   dame peggy ashcroft, dbe (22 december 1907 â 14 june 1991)"oxford dictionary of national biography" entry on flickr, accessed 9 may 2010 was an english actress whose career spanned 48 years. ==early years== born as edith margaret emily ashcroft in croydon, surrey, ashcroft attended the woodford school, east croydon and the central school of speech and drama. a prolific stage actress from a young age, she first gained notoriety playing naemi in jew suss in 1929, and desdemona opposite paul robeson's othello two years later, during which time the two had a two year long affair.duberman, martin. paul robeson, 1989, pg 143. ==career== stardom came in 1934 when she played juliet in a legendary production of romeo and juliet, at the new theatre, in which laurence olivier and john gielgud alternated in the roles of romeo and mercutio. she and gielgud would later be acclaimed as beatrice and benedick in much ado about nothing, which they played together a number of times, including a london engagement and european tour for the shakespeare memorial theatre in 1955 (she also played cordelia to his king lear during that tour). when she first played beatrice with him in 1950, gielgud found her performance "a revelation â an impish, rather tactless girl with a curious resemblance to bea lillie," while a teenage peter hall observed in her "english containment and decency, contrasted with a wild passion." she stayed at the top of the british theatrical profession throughout her career, with some of the highlights three sisters (1937) in which she played irina, the heiress (1949), antony and cleopatra (1953), as you like it and cymbeline (as imogen) (1957), ''
1907_births 1991_deaths 20th-century_English_actresses Actresses_awarded_British_damehoods Actresses_from_Surrey Alumni_of_the_Central_School_of_Speech_and_Drama Best_Actress_BAFTA_Award_winners Best_Supporting_Actress_Academy_Award_winners Best_Supporting_Actress_Golden_Globe_(film)_winners Dames_Commander_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire Deaths_from_stroke English_film_actresses English_stage_actresses Laurence_Olivier_Award_winners People_from_Croydon Royal_National_Theatre_Company_members Royal_Shakespeare_Company_members Shakespearean_actresses Volpi_Cup_winners