Peggy Ashcroft
DBE | |
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Born | Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft 22 December 1907 Croydon, England |
Died | 14 June 1991 | (aged 83)
Alma mater | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama |
Spouses | |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Fyodor Komissarzhevsky (father-in-law) (granddaughter)Vera Komissarzhevskaya (sister-in-law) St John Hutchinson (father-in-law) Mary Hutchinson (mother-in-law) Emily Loizeau |
Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft
Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was determined from an early age to become an actress, despite parental opposition. She was working in smaller theatres even before graduating from drama school, and within two years she was starring in the
While well regarded in
Life and career
Early years
Ashcroft was born in
While still a student, Ashcroft made her professional stage debut at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in a revival of J. M. Barrie's Dear Brutus opposite Ralph Richardson, with whom she had been greatly impressed when she saw him in Charles Doran's touring company while she was still a schoolgirl.[3] She graduated from the Central School in 1927 with London University's Diploma in Dramatic Art.[4] Never much drawn to the West End or stardom, she learned her craft with mostly small companies in fringe theatres. Her first notable West End role was Naemi in Jew Süss in 1929, an extravagantly theatrical production, in which she won praise for the naturalism and truth of her playing.[5] In the same year she married Rupert Hart-Davis, then an aspiring actor and later a publisher. He later described the marriage as "a sad failure: we were much too young to know what we wanted ... after much agony we parted and were duly divorced. Nowadays Peggy and I lunch together perhaps once or twice a year in a Soho restaurant and have a lovely nostalgic-romantic talk of shared memories of long ago. She is a lovely person and the best actress living."[6]
1930s
In 1930 Ashcroft was cast as
Among those impressed by Ashcroft's performance as Desdemona was John Gielgud, recently established as a West End star. He recalled, "When Peggy came on in the Senate scene it was as if all the lights in the theatre had suddenly gone up".[11] In 1932 he was invited by the Oxford University Dramatic Society to try his hand at directing, in the society's production of Romeo and Juliet. Ashcroft as Juliet and Edith Evans as the nurse won golden notices, although their director, already notorious for his innocent slips of the tongue, referred to them as "Two leading ladies, the like of whom I hope I shall never meet again."[12]
Ashcroft joined the
During her professional and personal relationship with Komisarjevsky, whom she married in 1934 and left in 1936, Ashcroft learned from him what Billington calls "the vital importance of discipline, perfectionism, and the idea that the actor, even during passages of emotional stress, must remain a thinking human being".[1]
After appearing in the Hitchcock film The 39 Steps (1935), and a succession of stage failures, Ashcroft was once again cast as Juliet by Gielgud, this time in a West End production that attracted enormous attention. It ran from October 1935 to March 1936, and Ashcroft's Romeos were played in alternation by Olivier and Gielgud. Critical opinions differed as to the relative merits of her leading men, but Ashcroft won glowing reviews.[17] In May 1936 Komisarjevsky directed a production of The Seagull, with Evans as Arkadina, Gielgud as Trigorin and Ashcroft as Nina. The recent collapse of her marriage to the director made rehearsals difficult, but the critical reception was ecstatic.[18]
After playing briefly and without much pleasure in New York, Ashcroft returned to London in 1937 for a season of four plays presented by Gielgud at the
1940s and 1950s
In 1940. Ashcroft met and married the rising lawyer
Returning to the stage in 1947, Ashcroft had two long-running successes in a row as the alcoholic Evelyn Holt in Edward, My Son, in the West End and then on Broadway, and the downtrodden Catherine Sloper in The Heiress in 1949.[1]
Ashcroft began the 1950s with a return to Shakespeare, at the
Through the rest of the decade, Ashcroft's career switched between commercial productions in the West End and appearances in the nascent subsidised theatres in Shakespeare and experimental works. In the former she made a deep impression as the adulterous, suicidal Hester Collyer in Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea (1952) and was well reviewed as the governess Miss Madrigal in Enid Bagnold's The Chalk Garden (1956). Her roles for non-commercial managements were in Shakespeare at Stratford and on tour,[n 2] Hedda Gabler (1954) and the double role of Shen Te and Shui Ta in The Good Woman of Setzuan (1956). The last of these was not a success, but Ashcroft was credited with courage for taking the role on.[1]
In 1958, Peter Hall, who had been appointed to run the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, approached Ashcroft with his plans for a permanent company, with bases in Stratford and London, and a regular, salaried company, presenting a mixture of classical and new plays. Ashcroft immediately agreed to join him, and her lead was, in Hall's view, key to the success of the new Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).[1]
1960s
