Peggy Ashcroft

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Peggy Ashcroft, 1962

Peggy Ashcroft DBE (born December 22, 1907 as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon , London , † June 14, 1991 in London) was a British actress .

Life

Peggy Ashcroft (1936)

Peggy Ashcroft graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama with acting training against her family's wishes . Within a few years she became a prominent actress in London's West End . In the course of her 50 year career on stage, she was one of the great actresses in British theater. She appeared at the Old Vic Theater in the early 1930s and later appeared regularly in John Gielgud's productions . She worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1950s and appeared regularly at the Royal National Theater at an advanced age . Ashcroft often starred in works by William Shakespeare , but has also appeared in modern plays by authors such as Bertolt Brecht , Samuel Beckett, and Harold Pinter .

Her film career was more of a sporadic nature: in a period of 55 years she was seen in only 14 movies. In addition, she also made appearances in some television productions. She had one of her early film appearances in 1935 in Alfred Hitchcock's classic film The 39 Steps as the neglected wife of a Scottish farmer. She won the 1985 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in David Lean's Journey to India , and at the time, at 77, was the oldest actress to receive the award. The role of Barbie Batchelor in the highly acclaimed British miniseries The Jewel in the Crown, based on the epic novel by "Paul Scott", she showed on television in 1984 at the height of her acting skills. For this work she received the BAFTA Award for best television actress.

Private

Peggy Ashcroft was married three times. In 1929 she married Sir Rupert Hart-Davis. Their marriage lasted until 1933. Her second husband was Theodore Komisarjevsky. From 1940 to 1966 she was married to Jeremy Hutchinson . From this marriage their two children, Eliza born in 1941 and Nicholas born in 1946, come from. The singer Emily Loizeau is her granddaughter. Peggy Ashcroft died on June 14, 1991 in London at the age of 83 from complications from a stroke .

In 1951, Peggy Ashcroft was inducted into the Order of the British Empire and was given the rank of Dame Commander in 1956 .

Filmography (selection)

Award

literature

  • Garry O'Connor: The Secret Woman: A Life of Peggy Ashcroft, (born) Weidenfeld & Nicolson, July 1998, ISIS Paperbacks (paperback) May 2000
  • Michael Billington: Peggy Ashcroft, 1907-1991, Mandarin (UK), Arrow (USA), 1991
  • Robert Tanitch: Ashcroft, David & Charles, 1988

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft on thepeerage.com , accessed September 11, 2016.

Web links

Commons : Peggy Ashcroft  - Collection of Images
personal data
SURNAME Ashcroft, Peggy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ashcroft, Edith Margaret Emily (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British actress
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Croydon , London , England , United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH June 14, 1991
Place of death London , England , UK