Dame Gwen Lucy Ffrangcon-Davies, (25 January 1891 – 27 January 1992) was a British actress and centenarian.

Early life

She was born in London of a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

family; the name "Ffrangcon" is said to originate from a valley in Snowdonia. Her parents were opera baritone

David Ffrangcon-Davies David Ffrangcon-Davies (11 December 1855 – 13 April 1918) was a Welsh operatic baritone. Early life and education David Thomas Davies was born in Bethesda, Gwynedd. He later adopted the name ''Ffrangcon'', an early variant spelling of the ne ...

(né David Thomas Davies) and Annie Francis Rayner.

Career

Ffrangcon-Davies made her stage debut in 1911, as a singer as well as an actress, and received encouragement in her career from Ellen Terry. In 1924, she played

Juliet Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist R ...

opposite John Gielgud as Romeo, and Gielgud was grateful to her for the rest of his life for the kindness she showed him, casting her as Queen Anne in ''

Richard of Bordeaux ''Richard of Bordeaux'' (1932) is a play by "Gordon Daviot", a pseudonym for Elizabeth MacKintosh, best known by another of her pen names, Josephine Tey. The play tells the story of Richard II of England in a romantic fashion, emphasizing the r ...

'' in 1934. In 1925, Ffrangcon-Davies played Tess in a stage version of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'', including a special presentation for its author,

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

. In 1938, Ffrangcon-Davies appeared with

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

in a production of ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

'' at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

. Later the same year, she appeared as Mrs. Manningham in the first production of '' Gaslight'' by Patrick Hamilton. Ffrangcon-Davies played

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy '' Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

for almost an entire year in 1942 opposite John Gielgud's

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

. She won the Evening Standard Award in 1958 for her performance as Mary Tyrone in '' Long Day's Journey Into Night''. Ffrangcon-Davies retired from the stage in 1970, but continued to appear on radio and television; in one such appearance, broadcast on Christmas Day, 1990, a month before her 99th birthday, she featured in the BBC radio show, ''With Great Pleasure'', in which stars chose favourite readings, spoken by others, and by themselves. She chose "The Kingdom of God", by Francis Thompson, read by Alec McCowen; a passage from ''The Merchant of Venice'', read by herself, and Anna Massey and Alec McCowen; "These I Have Loved", by

Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...

, read by Anna Massey; and, a part of the '' Seven Pillars of Wisdom'', by

T. E. Lawrence Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

, whom she once met, read by Alec McCowen; it was included in the 1992 compilation cassette ''With Great Pleasure''. In the 1980s, well into her nineties, she appeared on the '' Wogan'' chat show, in which she recited, word for word, the famous death scene of

. She made her final acting appearance in a teleplay of the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

mystery ''

The Master Blackmailer "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" is one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It was originally published in '' Collier's'' in the United States on 26 March 1904, and in ''The Strand Magazine'' ...

'' at the age of 100. Her films included '' The Witches'' (1966) and ''

The Devil Rides Out ''The Devil Rides Out'' is a 1934 novel by Dennis Wheatley telling a disturbing story of black magic and the occult. The four main characters, the Duke de Richleau, Rex van Ryn, Simon Aron and Richard Eaton, appear in a series of novels by Wh ...

'' (1968), both for

Hammer Films A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as wi ...

Personal life

She was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1991, aged 100, and was the oldest-ever appointee to that honour until fellow actress Olivia de Havilland received her damehood in 2017. Ffrangcon-Davies died in 1992, two days after her 101st birthday. A lesbian, for many years her partner was South African actress

Marda Vanne Marda "Scrappy" Vanne (born Margaretha van Hulsteyn;One source, a close friend, spells her name "Margueretha". 27 September 1896 – 27 April 1970) was a South African actress who found fame in London. Early life Margaretha was born in Pretoria, ...

."Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Twentieth-Century Actress" by Dr Helen Grime, pg. 52 She lived in the village of

Stambourne __NOTOC__ Stambourne is a village and civil parish in the Braintree District in north Essex, England. The civil parish population at the 2011 Census was 409. Stambourne's closest neighbouring villages are Ridgewell, Toppesfield, Cornish Hall End ...

, Essex. She made two appearances on '' Desert Island Discs'': one broadcast on 8 October 1962, and the other on 19 June 1988.Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies
BBC

Filmography

References

Sources

* Martial Rose, ''Forever Juliet: the Life and Letters of Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies 1891–1992'' (2003) * Helen Grime ''Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Twentieth-Century Actress'' London: Routledge, 2015

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ffrangcondavies, Gwen 1891 births 1992 deaths Actresses awarded British damehoods British centenarians British film actresses British stage actresses Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire British people of Welsh descent Actresses from London Actors from Essex People educated at South Hampstead High School 20th-century British actresses British lesbian actresses People from Braintree District Women centenarians 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 20th-century LGBT people