Margaret Rutherford

Actor
Margaret Rutherford

About

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Also Known As
Margaret Taylor Rutherford, Dame Margaret Rutherford
Birth Place
London, England, GB
Born
May 11, 1892
Died
May 22, 1972

Biography

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Gifted, endearing character player, in films since the mid-1930s. A master scene-stealer, Rutherford personified the eccentric English spinster in a number of famous comedies, including David Lean's classic "Blithe Spirit" (1945), as the enthusiastic, bicycle-riding psychic, Madame Arcati. In "The Happiest Days of Your Life" (1950), she teamed beautifully with Alistair Sim for a rollicki...

Filmography

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Arabella (1970)
Princess Ilaria
A Countess From Hong Kong (1967)
Miss Gaulswallow
The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967)
Mother Goose
Murder Most Foul (1965)
Miss Marple
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Hostess Quickly
The Alphabet Murders (1965)
Miss Marple

Photos & Videos

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Chimes at Midnight - Movie Poster
1 Photo
Murder Most Foul (1964) -- (Movie Clip) The Blackmailer!
0 Photos
0 Photos
Murder Most Foul (1964) -- (Movie Clip) The Lodger's Dilemma

Family & Companions

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Stringer Davis
Husband
Actor, producer. Married in 1945; died fifteen months after Rutherford in the fall of 1973; frequently played small supporting roles in Rutherford's films, most notably as Mr. Stringer, the village librarian in the Miss Marple murder mysteries.

Biography

Gifted, endearing character player, in films since the mid-1930s. A master scene-stealer, Rutherford personified the eccentric English spinster in a number of famous comedies, including David Lean's classic "Blithe Spirit" (1945), as the enthusiastic, bicycle-riding psychic, Madame Arcati. In "The Happiest Days of Your Life" (1950), she teamed beautifully with Alistair Sim for a rollicking secondary school farce.

With her plump figure, small and piercing eyes, and bulldog expression, Rutherford could embody a spirit of prim, stiff-upper-lip efficiency or could play a classic, fidgety bungler with equal ease. She made a memorably nervous Miss Prism in a sterling film adaptation of Oscar Wilde's farce, "The Importance of Being Earnest" (1952). Rutherford is perhaps best known as the indomitable title character in four "Miss Marple" mystery films of the 60s. Most of Rutherford's credits are British, but she won an Academy Award for her hilarious rendition of a daffy duchess down on her luck in the old-fashioned, all-star Hollywood anthology drama, "The V.I.P.s" (1963). This much-loved trouper was created a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the late 60s shortly before her death.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Arabella (1970)
Princess Ilaria
A Countess From Hong Kong (1967)
Miss Gaulswallow
The Wacky World of Mother Goose (1967)
Mother Goose
Murder Most Foul (1965)
Miss Marple
Chimes at Midnight (1965)
Hostess Quickly
The Alphabet Murders (1965)
Miss Marple
Murder Ahoy (1964)
Miss Marple
Murder at the Gallop (1963)
Miss Marple
The Mouse on the Moon (1963)
The Grand Duchess, Gloriana
The V.I.P.s (1963)
The Duchess of Brighton
Murder She Said (1961)
Miss Jane Marple
On the Double (1961)
Lady Vivian
I'm All Right Jack (1960)
Aunt Dolly
Just My Luck (1957)
An Alligator Named Daisy (1957)
The Smallest Show on Earth (1957)
Mrs Fazackalee
Trouble in Store (1955)
Miss Bacon
Aunt Clara (1954)
The Runaway Bus (1954)
Mad About Men (1954)
Innocents in Paris (1953)
Gwladys
Castle in the Air (1952)
Miss Robin Hood (1952)
The Importance Of Being Earnest (1952)
Miss Prism
Curtain Up (1952)
The Magic Box (1951)
The Happiest Days of Your Life (1950)
Passport to Pimlico (1949)
Miranda (1948)
Meet Me at Dawn (1947)
While the Sun Shines (1947)
Blithe Spirit (1945)
Yellow Canary (1944)
Mrs. Towcester
Her Man Gilbey (1944)
Demi-Paradise (1943)
Rowena Ventnor
Big Fella (1937)
Beauty And The Barge (1937)
Catch as Catch Can (1937)
Dusty Ermine (1936)
Talk of the Devil (1936)

