Celia Johnson
Encyclopedia
Dame Celia Elizabeth Johnson DBE
(18 December 1908 – 25 April 1982) was an English
actress.
She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End
and Broadway
productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter
(1945), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress
. She was nominated for BAFTA Awards on five occasions, and won twice, for her work in the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(1969), and for the television production Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, a BBC Play for Today
broadcast in 1973.
Much of her later work was for television, and she continued performing in theatre for the rest of her life. She died suddenly from a stroke.
, Johnson was the second daughter of Robert Johnson and Ethel Griffiths. During her childhood, her family called her "Betty". Johnson's first public performance was in 1916, when she played a role in a charity performance of King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid to raise funds for returned World War I
soldiers. She attended St Paul's Girls' School
in London from 1919 until 1926, and played in the school's orchestra under Gustav Holst
. She acted in school productions, but had no other acting experience, when she was accepted to study at R.A.D.A.
in 1926, and later spent a term in Paris
, studying under Pierre Fresnay
at the Comédie Française. She later recalled her choice of an acting career with the comment, "I thought I'd rather like it. It was the only thing I was good at. And I thought it might be rather wicked.”
's Major Barbara at the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield
in 1928. She went to London the following year to take the place of Angela Baddeley
in the part of Currita in A Hundred Years Old, which was performed at the Lyric Theatre
in Hammersmith
.
In 1930 Johnson played in Cynara with Sir Gerald Du Maurier
and Gladys Cooper
. She made her first trip to the United States
the following year to star as Ophelia in a New York
production of Hamlet
.
She returned to London, where she appeared in a number of minor productions, before establishing herself with a two year run in The Wind and the Rain (1933–1935). She married the journalist Peter Fleming in 1935, and in 1939 gave birth to their first child, a son. Her theatre career flourished with her portrayals of Elizabeth Bennet
in Pride and Prejudice
(1940) and the second Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca
(1940); the production of the latter was halted when the theatre was destroyed by a bomb in September 1940.
During World War II
, Johnson lived with her widowed sister and sister-in-law and helped care for their combined seven children. Unable to commit her time to the often lengthy run of a play, Johnson preferred the less time-consuming schedules of film and radio, that allowed her to devote time to her family, and her work for the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps. She appeared in In Which We Serve
(1942) and This Happy Breed
(1944), both directed by David Lean
and written by Noël Coward
.
Lean and Coward sought Johnson for the next production, Brief Encounter
(1945). She accepted the role with misgivings because of her family responsibilities, but was interested in the part, writing to her husband, "There is no getting away from the fact that it is a very good part and one which I should love to play. I have found myself already planning how I should play bits and how I should say lines..." A romantic drama about a conventional middle class
housewife who falls in love with a doctor she meets in the refreshment room at a railway station, the film was well received. Johnson was awarded the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
.
After the war, Johnson concentrated on her family life, which included two daughters born in 1946 and 1947 and her occasional acting work was secondary for the following decade.
She returned to theatre in 1957, with Ralph Richardson
in The Flowering Cherry. As a member of Laurence Olivier
's National Theatre Company, Johnson appeared in the plays The Master Builder
(1964) with Olivier and Hay Fever
(1965), and later reprised her roles in the television productions.
For her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
(1969), she received the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
.
She was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in 1958, "for services to the theatre", and was raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1981.
. Fleming was the brother of the James Bond
creator Ian Fleming
.
They were the parents of three children.
Johnson distanced herself from her acting career while her children were young, preferring to devote her attention to her family. She was described as a woman "always ready to laugh" and "maternal in a light-hearted way" and her daughter recalled that she was often torn between her desire to care for her family and her need to be involved in the "mechanics" of acting.
In 1982, she was touring with Sir Ralph Richardson
in Angela Huth
's The Gathering and the play's West End
run had been announced. On one of her days off, she was at her home in Nettlebed
, Oxfordshire
playing bridge
with friends, when she collapsed from a stroke. She died a few hours later in her home. She left an estate worth £150,557.
was unveiled at her childhood home in Richmond. Among the guests at the ceremony were her daughters, Lucy Fleming and Kate Grimond.
In an article for The Times
, Grimond noted that the "tragedy of theatre" is that even the best performances fade from memory, and that Johnson's current reputation rests almost entirely on her performance in Brief Encounter. She commented that the advent of video allowed the film to be seen by a new audience and that modern appraisals of the film had led to it being regarded as a classic, but that the renewed appreciation for Johnson's performance had started only shortly before her death.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(18 December 1908 – 25 April 1982) was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actress.
