Peggy Ashcroft - Awards - IMDb Peggy Ashcroft Showing all 15 wins and 10 nominations Academy Awards, USA Peggy Ashcroft was not present at the awards ceremony. Angela Lansbury accepted the award on her ... More Peggy Ashcroft was not present at the awards ceremony. Angela Lansbury accepted the award on her behalf. Golden Globes, USA A Passage to India (1984) Peggy Ashcroft was not present at the awards ceremony. Her co-star Victor Banerjee accepted the ... More Peggy Ashcroft was not present at the awards ceremony. Her co-star Victor Banerjee accepted the award on her behalf. Primetime Emmy Awards Dame Peggy Ashcroft; Stage Legend Won 'India' Oscar - latimes YOU ARE HERE: LAT Home → Collections Dame Peggy Ashcroft; Stage Legend Won 'India' Oscar June 15, 1991 |From Times Staff and Wire Reports LONDON — Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Britain's most renowned stage actress whose later film and television performances made her a beloved international star, died Friday, three weeks after suffering a stroke. She was 83.

The Royal Free Hospital said Dame Peggy, unconscious since she was stricken May 23, died peacefully Friday morning in the presence of her family. Although she achieved international screen exposure late in her career with the lead role in the British television series "The Jewel in the Crown" and an Oscar-winning performance in the film "A Passage to India," Dame Peggy always referred to the stage as her first love. She was virtually unknown to American audiences before the two India-based productions, because the bulk of her career had been on stage and in England. She appeared in stage productions in New York only twice--in "High Tor" with Burgess Meredith in 1937 and in 1947 in "Edward My Son" with Robert Morley. She also appeared in 1973 in Central City, Colo., and at the Kennedy Center in Washington in "The Hollow Crown" with Michael Redgrave. To protect her privacy and her family--a son and daughter by her third husband, and four grandchildren--she eschewed interviews and publicity. "I hope you don't want to talk about me. I'm not good at that," she told an American reporter at the time of her Academy Award nomination in 1985.

"(And) I don't talk about my family. I've made a rule. That's why I haven't all my life given many interviews." Dame Peggy once told the Associated Press: "I do rather abhor gossipy, personal interviews. I don't enjoy reading them, and I don't enjoy taking part in them." Esteemed as the greatest actress of her time, Dame Peggy was recognized as a peer of Lord Laurence Olivier, Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud, her partner in many stage triumphs. "I adore her . . . she's a marvelous actress . . . so direct and without artifice," Gielgud said in a recent interview. She was an exemplary Beatrice, Juliet and Cleopatra, among many of her Shakespeare heroines, and she shone equally in modern plays such as Samuel Beckett's "Happy Days" and Edward Albee's "All Over." She retired from the stage in 1982 and soon found a new public worldwide, with David Lean's 1984 film "A Passage to India" and an Emmy nomination for her performance in "The Jewel in the Crown." Her work as the mysterious traveler Mrs.

Moore in Lean's movie, adapted from the E.M. Forster novel, won Dame Peggy an Oscar as best supporting actress. A "wretched flu," as she called it at the time, prevented her from accepting the award in person. She later said that had she been there, she would have dedicated the Oscar to India. The film also won her the New York Film Critics Circle best actress award and the Golden Globe as best supporting actress in a motion picture drama. As Barbie Batchelor, the former missionary in "Jewel in the Crown," she gave a performance that critic John Leonard in New York magazine called "the best acting I have seen on TV, including Olivier as Lear." The role earned her the award as best actress from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Perhaps her greatest stage triumph came in 1963 in the Royal Shakespeare Company production of "The Wars of the Roses," playing the mad Margaret of Anjou and aging a lifetime in a 10-hour performance.

That play's co-director, Sir Peter Hall, wrote in 1983 that her strength was her sense of self: "I think Peggy's a very great person, and her own integrity, her own sense of compassion, her own humility is actually what you see on the stage." At her 80th birthday gala at the Old Vic theater in 1987, director Trevor Nunn cast aside his customary restraint and said: "I am nuts about Peggy. I love Peggy. Peggy can do no wrong, has never done any wrong, will do no wrong." Born Dec. 22, 1907, Dame Peggy was the daughter of real estate broker William Worsley Ashcroft and amateur actress Violet Maud Bernheim. She chose at age 13 to go into the theater because, she said, "Shakespeare was the greatest pleasure at school." Dame Peggy studied at London's Central School of Speech and Drama, sharing the school's gold medal award with classmate Laurence Olivier. She began her professional career at the Birmingham Repertory Theater in 1926, playing Margaret in J.M. Barrie's "Dear Brutus" opposite Richardson.

