Elspeth March

English actress (1911–1999)

Stewart Granger

(m. 1938; div. 1948)

Children2

Elspeth March (5 March 1911 – 29 April 1999) was an English actress.^[1]^[2]

Early years

March was born as Jean Elspeth Mackenzie in Kensington, London, England, the daughter of Harry Malcolm and Elfreda Mackenzie. She studied speech and drama under Elsie Fogerty at the Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London.^[3]

Career and marriage

She led a long stage, film and television career as a character actress, making her professional debut in Jonah and the Whale at London's Westminster Theatre in 1932. She met and married actor Stewart Granger in 1938. As his film career blossomed, the marriage faltered and the couple divorced in 1948. They had a son, Jamie and a daughter, the theatrical agent Lindsey Granger, who died in 2011.^[4]

She resumed her career in 1944 and continued to play supporting roles in plays, films and television into her eighties. She appeared with the National Theatre in 1977, playing roles in The Madras House and Don Juan Comes Back from the War, and in 1983 was in the thriller Underground in Toronto and at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London.^[5]

Death

She died in Hillingdon, London, aged 88.^[6]

Filmography

Mr. Emmanuel (1944) as Rose Cooper
Boys in Brown (1949) as Mrs. Smith
The Astonished Heart (1950) as Vicar's Wife in Play (voice, uncredited)
Quo Vadis (1951) as Miriam
His Excellency (1952) as Fernando's Wife
The Miracle (1959) as Sister Dominica
Midnight Lace (1960) as Woman
The Roman Spring of Mrs Stone (1961) as Mrs. Barrow
Follow That Man (1961) as Astrid Larsen
The Playboy of the Western World (1962) as Widow Quin
Dr. Crippen (1962) as Mrs. Jackson
The Three Lives of Thomasina (1963) as Thomasina (voice)
Psyche 59 (1964) as Mme. Valadier
Don't Lose Your Head (1966) as Lady Binder (uncredited)
Woman Times Seven (1967) as Annette (in episode "Funeral Procession")
A Dandy in Aspic (1968) as Lady Hetherington
Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969) as Mrs. Burrows, Ethne's Mother
Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1969) as Mrs. Summersthwaite
Carry On Again Doctor (1969) as Hospital Board Member
Twinky (1970) as Secretary (uncredited)
The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970) as Mrs. Ferret
Promise at Dawn (1970) as Fat Woman
The Magician of Lublin (1979) as Yadwiga
Charlie Muffin (1979) as Mrs. Heiderman

Television credits

Caesar's Friend (1939) - Mary a woman of Magdala
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents (1956) (two episodes) - Lucy / Mrs. Marks
The Court of Last Resort (1958) - Minnie Bowers
Hallmark Hall of Fame (1957–58) (two episodes)
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1960) (Season 5 Episode 35: "The Schartz-Metterklume Method") - Mrs. Wellington
Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond (1961) (three episodes) - Mrs. Murphy
The Saint (1962–64) (two episodes) - Tante Ada / Lucy Wexall
Softly, Softly (1966) (one episode) - Dora
Two in Clover (1969) (one episode) - Miss Plummer
W. Somerset Maugham's The Three Fat Women of Antibes (1969) (one episode) - Beatrice Richman
Rebecca (1979) (TV miniseries,1 episode) - Mrs. van Hopper
Let There Be Love (1982-1983) (TV Series) - Mother
Tales of the Unexpected (1983) (one episode) - Mrs. Carson
Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime (1984) (one episode) - Lady Susan Clonray
The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (1993) (one episode) - Lady Blanche (final appearance)

References

^ "Elspeth March". Archived from the original on 10 October 2018.
^ Strachan, Alan (1 May 1999). "Obituary: Elspeth March". The Independent. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
^ V&A, Theatre and Performance Special Collections, Elsie Fogerty Archive, THM/324
^ "Lindsay Granger - Obituaries - The Stage". 16 May 2011.
^ "Elspeth March - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
^ "Deaths, England and Wales 1984-2006". Archived from the original on 4 November 2015. Retrieved 30 December 2008.