Ursula Jeans
Ursula Jeans (born May 5, 1906 in Shimla , India as Ursula Jean McMinn , † April 21, 1973 in London ) was a British actress in theater, film and television. Jean's film career spanned over 30 international feature films, television films, and television series from the early 1920s to the late 1960s. Among them roles in Die Schwindlerin , You Were May 13 , 1943 - The Destruction of the Dams , Burning India or the Fight at Villa Fiorita .
life and career
Ursula Jeans was born in 1906 to British parents in Shimla, India. Grown up and taught in London, including at the well-known Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Jeans played theater in his youth. From the 1930s on, she specialized in classical plays by Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw , primarily with engagements at the Old Vic Theater and with the Sadlers Wells Company. During World War II, she was primarily active under the auspices of the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), together with her second husband, the actor Roger Livesey. She often appeared on stage with him and had numerous engagements in London's West End , including a play written especially for her by JB Priestley. In the late 1950s, the Liveseys were successful with tours in Australia and New Zealand with The Reluctant Debutante .
In addition to her long career on the London stage, Ursula Jeans has also worked as an actress for the big screen and British television. She made her cinema debut in 1922 in the silent film A Gipsy Cavalier , directed by J. Stuart Blackton. Since the early 1930s, she was a sought-after character actress in many British films such as in Ian Dalrymple's and Victor Saville's romantic comedy Storm in a Water Glass alongside stars such as Vivien Leigh and Rex Harrison , and in 1943 in the Life and Death of Colonel Blimp of the Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger , she also played the female lead in Jack Lee's drama Die Schwindlerin in 1947 . In the 1950s she was seen in other roles such as Leslie Norman's thriller You Were 13 , in Michael Anderson's war film May 1943 - The Destruction of the Dams or in J. Lee Thompson's adventure film Burning India alongside Kenneth More , Lauren Bacall and Herbert Lom . She embodied her last film role in 1965 in the prominent drama Kampf im Villa Fiorita by director Delmer Daves .
Her few television appearances since 1949 include Dr. Finlay's Casebook , Hedda Gabler , Dixon of Dock Green , Theater 625 or The Root of All Evil? .
Her first marriage to Robin Irvine lasted barely two years from 1931 until his death in April 1933. From 1937 until her death in 1973 she was finally married to the actor Roger Livesey for the second time . Ursula Jeans was the sister of the actors Desmond Jeans (1903–1974) and Isabel Jeans (1891–1985).
Filmography (selection)
movie theater
- 1922: A Gipsy Cavalier
- 1923: The Virgin Queen
- 1927: The Fake
- 1927: Quinney's
- 1928: The Passing of Mr. Quin
- 1928: SOS
- 1931: The Love Habit
- 1931: The Flying Fool
- 1932: The Crooked Lady
- 1932: Once Bitten
- 1932: The Barton Mystery
- 1933: Cavalcade
- 1933: On Thin Ice
- 1933: I Lived with You
- 1933: Friday the Thirteenth
- 1936: The Man in the Mirror
- 1937: Dark Journey
- 1937: Storm in a Teacup
- 1939: Over the Moon
- 1943: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp)
- 1944: Mr. Emmanuel
- 1946: Gaiety George
- 1947: The Woman in the Hall
- 1948: The Weaker Sex
- 1955: You Were 13 (The Night My Number Came Up)
- 1955: May 1943 - The Dam Busters
- 1959: Burning India (North West Frontier)
- 1961: The Green Helmet
- 1961: The Queen's Guards
- 1965: Battle of the Villa Fiorita (The Battle of the Villa Fiorita)
watch TV
- 1949: The Canvas Rainbow (TV movie)
- 1963: Dr. Finlay's Casebook (TV series, 1 episode)
- 1963: Hedda Gabler (TV movie)
- 1967: Dixon of Dock Green (TV series, 1 episode)
- 1968: Theater 625 (TV series, 1 episode)
- 1968: The Root of All Evil? (TV series, 1 episode)
Short films
- 1926: Silence
- 1927: False Colors
literature
- Ursula Jeans. In: Adrian Room: Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins, 5th ed. , McFarland, 2010, p. 246
Web links
- Ursula Jeans in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Films by Ursula Jeans with German distribution titles
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jeans, Ursula |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | McMinn, Ursula Jean (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 5, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Shimla , India |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 21, 1973 |
| Place of death | London , England, UK |