# Margaret Courtenay (actress)

Margaret Courtenay (14 November 1923 – 15 February 1996) was a British actress best known for her British theatre roles during the 1970s and 1980s. She was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
In 1976, Courtenay won the Laurence Olivier Award for Supporting Artist of the Year for her stage role in the play Separate Tables, by author Terence Rattigan, directed by Michael Blakemore, at the Apollo Theatre in London's West End.
In 1991, Courtenay starred in the radio show ' The Secret Life of Rosewood Avenue '.
Courtenay retired at Denville Hall, a retirement home for professional actors set in Northwood in the London Borough of Hillingdon. She died of cancer on 15 February 1996 at age 72.

## Stage work

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1949 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania | | St Martin's Theatre, West End, London. |
| 1954 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Hippolyta | Michael Benthall | Metropolitan Opera House, Broadway, New York City. |
| 1956 | Romeo and Juliet | Lady Capulet | Robert Helpmann | Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway, New York City. |
| 1956 | Troilus and Cressida | Cassandra | Elizabeth Butterfield | Winter Garden Theatre, Broadway, New York City. |
| 1958 | Hamlet | Gertrude | Michael Benthall | Broadway Theatre, Broadway, New York City. |
| 1958 | King Henry V | Queen Isabel | Michael Benthall | Broadway Theatre, Broadway, New York City. |
| 1961–1962 | The Lady of the Camellias | | Robert Helpmann | Old Vic Overseas Tour (12 July 1961 to 17 March 1962) : Australia and New Zealand. Starring Vivien Leigh in title role. |
| 1962 | The Lady of the Camellias | | Robert Helpmann | Old Vic Overseas Tour (29 March 1962 to 16 May 1962) : Latin America. Starring Vivien Leigh in title role. |
| 1964 | King Lear | Cordelia | | Royal Shakespeare Company (European/US Tour) |
| 1964 | Alfie ! | Ruby | Gilchrist Calder | Morosco Theatre, Broadway, New York City. |
| 1969 | Mame | Vera Charles | Lawrence Kasha | The musical starred Ginger Rogers in title role, and ran for 14 months at the Royal Drury Lane Theatre (West End, London), with a special performance for Queen Elizabeth II. |
| 1971 | Ambassador | Amelia Newsome | Stone Widney | Musical starring Howard Keel and Danielle Darrieux. It premiered on 19 October 1971, at Her Majesty's Theatre (West End, London). |
| 1971 | Separate Tables | Mrs Railton-Bell | Michael Blakemore | At the Apollo Theatre, London, with John Mills, Jill Bennett and Raymond Huntley. 1976 : Laurence Olivier Award for Supporting Artist of the Year. |
| 1972 | Macbeth | Lady Macbeth | | Old Vic Theatre, London. |
| 1973 | Habeas Corpus | Muriel Wicksteed | | A comedy stage play first performed at the Lyric Theatre (West End, London), with Alec Guinness and Margaret Courtenay in the lead roles. |
| 1981 | Cards on the Table | Ariadne Oliver | Peter Dews | Adapted to the stage by Leslie Darbon from Agatha Christie's novel, at the Vaudeville Theatre in 1981. |
| 1984 | 42nd Street | Maggie Jones | Gower Champion | Musical that premiered on 8 August 1984, at the Royal Drury Lane Theatre (West End, London). |
| 1987 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | | | Aldwych Theatre, London. |
| 1987 | Follies | Hattie Walker | Mike Ockrent | London revival, starring Diana Rigg, which ran for 644 performances at the Shaftesbury Theatre (West End, London). |
| 1988 | The Musical Comedy murders of 1940 | Elsa von Grossenkneuten | Peter Fargo | A John Bishop comedy spoof, that premiered at the Greenwich Theatre, London. |
| 1990 | Look Look | | Michael Frayn | |
| 1990 | Show Boat | Parthy Ann Hawks | Ian Judge | A Royal Shakespeare Company revival, at the London Palladium (West End, London). |

