Edie Martin (1 January 1880 – 22 February 1964) was a British actress. She was a ubiquitous performer, on stage from 1886, playing generally small parts but in high demand, appearing in scores of British films (although often uncredited). She frequently appeared in memorable
Ealing comedies
The Ealing comedies is an informal name for a series of comedy films produced by the London-based Ealing Studios during a ten-year period from 1947 to 1957. Often considered to reflect Britain's post-war spirit, the most celebrated films in the ...
as their resident ”little old lady.”
Selected filmography
* ''M'Blimey'' (1931)
* ''
Late Extra
''Late Extra'' is a 1935 British crime film directed by Albert Parker and starring James Mason (his film debut), Virginia Cherrill, and Alastair Sim.
It was made at Wembley Studios by the British subsidiary of the Fox Film Company as a quota ...
'' (1935) - Apartment Resident (uncredited)
* ''
Broken Blossoms
''Broken Blossoms or The Yellow Man and the Girl'', often referred to simply as ''Broken Blossoms'', is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. It was distributed by United Artists and premiered on May 13, 1919. It stars ...
'' (1936) - Woman in West End Party Visit (uncredited)
* ''
Educated Evans'' (1936) - Bit Part (uncredited)
* ''
The Big Noise'' (1936) - Old Lady
* ''
Feather Your Nest
''Feather Your Nest'' is a 1937 British musical comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring George Formby, Polly Ward and Enid Stamp-Taylor.
Plot
A worker at a gramophone record factory surprisingly creates a hit song, " Leaning on a L ...
'' (1937) - Blanche (uncredited)
* ''
Return of a Stranger'' (1937) - Mrs. Stevens (uncredited)
* ''
Farewell Again
''Farewell Again'' is a 1937 British drama film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Leslie Banks, Flora Robson, Sebastian Shaw and Robert Newton. The film is a portmanteau illustrating the calls of duty on various soldiers and their families. In ...
'' (1937) - Mrs. Bulger
* ''
Under the Red Robe'' (1937) - Maria
* ''
St. Martin's Lane'' (1938) - Libby's Dresser (uncredited)
* ''
Bad Boy'' (1938) - Mrs. Bryan
* ''
A Spot of Bother
''A Spot of Bother'' is the second adult novel by Mark Haddon, who is best known for his prize-winning first novel ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time''. Like ''Curious Incident'', ''A Spot of Bother'' examines mental health iss ...
'' (1938) - An Occasional Bar-Lady (uncredited)
* ''
Old Mother Riley in Business
''Old Mother Riley in Business'' is a 1941 British comedy film directed by John Baxter and starring Arthur Lucan, Kitty McShane and Cyril Chamberlain. It was the sixth in the long-running Old Mother Riley series of films. Old Mother Riley's pub ...
'' (1941)
* ''
Unpublished Story
''Unpublished Story'' is a 1942 British black-and-white war film directed by Harold French and starring Richard Greene and Valerie Hobson. It was produced and co-written by Anthony Havelock-Allan.
The film served as a propaganda film during Wo ...
'' (1942) - Mrs. Duncan (uncredited)
* ''
The Demi-Paradise
''The Demi-Paradise'' (also known as ''Adventure for Two'') is a 1943 British comedy film made by Two Cities Films. It stars Laurence Olivier as a Soviet Russian inventor who travels to England to have his revolutionary propeller manufactured, an ...
'' (1943) - Miss Winifred Tisdall
* ''
It's in the Bag'' (1944) - Mrs. Hicks (uncredited)
* ''
Don't Take It to Heart
''Don't Take It to Heart'' is a 1944 British comedy film directed by Jeffrey Dell and starring Richard Greene, Alfred Drayton, Patricia Medina, Moore Marriott and Richard Bird.
It was shot at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith with sets de ...
'' (1945) - Miss Bucket
* ''
A Place of One's Own
''A Place of One's Own'' is a 1945 British film directed by Bernard Knowles. An atmospheric ghost story based on the 1940 novel of the same title by Osbert Sitwell, it stars James Mason, Barbara Mullen, Margaret Lockwood, Dennis Price and Dulc ...
'' (1945) - Cook
* ''
They Were Sisters
''They Were Sisters'' is a 1945 British melodrama film directed by Arthur Crabtree for Gainsborough Pictures and starring James Mason and Phyllis Calvert. The film was produced by Harold Huth, with cinematography from Jack Cox and screenplay by ...
'' (1945) - Cook
* ''
Here Comes the Sun
"Here Comes the Sun" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1969 album ''Abbey Road''. It was written by George Harrison and is one of his best-known compositions. Harrison wrote the song in early 1969 at the country house o ...
'' (1946) - Mrs. Galloway
* ''
Carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...
