Breakthrough as a film actress

Sheridan received widespread acting recognition in particular for her role as Mary Payton in the adventure film Black Ivory (1951); in it she played the wife of a game warden. After roles in the films The Unknown Enemy (1952), Appointment in London (1953) and The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan (1953), she achieved her ultimate breakthrough as a film actress with her role in the comedy The Fiery Isabella . Sheridan played Wendy McKim, the wife of lawyer Alan McKim, who takes part in a classic car race from London to Brighton with her husband, who has a passion for classic cars .

Marriage and resumption of the career

In 1954 Sheridan married her second husband, John Davis (1906-1993), the managing director of the Rank Organization . Davis asked Sheridan to give up her acting career and take care of household and social life. An offered leading role in the film against all violence (1956) therefore declined because of the promise given to her husband.

Two years after her divorce from Davis (1965) she resumed her work as an actress in 1967. She returned to the stage as a stage actress . She played the female lead in the comedy Let's All Go Down the Strand directed by Hugh and Margaret Williams at the Phoenix Theater in London's West End . In it, she embodied a woman who insists on divorce after discovering her husband's infidelity. This was Sheridan's only serious stage role.

Other West End stage productions include A Boston Story by Ronald Gow (Duchess Theater, 1968), Out of the Question by Ira Wallach (St Martin's Theater, 1969), A Touch of Purple by Elleston Trevor (as Katie Weiner; Thorndike Theater, Leatherhead , 1972), Move Over Mrs Markham by Ray Cooney (as Joanna Markham; Vaudeville Theater, 1972); The Card (Queen's Theater 1973), The Gentle Hook by Francis Durbridge (Piccadilly Theater, 1974), In Pleasant Company (Phoenix Theater, 1976), A Murder Is Foretold (Vaudeville Theater, 1977), In the Red (Whitehall Theater, 1977 ), a touring production of the play Half Life by Julian Mitchell, with whom she also in Toronto occurred and Present Laughter by Noël Coward (1981). In the 1991/1992 season she appeared at the Theater Royal in Bath in a production of the play The Kingfisher by William Douglas-Home .

Later film career and television

Later in her career, Sheridan only appeared in two movies . She played the role of Mrs. Waterbury in the film drama Every Morning the Same Train (1970), a film adaptation of the novel The Railway Children. She embodied a wife and mother who has to move from a London villa to Yorkshire with her three children after her husband, employed by the Foreign Office , was falsely accused of treason and imprisoned. Her last film role was in the Agatha Christie film version Mord im Spiegel in 1980 ; she played the role of Lady Amanda Ridgeley in the movie-within-a-movie Murder at Midnight .

Since the 1980s, Sheridan worked exclusively for television . In the British sitcom Don't Wait Up , she played the role of Mrs. Angela Latimer from 1983 to 1990; she embodied the mother of Dr. Tom Latimer, played by Nigel Havers . In 1983 she had a guest appearance on the BBC - Science fiction - television series Doctor Who as "Time Lady" Chancellor Flavia in the series special The Five Doctors . In 1994 she starred as the physically disabled crime writer Clare in the night bakery sitcom All Night Long .

Private

Sheridan was married a total of four times. First marriage (1942–1952) with actor Jimmy Hanley, whom she met while filming the film Salute John Citizen (1942). From this marriage there were three children. Their son is the politician and former chairman of the Conservative Party Sir James Hanley . Their daughter, Jenny Hanley, is an actress and television presenter; she presented the children's program Magpie on Independent Television (ITV) . Another daughter (* 1944) died as a baby after three days. In 1949, Sheridan separated from her husband Jimmy Hanley.

Sheridan first met her second husband, John Davis, for the first time during filming. She was married to Davis from 1954 until their divorce in 1965.

In 1986 she married the Canadian actor John Merivale (1917–1990), Vivien Leigh's former lover . Sheridan cared for Merivale until his death in 1990; Merivale died of a hereditary lung disease . In 1992 she married the fourth marriage to the Californian businessman Aubrey Ison. She was married to him until his death in 2007.

Sheridan died with her family on November 25, 2012 at their home in Northwood, Middlesex , London.

Filmography (selection)

  • 1935: I Give My Heart (uncredited)
  • 1937: Father Steps Out
  • 1938: Irish and Proud of It
  • 1938: Merely Mr. Hawkins
  • 1939/1940: Full Speed ​​Ahead
  • 1942: Salute John Citizen
  • 1942/1943: Get Cracking
  • 1947: The Hills of Donegal
  • 1948: who is Rex? ( Calling Paul Temple ) (as Steve Temple)
  • 1949: Dark Secret
  • 1950: The Mask Falls (The Story of Shirley Yorke)
  • 1950: Hunt for "Z" ( Paul Temple's Triumph ) (as Steve Temple)
  • 1951: Black Ivory (Where No Vultures Fly)
  • 1952: The Unknown Enemy (The Sound Barrier)
  • 1953: Appointment in London
  • 1953: The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan
  • 1953: The fiery Isabella (Genevieve)
  • 1970: The same train stops every morning (The Railway Children)
  • 1974: Zodiac (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1974: Crown Court (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1980: Murder in the Mirror (The Mirror Crack'd)
  • 1983: Doctor Who : The Five Doctors
  • 1983–1990: Don't Wait Up (sitcom)
  • 1992: Lovejoy (TV series, 1 episode)
  • 1992: Just Us (TV series)
  • 1994: All Night Long (sitcom)
  • 1999: Jonathan Creek (TV series, 1 episode)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Actress Dinah Sheridan dies at 92 BBC News dated November 25, 2012
  2. ↑ a b c d e British Actress Dinah Sheridan Dies at 92 obituary in: The Hollywood Reporter of November 25, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Sheridan, Dinah
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mec, Dinah Nadyejda (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH 17th September 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England
DATE OF DEATH November 25, 2012
Place of death London , England