She went on to appear opposite most of the brightest lights of her profession: Michael Redgrave, Wendy Hiller, Peter O'Toole, Vanessa Redgrave, Alec Guinness and Paul Robeson. Gielgud cast her as Juliet at Oxford in 1932 in his first professional directing assignment. She later played Ophelia to Gielgud's Hamlet, Titania to his Oberon (1944-45), Cordelia to his Lear and Beatrice to his Benedick (both 1950). Her film credits include a small role in Alfred Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps" (1935). She also appeared in "The Nun's Story" (1951), "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (1971) and "Joseph Andrews" (1976). Citytomb | biography and picturesDame Peggy Ashcroft Sexual orientation: Straight Life events: Dame Peggy Ashcroft, original name Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (born Dec.

22, 1907, Croydon, London, Eng.—died June 14, 1991, London), English stage actress who appeared in both classic and modern plays.After graduation from London’s Central School of Dramatic Art, Ashcroft made her debut as Margaret in the Birmingham Repertory’s production of Dear Brutus (1926). She made her initial London appearance in 1927, but her first important notices were for the role of Naomi in Jew Süss (1929).Beginning in 1932 her appearances with the Old Vic Company established her reputation; she portrayed G.B. Shaw’s Cleopatra, John Drinkwater’s Mary Stuart, and Rosalind in William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. Her portrayal of Shakespeare’s Juliet in John Gielgud’s production of Romeo and Juliet (1935) established Ashcroft as perhaps the outstanding Juliet of the 20th century. Her American debut was as Lise in Maxwell Anderson’s High Tor (1937). Ashcroft performed principal roles in more than 100 productions in England and on tour, displaying her versatility in both comic and tragic roles.

Her other roles of particular note included Nina in The Seagull (1936), Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest (1939 and 1942), and the title role in The Duchess of Malfi (1945 and 1960).Peggy Ashcroft first appeared in films in 1933; her infrequent screen work includes the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller The Thirty-nine Steps (1935) and A Passage to India (1984), for which she won an Academy Award for best supporting actress. She also made television appearances, and her performance in The Jewel in the Crown (1984) was widely acclaimed. Ashcroft was made Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1951 and Dame Commander in 1956; in 1962 a new theatre in Croydon was named in her honour.

She was married three times, firstly to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis (between 1929 and 1933), secondly to Theodore Komisarjevsky (in 1934) and thirdly to Jeremy Hutchinson, Baron Hutchinson of Lullington, whom she married in 1940 and divorced in 1965. By her third husband, Peggy had two children, a son Nicholas, born 1946 and a daughter Eliza born in 1941. One of her granddaughters is the French singer Emily Loizeau. Ashcroft was the inspiration for the character Julie Walters portrayed in the film Driving Lessons, written and directed by Jeremy Brock who had worked for Ashcroft decades earlier. Education: University: Central School of Speech Training, Albert Hall Occupation and Career: Peggy Ashcroft is an actress. 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 - 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), The Taming of the Shrew (1960), and The Wars of the Roses, the Royal Shakespeare Company's massive landmark compendium of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III, directed by Peter Hall for the RSC in 1963.

Her last appearances for the RSC were as the Countess of Rousillon in Trevor Nunn's 1981 All's Well That Ends Well, a "perfect…performance" according to Financial Times critic Bertram Young, and in a revival of The Hollow Crown for a gala performance at The Swan on 22 June 1986.Ashcroft's film and television appearances were rare but memorable. One of her earliest film roles was the minor part of the crofter's wife in the Robert Donat version of The Thirty-Nine Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 1937, she appeared in a 30-minute excerpt of Twelfth Night on the BBC Television Service, alongside Greer Garson, the first known instance of a Shakespeare play being performed on television. She had minor supporting roles in The Nun's Story (1959) opposite Audrey Hepburn; Joseph Losey's Secret Ceremony (1968) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mia Farrow; and Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) featuring Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson.