In the RSC's first seasons Ashcroft played Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew, Paulina in The Winter's Tale (1960), The Duchess of Malfi (1961), Emilia in Othello (1961) and Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, opposite Gielgud as Gaev.[16] These were generally well reviewed, but her performance in The Wars of the Roses in 1963 and 1964 had the critics searching for superlatives. The production was a reshaping of Shakespeare's three Henry VI plays and Richard III. Ashcroft, then aged fifty-six, played Margaret of Anjou, ageing from blithe youth to ferocious old age as the plays progressed. The critic Philip Hope-Wallace wrote of:
... the quite marvellous, fearsome performance of Dame Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret of Anjou, who skipped on to the stage, a lightfooted, ginger, sub-deb sub-bitch at about 11.35 a.m. and was last seen, a bedraggled crone with glittering eye, rambling and cussing with undiminished fury, 11 hours later, having grown before our eyes into a vexed and contumacious queen, a battle-axe and a maniac monster of rage and cruelty ... even the stoniest gaze was momentarily lowered from this gorgon.[21]
At about this time Ashcroft's third and last marriage was beginning to fall apart. According to Billington she found solace in her work, and threw herself into classical and avant garde works "with ever greater fervour".[1] Her roles in the 1960s were Arkadina in The Seagull (1964), Mother in Marguerite Duras's Days in the Trees (1966), Mrs Alving in Ibsen's Ghosts (1967), Agnes in Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (1969), Beth in Pinter's Landscape (1969) and Katharine of Aragon in Henry VIII (1969).[16]
Later years
In the 1970s, Ashcroft remained a pillar of the RSC but when Peter Hall succeeded Olivier as director of the National Theatre in 1973 he persuaded her to appear there from time to time. She also appeared at the Royal Court in Duras's The Lovers of Viorne (1971) in the role of a schizophrenic killer, a performance that the young
For the National, Ashcroft appeared in Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, Beckett's Happy Days, Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine and Pinter's Family Voices. Her RSC roles were Lidya in Aleksei Arbuzov's Old World (1976), and her last stage part was the Countess in All's Well That Ends Well, which she played at Stratford in 1981 and in London in 1982.[16]
Ashcroft later made occasional, but highly successful, television and film appearances. For The Jewel in the Crown she won a BAFTA award for best actress in 1984, and for her portrayal of Mrs. Moore in David Lean's 1984 film A Passage to India she won another BAFTA best actress award and the 1985 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress; this made her the oldest person to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, at 77 years 93 days old.[24][16] Her final performance was also in a work about India, the radio play In the Native State by Tom Stoppard.[25]
She was the grandmother of the French singer Emily Loizeau.[26]
Ashcroft died of a stroke in London at the age of 83.[1] Her ashes were scattered around a mulberry tree in the Great Garden at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, which she had planted in 1969.[27] A memorial service was held in Westminster Abbey on 30 November 1991.[1]
Honours, awards and memorials
Ashcroft's British state honours were
Ashcroft is commemorated with a memorial plaque in Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey. The Ashcroft Theatre in Croydon was named in her honour in 1962.[1] The Royal Shakespeare Company has an Ashcroft Room directly above the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon named after her, used for play rehearsals.
Filmography
Film
Television
Radio
- The Duchess of Malfi BBC Third Programme (1954)[58]
- Macbeth BBC Third Programme (1966)[59]
- Family Voices BBC Radio 3 (1981)[60]
- Chances BBC Radio 3 (1981)[61]
- In the Native State BBC Radio 3 (1991)[25]
Notes, references and sources
Notes
- ^ Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra, Imogen in Cymbeline, Rosalind in As You Like It, Portia in The Merchant of Venice and Miranda in The Tempest.[15]
- ^ Cleopatra (1953), Beatrice (1955), Rosalind (1957) and Imogen in Cymbeline (1957).
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Billington, Michael. "Ashcroft, Dame Edith Margaret Emily (Peggy) (1907–1991)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2010, retrieved 15 January 2015 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ a b c "Obituary: Dame Peggy Ashcroft", The Times, 15 June 1991, p. 14
- ^ Miller, p. 34
- ^ Gaye, p. 314
- ^ "Duke of York's Theatre", The Times, 20 September 1929, p. 12
- ^ Lyttelton and Hart-Davis, p. 24
- ^ Billington, Michael. "Near perfection in an imperfect world", The Guardian, 15 June 1991, p. 21
- ^ Robeson 2001, pp. 178–82; cf. Boyle & Bunie 2005, pp. 238–40, 257; cf. Gilliam 1978, pp. 62–64, Duberman 1989, pp. 140–44
- ^ Ziegler, p. 67
- ^ "Probate, Divorce, and Admiralty Division", The Times, 11 May 1933. p. 4
- ^ Croall, p. 155
- ^ Morley, p. 85
- ^ Gilbert, p. 16
- ^ Morley, Sheridan and Robert Sharp. "Gielgud, Sir (Arthur) John (1904–2000)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, January 2011, retrieved 2 February 2014 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
- ^ a b c Gaye, p. 315
- ^ a b c d e f Ashcroft, Dame Edith Margaret Emily, (Dame Peggy Ashcroft)", Who Was Who, online edition, Oxford University Press, 2014, retrieved 15 January 2015 (subscription required)
- ^ Croall, pp. 209–210
- ^ Morley, p. 133
- ^ "Haymarket Theatre", The Times, 14 October 1944, p. 2; 26 January 1945, p. 6; and 19 April 1945, p. 6
- ^ Donnelley, p. 44
- ^ Hope-Wallace, Philip, "The Wars of the Roses at the Aldwych Theatre", The Guardian, 13 January 1964, p. 7
- ^ Hayman, Ronald, "Helen Mirren", The Times, 11 September 1971, p. 9
- ^ Miller, p. 249
- ^ "Oldest Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress". Guinness World Records. 25 March 1985.
