Brenda Forbes (14 January 1909 – 11 September 1996) was a British-born American actress of stage and screen.

Personal life

Born as Dorothy Brenda Taylor in Wandsworth, London, the daughter of Ernest John and Ethel Louise Taylor. Her mother was actress

Mary Forbes Mary Forbes (born Ethel Louise Young; 1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974) was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where she died. She appeared in more than 130 films between 1919 and 1958.

, and her elder brother was actor

Ralph Forbes Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States. Early life Forbes was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Eth ...

(né Ralph Forbes Taylor), she made her first film appearance in 1935 and her last in 1995. She appeared on Broadway between 1931 and 1985, mostly in revivals of classics.

Career

Forbes created the role of the outspoken maid, Wilson, in the original production of ''

The Barretts of Wimpole Street ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. The play gave actress Kat ...

'' opposite Katharine Cornell. She played the role in various revivals as well. She co-starred as Lady Vale in the 1967 musical ''

Darling of the Day ''Darling of the Day'' is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson, lyrics by E. Y. Harburg, and music by Jule Styne. It is based on Arnold Bennett's novel ''Buried Alive'' and his play '' The Great Adventure''. The show closed after only 31 per ...

'' in which she and

Peter Woodthorpe Peter Woodthorpe (25 September 1931 – 13 August 2004) was an English actor who supplied the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of ''The Lord of the Rings'' and BBC's 1981 radio serial. He also provided the voice of Pigsy in the cul ...

introduced the song ''

Panache Panache () is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of flamboyant manner and reckless courage, derived from the helmet-plume worn by cavalrymen in the Early Modern period. The literal translation is a plume, such as is worn on a h ...

'' and appeared in the 1976 revival of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' as Mrs. Higgins; also in that production was George Rose whom she starred with in the 1986 all star cast revival of ''

Aren't We All? ''Aren't We All?'' is a comic play by Frederick Lonsdale. At the core of the drawing room comedy's slim plot is the Hon. William Tatham who, having been consigned to the proverbial doghouse for a romantic indiscretion, is determined to catch hi ...

''IBDb profile
ibdb.com; accessed 18 November 2015. On screen she appeared in several films over a 50-year period including '' The Imperfect Lady'' (1935) and ''

Mrs. Miniver ''Mrs. Miniver'' is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Inspired by the 1940 novel '' Mrs. Miniver'' by Jan Struther, it shows how the life of an unassuming British h ...

'' (1942). Her last role, a small one, was in '' The Jerky Boys: The Movie''.

Family

She was married to Merrill Shepard from 1947 until his death in 1986; they had no children.

Death

She died from cancer in 1996, aged 87, in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Brenda 1909 births 1996 deaths Actresses from London American film actresses American stage actresses British film actresses British stage actresses Deaths from cancer in New York (state) British emigrants to the United States People from Wandsworth 20th-century American actresses 20th-century British actresses 20th-century English women 20th-century English people