Peggy Ashcroft

Actor

About

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Also Known As

Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft, Dame Peggy Ashcroft

Birth Place

Croydon, England, GB

Born

December 22, 1907

Died

June 14, 1991

Cause of Death

Stroke

Biography

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Peggy Ashcroft was a leading light of London's West End and widely considered one of the century's greatest British stage actresses. Her most famous early role was as Desdemona opposite Paul Robeson's Othello in the early 1940s and her first film was the British Gaumont production "The Wandering Jew" (1933). She was especially memorable as the quiet, emotionally suffocating village wife ...

Filmography

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She's Been Away (1990)

Madame Sousatzka (1988)

When the Wind Blows (1986)

A Passage to India (1984)

Caught on a Train (1980)

Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1979)

Photos & Videos

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Passage To India, A (1984) -- (Movie Clip) God Is Here

Passage To India, A (1984) -- (Movie Clip) I Thought She Was A Ghost

Family & Companions

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Rupert Charles Hart-Davis

Husband

Publisher. Married December 23, 1929; divorced in 1931.

Theodore Komisarjevsky

Husband

Director, actor, producer. Married in November 1934; divorced on June 15, 1937.

Jeremy Nicholas Hutchinson

Husband

Lawyer. Married on September 14, 1940; divorced in December 1965.

Bibliography

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"Peggy Ashcroft"

Michel Billington (1988)

Notes

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She was named a Dame of the British Empire in 1956.

She became a director of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1968.

Biography

Peggy Ashcroft was a leading light of London's West End and widely considered one of the century's greatest British stage actresses. Her most famous early role was as Desdemona opposite Paul Robeson's Othello in the early 1940s and her first film was the British Gaumont production "The Wandering Jew" (1933). She was especially memorable as the quiet, emotionally suffocating village wife who briefly shelters the on-the-lam Robert Donat in Alfred Hitchcock's classic "The Thirty Nine Steps" (1935). Along with frequent costar John Gielgud, Ashcroft's leading men during her 65-year career included Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave and Ralph Richardson. She enjoyed her greatest international acclaim and won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her 1984 role in David Lean's film adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel "A Passage to India" and subsequently won renown for the TV miniseries "The Jewel in the Crown" (1984-85).

Filmography

Cast (Feature Film)

She's Been Away (1990)

Madame Sousatzka (1988)

When the Wind Blows (1986)

A Passage to India (1984)

Caught on a Train (1980)

Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (1979)

The Pedestrian (1974)

Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971)

3 Into 2 Won't Go (1969)

Secret Ceremony (1968)

Tell Me Lies (1968)

The 39 Steps (1935)

Cast (Special)

Backstage at Masterpiece Theatre: A 20th Anniversary Special (1991)

The Heat of the Day (1990)

Murder By the Book (1990)

Laurence Olivier -- A Life (1986)

Cast (TV Mini-Series)

Cream in My Coffee (1990)

Life Events

1926

Stage debut in "Dear Brutus" at Birmingham Repertory Theatre

1927

London stage debut in "One Day More"

1933

Film acting debut in "The Wandering Jew"

1937

Broadway stage debut in "High Tor"

1959

TV debut in "Shadow of Heroes"

1962

First British actress to have a theater named after her while still alive--the Ashcroft, in her home town of Croydon

1984

Received career boost and widest exposure in years with her acclaimed role in the David Lean film, "A Passage to India"

Videos

Passage To India, A (1984) -- (Movie Clip) God Is Here Indian local doctor in training Aziz (Victor Banerjee), stranded when his ride is hijacked by oblivious English ladies, drops by a mosque where he’s surprised first by Mrs. Moore (Peggy Ashcroft, who was recommended for the role by novelist E.M. Forster), then by her gracious attitude, in David Lean’s A Passage To India, 1984.

Passage To India, A (1984) -- (Movie Clip) I Thought She Was A Ghost Adela (Judy Davis), visiting from England and determined to experience something of the “real India,” is conversing with Dr. Aziz (Victor Banerjee) and scholar Professor Godbole (Alec Guiness) when her fiancè, colonial judge Ronny (Nigel Havers) appears, finding everything inappropriate, in David Lean’s A Passage To India, 1984.

