Dame Edith Mary Evans, (8 February 1888 – 14 October 1976) was an English actress. She was best known for her work on the stage, but also appeared in films at the beginning and towards the end of her career. Between 1964 and 1968, she was nominated for three
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
.
Evans's stage career spanned sixty years, during which she played more than 100 roles, in classics by
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
,
Congreve,
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a Metalworking, metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Nowadays they mainly specialize in jewelry-making but historically, goldsmiths have also made cutlery, silverware, platter (dishware), pl ...
,
Sheridan and
Wilde
Wilde is a surname. Notable people with the name include:
In arts and entertainment In film, television, and theatre
* '' Wilde'' a 1997 biographical film about Oscar Wilde
* Andrew Wilde (actor), English actor
* Barbie Wilde (born 1960), Canad ...
, and plays by contemporary writers including
Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
,
Enid Bagnold
Enid Algerine Bagnold, Lady Jones, (27 October 1889 – 31 March 1981) was a British writer and playwright known for the 1935 story ''National Velvet''.
Early life
Enid Algerine Bagnold was born on 27 October 1889 in Rochester, Kent, daughte ...
,
Christopher Fry
Christopher Fry (18 December 1907 – 30 June 2005) was an English poet and playwright. He is best known for his verse dramas, especially ''The Lady's Not for Burning'', which made him a major force in theatre in the 1940s and 1950s.
Biograph ...
and
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
. She created roles in two of Shaw's plays: Orinthia in ''
The Apple Cart
''The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza'' is a 1928 play by George Bernard Shaw. It is a satirical comedy about several political philosophies which are expounded by the characters, often in lengthy monologues. The plot follows the fictional ...
'' (1929), and Epifania in ''
The Millionairess
''The Millionairess'' is a 1960 British romantic comedy film directed by Anthony Asquith, and starring Sophia Loren and Peter Sellers. Set in London, it is a loose adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1936 play of the same name.
Plot
By the t ...
'' (1940) and was in the British premières of two others: ''
Heartbreak House
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...
'' (1921) and ''
Back to Methuselah
''Back to Methuselah (A Metabiological Pentateuch)'' by George Bernard Shaw consists of a preface (''The Infidel Half Century'') and a series of five plays: ''In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden)'', ''The Gospel of the Brothers Bar ...
'' (1923).
Evans became widely known for portraying haughty aristocratic women, as in two of her most famous roles as Lady Bracknell in ''
The Importance of Being Earnest
''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...
'', and Miss Western in the 1963 film of ''
Tom Jones.'' During her performance as Lady Bracknell, her delivery of the line ‘A handbag’ has become synonymous with the
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
play. By contrast, she played a downtrodden maid in ''
The Late Christopher Bean
''The Late Christopher Bean'' is a comedy drama adapted from ''Prenez garde à la peinture'' by René Fauchois. It exists in two versions: an American adaptation by Sidney Howard (1932) and an English version by Emlyn Williams (1933). Williams's i ...
'' (1933), a deranged, impoverished old woman in ''
The Whisperers
''The Whisperers'' is a 1967 British drama film directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Edith Evans. It is based on the 1961 novel by Robert Nicolson. Although the fictional setting of the film is not named, it was mainly shot on location in the ...
'' (1967) and – one of her most celebrated roles – Nurse in ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'', which she played in four productions between 1926 and 1961.
Life and career
Early years
Evans was born in
Pimlico
Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...
, London, the daughter of Edward Evans, a junior civil servant in the
General Post Office
The General Post Office (GPO) was the state postal system and telecommunications carrier of the United Kingdom until 1969. Before the Acts of Union 1707, it was the postal system of the Kingdom of England, established by Charles II in 1660. ...
, and his wife, Caroline Ellen ''née'' Foster. She had one sibling, a brother who died at the age of four. She was educated at St Michael's Church of England School, Pimlico, before being apprenticed at the age of 15 in 1903 as a
milliner
Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter.
Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...
. She commented in later years that she loved the rich and beautiful materials of the craft, but could not manage to make two hats alike.