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1955 | Touch and Go | Secretary | Michael Truman | |
| 1968 | Hot Millions | Mrs. Hubbard | Eric Till | Uncredited, A crime fiction filmed at MGM-British Studios, and starring Peter Ustinov and Maggie Smith. |
| 1968 | Isadora | Raucous Woman | Karel Reisz | Uncredited, A biographical film telling the story of American dancer Isadora Duncan. It stars Vanessa Redgrave, James Fox and Jason Robards. |
| 1969 | Arthur? Arthur! | Samuel Gallu | Clare Brownjohn | |
| 1972 | Under Milk Wood | Mrs. Waldo | Andrew Sinclair | A British film starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor and Peter O'Toole. |
| 1972 | Ooh… You Are Awful | W.P.O. | Cliff Owen | |
| 1975 | Royal Flash | Dutchess Irma | Richard Lester | Starring Malcolm McDowell as Flashman. |
| 1976 | The Incredible Sarah | Madame Nathalie | Richard Fleischer | A British drama film starring Glenda Jackson portraying Sarah Bernhardt. |
| 1980 | Oh! Heavenly Dog | Lady Chalmers | Joe Camp | A comedy film released by 20th Century Fox, starring Chevy Chase, Jane Seymour and Omar Sharif. |
| 1980 | The Mirror Crack'd | Mrs Dolly Bantry | Guy Hamilton | An all stars cast, namely Angela Lansbury, Kim Novak, Elizabeth Taylor, Geraldine Chaplin, Tony Curtis and Rock Hudson. |
| 1986 | Duet for One | Sonia Randvich | Andrei Konchalovsky | A British film starring Julie Andrews and Alan Bates. |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 1963 | The House Under the Water | Lucrezia Tregaron | Dafydd Gruffydd | Eight episodes, aired on BBC1 |
| 1971 | Bel Ami | Madame Walter | John Davies | 5 episodes aired on BBC 2 |
| 1974 | Thriller | Claire | John Sichel | Season 3, Episode 1: "A Coffin for the Bride" originally broadcast on ITV starring Michael Jayston and Helen Mirren |
| 1978 | Mind Your Language | Miss Hardacre | Vince Powell | Season 1, Episode 6: "Come Back All Is Forgiven " originally broadcast on ITV starring Barry Evans and Zara Nutley |
| 1980 | Only When I Laugh | Mrs. Binns | Vernon Lawrence | Season 2, Episode 5: "The Visitors" originally broadcast on ITV and starring James Bolam, Peter Bowles and Christopher Strauli. |
| 1981 | Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years | Maxine Elliott | Ferdinand Fairfax | An 8-part drama Miniseries, originally broadcast on ITV, and starring Robert Hardy in the title role. |
| 1983 | Don't Wait Up | Lady Cranbourne | Harold Snoad | A British sitcom, aired on BBC1, and starring Nigel Havers, Tony Britton and Dinah Sheridan. |
| 1983–87 | Never the Twain | Lady Deveraux | Peter Frazer-Jones, Robert Reed | A British sitcom, created by Thames Television for the ITV network. |
| 1984 | Fresh Fields | Margaret Richardson | Peter Frazer-Jones | A British sitcom starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. |
| 1986 | Paradise Postponed | Lady Naboth | Alvin Rakoff | A TV serial based on a novel by John Mortimer. |
| 1986 | Executive Stress | Shirley Lee Sheffield | John Howard Davies | A British sitcom, aired on ITV, and starring Penelope Keith. |
| 1987 | The Two Mrs. Grenvilles | Madame Sophia | John Erman | A NBC television miniseries, starring Ann-Margret and Claudette Colbert. |
| 1987 | Vanity Fair | Miss Pinkerton | Diarmuid Lawrence | A BBC Pebble Mill production set in the time of the Napoleonic Wars. |
| 1992 | The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side | Miss Knight | Norman Stone | The 12th episode of BBC's series Miss Marple, starring Joan Hickson as Jane Marple. |
| 1994 | The House Of Windsor | Lady Sharpcott | Graeme Harper | 6 episodes, aired on ITV |