Isobel Elsom

Isobel Elsom (born Isabelle Reed; 16 March 1893 – 12 January 1981) was an English film, theatre, and television actress. She was often cast as aristocrats or upper-class women.
Early years
Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, Elsom attended Howard College, Bedford, England.
Career
She debuted on stage in London as a member of the chorus of The Quaker Girl (1911). Gilbert Miller promoted her to stardom in The Outsider.
Over the course of three decades, she appeared in 17 Broadway productions, beginning with The Ghost Train (1926). Her best-known stage role was the wealthy murder victim in Ladies in Retirement (1939), a role she repeated in the 1941 film version. Her other theatre credits included The Innocents and Romeo and Juliet. Elsom made her first screen appearance during the silent film era (she frequently co-starred with Owen Nares) and appeared in nearly 100 films throughout her career.
Elsom appeared as the leading lady for the Elitch Theatre summer season of 1928. At Elitch, she appeared in the role she created in the play The Outsider earlier that year on Broadway. A Denver reviewer of the play wrote:If there is anybody in this man's town who doubts that Isobel Elsom, leading woman at the Elitch Gardens Theatre, is an actress of the highest rank, let that doubting Thomas see her work in The Outsider ... She not only is scoring a brilliant personal triumph, but is demonstrating to local playgoers exactly why she was one of the most popular actresses London ever knew!She met her first husband, director Maurice Elvey, when he cast her in his 1919 film Quinneys. He directed her in eight more films before they divorced. Elsom's other screen credits included The White Cliffs of Dover (1944), The Unseen (1945), Of Human Bondage (1946), The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Monsieur Verdoux, The Paradine Case, and The Two Mrs. Carrolls (all 1947), The Secret Garden (1949), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), Lust for Life and 23 Paces to Baker Street (both 1956), and The Pleasure Seekers and My Fair Lady (both 1964).
She appeared opposite Jerry Lewis in four of his late 1950s/early 1960s films. Elsom's television credits included Armstrong Circle Theatre, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Lux Video Theatre, My Three Sons, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (at least four appearances), Playhouse 90, Hawaiian Eye, Straightaway, and Dr. Kildare.
Personal life
Elsom's second husband was actor Carl Harbord, married from 1947 until his death in 1958. She had no children.
Death
Elsom died of heart failure at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California, aged 87.
National Portrait Gallery
Five portraits of Elsom are included in the Photographs Collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Partial filmography
Milestones (1916) - Lady Monkhurst
The Way of an Eagle (1918) - Mariel Roscoe
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor (1918) - Isobel Bunter
God Bless Our Red, White and Blue (1918) - The Wife
The Man Who Won (1918) - Milly Cooper
Onward Christian Soldiers (1918) - The Girl
Quinneys (1919) - Posy Quinney
Linked by Fate (1919) - Nina Vernon
Hope (1919) - Jenny Northcote
Edge O' Beyond (1919) - Joyce Grey
A Member of Tattersall's (1919) - Mary Wilmott
The Elder Miss Blossom (1919) - Sophie Blossom
Mrs. Thompson (1919) - Enid Thompson
Nance (1920) - Nance Gray
Aunt Rachel (1920) - Ruth
For Her Father's Sake (1921) - Lilian Armitage
The Game of Life (1922) - Alice Fletcher
Dick Turpin's Ride to York (1922) - Esther Bevis
A Debt of Honour (1922) - Hope Carteret
The Harbour Lights (1923) - Dora Nelson
The Wandering Jew (1923) - Olalla Quintane
The Sign of Four (1923) - Mary Morstan
The Love Story of Aliette Brunton (1924) - Aliette Brunton
Who Is the Man? (1924) - Genevieve Arnault
The Last Witness (1925) - Letitia Brand
Le réveil (1925) - Thérèse de Mégèe
Tragedy of a Marriage (1927) - Louise Radcliffe
Dance Magic (1927) - Selma Bundy
The Other Woman (1931) - Roxanne Paget
Stranglehold (1931) - Beatrice
The Crooked Lady (1932) - Miriam Sinclair
Illegal (1932) - Mrs. Evelyn Dean
The Thirteenth Candle (1933) - Lady Sylvia Meeton
The Primrose Path (1934) - Brenda Dorland
Eagle Squadron (1942) - Dame Elizabeth Whitby
The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942) - Mrs. Laura Winters
Laugh Your Blues Away (1942) - Mrs. Westerly
Seven Sweethearts (1942) - Miss Abagail Robbins
You Were Never Lovelier (1942) - Mrs. Maria Castro
Forever and a Day (1943) - Lady Trimble-Pomfret
First Comes Courage (1943) - Rose Lindstrom
My Kingdom for a Cook (1943) - Lucille Scott
The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) - Mrs. Bancroft (uncredited)
Between Two Worlds (1944) - Genevieve Cliveden-Banks
Casanova Brown (1944) - Mrs. Ferris
The Unseen (1945) - Marian Tygarth
Two Sisters from Boston (1946) - Aunt Jennifer
Of Human Bondage (1946) - Mrs. Betty Athelny
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) - Mrs. Latham
Monsieur Verdoux (1947) - Marie Grosnay
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) - Angelica Muir
Ivy (1947) - Charlotte Chattle
Escape Me Never (1947) - Mrs. MacLean
Love from a Stranger (1947) - Auntie Loo-Loo
The Paradine Case (1947) - Innkeeper
Smart Woman (1948) - Mrs. Rogers
Addio Mimí! (1949) - Madame Garzin
The Secret Garden (1949) - Governess
Désirée (1954) - Mme. Clary - Désirée's Mother
Deep in My Heart (1954) - Mrs. Harris
The King's Thief (1955) - Mrs. Bennett
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) - Adeline Palmer-Jones
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956) (Season 1 Episode 23: "Back for Christmas") - Hermione Carpenter
Over-Exposed (1956) - Mrs. Payton Grange
23 Paces to Baker Street (1956) - Lady Syrett
Lust for Life (1956) - Mrs. Stricker
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957) (Season 2 Episode 30: "The Three Dreams of Mr. Findlater") - Minnie Findlater
Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1957) (Season 3 Episode 10: "The Diplomatic Corpse") - Mrs. Tait
The Guns of Fort Petticoat (1957) - Mrs. Charlotte Ogden
Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) - Mrs. Van Cleeve
The Young Philadelphians (1959) - Mrs. Dewitt Lawrence (uncredited)
The Miracle (1959) - Mother Superior
The Turn of the Screw (1959) - Mrs. Grose
The Bellboy (1960) - Hotel Guest (uncredited)
The Errand Boy (1961) - Irma Paramutual
The Second Time Around (1961) - Mrs. Rogers
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1962) (Season 1 Episode 6: "Final Vow") - Reverend Mother
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963) (Season 1 Episode 29: "The Dark Pool") - Sister Marie Therese
Who's Minding the Store? (1963) - Hazel, a Dowager
My Fair Lady (1964) - Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
The Pleasure Seekers (1964) - Dona Teresa Lacayo
References
External links
1893 births
1981 deaths
English stage actresses
English film actresses
English silent film actresses
English television actresses
People from Chesterton, Cambridge
British expatriate actresses in the United States
20th-century English actresses
Actresses from Cambridge