In the 1970s, she starred in Der Fußgänger (English title: The Pedestrian), the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning film, which won the Best Foreign Language Foreign Film of 1974. The film was directed by Austrian actor-director Maximilian Schell, and starred former international early screen peers KätheHaack, Lil Dagover and Françoise Rosay. Possibly her best known celluloid role was that of Mrs. Moore in David Lean's 1984 film A Passage to India — a role for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress among many other awards, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. Ashcroft did not appear in person at the telecast to accept the Oscar, so Angela Lansbury accepted it on her behalf. Ashcroft's final theatrical film role was in John Schlesinger's Madame Sousatzka (1988) starring Shirley MacLaine. On television, Ashcroft played Barbie Batchelor in the internationally acclaimed British miniseries The Jewel in the Crown (1984), for which she won a BAFTA Best Television Actress award and an Emmy Award nomination.

Other memorable television roles include the miniseries Edward & Mrs. Simpson, Stephen Poliakoff's drama special Caught on a Train, and a miniseries version of John le Carré's A Perfect Spy, for which she received her second Emmy nomination. Awards /Honors: Ashcroft was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951, and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1956.Possibly her best known celluloid role was that of Mrs. Moore in David Lean's 1984 film A Passage to India — a role for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress among many other awards, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. Ashcroft did not appear in person at the telecast to accept the Oscar, so Angela Lansbury accepted it on her behalf.On television, Ashcroft played Barbie Batchelor in the internationally acclaimed British miniseries The Jewel in the Crown (1984), for which she won a BAFTA Best Television Actress award and an Emmy Award nomination. Other memorable television roles include the miniseries Edward & Mrs.

Simpson, Stephen Poliakoff's drama special Caught on a Train, and a miniseries version of John le Carré's A Perfect Spy, for which she received her second Emmy nomination. Works: The Heat of the Day (1989) Madame Sousatzka (17-Sep-1988) When the Wind Blows (13-Mar-1987) [VOICE] A Passage to India (14-Dec-1984) • Mrs. Moore The Jewel in the Crown (1984) Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures (Sep-1978) Joseph Andrews (9-Mar-1977) Sunday Bloody Sunday (1-Jul-1971) • Mrs. Greville Three Into Two Won't Go (Jun-1969) Secret Ceremony (23-Oct-1968) • Hannah The Nun's Story (18-Jun-1959) • Mother Mathilde Quiet Wedding (19-Apr-1941) Peggy Ashcroft (Actress) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Peggy Ashcroft Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE was an English actress.

related links The Deep Blue Sea Will Close Bfi London Film Festival Bleeding Cool News Google News - Aug 30, 2011 'Rachel Weisz plays the lead, in a role that was first filled by <mark>Peggy Ashcroft</mark> when the play opened in 1952. Tom Hiddleston (Thor, War Horse) plays ex-pilot Freddie Page. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Terence Davis (The House of Mirth)' 'paul Robeson' Tells Of Immense Talent, Activism Charlotte Observer Google News - Aug 28, 2011 'It&#39;s also a bit of a whitewash: There&#39;s no mention of his extramarital affair with <mark>Peggy Ashcroft</mark> (his first Desdemona) or the silent movies in which his characterizations seem crude or demeaning today. Dean plays up Robeson&#39;s dignity,' The Observer's Critics Pick The Season's Highlights, From Degas To Depp, And ...

The Guardian Google News - Aug 27, 2011 '25 Film: The Deep Blue Sea First staged in 1952 with <mark>Peggy Ashcroft</mark> as Hester Collyer, the judge&#39;s suicidal wife, this is arguably Terence Rattigan&#39;s greatest play. Terence Davies&#39;s version, with Rachel Weisz in the same role, is eagerly awaited' Performance At Its Very Best Absolutearts.Com Google News - Aug 24, 2011 'Olivier can also be seen in James Laver&#39;s version of Klabund&#39;s 1929 THE CIRCLE OF CHALK and Gielgud&#39;s production of Gordon Daviot&#39;s 1934 QUEEN OF SCOTS, with more from <mark>Peggy Ashcroft</mark> in Ashley Dukes&#39;s adaptation of Leon Feuchtwanger&#39;s 1929 JEW SUSS' Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Peggy Ashcroft. CHILDHOOD 1907 Birth Born in 1907.