- ^ a b "Drama on 3: In the Native State by Tom Stoppard". Radio Times. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
- ^ Hutcheon, David. "Emily Loizeau: Pays Sauvage", The Sunday Times, 2009, accessed 13 May 2016; and "Dame Peggy Ashcroft – Memorial service", The Times, 30 November 1991, accessed 14 May 2016
- ISBN 0812213890
- ^ "BFI Fellows". BFI. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
- New York Times. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f "Filmography for Peggy Ashcroft". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ a b c d e "Peggy Ashcroft". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 16 April 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Newly Digitised Films From Imperial War Museums' Archive To Air Nationally". 9 October 2019.
- ^ "We Serve" – via IMDb.
- ^ BAFTA. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Landscape (1976)". BFI. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017.
- ^ "The 57th Academy Awards (1985) Nominees and Winners". Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Past Award Winners – Boston Society of Film Criticsc". Archived from the original on 8 October 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ a b "Peggy Ashcroft". www.goldenglobes.com. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "LAFCA". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on 18 January 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "1984 Archives – National Board of Review". National Board of Review. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Awards – New York Film Critics Circle – NYFCC". New York Film Critics Circle. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "The Tempest". 5 February 1939 – via IMDb.
- ^ "The Tempest/II". 8 February 1939 – via IMDb.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Ashcroft, Dame Peggy (1907–1991) Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Shadow of Heroes (1959)". BFI. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019.
- ^ "The Cherry Orchard (1962)". BFI. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020.
- ^ "Rosmersholm (1965)". BFI. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019.
- ^ a b "BAFTA Awards - BAFTA Awards Search". BAFTA. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
- ^ "BFI Screenonline: Ashcroft, Dame Peggy (1907–1991) Film & TV Credits". www.screenonline.org.uk. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "Days in the Trees". The Wednesday Play. Series 6. Episode 16.
- ^ "From Chekhov with Love (1968)". BFI. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017.
- ^ "The Last Journey (1972)". BFI. Archived from the original on 8 January 2022.
- ^ a b "Peggy Ashcroft – Television Academy". Emmy Awards. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "The Heat of the Day (1989)". BFI. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017.
- ^ "The Heat of the Day". 30 September 1990 – via IMDb.
- ^ "Volpi Cup for Best Actress". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Murder by the Book (1990)". BFI. Archived from the original on 30 December 2018.
- ^ "radio plays drama,bbc,The Duchess of Malfi, by John Webster, DIVERSITY website". Suttonelms.org.uk. 16 May 1954. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Macbeth". bufvc.ac.uk. British Universities Film & Video Council. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
- ^ "Family Voices". BBC Genome. 19 February 1981.
- ^ "Susan Hill - Chances". BBC.
Sources
- Boyle, Sheila Tully; Bunie, Andrew (1 October 2005). Paul Robeson: The Years of Promise and Achievement. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 978-1558495050.
- Croall, Jonathan (2000). Gielgud – A Theatrical Life, 1904–2000. London: Methuen. ISBN 0413745600.
- Donnelley, Paul (2003). Fade to Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries. Music Sales Group. ISBN 0711995125.
- ISBN 978-0370305752.
- Gaye, Freda, ed. (1967). Who's Who in the Theatre (fourteenth ed.). London: Sir Isaac Pitman and Sons. OCLC 5997224.
- Gilbert, Susie (2009). Opera for Everybody. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-22493-7.
- Gilliam, Dorothy Butler (1978). Paul Robeson: All-American. New Republic Book Company.
- ISBN 071953478X.
- Miller, John (1995). Ralph Richardson – The Authorized Biography. London: Sidgwick and Jackson. ISBN 0283062371.
- Morley, Sheridan (2001). John G – The Authorised Biography of John Gielgud. London: Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 0340368039.
- Robeson, Paul Jr. (9 July 2001). The Undiscovered Paul Robeson, An Artist's Journey, 1898–1939. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-0471151050.
- Ziegler, Philip (2004). Rupert Hart-Davis: Man of Letters. London: Chatto & Windus. ISBN 0701173203.
External links
- Peggy Ashcroft at IMDb
- Peggy Ashcroft at the BFI's Screenonline
- Peggy Ashcroft at the Internet Broadway Database
- Portraits of Peggy Ashcroft at the National Portrait Gallery, London