Jessica Tandy

Actor

About

Birth Place

London, England, GB

Born

June 07, 1909

Died

September 11, 1994

Cause of Death

Ovarian Cancer

Biography

Filmography

Camilla (1994)

Camilla Cara

A Century Of Cinema (1994)

Nobody's Fool (1994)

To Dance With the White Dog (1993)

Used People (1992)

The Story Lady (1991)

Photos & Videos

View All

Green Years, The - (Original Trailer)

Best Friends (1982) -- (Movie Clip) I Started Getting Cold In Arizona

Family & Companions

Jack Hawkins

Husband

Actor. Married 1932, divorced 1940.

Hume Cronyn

Husband

Actor, director, writer. Married September 27, 1942 until her death.

Notes

Received honorary law degree from Fordham University in 1985

"Only poets, not theater critics, should be allowed to write about her." --"New York Times" theater critic Frank Rich.

Biography

Versatile, commanding stage performer, often opposite husband Hume Cronyn, who acted in occasional features beginning in the early 1930s but was busiest in films while in her seventies and eighties. Tandy began acting onstage in her native England in her teens and by the mid-1930s was enjoying considerable success in the classics, playing Ophelia to John Gielgud's Hamlet in 1934 and playing Viola in Tyrone Guthrie's famous 1937 staging of "Twelfth Night." Separating from first husband, actor Jack Hawkins, in 1940, Tandy moved to America but initially had a thin time of it. Luckily, she met up-and-coming actor Cronyn, whom she married in 1942 and with whom she made several supporting appearances in American films of the 1940s. Her Hollywood debut was with Cronyn, in Fred Zinnemann's first-rate thriller "The Seventh Cross" (1944), but within several years she was playing small supporting roles, such as a maid in "Forever Amber" (1947). Luckily, Tennessee Williams saw Tandy onstage in "Portrait of Madonna," a play directed by Cronyn, and decided she was perfect to play one of his most complex creations, Blanche DuBois, in his landmark work, "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1947). As she would in so much future work, Tandy combined a seemingly fragile, genteel sensitivity with considerable strength, verve and emotionalism. In the 1950s she and Cronyn would prove to be the successors to Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne as the pre-eminent married acting couple of the American theater as in their fine work in the first of several two-character plays, "The Fourposter" (1951). The couple also did much important work in more experimental fare by Samuel Beckett and other writers, and frequently played in regional theater as well. Tandy and Cronyn occasionally committed their dynamic stage work to the TV screen, and both would return to the silver screen as well; one of Tandy's most impressive characterizations at this mid-career stage was her cold and dominating mother in Alfred Hitchcock's masterful "The Birds" (1963). Later stage triumphs for Tandy included "The Gin Game" (1978), another comedy-drama duet for her and Cronyn, which won her a Tony to keep company with her one for "Streetcar." (She would win yet again for "Foxfire" 1983, a play which would also net her an Emmy for a TV reprisal in 1988.) The 1980s saw Tandy reigniting her film career, co-starring in "Cocoon" (1985), "Batteries Not Included" (1987) and "Cocoon: The Return" (1988), and winning her first Oscar as the crusty Southern matron opposite Morgan Freeman in "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989). Sympathetic and gentle, yet proud and resolute, Tandy became something of a fixture in Hollywood films aimed at a largely female audience: she was central to the success of both "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991), adapted from Fannie Flagg's novel, and "Used People" (1992). Indeed, nearly half her feature film credits are from the last 12 years of her life, as were some of her most interesting TV assignments, which included "The Story Lady" (1991) and "To Dance with the White Dog" (1993). Until the end, her sensitivity and commitment to her craft and to her scripts and fellow players made her more than a dedicated artisan and delightful colleague--they provided a richly textured portrait of indomitable spirit.

Filmography

Life Events

1927

Made British stage debut in a small Soho theater, as Sara Manderson in "The Manderson Girls"

1929

London stage debut in "The Rumor"

1930

Broadway debut in "The Matriarch," Longacre Theatre

1932

Played breakthrough role of Manuela in a production of Christa Winsloe's play, "Children in Uniform"

1932

British film debut in "The Indiscretions of Eve"

1934

Played Ophelia opposite John Gielgud in the title role of a British production of "Hamlet"

1937

Played Viola in a production of "Twelfth Night" staged by Tyrone Guthrie at the Old Vic

1938

Played a leading role in one of her last British films, "Murder in the Family"

1940

Met Hume Cronyn when she returned to NY stage in "Jupiter Laughs" with Alexander Knox

1940

Decided to move to America with WWII impending and her marriage to actor Jack Hawkins ending; left England with daughter Susan but was only allowed to take ten pounds out of the country; found it difficult to find work acting for a time; considered giving up career

1940

Returned to the Old Vic to play Cordelia in a production of "King Lear" with John Gielgud in the title role

1944

Made US film debut in support of Spencer Tracy in "The Seventh Cross"; also marked first feature film in which she acted with husband Hume Cronyn

1946

Starred in Tennessee Williams's "Portrait of a Madonna" at the Los Angeles Actors' Workshop (staged by Hume Cronyn) as almost an audition for "Streetcar" while Elia Kazan was in Hollywood directing "Gentlemen's Agreement"

1947

Originated role of Blanche DuBois in Tennessee Williams's "A Streetcar Named Desire"

1948

US TV debut in "Portrait of a Madonna"

1951

First acted opposite Hume Cronyn onstage, "The Fourposter"

1951

Last feature film for seven years, "The Desert Fox"; played Frau Rommel opposite James Mason as German WWII field marshall Rommel

1954

Starred as Liz Marriott on own US TV series (opposite Hume Cronyn), "The Marriage", a short-lived comedy-drama which aired on NBC

1958

First feature film in seven years, "The Light in the Forest"

1963

Last feature film for 11 years, "The Birds", directed by Alfred Hitchcock

1973

Had an operation to remove double cataracts

1974

First feature film in 11 years, "Butley", starring Alan Bates

1981

First feature film role opposite Hume Cronyn in 35 years, "Honky Tonk Freeway"; was also first film she made since "Butley"

1983

Starred in a NY stage revival of Tennessee Williams's "The Glass Menagerie"

1984

Returned to TV for the first time in over two decades to reprise her Tony-winning stage performance (opposite Hume Cronyn) in a PBS presentation of "The Gin Game"

1985

Collapsed onstage during a performance of "Foxfire" in Los Angeles due to a cardiovascular problem

1986

Last stage work, "The Petition", opposite Hume Cronyn

1989

Won Best Actress Oscar for her crusty Southern matron in "Driving Miss Daisy"

1990

Began battle against ovarian cancer

1991

Underwent major surgery for her cancer

1992

Last film released during her lifetime, "Used People"

1994

Completed work on two features, "Camilla" (her last film with Cronyn) and "Nobody's Fool", released posthumously

Photo Collections

The Birds - Lobby Cards

Here are a few Lobby Cards from Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). Lobby Cards were 11" x 14" posters that came in sets of 8. As the name implies, they were most often displayed in movie theater lobbies, to advertise current or coming attractions.