[ While working in a milliner's shop in the ]City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
she began attending drama classes in Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
; the classes developed into an amateur performing group, the Streatham Shakespeare Players, with whom she made her first stage appearance in October 1910, as Viola in ''Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
''. In 1912, playing Beatrice in ''Much Ado About Nothing
''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...
'', she was spotted by the producer William Poel
William Poel (1852-1934) was an English actor, theatrical manager and dramatist best known for his presentations of Shakespeare.
Life and career
A son of William Pole, he grew up among Pre-raphaelite painters and reportedly sat for William Holm ...
and made her first professional appearance for him in Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
in August of that year; she played Gautami in a 6th-century Hindu classic, '' Sakuntalá'', in a cast including the young Nigel Playfair
Sir Nigel Ross Playfair (1 July 1874 – 19 August 1934) was an English actor and director, known particularly as actor-manager of the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, in the 1920s.
After acting as an amateur while practising as a lawyer, he turne ...
. Poel then cast her as Cressida in ''Troilus and Cressida
''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602.
At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwh ...
'' in London and subsequently at Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
. The critic of ''The Manchester Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' found her diction inadequate, but otherwise approved: "Miss Edith Evans, who, without quite the invincible charm for Cressida, gave an interesting performance".
Evans's West End debut was in George Moore's ''Elizabeth Cooper'' in 1913. The play received poor notices, but Evans was praised: "In the very small part of a maid Miss Edith Evans made the success of the afternoon. She put more into her few minutes than most of our approved 'stars' can suggest in leading parts." In January 1914 she made her professional Shakespearian debut as Gertrude in ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''.[Gaye, pp. 579–581]
In 1914, at Moore's instigation, Evans was given a year's contract by the Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. in Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develop ...
.[Forbes, Bryan.]
"Evans, Dame Edith Mary (1888–1976)"
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, January 2011, accessed 1 August 2013 She played character roles in comedies, as a junior member of casts that included Gladys Cooper and Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and We ...
.[ Over the next ten years she polished her craft in a wide range of parts.][ She played in a silent film called ''A Welsh Singer'', directed by and featuring Henry Edwards in 1915, and also had a minor role in another 1915 film, '' A Honeymoon for Three'', starring Charles Hawtrey. She then appeared in ''East is East'' in 1917, but thereafter made no more films for over thirty years.]["Edith Evans filmography"]
British Film Institute, accessed 5 August 2013 She toured in Shakespeare with Ellen Terry
Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...
's company in 1918, appeared in light comedy alongside the young Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
('' Polly With a Past'', 1921) and played five new Shavian
The Shavian alphabet (; also known as the Shaw alphabet) is an alphabet conceived as a way to provide simple, phonemic orthography for the English language to replace the difficulties of English orthography, conventional spelling using the E ...
roles, Lady Utterword in ''Heartbreak House
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...
'' (1921) and the Serpent, the Oracle, the She-Ancient and the ghost of the Serpent in ''Back to Methuselah
''Back to Methuselah (A Metabiological Pentateuch)'' by George Bernard Shaw consists of a preface (''The Infidel Half Century'') and a series of five plays: ''In the Beginning: B.C. 4004 (In the Garden of Eden)'', ''The Gospel of the Brothers Bar ...
'' (1923). In 1922 she made what J. T. Grein in ''The Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...
'' called "a personal triumph" in Alfred Sutro
Alfred Sutro OBE (7 August 1863 – 11 September 1933) was an English author, dramatist and translator. In addition to a succession of successful plays of his own in the first quarter of the 20th century, Sutro made the first English translation ...
's comedy ''The Laughing Lady''.
Stardom
By this time Evans was well known to the critics, and frequently received excellent notices; with her performance as Millamant in ''The Way of the World
''The Way of the World'' is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best Restoration comedies and is stil ...