She began her stage acting career in 1928, and subsequently achieved success in West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions. She also appeared in several films, including the romantic drama Brief Encounter
Brief Encounter
Brief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about the conventions of British suburban life, centring on a housewife for whom real love brings unexpectedly violent emotions. The film stars Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey...
(1945), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
. She was nominated for BAFTA Awards on five occasions, and won twice, for her work in the film The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
(1969), and for the television production Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont, a BBC Play for Today
Play for Today
Play for Today is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage plays and novels, were transmitted...
broadcast in 1973.
Much of her later work was for television, and she continued performing in theatre for the rest of her life. She died suddenly from a stroke.
Early life and education
Born in Richmond, SurreySurrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, Johnson was the second daughter of Robert Johnson and Ethel Griffiths. During her childhood, her family called her "Betty". Johnson's first public performance was in 1916, when she played a role in a charity performance of King Cophetua and the Beggar Maid to raise funds for returned World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
soldiers. She attended St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a senior independent school, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.-History:In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation , which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century...
in London from 1919 until 1926, and played in the school's orchestra under Gustav Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
. She acted in school productions, but had no other acting experience, when she was accepted to study at R.A.D.A.
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
in 1926, and later spent a term in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, studying under Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay was a French stage and film actor.Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach in Paris, France in 1897, he was encouraged by his uncle, the actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film...
at the Comédie Française. She later recalled her choice of an acting career with the comment, "I thought I'd rather like it. It was the only thing I was good at. And I thought it might be rather wicked.”
Career
Her stage début, and first professional role, was as Sarah in George Bernard ShawGeorge Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
's Major Barbara at the Theatre Royal, Huddersfield
Huddersfield
Huddersfield is a large market town within the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England, situated halfway between Leeds and Manchester. It lies north of London, and south of Bradford, the nearest city....
in 1928. She went to London the following year to take the place of Angela Baddeley
Angela Baddeley
Angela Baddeley, CBE , born Madeline Angela Clinton-Baddeley, was an English actress best remembered for her role as Mrs Bridges in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
in the part of Currita in A Hundred Years Old, which was performed at the Lyric Theatre
Lyric Hammersmith
The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
.
In 1930 Johnson played in Cynara with Sir Gerald Du Maurier
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
and Gladys Cooper
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, DBE was an English actress whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television....
. She made her first trip to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
the following year to star as Ophelia in a New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
production of Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
.
She returned to London, where she appeared in a number of minor productions, before establishing herself with a two year run in The Wind and the Rain (1933–1935). She married the journalist Peter Fleming in 1935, and in 1939 gave birth to their first child, a son. Her theatre career flourished with her portrayals of Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth Bennet
Elizabeth Bennet, later Elizabeth Darcy, is the protagonist in the 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family...
in Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice is a novel by Jane Austen, first published in 1813. The story follows the main character Elizabeth Bennet as she deals with issues of manners, upbringing, morality, education and marriage in the society of the landed gentry of early 19th-century England...
(1940) and the second Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca
Rebecca
Rebecca a biblical matriarch from the Book of Genesis and a common first name. In this book Rebecca was said to be a beautiful girl. As a name it is often shortened to Becky, Becki or Becca; see Rebecca ....
(1940); the production of the latter was halted when the theatre was destroyed by a bomb in September 1940.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Johnson lived with her widowed sister and sister-in-law and helped care for their combined seven children. Unable to commit her time to the often lengthy run of a play, Johnson preferred the less time-consuming schedules of film and radio, that allowed her to devote time to her family, and her work for the Women's Auxiliary Police Corps. She appeared in In Which We Serve
In Which We Serve
In Which We Serve is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by David Lean and Noël Coward. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information ....
(1942) and This Happy Breed
This Happy Breed (film)
This Happy Breed is a 1944 British drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Noël Coward...
(1944), both directed by David Lean
David Lean
Sir David Lean CBE was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best remembered for big-screen epics such as The Bridge on the River Kwai , Lawrence of Arabia ,...
and written by Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward 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 chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
.
Lean and Coward sought Johnson for the next production, Brief Encounter
Brief Encounter
Brief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about the conventions of British suburban life, centring on a housewife for whom real love brings unexpectedly violent emotions. The film stars Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey...
(1945). She accepted the role with misgivings because of her family responsibilities, but was interested in the part, writing to her husband, "There is no getting away from the fact that it is a very good part and one which I should love to play. I have found myself already planning how I should play bits and how I should say lines..." A romantic drama about a conventional middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
housewife who falls in love with a doctor she meets in the refreshment room at a railway station, the film was well received. Johnson was awarded the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
.
After the war, Johnson concentrated on her family life, which included two daughters born in 1946 and 1947 and her occasional acting work was secondary for the following decade.