'' (1946) - Martha (uncredited)
* ''
Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'' (1946) - Mrs. Whimple
* ''
The Courtneys of Curzon Street
''The Courtneys of Curzon Street'' (also titled ''The Courtney Affair'' or Kathy's Love Affair, in the U.S.) is a 1947 British drama film starring Anna Neagle and Michael Wilding. It is a study of class division and snobbery in Britain in the la ...
'' (1947) - Waitress (uncredited)
* ''
When the Bough Breaks'' (1947) - Customer
* ''
It Always Rains on Sunday
''It Always Rains on Sunday'' is a 1947 British film adaptation of Arthur La Bern's novel by the same name, directed by Robert Hamer. The film has been compared with the poetic realism movement in the French cinema of a few years earlier by the ...
'' (1947) - Mrs. Watson
* ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
'' (1948) - Annie
* ''
My Brother's Keeper'' (1948) - Churchgoer Shaking Hands (uncredited)
* ''
Another Shore
''Another Shore'' is a 1948 Ealing Studios comedy film directed by Charles Crichton. It stars Robert Beatty as Gulliver Shields, an Irish customs official who dreams of living on a South Sea island; particularly Rarotonga. It is based on the 1 ...
'' (1948) - Half Crown Lady in Park (uncredited)
* ''
Elizabeth of Ladymead
''Elizabeth of Ladymead'' is a 1948 British Technicolor drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Hugh Williams, Isabel Jeans and Bernard Lee. It charts the life of a British family between 1854 and 1945 and their involveme ...
'' (1948) - (uncredited)
* ''
The History of Mr. Polly'' (1949) - Lady on roof
* ''
Cardboard Cavalier
''Cardboard Cavalier'' is a 1948 British historical comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Sid Field, Margaret Lockwood and Jerry Desmonde.
It was the last film for Forde and Field. Field died of a heart attack shortly after the f ...
'' (1949) - Argumentative Old Woman (uncredited)
* ''
Adam and Evelyne
''Adam and Evelyne'', released in the U.S. as ''Adam and Evalyn'', is a 1949 romance film starring Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons. According to Robert Osborne, host of Turner Classic Movies, this suited the stars, as they were romantically inv ...
'' (1949) - Woman Scrubbing Floor (uncredited)
* ''
Blackmailed
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
'' (1951) - Mrs. Porritt - a Patient
* ''
The Galloping Major'' (1951) - Evelyn - Lady at Meeting (uncredited)
* ''
The Lavender Hill Mob
''The Lavender Hill Mob'' is a 1951 comedy film from Ealing Studios, written by T. E. B. Clarke, directed by Charles Crichton, starring Alec Guinness and Stanley Holloway and featuring Sid James and Alfie Bass. The title refers to Lavender Hil ...
'' (1951) - Miss Evesham
* ''
The Man in the White Suit
''The Man in the White Suit'' is a 1951 British satirical science fiction comedy film made by Ealing Studios. It stars Alec Guinness, Joan Greenwood and Cecil Parker and was directed by Alexander Mackendrick. The film was nominated for an A ...
'' (1951) - Mrs. Watson
* ''
The Lady with a Lamp
''The Lady with a Lamp'' is a 1951 British historical film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Michael Wilding and Felix Aylmer. The film depicts the life of Florence Nightingale and her work with wounded British soldiers durin ...
'' (1951)
* ''
Night Was Our Friend
''Night Was Our Friend'' is a 1951 British drama film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Elizabeth Sellars, Michael Gough and Ronald Howard. The title references a line from Virgil's epic poem ''The Aeneid''.
Plot
A young woman is acq ...
'' (1951) - Old Lady Jury Member
* ''
Time Gentlemen, Please!
''Time Gentlemen, Please!'' is a 1952 British comedy film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Eddie Byrne, Jane Barrett and Raymond Lovell. It was produced by Group 3 Films with funding from the NFFC and distributed by ABPC. It was shot at ...
'' (1952) - Mary Wade
* ''
The Titfield Thunderbolt
''The Titfield Thunderbolt'' is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and starring Stanley Holloway, Naunton Wayne, George Relph and John Gregson. The screenplay concerns a group of villagers trying to keep their branch l ...
'' (1953) - Emily
* ''
Genevieve
Genevieve (french: link=no, Sainte Geneviève; la, Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; 419/422 AD –
502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January.
Genevieve was born in Nanterre a ...
'' (1953) - Guest (uncredited)
* ''
Meet Mr. Lucifer
''Meet Mr. Lucifer'' is a black-and-white British comedy satire film released in 1953 starring Stanley Holloway. It was filmed at Ealing Studios, London, and is one of the Ealing comedies. The film is based on the play ''Beggar My Neighbour'' by ...
'' (1953) - Deaf Lady (uncredited)
* ''
The End of the Road
''The End of the Road'' is the second novel by American writer John Barth, published first in 1958, and then in a revised edition in 1967. The irony-laden black comedy's protagonist Jacob Horner suffers from a nihilistic paralysis he calls "co ...
