Ann Todd


Actor
Ann Todd

About

Birth Place
Hartford, England, GB
Born
January 24, 1909
Died
May 06, 1993
Cause of Death
Stroke

Biography

Blonde actress best known for her star-making role as the troubled pianist who must cope with a suave tormenter (James Mason) in Compton Bennett's landmark romantic psychodrama, "The Seventh Veil" (1945). Todd's film career had begun almost 15 years earlier but, apart from roles as Ralph Richardson's mad wife in Victor Saville's "South Riding" (1938) and as Robert Donat's wartime flirtat...

Family & Companions

Victor Malcolm
Husband
First husband; married 1933; divorced.
Nigel Tangye
Husband
Second husband; married 1939; divorced.
David Lean
Husband
Director, former editor. Third husband; married 1949, divorced 1957; directed Todd in "The Passionate Friends" (1949), "Madeleine" (1950) and "Breaking the Sound Barrier" (1952).

Bibliography

"The Eighth Veil"
Ann Todd (1980)

Biography

Blonde actress best known for her star-making role as the troubled pianist who must cope with a suave tormenter (James Mason) in Compton Bennett's landmark romantic psychodrama, "The Seventh Veil" (1945). Todd's film career had begun almost 15 years earlier but, apart from roles as Ralph Richardson's mad wife in Victor Saville's "South Riding" (1938) and as Robert Donat's wartime flirtation in "Vacation from Marriage" (1945), consisted mostly of minor genre fare. She enjoyed considerable success on the British stage in the early 40s and returned to films after a four-year absence to claim her place as one of England's biggest postwar stars.

The prominent bone structure of Todd's face and her cool, patrician manner gave her a certain Garboesque quality. Often cast as quiet, stiff-upper-lip types who become enmeshed in torrid melodramatic situations, Todd did well as murderesses, actual or suspected, in "So Evil My Love" (1948) and "Madeleine" (1950). She did what she could as the sultry wife in "Daybreak" (1946) but the French-influenced film noir suffered from censorship problems; another straying wife role, in the intense "The Passionate Friends" (1949), came off rather better. The latter and "Madeleine" were directed by Todd's third husband, David Lean, who also guided her in the aerially spectacular but dramatically earthbound "Breaking the Sound Barrier" (1952). She also played the romantic lead opposite Gregory Peck in Alfred Hitchcock's less than compelling "The Paradine Case" (1948).

Already approaching middle age when she became a star, Todd was finding it hard to land romantic leads by the mid-50s. She excelled in a leading role as a desperate mother in Joseph Losey's suspenseful "Time Without Pity" (1957), but was by then devoting most of her time to the stage. She also began writing, producing and directing travel documentaries, mostly shorts, for both TV and theatrical release. Todd later played occasional frosty character roles on film (notably "Taste of Fear" 1961) and TV ("Maelstrom" 1986, "Heat of the Day" 1990).

Not to be confused with the American child actress Ann Todd, who was often billed as "Ann E Todd" in the 40s to avoid confusion.

Life Events

1927

Made acting debut at 18 when Arts Theatre Club called her in at short notice to appear in one of their productions (date approximate)

1931

Film debut, "Keepers of Youth"

1938

Played one of most prominent pre-starring film roles in Victor Saville's lavish drama, "South Riding"

1945

Returned to films after a four-year absence to play a key supporting role in "Vacation from Marriage"

1945

Achieved star status in "The Seventh Veil"

1957

Made Broadway debut in "Four Winds"

1961

Played first supporting feature film role in 15 years in "Taste of Fear"

1985

Made appearances in the feature documentaries, "Ingrid" (about Ingrid Bergman) and "The Thrill of Genius" (about Alfred Hitchcock

1985

Played last feature film role in "The McGuffin"

1992

Played one of last roles in an episode of "Maigret", a six-episode series which was part of the PBS-TV program, "Mystery!"