She returned to theatre in 1957, with Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
in The Flowering Cherry. As a member of Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
's National Theatre Company, Johnson appeared in the plays The Master Builder
The Master Builder
The Master Builder is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's most significant and revealing works.-Performance:...
(1964) with Olivier and Hay Fever
Hay Fever
Hay Fever is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1924 and first produced in 1925 with Marie Tempest as the first Judith Bliss. Laura Hope Crews played the role in New York...
(1965), and later reprised her roles in the television productions.
For her role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film)
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award...
(1969), she received the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film...
.
She was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(CBE) in 1958, "for services to the theatre", and was raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1981.
Personal life
Johnson was married to Peter Fleming from 1936 until Fleming's death in 1971, while on a shooting expedition near Glencoe in Argyll, ScotlandArgyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
. Fleming was the brother of the James Bond
James Bond
James Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
creator Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
.
They were the parents of three children.
- Nicholas "Nichol" Peter Val Fleming (3 January 1939 – 9 May 1995), spent most of his life at the Fleming family home in NettlebedNettlebedNettlebed is a village in England in the Chiltern Hills about northwest of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and southeast of Wallingford.-History:Archaeological finds show that the area around Nettlebed has been inhabited since Palaeolithic times....
, OxfordshireOxfordshireOxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, as a farmer. He was also a journalist, and the author of thriller novels published in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and a non fiction historical work, August 1939. From his early twenties, he lived with his partner Christopher Balfour, a merchant banker.
- Kate Fleming (born 1946), now Kate Grimond, is married to John Grimond, foreign editor of the news magazine The EconomistThe EconomistThe Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
. They have three children, Mary, Georgia and Rose. Fleming is the author of Celia Johnson: A Biography (1991)
- Lucy FlemingLucy FlemingLucy Fleming is a British actress.She is the daughter of the actress Celia Johnson and writer Peter Fleming, as well as the niece of James Bond author Ian Fleming...
(born Eve Lucinda Fleming, 15 May 1947), now Lucy Williams, is an actress. In the 1970s she starred as Jenny in the BBCBBCThe British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's apocalyptic fiction series SurvivorsSurvivorsSurvivors is a British post-apocalyptic fiction television series devised by Terry Nation and produced by Terence Dudley at the BBC from 1975 to 1977...
. She is married to the actor and writer Simon WilliamsSimon Williams (actor)Simon Williams is an English actor known for playing James Bellamy in the period drama Upstairs, Downstairs. Frequently playing upper-class roles, he is also known for playing Dr...
. Since the late 1990s, Kate Grimond and Lucy Fleming have been the co-owners of the Ian FlemingIan FlemingIan Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
estate.
Johnson distanced herself from her acting career while her children were young, preferring to devote her attention to her family. She was described as a woman "always ready to laugh" and "maternal in a light-hearted way" and her daughter recalled that she was often torn between her desire to care for her family and her need to be involved in the "mechanics" of acting.
In 1982, she was touring with Sir Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
in Angela Huth
Angela Huth
Angela Huth is an English novelist and journalist.-Personal life and career:Huth is the daughter of the actor Harold Huth. She left school at age 16 in order to paint and to study art in both France and Italy. At 18 she travelled, mostly alone, across the United States before returning to England...
's The Gathering and the play's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
run had been announced. On one of her days off, she was at her home in Nettlebed
Nettlebed
Nettlebed is a village in England in the Chiltern Hills about northwest of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire and southeast of Wallingford.-History:Archaeological finds show that the area around Nettlebed has been inhabited since Palaeolithic times....
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
playing bridge
Contract bridge
Contract bridge, usually known simply as bridge, is a trick-taking card game using a standard deck of 52 playing cards played by four players in two competing partnerships with partners sitting opposite each other around a small table...
with friends, when she collapsed from a stroke. She died a few hours later in her home. She left an estate worth £150,557.
Legacy
On 18 December 2008, to mark the centenary of her birth, a blue plaqueBlue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
was unveiled at her childhood home in Richmond. Among the guests at the ceremony were her daughters, Lucy Fleming and Kate Grimond.