Life Events

1933

Made her West End stage debut in the play "Wild Justice" by James Dale

1936

Made her film debut as Miss Butterby in "Dusty Ermine"

1938

Career took notable upturn with her performance as the eccentric septuagenarian Bijou Furze in the stage comedy, "Spring Meeting"

1939

First played Miss Prism in "The Importance of Being Earnest" onstage, in a production by John Gielgud

1940

Played the atypically unsympathetic role of Mrs. Danvers in a stage adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's novel, "Rebecca"

1941

Portrayed Madame Arcati on the London stage in the original production of Noel Coward's comedy, "Blithe Spirit"

1945

Recreated her stage role in David Lean's film version of "Blithe Spirit"

1947

Toured North America with John Gielgud in "The Importance of Being Earnest", this time playing Lady Bracknell

1948

Played Miss Whitchurch in the stage farce, "The Happiest Days of Your Life"

1950

Recreated her role in "The Happiest Days of Your Life" in Frank Launder's film adaptation

1952

Committed her performance as Miss Prism to film in Anthony Asquith's adaptation of "The Importance of Being Earnest"

1957

Toured Australia in "The Happiest Days of Your Life" with husband Stringer Davis

1963

Won Best Supporting Actress Oscar playing a dotty dowager in "The VIPs"