Videos

Movie Clip

Madeleine (1950) -- (Movie Clip) Many Eyes Are Upon Her At a Glasgow society ball, Mrs. Smith (Barbara Everest) chats while her daughter (Ann Todd, title character) dances first with her father (Leslie Banks) then with Minnoch (Norman Wooland), spurned lover L'Angelier (Ivan Desny) observing, in director David Lean's fact-based Madeleine, 1950.
Madeleine (1950) -- (Movie Clip) We Are Quite Alone Affluent Ann Todd (title character) has lured her lover from Glasgow (Ivan Desny) to her family’s country estate, joining him outside the grounds for an encounter overlooking the neighboring village, Todd’s husband, the director David Lean, engaging in some exhilarating cutting, in Madeleine, 1950, based on a famous 1857 murder case.
Seventh Veil, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) I Said How Old Are You? Still narrating, in flashback and under hypnosis, Francesca (Ann Todd) tells guardian Nicholas (James Mason) of her plans to marry, making little impression, in director Compton Bennett's The Seventh Veil, 1945, from a story by Muriel Box and screenplay with her husband Sydney.
Seventh Veil, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) He Was My Father's Second Cousin Hypnotized by shrink Herbert Lom, suicidal pianist Francesca (Ann Todd) recalls a boarding school trauma, then a precursor to Blofeld as she recalls events leading to her first meeting with not-quite Uncle Nicholas (James Mason), in director Compton Bennett's The Seventh Veil, 1945.
Seventh Veil, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) Suburban Shopgirl Trash Still in her hypnotic flashback, Francesca (Ann Todd) recalls meeting Peter (Hugh McDermott), then is surprised to find her guardian Nicholas (James Mason) returned from his travels and evaluating her progress, in the British period thriller The Seventh Veil, 1945.
Seventh Veil, The (1945) -- (Movie Clip) She Will Talk To Me Opening sequence finds Francesca (Ann Todd) hospitalized, then psychiatrist Larsen (Herbert Lom) leading the conversation with Parker (Ernest Davies), in The Seventh Veil, 1945, from an original story by producer Sydney and wife Muriel Box.
Things to Come (1936) -- (Movie Clip) Gas of Peace As war-lord "The Boss" (Ralph Richardson) rages, the modern allies of his captive Cabal (Raymond Massey) are dropping giant ping-pong balls containing the sleep-inducing "Gas of Peace," in designer-director William Cameron Menzies' interpretation of H.G. Wells' Things to Come, 1936.
Things to Come (1936) -- (Movie Clip) 1967, 1970 A brief graphic-text update covering decades of warfare and disease is a prelude to Richard (Derrick De Marney) and Mary (Ann Todd) lamenting the lack of fuel for cars and planes in H.G. Wells' Things to Come, 1936, directed by the celebrated designer William Cameron Menzies.
So Evil My Love (1948) -- (Movie Clip) Not A Suitable Companion Nervous widow Olivia (Ann Todd), still unaware of her boyfriend's crimes, seeks support from old school friend Susan (Geraldine Fitzgerald), warned off by her mother-in-law (Martita Hunt) in So Evil My Love, 1948.
So Evil My Love (1948) -- (Movie Clip) Come Into The Light Artist Mark (Ray Milland), his criminal past still a secret, makes strides toward seducing his new landlady Olivia (Ann Todd), the widow of a missionary, in director Lewis Allen's So Evil My Love, 1948.
So Evil My Love (1948) -- (Movie Clip) What Do You Know Of God? Opening scene, Olivia (Ann Todd), widow of a missionary, is persuaded to help malaria patients, especially Mark (Ray Milland), on a ship from Jamaica home to Liverpool, in Paramount's So Evil My Love, 1948.
Paradine Case, The -- (Movie Clp) Such Excellent Taste Lawyer's wives Sophy (Ethel Barrymore) and Gay (Ann Todd) after dinner, then joined by Tony (Gregory Peck) and Tommy (Charles Laughton), who's a creep, in Alfred Hitchcock's The Paradine Case, 1948.

Companions

Victor Malcolm
Husband
First husband; married 1933; divorced.
Nigel Tangye
Husband
Second husband; married 1939; divorced.
David Lean
Husband
Director, former editor. Third husband; married 1949, divorced 1957; directed Todd in "The Passionate Friends" (1949), "Madeleine" (1950) and "Breaking the Sound Barrier" (1952).

Bibliography

"The Eighth Veil"
Ann Todd (1980)