TWENTIES 1927 - 1929 2 More Events 1927 20 Years Old She graduated from the Central School in 1927 with London University's Diploma in Dramatic Art. … Read More Never much drawn to the West End or stardom, she learned her craft with mostly small companies in fringe theatres. Read Less 1929 22 Years Old Her first notable West End role was Naemi in Jew SÃ¼ss in 1929, an extravagantly theatrical production, in which she won praise for the naturalism and truth of her playing. … Read More In the same year she married Rupert Hart-Davis, then an aspiring actor, later a well-known 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." Read Less 1930 23 Years Old In 1930 Ashcroft was cast as Desdemona in a production of Othello at the Savoy Theatre, starring Paul Robeson in the title role. … Read More The production was not well received, but Ashcroft's notices were excellent. The production prompted a political awakening in Ashcroft, who was astonished to receive hate-mail for appearing onstage with a black actor; she was angry that Robeson was the star at the Savoy Theatre but was not welcome at the adjoining Savoy Hotel. During the run she had a brief affair with Robeson, which, followed by another with the writer J. B. Priestley, put an end to her first marriage. Read Less 1932 25 Years Old Ashcroft joined the Old Vic company for the 1932â33 season. … Read More The theatre, in an unfashionable area of London south of the Thames, was run by Lilian Baylis to offer plays and operas to a mostly working-class audience at low ticket prices.

She paid her performers very modest wages, but the theatre was known for its unrivalled repertory of classics, mostly Shakespeare, and many West End stars took a large pay cut to work there. It was, in Sheridan Morley's words, the place to learn Shakespearean technique and try new ideas. During the season Ashcroft played five Shakespeare heroines, as well as Kate in She Stoops to Conquer, Mary Stuart in a new play by John Drinkwater, and Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal. Read Less Show Less Hart-Davis was granted a divorce in 1933, on the grounds of Ashcroft's adultery with the director Theodore Komisarjevsky. … Read More 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". 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." Read Less In 1933 she made her first film, The Wandering Jew. … Read More She was not attracted to the medium of cinema and made only four more films over the next quarter-century. Read Less 1934 27 Years Old 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". … Read More After appearing in another film, The 39 Steps, 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.

Read Less 1935 28 Years Old It ran from October 1935 to March 1936, and Ashcroft's Romeos were played in alternation by Olivier and Gielgud. … Read More Critical opinions differed as to the relative merits of her leading men, but Ashcroft won glowing reviews. Read Less 1936 29 Years Old In May 1936 Komisarjevsky directed a production of The Seagull, with Evans as Arkadina, Gielgud as Trigorin and Ashcroft as Nina. … Read More The recent collapse of her marriage to the director made rehearsals difficult, but the critical reception was ecstatic. Read Less THIRTIES 1937 30 Years Old 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 Queen's Theatre. … Read More She played the Queen in Richard II, Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal, Irina in Three Sisters, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice.

The company included Harry Andrews, Glen Byam Shaw, George Devine, Michael Redgrave and Harcourt Williams, with Angela Baddeley and Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies as guests. The directors were Gielgud himself, Tyrone Guthrie, and Michel Saint-Denis. Billington considers that this company laid the foundations of post-war ensembles such as the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. The Munich crisis and the approach of the Second World War delayed for a decade the further development of such a company. Read Less 1940 33 Years Old In 1940 Ashcroft met and married the rising lawyer Jeremy Hutchinson. … Read More They had a daughter the following year, and Ashcroft did little stage work while the child was young. Read Less 1944 37 Years Old Her main appearances during the war years were in Gielgud's company at the Haymarket Theatre in 1944, playing Ophelia in Hamlet, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the title role in The Duchess of Malfi.

… Read More She won excellent notices, but the productions were thought to lack flair, and were unfavourably compared with the exciting work of the rival Old Vic company under Richardson and Olivier's leadership. Read Less 1945 38 Years Old After the Haymarket season Ashcroft resumed her break from the theatre, first campaigning for her husband, who stood as a Labour candidate in the 1945 general election, and then bearing a second child, Nicholas, in 1946. FORTIES 1947 40 Years Old 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. … Read More Ashcroft began the 1950s with a return to Shakespeare, at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, playing Beatrice to Gielgud's Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and Cordelia to his King Lear.