'' in 1924 she achieved wide public fame for the first time.[Billington, Michael. "Dame Edith Evans: 'The greatest actress of her times' died yesterday, aged 88", ''The Guardian'', 15 October 1976, p. 17] Nigel Playfair cast her as the strong-willed and witty heroine in his revival of Congreve's Restoration comedy at the Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London. , in 1924. The critics resorted to superlatives:
James Agate
James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He later ...
wrote, "Let me not mince matters. Miss Edith Evans is the most accomplished of living and practising English actresses." Arnold Bennett
Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...
noted in his journals that this Millamant was the finest comedy performance he had ever seen. Her colleagues too were struck by the performance. John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...
recalled:
In the 1925–26 season, Evans joined the company of the Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
, playing Portia in ''The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
'', Cleopatra in ''Antony and Cleopatra
''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...
'', Katherina in ''The Taming of the Shrew
''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...
'', Rosalind in ''As You Like It
''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
'', Mistress Page in ''The Merry Wives of Windsor
''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...
'', Beatrice in ''Much Ado'' and Nurse in ''Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' – one of her most celebrated roles.[ The schedule of rehearsals and performances was hectic. She recalled, "It was altogether a momentous season for me. I lost 17lb in weight and on the only free day from rehearsal ran off and got married."][ Her husband was George (Guy) Booth (1882 or 1883–1935), an engineer whom she had known for more than twenty years; there were no children.][ Marriage to someone unconnected with the theatre suited Evans, who did not share the taste of many of her colleagues for what Gielgud called "publicity, gossip and backstage intrigue".][Gielgud, John. "A very honest actress", ''The Observer'', 17 October 1976, p. 15]
Looking back in 1976 at Evans's career ''The Times'' observed that the two decades after her success as Millamant showed the range of her talent. The paper counted among her "performances of absolute assurance" in this period those in ''Tiger Cats'' (1924), ''The Beaux' Stratagem
''The Beaux' Stratagem'' is a comedy by George Farquhar, first produced at the Theatre Royal, now the site of Her Majesty's Theatre, in the Haymarket, London, on March 8, 1707. In the play, Archer and Aimwell, two young gentlemen who have fal ...
'' (1927), ''The Lady with a Lamp'' (1929), and ''The Apple Cart
''The Apple Cart: A Political Extravaganza'' is a 1928 play by George Bernard Shaw. It is a satirical comedy about several political philosophies which are expounded by the characters, often in lengthy monologues. The plot follows the fictional ...
'' (1929) in which she played Orinthia, the king's mistress, a role written for her by Shaw.[ During the 1930s she played in several ]Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
seasons, some productions transferred from London and others new.[ While she was in New York playing the Nurse opposite the Juliet of Katharine Cornell her husband died suddenly in London. She returned, devastated, and encouraged by colleagues found solace by throwing herself into her work.][
Evans's notable roles of the 1930s included Irela in '']Evensong
Evensong is a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. In origin, it is identical to the canonical hour of vespers. Old English speakers translated the Latin word as , which became ...
'' (1932), Gwenny in ''The Late Christopher Bean
''The Late Christopher Bean'' is a comedy drama adapted from ''Prenez garde à la peinture'' by René Fauchois. It exists in two versions: an American adaptation by Sidney Howard (1932) and an English version by Emlyn Williams (1933). Williams's i ...
'' (1933), four Shakespeare parts, and in 1939 Lady Bracknell in ''The Importance of Being Earnest
''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...
''.[ She played the last of these on and off for seven years, on tour and in London, and by 1947, when a Broadway run was offered, she declined to act in the piece again.][ She played Lady Bracknell on film (1952) and television (1960) but never again on the stage.][
During the Second World War Evans joined an ]ENSA
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...
company travelling to Gibraltar
)
, anthem = " God Save the King"
, song = " Gibraltar Anthem"
, image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg
, map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe
, map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green
, mapsize =
, image_map2 = Gib ...
to entertain Allied troops. The following year she played in a West End revival of ''Heartbreak House'', this time playing Hesione Hushabye.[ She toured for ENSA in Britain, Europe and India in 1944 and 1945. Returning to London, at the end of the war she played Mrs Malaprop in '']The Rivals
''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...
''. The production was not liked by the critics, and Evans's performance drew respectful rather than ecstatic reviews.