Passage To India, A (1984) -- (Movie Clip) The Viceroy's On Board Director David Lean’s screenplay takes a predictably cinematic grip on the E.M. Forster novel, introducing Judy Davis as Adela Quested in1920’s London, Peter Hughes the P&O man, Peggy Ashcroft, as Mrs. Moore, mother of her betrothed, opening A Passage To India, 1984.

Passage To India, A (1984) -- (Movie Clip) I Give Any Englishman Two Years Director David Lean finishes the train journey to fictional interior Chandrapore, introducing Nigel Havers as colonial official Ronny, greeting his mother (Peggy Ashcroft), his betrothed Adela (Judy Davis), his boss (Richard Wilson), then two locals central to the E.M. Forster story, Victor Banerjee and Art Malik, in A Passage To India, 1984.

Nun's Story, The (1959) -- (Movie Clip) That Little Display Of Pride Finally stationed in the Congo, Sister Luke (Audrey Hepburn) is disappointed, having learned from Mother Mathilde (Dame Peggy Ashcroft), that she'll be working at the European hospital, rather than with the natives, and with irreverent Dr. Fortunati (Peter Finch), in The Nun's Story, 1959.

Hullabaloo Over Georgie And Bonnie's Pictures -- (Movie Clip) Open, Clark Opening from the Ismail Merchant-James Ivory made-for-TV film, Hullabaloo Over Georgie And Bonnie's Pictures, 1980, with Larry Pine as American art buyer "Clark Haven" arriving in Delhi.

Hullabaloo Over Georgie And Bonnie's Pictures -- (Movie Clip) Bitter Rivals Aparna Sen (her anglicized nickname "Bonnie") with brother Victor Banerjee (nickname "Georgie") discussing Western art collectors, then Lady Gwyneth (Peggy Ashcroft) arriving, in the Merchant-Ivory production Hullabaloo Over Georgie And Bonnie's Pictures, 1980.

Secret Ceremony -- (Movie Clip) They Think You're Dead Leonora (Elizabeth Taylor), dead ringer for the dead mother of spooky Cenci (Mia Farrow), hides out while she entertains unexpected maiden aunts Hilda (Pamela Brown) and Hannah (Peggy Ashcroft), in Joseph Losey's Secret Ceremony, 1968.

Secret Ceremony - (Original Trailer) A tormented rich girl (Mia Farrow) hires a prostitute (Elizabeth Taylor) to act as her mother in Joseph Losey's Secret Ceremony (1968).

Passage to India, A - (Original Trailer) A false rape charge threatens British-Indian relations in director David Lean's last movie, A Passage to India (1984).

Nun's Story, The - (Original Trailer) A headstrong girl (Audrey Hepburn) fights the strictures of the Catholic Church in Europe and the Belgian Congo in The Nun's Story (1959), directed by Fred Zinnemann and nominated for 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture.

Family

William Worsley Ashcroft

Father

Estate appraiser. Killed in WWI when daughter was 10.

Violetta Maud Ashcroft

Mother

Died when daughter was 18.

Edward Ashcroft

Brother

Only close relative of the actor.

Eliza Hutchinson

Daughter

Born in 1941; father, Jeremy Hutchinson.

Nicholas Hutchinson

Son

Director. Born in 1945; father, Jeremy Hutchinson.

Companions

Rupert Charles Hart-Davis

Husband

Publisher. Married December 23, 1929; divorced in 1931.

Theodore Komisarjevsky

Husband

Director, actor, producer. Married in November 1934; divorced on June 15, 1937.

Jeremy Nicholas Hutchinson

Husband

Lawyer. Married on September 14, 1940; divorced in December 1965.

Bibliography

"Peggy Ashcroft"

Michel Billington (1988)

Notes

She was named a Dame of the British Empire in 1956.

She became a director of the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1968.

Awarded the King's Medal by King Haakon of Norway for her role in a production of Henrik Ibsen's play "Hedda Gabler"

Received the Honorary DLitt from Oxon (1961), Leicester (1964) and from London Universities (1965)

A theater in her hometown of Croyden was named in her honor.

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