In an article for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Grimond noted that the "tragedy of theatre" is that even the best performances fade from memory, and that Johnson's current reputation rests almost entirely on her performance in Brief Encounter. She commented that the advent of video allowed the film to be seen by a new audience and that modern appraisals of the film had led to it being regarded as a classic, but that the renewed appreciation for Johnson's performance had started only shortly before her death.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | A Letter from Home A Letter from Home (film) A Letter from Home is a 1941 short documentary film directed by Carol Reed. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short.-Cast:* Joyce Grenfell - American Mother* Kathleen Harrison - The Maid* Celia Johnson - English Mother... |
English Mother | ||
| 1942 | In Which We Serve In Which We Serve In Which We Serve is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by David Lean and Noël Coward. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information .... |
Mrs. Kinross/Alix | ||
| 1943 | Dear Octopus Dear Octopus Dear Octopus is a 1943 British comedy film directed by Harold French and starring Margaret Lockwood, Michael Wilding and Celia Johnson. It is based on a 1938 play Dear Octopus written by Dodie Smith... |
Cynthia | aka The Randolph Family | |
| 1944 | This Happy Breed This Happy Breed (film) This Happy Breed is a 1944 British drama film directed by David Lean. The screenplay by Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan and Ronald Neame is based on the 1939 play of the same title by Noël Coward... |
Ethel Gibbons | National Board of Review Award for Best Actress National Board of Review Award for Best Actress The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actress is one of the annual film awards given by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures.-1940s:-1950s:- 1960s :- 1970s :- 1980s :- 1990s :- 2000s :-2010s:... |
|
| 1945 | Brief Encounter Brief Encounter Brief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about the conventions of British suburban life, centring on a housewife for whom real love brings unexpectedly violent emotions. The film stars Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey... |
Laura Jesson | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... |
|
| 1950 | The Astonished Heart The Astonished Heart (film) The Astonished Heart is a 1950 drama film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Celia Johnson and Noel Coward and is based on his play The Astonished Heart.-Plot:... |
Barbara Faber | ||
| 1951 | I Believe in You I Believe in You (film) I Believe in You is a 1952 film directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Celia Johnson and Cecil Parker and is based on the book Court Circular by Sewell Stokes.-Cast:*Celia Johnson as Matty Matheson*Cecil Parker as Henry Phipps... |
Matty Matheson | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
|
| 1952 | The Holly and the Ivy The Holly and the Ivy (film) The Holly and the Ivy is a 1952 drama film about an English clergyman whose neglect of his grown offspring, in his zeal to tend to his parishioners, comes to the surface at a Christmas family gathering. It stars Ralph Richardson, Celia Johnson, and Margaret Leighton... |
Jenny Gregory | ||
| 1953 | The Captain's Paradise The Captain's Paradise The Captain's Paradise is a 1953 British comedy film starring Alec Guinness and directed by Anthony Kimmins. It is set in Gibraltar and northern Morocco, and on a ship that travels between them.... |
Maud St. James | Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... |
|
| 1955 | A Kid for Two Farthings A Kid for Two Farthings (film) A Kid For Two Farthings is a 1955 film, directed by Carol Reed. The screenplay was adapted by Wolf Mankowitz from his own novel of the same name.-Plot:... |
Joanna | ||
| 1957 | The Good Companions The Good Companions (1957 film) The Good Companions is a 1957 British musical film directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring Eric Portman. It is based on the novel of the same name and is a remake of the 1933 film version.-Cast:* Eric Portman - Jess Oakroyd* Celia Johnson - Miss Trant... |
Miss Trant | ||
| 1969 | The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (film) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie is a 1969 drama film, based on the novel of the same name by Muriel Spark.The novel was turned into a play by Jay Presson Allen, which opened on Broadway in 1968, with Zoe Caldwell in the title role, a performance for which she won a Tony Award... |
Miss Mackay | BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Best Actress in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film... |
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| 1973 | Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont is a 2005 comedy-drama film made by Claremont Films and distributed by Picture Entertainment Corporation. It was directed by Dan Ireland and produced by Lee Caplin, Carl Colpaert and Zachary Matz from a screenplay by Ruth Sacks, based on the novel by Elizabeth... |
Mrs. Palfrey | British Academy Television Award for Best Actress | |
| 1980 | The Hostage Tower The Hostage Tower The Hostage Tower is a 1980 American spy and thriller telemovie starring Peter Fonda and Douglas Fairbanks Jr., and directed by Claudio Guzmán, well-known for his work in sitcoms. It is based on a book of the same name by John Denis writing as Alistair MacLean. The book was written deliberately for... |
Mrs. Wheeler | ||
| Staying On Staying On Staying On is a novel by Paul Scott, which was published in 1977 and won the Booker Prize.-Plot summary:Staying On focuses on Tusker and Lucy Smalley, who are briefly mentioned in the latter two books of the Raj Quartet, The Towers of Silence and A Division of the Spoils, and are the last British... |
Lucy Smalley | BBC Nominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actress |
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| 1981 | The Potting Shed The Potting Shed The Potting Shed is a play by Graham Greene. The psychological drama centers on a secret held by the Callifer family for nearly thirty years.... |
Nominated - British Academy Television Award for Best Actress |