Postwar
Evans played Shakespeare's Cleopatra for the last time in 1946–47, in her late fifties. Her performance divided the critics: opinions varied from "an agonising disaster" to "a joy to watch". Kenneth Tynan
Kenneth Peacock Tynan (2 April 1927 – 26 July 1980) was an English theatre critic and writer. Making his initial impact as a critic at ''The Observer'', he praised Osborne's ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956), and encouraged the emerging wave of ...
said, "Lady Bracknell has been involved in a low Alexandrian scandal".[ Evans had never been classically good looking, but she was a great enough actress to "convey beauty without being conventionally beautiful".][ What troubled many, including Agate and Gielgud, about her Cleopatra and other tragic heroines was not her appearance but a sense that tragedy came less naturally to her than comedy.][ Some of the great Shakespearian tragic roles she constantly refused to play, notably Lady Macbeth. She told Gielgud, "I could never impersonate a woman who had such a peculiar notion of hospitality", which he took to mean that she could not contemplate the character's "explicit admission of evil".][ Evans once remarked, "I don't think there is anything extraordinary about me except this passion for the truth",][ a passion revered by Gielgud and others, but one that prevented her from attempting a character whose essence she could not understand.][ She said to Shaw that she had been asked to play Volumnia in '']Coriolanus
''Coriolanus'' ( or ) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus. Shakespeare worked on it during the same ye ...
'', but "isn't she a bloodthirsty old harridan? I could never play her."[ This did not mean that she had to like the characters she played, but she had to understand them. When she first read through the role of Lady Bracknell with Gielgud she commented, "I know those sort of women. They ring the bell and tell you to put a lump of coal on the fire."][
]
In 1948 Evans returned to the film studios after an absence of more than thirty years. At the instigation of Emlyn Williams
George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor.
Early life
Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flintsh ...
she appeared in ''The Last Days of Dolwyn
''The Last Days of Dolwyn'' (renamed ''Woman of Dolwyn'' for the American market) is a 1949 Welsh drama film directed by Emlyn Williams and starring Edith Evans, Emlyn Williams, Richard Burton and Anthony James. The screenplay focuses on a Welshm ...
''.[ The cast included Williams, ]Richard Burton
Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable pe ...
, in his first film, and Allan Aynesworth
Edward Henry Abbot-Anderson (14 April 1864, Sandhurst, Berkshire – 22 August 1959, Camberley, Surrey), known professionally as Allan Aynesworth, was an English actor and producer. His career spanned more than six decades, from 1887 to 1949 ...
, who had created the role of Algernon in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1895. This was Aynesworth's last film; Evans went on to make eighteen more over the next three decades. She played an elderly Welsh woman, and was well received by reviewers, although one wondered if she was yet quite at home before the camera: "there are indeed moments when she looks as disproportionate as a life-size Rembrandt in a one-room flatlet. But it is not, of course, the flatlet which stays in the memory".["New Films in London", ''The Manchester Guardian'', 23 April 1949, p. 3] In the same year she played Countess Ranevskaya in Thorold Dickinson
Thorold Barron Dickinson (16 November 1903 – 14 April 1984) was a British film director, screenwriter, film editor, film producer, and Britain's first university professor of film. Dickinson's work received much praise, with fellow directo ...
's film version of '' The Queen of Spades''.[
In the theatre, Evans returned to ''The Way of the World'' in 1948, exchanging the role of Millamant for that of the formidable old Lady Wishfort. The production received mixed notices, and Evans's Wishfort – "like a preposterous caricature of Queen Elizabeth" – though much admired, overshadowed the rest of the cast. In November of the same year she made one of her rare appearances in ]Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
, as Ranevskaya in ''The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by ''Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition ...
''. Her performance divided opinion: in ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'' Ivor Brown
Ivor John Carnegie Brown CBE (25 April 1891 – 22 April 1974) was a British journalist and man of letters.
Biography
Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases ...
wrote of "the glorious impact of an authentic genius at the highest level of world-theatre", but the anonymous reviewer in ''The Times'' thought that she "remains, a little mysteriously, outside of the character".