Read Less 1951 44 Years Old In 1951 she returned to the Old Vic, playing Viola in Twelfth Night, the title role in Electra and Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. … Read More In the second of these, according to Billington, "she scaled the austere peaks of Greek tragedy".<br /><br /> 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, 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.

Read Less FIFTIES 1958 51 Years Old 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. … Read More 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). Read Less 1963 56 Years Old 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. These were generally well reviewed, but her performance in The Wars of the Roses in 1963 and 1964 had the critics searching for superlatives. … Read More 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: <br /><br /> 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". 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).<br /><br /> 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 Helen Mirren found so accomplished that, "I just wanted to rush out and start all over again". Read Less LATE ADULTHOOD 1972 65 Years Old Many were surprised when Ashcroft appeared with Richardson at the Savoy in 1972 in what was by all appearances a conventional West End drawing room comedy, Lloyd George Knew My Father, by William Douglas-Home, but the two stars revealed unexpected depths in their characters. 1981 74 Years Old 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 final stage part was the Countess in All's Well That Ends Well, which she played at Stratford in 1981 and in London in 1982.

1984 77 Years Old In the years after her last stage appearance Ashcroft 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 1985 film A Passage to India she won another BAFTA best actress award and the 1985 Oscar for best supporting actress. … Read More She was the grandmother of the French singer Emily Loizeau.<br /><br /> Ashcroft died from a stroke in London at the age of 83. Her ashes were scattered around a mulberry tree in the Great Garden at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, which she had planted in 1969. A memorial service was held in Westminster Abbey on 30 November 1991.<br /><br /> Ashcroft's British state honours were Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951 and Dame Commander of the Order (DBE) in 1956.

Her foreign state honours were the King's Gold Medal, Norway (1955), and the Order of St Olav, Norway (Commander, 1976). She was awarded honorary degrees by eight universities and was an honorary fellow of St Hugh's College, Oxford. In addition to the Oscar and BAFTA awards mentioned above, she received a Venice Film Festival Award for She's Been Away (1989), a BAFTA Award for the television play Caught on a Train (1980), a special award from the British Theatre Association for the television play Cream in My Coffee (1982), a special award from BAFTA (1990) and a special Laurence Olivier Award (1991). Read Less 1991 84 Years Old Died in 1991. Original Authors of this text are noted on . 1984 Academy Awards® Winners and History A Passage to India (1984, UK) Places in the Heart (1984) A Soldier's Story (1984) Actor: F.

MURRAY ABRAHAM in "Amadeus", Jeff Bridges in "Starman", Albert Finney in "Under the Volcano", Tom Hulce in "Amadeus", Sam Waterston in "The Killing Fields" Actress: SALLY FIELD in "Places in the Heart", Judy Davis in "A Passage to India", Jessica Lange in "Country", Vanessa Redgrave in "The Bostonians", Sissy Spacek in "The River" Supporting Actor: HAING S.

NGOR in "The Killing Fields" , Adolph Caesar in "A Soldier's Story", John Malkovich in "Places in the Heart", Noriyuki "Pat" Morita in "The Karate Kid", Ralph Richardson in "Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes" Supporting Actress: PEGGY ASHCROFT in "A Passage to India", Glenn Close in "The Natural", Lindsay Crouse in "Places in the Heart", Christine Lahti in "Swing Shift", Geraldine Page in "The Pope of Greenwich Village" Director: MILOS FORMAN for "Amadeus", Woody Allen for "Broadway Danny Rose", Robert Benton for "Places in the Heart", Roland Joffe for "The Killing Fields" , David Lean for "A Passage to India" Most of the nominations-totals for 1984's Best Picture nominees were very close, and two 'prestige' pictures were tied for eleven nominations each: Amadeus - eleven Places in the Heart - seven A Soldier's Story - three Ultimately, the 1984 awards were monopolized by Amadeus with eight wins, the Saul Zaentz-produced, Milos Forman-directed film.

The musical biopic/epic won the following awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (F. Murray Abraham), Best Director, Best Screenplay Adaptation (Peter Shaffer for the transformation of his own Broadway/London stage hit), Best Art/Set Direction, Best Sound, Best Costume Design, and Best Makeup. It became the 7th film in Oscar history to win eight Oscars. The Best Picture winner was visually and musically superior and focused on the court rivalry between flamboyant, genius composer (and scatologically-obsessed buffoon) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the less-talented, intensely-jealous Antonio Salieri, both composers for Hapsburg Emperor Joseph II. The other Best Picture nominees included strong contenders: British director David Lean's A Passage to India - the film was an imposing, triumphant return to the screen (and last picture) for the 76 year-old director (known for his two Best Director awards for The Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) ).