1966

Suffered a fall while filming in Italy; broke her hip and never fully recovered

Photo Collections

 
1 Photo
Chimes at Midnight - Movie Poster
Chimes at Midnight - Movie Poster

Videos

Movie Clip

Murder Most Foul (1964) -- (Movie Clip) The Blackmailer! Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford as Agatha Christie’s sleuth) with her associate Mr. Stringer (Stringer Davis, who was Mr. Rutherford) deducing the meaning of a cut-up newspaper found at a murder scene, ringing a landlady,(Megs Jenkins), and observed by the annoyed Inspector Craddock (Charles Tingwell) Murder Most Foul, 1964.
Murder Most Foul (1964) -- (Movie Clip) The Lodger's Dilemma Husband of the star, Stringer Davis, as “Mr. Stringer,” appears with Ross Parker and Lucy Griffiths from the local theater company, as Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) arrives, having just caused her murder jury to be hung, with Sydney Arnold as the vicar, early in the third of four MGM-British features based on the Agatha Christie, Murder Most Foul, 1964.
Murder Most Foul (1964) -- (Movie Clip) Are You Jane Marble? Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) has her own reasons for infiltrating a local theater company, but must audition for the fussy director Cosgood (second-billed Ron Moody, in his first scene), choosing a Robert Service poem that was a favorite of Rutherford’s, in the last of her MGM-British features as Agatha Christie’s sleuth, Murder Most Foul, 1964.
Murder Most Foul (1964) -- (Movie Clip) Open, What's All This Here? Clever and nearly nasty opening bit from director George Pollock, from the script by David Pursall and Jack Seddon, based on an Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot novel, from Murder Most Foul, 1964, with a constable (Terry Scott) discovering what looks like a murder, in fictional Milchester, England.
Murder She Said (1961) -- (Movie Clip) A Bad Dream, Indeed! Opening scene, Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) observes a murder in the next train, then tells a dubious ticket clerk (Peter Butterworth) in Murder She Said, 1961, from Agatha Christie's 4:50 From Paddington.
Murder She Said (1961) -- (Movie Clip) We Can't All Be Young And Handsome Anxious Emma (Muriel Pavlow) introduces Jane Marple (Margaret Rutherford), infiltrating the household as a maid, to her blustery father (James Robertson-Justice), in Murder She Said, 1961, from an Agatha Christie novel.
Chimes At Midnight (1965) -- (Movie Clip) I've Picked His Pocket Writer-director Orson Welles (as Falstaff, in his film based on Shakespeare’s recurring character) introduces Keith Baxter as Prince Hal and Paddy Bedford as cohort Bardolph, Margaret Rutherford the befuddled Hostess Quickly, drawing from Henry IV, Part 1, in Chimes At Midnight, 1965.
Murder Ahoy -- (1964) -- (Movie Clip) To Put Backbone Into Young Jellyfish In her village where Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford, in an original, non-Agathae Christie story), who was outfitted with a naval suit during the credits, joins a meeting chaired by the bishop (Miles Malleson) but derailed by Ffolly-Hardwicke (Henry Longhurst), from the third in the MGM series, Murder Ahoy, 1964.
Murder Ahoy -- (1964) -- (Movie Clip) He Was Done Away With Convinced that a fellow member of the board of a society that reforms young truants through naval training was murdered by poisoned snuff, Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) guides sidekick Mr. Stringer (Rutherford’s husband, Stringer Davis) through experiments, in Murder Ahoy, 1964.
Murder Ahoy -- (1964) -- (Movie Clip) Neptune's Mother Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) aims to solve a murder by investigating on the ship operated by the youth-reform institute for which she’s a board member, meeting the captain (Lionel Jeffries) and staff (William Mervyn, Gerald Cross, Francis Matthews, Derek Nimmo, Norma Foster, Joan Benham), in Murder Ahoy, 1964.
V.I.P.s, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) Opening Credits There’s a hint of irony and some achievement in the credits for the MGM all-star drama, Anthony Asquith directing as we meet Liz and Dick (Taylor And Burton), Orson Welles, Louis Jourdan, Elsa Martinelli, Rod Taylor, Maggie Smith and Academy Award-winner Margaret Rutherford, in The V.I.P.s, 1963.
V.I.P.s, The (1963) -- (Movie Clip) Room With No View Joining in the premise-setting, Richard Wattis as B.O.A.C. official Sanders, Orson Welles as movie director Buda, Elsa Martinelli his latest discovery, Martin Miller his money man, then Margaret Rutherford in her Academy Award-winning role as Duchess Brighton, in The V.I.P.s, 1963.

Trailer

Importance of Being Earnest, The (1952) - (Original Trailer) A British gentleman is one man in the city, another in the country in Oscar Wilde's The Importance Of Being Earnest (1952).
Murder Ahoy - (Original Trailer) Margaret Rutherford played Agatha Christie's Miss Marple for the last time in Murder Ahoy (1964), a mystery set on a naval training ship.
Murder Most Foul - (Original Trailer) Elderly sleuth Miss Marple (Margaret Rutherford) joins a small-town theatre to investigate a murder in Murder Most Foul (1965).
V.I.P.s, The - (Original Trailer) Wealthy passengers fogged in at London's Heathrow Airport experience a series of personal trials in The V.I.P.s (1963) starring Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton.
Murder At The Gallop - (Original Trailer) Elderly sleuth Miss Marple suspects foul play when an old friend is supposedly scared to death by a cat in Murder At The Gallop (1963).

Family

William Benn
Father
Benn murdered his father Julius just prior to Rutherford's birth.
Florence Rutherford
Mother
Died c. 1895.
John Benn
Uncle
Politician.
Dawn Langley Simmons
Daughter
Author. Was born to Jack Copper, the chauffeur of Vita Sackville-West, and Marjorie Hall Ticehurst; born with an adrenal abnormality that caused female genitalia to resemble a man's, hence was raised as a boy; adopted by Rutherford in her 20s.

Companions

Stringer Davis
Husband
Actor, producer. Married in 1945; died fifteen months after Rutherford in the fall of 1973; frequently played small supporting roles in Rutherford's films, most notably as Mr. Stringer, the village librarian in the Miss Marple murder mysteries.

Bibliography

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