Over the next ten years Evans played in only six stage productions because she appeared in long-running West End plays. From March 1949 to November 1950 she appeared as Lady Pitts in ''Daphne Laureola
''Daphne laureola'', commonly called spurge-laurel, is a shrub in the flowering plant family Thymelaeaceae. Despite the name, this woodland plant is neither a spurge nor a laurel. Its native range covers much of Europe and extends to Algeria, M ...
'' in London and then New York. At the Haymarket she played Helen Lancaster in ''Waters of the Moon'', which ran for more than two years. In April 1954 she played Countess Rosmarin Ostenburg in '' The Dark Is Light Enough'', and at the Haymarket she was Mrs St Maugham in ''The Chalk Garden
''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...
'' from April 1956 to November 1957.[ In May 1958 she returned to the Old Vic company, playing Queen Katharine in '']Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
'' in London and then at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST) (originally called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) is a grade II* listed 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the English playwright and poet William Shakesp ...
, Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
. At the same theatre in the 1959 season she played the Countess of Rousillon in '' All's Well That Ends Well'', and, despite her earlier words to Shaw, Volumnia in ''Coriolanus''.[ In the 1950s she made three films, '']The Importance of Being Earnest
''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...
'' (1952) - in which she famously gave an exaggerated delivery of the line "A handbag?" - ''Look Back in Anger
''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...
'' (1959) and '' The Nun's Story'' (1959).[
]
1960s and 1970s
In 1960 Evans played Judith Bliss in a television production of Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
's ''Hay Fever
Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, i ...
''. In the 1961 Stratford season Evans played Queen Margaret in ''Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
'' and appeared for the last time as the Nurse in ''Romeo and Juliet''. At the Queen's Theatre in November 1963, she played Violet in ''Gentle Jack'' by Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt (15 August 1924 – 20 February 1995) was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Doctor Zhivago'', and '' A Man for All Seasons'', ...
. In 1964 in a production for the National Theatre, she returned to the role of Judith Bliss in ''Hay Fever'', heading a cast that in Coward's words "could play the Albanian telephone directory". Her films from the first half of the 1960s were '' Tom Jones'' (1963), ''The Chalk Garden
''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...
'' and ''Young Cassidy
''Young Cassidy'' is a 1965 British biography drama film directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Rod Taylor, Julie Christie, and Maggie Smith. It is a biographical drama based upon the life of the playwright Seán O'Casey.
Plot
Set in 1911 and th ...
'' (both made in 1964).[
Her biggest film part of the 1960s was the central character, Mrs Ross, in '']The Whisperers
''The Whisperers'' is a 1967 British drama film directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Edith Evans. It is based on the 1961 novel by Robert Nicolson. Although the fictional setting of the film is not named, it was mainly shot on location in the ...
'' (1967) for which she received an Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
nomination and five major awards. After that her screen appearances were in supporting roles in ten more films. When she was 87 she played the Dowager Queen in ''The Slipper and the Rose
''The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella'' is a 1976 British musical film retelling the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. The film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance motion picture selection for 1976.
Directed by Bryan Forb ...
'' (1975) in which she sang and danced.[
Evans's last stage roles were Mrs Forrest in ''The Chinese Prime Minister'' at the Globe (1965), the Narrator in '' The Black Girl in Search of God'' at the ]Mermaid
In folklore, a mermaid is an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Mermaids are sometimes asso ...
(1968), and Carlotta in ''Dear Antoine'', Chichester Festival
Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Martin ...
(1971). After she found learning new roles too much, she presented an anthology of prose, poetry and music under the title ''Edith Evans and Friends'', both in the West End and elsewhere.[ In this show she made her final performance on the West End stage, on 5 October 1974.][ Her last public appearance was a BBC radio programme ''With Great Pleasure'', a selection of her favourite works, given before an invited audience in August 1976. In '']The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Nicholas de Jongh wrote of her evident frailty, "Yet she can still give the single words and phrases an imperious or serene grandeur, as in her final speaking of Richard Church's poem where she welcomed 'that summoning touch of death our neighbour'. What a glorious star is going out."
