Ellen Pollock (26 April 1903 – 29 March 1997) was a British character actress who mainly appeared on stage in London's West End. She also appeared in several films and TV productions. The second child of Hanover merchant Adolf Meyer (1890-?) and Hedwig née Kahn (1876-1965), sister of Otto Hermann Kahn (wealthy investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts) and composer

Robert Kahn Robert Kahn may refer to: * Robert Kahn (composer) (1865–1951), composer and music teacher * Robert Louis Kahn (1918–2019), psychologist and social scientist * Robert Ludwig Kahn (1923–1970), professor of German studies and poet * Robert Kahn ...

, she became the stepdaughter of Raymond Anselmo Pollak (c. 1872-c. 1930) when her divorced mother remarried in April 1904 to the Austrian businessman, who himself had two sons from a first marriage to Elsa Julia Harris, a New Zealander. A devotee of

Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

, she was president of the Shaw Society from 1949. In its obituary, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' wrote "Pollock is believed to have played, in a career spanning 72 years, more Shavian heroines than anyone else. She directed London seasons of his plays; and it was during the London premiere of one of his lesser-known works – ''

Farfetched Fables ''Farfetched Fables'' (1948) is a collection of six short plays by George Bernard Shaw in which he outlines several of his most idiosyncratic personal ideas. The fables are preceded by a long preface. The ideas in the plays and the preface have ...

'' (

Watergate The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...

, 1950) – that she announced Shaw's death from the stage." Pollock's dedication to acting began as a seven-year-old, when she saw

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including by Alexandre Dumas fils, ...

on stage; she knew then that she wanted to be an actress herself. Pollock was also a theatre director and a teacher of drama at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

and

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehen ...

; and her varied television work included several appearances in ''

The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the 1932 Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle th ...

'' for the BBC. She outlived both of her husbands, Captain Leslie Hancock and the artist James Proudfoot. She had one child with Hancock. Pollock was the subject of TV's '' This Is Your Life'' in 1992.

Selected filmography

* ''

Moulin Rouge Moulin Rouge (, ; ) is a cabaret in Paris, on Boulevard de Clichy, at Place Blanche, the intersection of, and terminus of Rue Blanche. In 1889, the Moulin Rouge was co-founded by Charles Zidler and Joseph Oller, who also owned the Olympia (Par ...

'' (1928) – Girl * ''

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

'' (1929) – Vamp (uncredited) * '' The Informer'' (1929) – Prostitute * '' Too Many Crooks'' (1930, short) – Rose * '' Night Birds'' (1930) – Flossie * ''

Let's Love and Laugh ''Let's Love and Laugh'' is a 1931 British-German comedy film directed by Richard Eichberg and starring Gene Gerrard, Muriel Angelus and Dennis Wyndham.The Wife's Family ''The Wife's Family'' (also released as ''My Wife's Family'') is a 1931 British comedy film directed by Monty Banks and starring Gene Gerrard, Muriel Angelus, and Amy Veness. It was based on the My Wife's Family (play), popular stage farce by Fr ...

'' (1931) – Dolly White * '' 77 Park Lane'' (1931; uncredited) * '' A Gentleman of Paris'' (1931; uncredited) * ''

Midnight Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours. ...

'' (1931) * '' The First Mrs. Fraser'' (1932) – Maid * '' The Last Coupon'' (1932) – Eliza (uncredited) * '' Heads We Go'' (1933) – Madame * '' Channel Crossing'' (1933) – Minor Role * '' Royal Cavalcade'' (1935) * '' It's a Bet'' (1935) – Mrs. Joe * '' The Happy Family'' (1936) – Leo Hutt * '' Aren't Men Beasts!'' (1937) – The Vamp * '' The Street Singer'' (1937) – Gloria Weston * '' Non-Stop New York'' (1937) – Miss Harvey * '' Splinters in the Air'' (1937) – Charles' Wife * '' Millions'' (1937) – Janet Mason (uncredited) * '' Sons of the Sea'' (1939) – Margaret Hulls * '' Spare a Copper'' (1940) – Lady Hardstaff * '' Kiss the Bride Goodbye'' (1945) – Gladys Dodd * '' Don Chicago'' (1945) – Lady Vanessa * '' Bedelia'' (1946) – McKelvey's Housekeeper * '' Warning to Wantons'' (1949) – Baroness de Jammes * '' Something in the City'' (1950) – Mrs. Holley * '' To Have and to Hold'' (1951) – Roberta * '' The Galloping Major'' (1951) – Horsey Lady * '' The Fake'' (1953) – Miss Fossett * '' The Golden Link'' (1954) – Madame Sonia * '' The Time of His Life'' (1955) – Lady Florence Carter-Wilson née Pastry * '' Not So Dusty'' (1956) — Agatha * '' The Hypnotist'' (1957) – Barbara Barton * '' The Gypsy and the Gentleman'' (1958) – Haggard's Maid * '' The Long Knife'' (1958) – Mrs. Cheam * '' So Evil, So Young'' (1961) – Miss Smith * '' Master Spy'' (1964) – Dr. Morrell * ''

Rapture The Rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all dead Christian believers will be resurrected and, joined with Chr ...

'' (1965) – Landlady * '' Who Killed the Cat?'' (1966) – Ruth Prendergast * '' Finders Keepers'' (1966) – Grandma * '' Horror Hospital'' (1973) – Aunt Harris * ''

The Wicked Lady ''The Wicked Lady'' is a 1945 British costume drama film directed by Leslie Arliss and starring James Mason and Margaret Lockwood. Lockwood plays a nobleman's wife who becomes a Highwayman, highwaywoman for the excitement. It had one of the l ...

'' (1983) – Mrs. Munce

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollack, Ellen 1903 births 1997 deaths Actresses from Heidelberg British theatre directors British women theatre directors British stage actresses British film actresses Actresses from London 20th-century British actresses German emigrants to the United Kingdom