Rosalind Ivan (27 November 1880 – 6 April 1959) was an English stage and film character actress. Ivan appeared in fourteen American films from 1944 to 1954.
Rosalind Muriel Pringle was the daughter of Stamford and Annie Pringle, who married in 1876 and divorced in 1881. In 1883, her mother married Charles Johnson and her daughter took his surname. By age ten, Ivan was performing as a concert pianist in England, but financial problems with her family caused her to cease studying piano when she was sixteen.
[ ]
On the London stage, she had the role of "Retty" in ''Tess'' (1900). She joined Sir Henry Irving's distinguished company and in America appeared as Mme. Thalhouet in ''Madame Sans Gene'' (1902). Ivan's first Broadway appearance was in ''The Master Builder'' (1907); her last was in ''The Corn Is Green'' (1940). One of her triumphs on the stage was as the "vampire" in ''
A Fool There Was'' (1913).
Ivan had a memorable role as the nagging wife of a bank teller (
Edward G. Robinson) in
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
's film ''
Scarlet Street
''Scarlet Street'' is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel ''La Chienne'' (literal ...
'' (1945). That role, along with a similar "nagging wife" role (of
Charles Laughton
Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...
) in
Robert Siodmak
Robert Siodmak (; 8 August 1900 – 10 March 1973) was a German film director who also worked in the United States. He is best remembered as a thriller specialist and for a series of films noirs he made in the 1940s, such as ''The Killers'' (19 ...
's ''
The Suspect'' (1944), caused some in Hollywood to dub her "Ivan the Terrible". She also appeared in
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
's Biblical epic ''
The Robe
''The Robe'' is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion of Jesus, written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in October 1942, four weeks later ...
''. She appeared with Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in
''The Verdict'' (1946), as Mrs. Benson, Lorre's comical landlady. The actress gained most of her fame on the Broadway and London stages.
On April 6, 1959, Ivan was found dead in her hotel room in New York City. She was 78 years old. Police attributed her death to natural causes.
[ ]
Partial filmography
* ''
Arms and the Woman
''Arms and the Woman'' is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by George Fitzmaurice and starring Mary Nash, Lumsden Hare and H. Cooper Cliffe. It has been described as Edward G. Robinson's film debut, but the AFI Catalog of Feature F ...
'' (1916)
* ''
It Started With Eve
''It Started with Eve'' is a 1941 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Henry Koster and starring Deanna Durbin, Robert Cummings, and Charles Laughton. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Music Score (Charles Previ ...
'' (1941)
* ''
The Suspect'' (1944)
* ''
Scarlet Street
''Scarlet Street'' is a 1945 American film noir directed by Fritz Lang. The screenplay concerns two criminals who take advantage of a middle-aged painter in order to steal his artwork. The film is based on the French novel ''La Chienne'' (literal ...
'' (1945)
* ''
Pursuit to Algiers
''Pursuit to Algiers'' (1945) is the twelfth entry in the Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film series of fourteen. Elements in the story pay homage to an otherwise unrecorded affair mentioned by Dr. Watson at the beginning of the 1903 ...
'' (1945)
* ''
The Corn is Green
''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...
'' (1945)
* ''
Alias Mr. Twilight
''Alias Mr. Twilight'' is a 1946 crime drama film directed by John Sturges and starring Michael Duane, Trudy Marshall, and Lloyd Corrigan.
Plot
Cast
* Michael Duane as Tim Quaine
* Trudy Marshall as Corky Corcoran
* Lloyd Corrigan as Geoffrey ...
'' (1946)
* ''
Johnny Belinda'' (1948)
* ''
The Robe
''The Robe'' is a 1942 historical novel about the Crucifixion of Jesus, written by Lloyd C. Douglas. The book was one of the best-selling titles of the 1940s. It entered the ''New York Times'' Best Seller list in October 1942, four weeks later ...
'' (1953)
* ''
Elephant Walk
''Elephant Walk'' is a 1954 American drama film produced by Paramount Pictures, directed by William Dieterle, and starring Elizabeth Taylor, Dana Andrews, Peter Finch and Abraham Sofaer.It is based upon the 1948 novel ''Elephant Walk'' by "Robe ...
'' (1954)
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
*
1880 births
1959 deaths
Actresses from London
English film actresses
English stage actresses
British expatriate actresses in the United States
{{England-actor-stub