'' (1954) - Gloomy Gertie
* ''
Hobson's Choice'' (1954) - Old Lady Buying Shoelaces (uncredited)
* ''
Scotland Yard (film series)
''Scotland Yard'' is a series of 39 half-hour episodes produced by Anglo-Amalgamated. Produced between 1953 and 1961, they are short films, originally made to support the main feature in a cinema double-bill. Each film focuses on a true crime cas ...
'' (1954, July) - ('The Mysterious Bullet' episode) - (mother/grandmother) - (uncredited)
* ''
Lease of Life
''Lease of Life'' is a 1954 British drama film made by Ealing Studios and directed by Charles Frend. The film was designed as a star-vehicle for Robert Donat, representing his return to the screen after an absence of over three years during whi ...
'' (1954) - Miss Calthorp's Friend
* ''
The Black Rider
''The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets'' is a self-billed "musical fable" in the avant-garde tradition created through the collaboration of theatre director Robert Wilson, musician Tom Waits, and writer William S. Burroughs. Wil ...
'' (1954) - Elderly Lady
* ''
As Long as They're Happy
''As Long as They're Happy'' is a 1955 British musical comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Jack Buchanan, Susan Stephen and Diana Dors. It is based on the 1953 play of the same name by Vernon Sylvaine. It was shot at Pinewoo ...
'' (1955) - Elderly fan
* ''
Room in the House
''Room in the House'' is a 1955 comedy-drama film directed by Maurice Elvey. The film's screenplay, by Alfred Shaughnessy, is based on Eynon Evans
Evan Eynon Evans (18 May 1904 – 1989) billed as Eynon Evans and also known as E. Eynon R ...
'' (1955)
* ''
The Ladykillers'' (1955) - Lettice (uncredited)
* ''
An Alligator Named Daisy
''An Alligator Named Daisy'' is a 1955 British comedy film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Donald Sinden, Jeannie Carson, James Robertson Justice, Diana Dors, Roland Culver and Stanley Holloway.
Plot
Returning from a cricket match in I ...
'' (1955) - Wheelchair Pusher (uncredited)
* ''
Ramsbottom Rides Again
''Ramsbottom Rides Again'' is a 1956 British western comedy film produced and directed by John Baxter. The film features radio, film and stage star Arthur Askey in the lead role of Bill Ramsbottom, with Sid James, Shani Wallis, Betty Marsden and ...
'' (1956) - (uncredited)
* ''
My Teenage Daughter
''My Teenage Daughter'', later ''Teenage Bad Girl'', is a 1956 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Sylvia Syms and Norman Wooland. The screenplay concerns a mother who tries to deal with her teenage daughter' ...
'' (1956) - Miss Ellis
* ''
Sailor Beware!'' (1956) - Little Woman in Church
* ''
The Naked Truth The Naked Truth may refer to:
Literature
* ''The Naked Truth'' (novel), a 1993 fictional memoir by Leslie Nielsen
* ''The Naked Truth'' (book), a 2007 commentary on film ratings
Film
* ''The Naked Truth'' (1914 film), a silent Italian film
* ...
'' (1957) - Lady in Autograph Crowd (uncredited)
* ''
Too Many Crooks
''Too Many Crooks'' is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Mario Zampi. The plot concerns a bunch of inept crooks who kidnap the wife of a shady businessman, only for him to decide he doesn’t want her back. It stars George Cole, Sidney Ja ...
'' (1959) - Gordon's Mother
* ''
Follow a Star
''Follow a Star'' is a 1959 British black and white comedy musical film directed by Robert Asher and starring Norman Wisdom.
Plot
Norman Truscott works as a dry cleaner, but dreams of being a stage performer. To this end, he takes elocution an ...
'' (1959) - Old Lady (uncredited)
* ''
Kidnapped
Kidnapped may refer to:
* subject to the crime of kidnapping
Literature
* ''Kidnapped'' (novel), an 1886 novel by Robert Louis Stevenson
* ''Kidnapped'' (comics), a 2007 graphic novel adaptation of R. L. Stevenson's novel by Alan Grant and Ca ...
'' (1960) - Woman on the bridge
* ''
A Weekend with Lulu'' (1961) - Lodgekeeper's Wife (uncredited)
* ''
Sparrows Can't Sing
''Sparrows Can't Sing'' is a 1963 British kitchen sink comedy film. Based on a 1960 play, ''Sparrers Can't Sing'', it was directed by Joan Littlewood and was from a story by Stephen Lewis. The producer was Donald Taylor and the original music b ...
'' (1963) - Old Lady on Bench (uncredited) (final film role)
References
External links
*
1880 births
1964 deaths
Actresses from London
English film actresses
20th-century English actresses
{{England-screen-actor-stub