Bryan Forbes
Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 an ...
, who had directed Edith Evans in ''The Whisperers
''The Whisperers'' is a 1967 British drama film directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Edith Evans. It is based on the 1961 novel by Robert Nicolson. Although the fictional setting of the film is not named, it was mainly shot on location in the ...
'' and ''The Slipper and the Rose
''The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella'' is a 1976 British musical film retelling the classic fairy tale of Cinderella. The film was chosen as the Royal Command Performance motion picture selection for 1976.
Directed by Bryan Forb ...
'', wrote her biography ''Ned's Girl'', first published in 1977
Evans died at her home in Cranbrook, Kent
Cranbrook is a town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent in South East England. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings, about southeast of central London.
The smaller settlements of Sissing ...
, on 14 October 1976 at the age of 88.[
]
Honours
Evans was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(DBE) by King George VI
George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...
in 1946.
Awards
Evans received honorary degrees from the universities of London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
(1950), Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
(1951), Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
(1954) and Hull (1968).["Evans, Dame Edith (Dame Edith Mary Booth)"]
''Who Was Who'', online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2012, accessed 5 August 2013
Evans was painted by Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...
as Katharina in Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew
''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...
''. For many years a sculpted head of Evans was on display at the Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...
. In 1977 a portrait by Henry Glintenkamp was sold as part of her estate.
Last resting place and memorial
Evans's ashes are interred at St Paul's, Covent Garden, London. A blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
was unveiled outside her house at 109 Ebury Street
Ebury Street () is a street in Belgravia, City of Westminster, London. It runs from a Grosvenor Gardens junction south-westwards to Pimlico Road. It was built mostly in the period 1815 to 1860.
Odd numbers 19 to 231 are on the south-east side; ...
, London, in 1997."Evans, Dame Edith (1888–1976)"
English Heritage, accessed 5 August 2013.
Academy Awards
Edith Evans was nominated three times for an Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
between 1964 and 1968.
Other film acting awards
Edith Evans was cited as Best Supporting Actress by the National Board of Review
The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures is a non-profit organization of New York City area film enthusiasts. Its awards, which are announced in early December, are considered an early harbinger of the film awards season that culminat ...
(NBR) for '' The Nun's Story'' in 1959. The NBR also cited her as Best Supporting Actress for ''The Chalk Garden
''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...
'' in 1964 and as Best Actress for ''The Whisperers
''The Whisperers'' is a 1967 British drama film directed by Bryan Forbes and starring Edith Evans. It is based on the 1961 novel by Robert Nicolson. Although the fictional setting of the film is not named, it was mainly shot on location in the ...
'' in 1967. Her role in ''The Whisperers'' also won her awards from the British Film Academy
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is a nonprofit organization of journalists and photographers who report on the Cinema of the United States, entertainment industry activity and interests in the United States for media (newspaper, ...
, and the New York Film Critics Circle
The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) is an American film critic organization founded in 1935 by Wanda Hale from the New York ''Daily News''. Its membership includes over 30 film critics from New York-based daily and weekly newspapers, magaz ...
.
See also
* List of actors with Academy Award nominations
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
Sources
*
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External links
Edith Evans Papers
at the Harry Ransom Center
The Harry Ransom Center (until 1983 the Humanities Research Center) is an archive, library and museum at the University of Texas at Austin, specializing in the collection of literary and cultural artifacts from the Americas and Europe for the pur ...
, University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
The Bryan Forbes Collection of Edith Evans
The Henry Hurford Janes Collection of Edith Evans
*
*
*
Performances by Edith Evans listed in The Theatre Collection, University of Bristol
*Th
Collection of research material on Edith Evans, actress
held by the Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
Theatre and Performance Department.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Evans, Edith
Actresses awarded British damehoods
Best British Actress BAFTA Award winners
Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
English Christian Scientists
English film actresses
English stage actresses
Actresses from London
English Shakespearean actresses
1888 births
1976 deaths
Silver Bear for Best Actress winners
People from Pimlico
20th-century English actresses
Converts to Christian Science from Anglicanism