The lavish epic film (with eleven nominations and two wins - for Best Supporting Actress (Peggy Ashcroft) and Best Original Score - for Maurice Jarre - his third Oscar for a David Lean film) was based on E. M.

Forster's 1924 novel about the romantic adventures of a young Englishwoman writer/director Robert Benton's Places in the Heart (with seven nominations and two wins - Best Actress and Best Screenplay by Benton himself), was based on the director's own childhood memories in Waxahachie, Texas where a young widow attempts to save her farm producer David Puttnam's and director Roland Jaffe's The Killing Fields (with seven nominations and three wins - Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography (Chris Menges), and Best Film Editing), was based on the experiences of NY Times correspondent Sydney Schanberg during the Cambodian civil war and the country's take-over by the Khymer Rouge; three years earlier, producer David Puttnam's Chariots of Fire (1981) had won Best Picture director Norman Jewison's A Soldier's Story (with three nominations and no wins) was a murder mystery/drama based on Charles Fuller's 1981 Pulitzer Prize-winning play about racial hatred in a segregated, all-black Southern Army Camp during World War II Milos Forman's second Oscar win as director for Amadeus was a follow-up to his successful collaboration with Saul Zaentz nine years earlier in One Flew Over

 The Cuckoo's Nest (1975) , a five Oscar winner.

Director Norman Jewison was the only director of a Best Picture nominee who was denied a Best Director Oscar nomination for A Soldier's Story. His spot was taken by Woody Allen for Broadway Danny Rose (with two nominations and no wins), a film about a legendarily hapless talent agent. David Lean was nominated as Best Director, and for Best Screenplay Adaptation and Best Editor for A Passage to India, but he failed to win any of the awards. The two winners of the lead and supporting actor Oscars were basically unknowns - and both won for their first nomination! The Best Actor award was won by F. Murray Abraham (with his sole career nomination and Oscar) in his remarkable role as Antonio Salieri, a jealous, mediocre court composer who is consumed and made insane by his distaste for a rival composer, 26 year-old prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in Amadeus. [Abraham was the first actor of Arab descent to win the Best Actor Oscar.] Another nominee was the title role character in the same film, played by Tom Hulce (with his sole career nomination).

The other three Best Actor nominees were: Albert Finney (with his fourth nomination, and second consecutive Best Actor nod) as self-destructive alcoholic Geoffrey Firmin drinking himself to death in the shadow of a Mexican volcano in director John Huston's Under the Volcano (with two nominations and no wins) Sam Waterston (with his first nomination) as Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist Sidney Schanberg in The Killing Fields Jeff Bridges (with his third nomination) as the alien extra-terrestrial in director John Carpenter's science fiction/love story, Starman (the film's sole nomination) With her second Best Actress nomination, Sally Field won her second Oscar for her moving performance (her first was for a similar role in Norma Rae (1979)) as a 1930s depression-era penniless Texas farm widow of a murdered policeman, the determined, indomitable Edna Spaulding who must face a bank foreclosure, a greedy cotton-dealer, and a tornado, in Places In The Heart.

She has become the best-remembered and most-quoted Oscar winner ever (with the possible exception of James Cameron's declaration, "I'm the King of the World" for Titanic (1997)), with her exclamatory, infamous speech after the win: "The first time (referring to her Best Actress win for Norma Rae (1979) five years earlier) I didn't feel it, but this time I feel it. And I can't deny the fact you like me - right now, you like me!

You really like me!" Field joined two of the other Best Actress nominees who were also playing strong matriarchal roles as rural women/farmers who found themselves in life-death struggles to keep their properties in male-dominated, chauvinistic circumstances: Jessica Lange (with her third nomination) as 1980s Iowa farm-wife Jewell Ivy struggling to hold on to the farm during foreclosure proceedings in Country (the film's sole nomination) Sissy Spacek (with her fourth nomination) as a member of a farming family battling a severe storm, floods, and foreclosure in director Mark Rydell's The River The other two Best Actress nominees in the category were: Vanessa Redgrave (with her fifth nomination - her fourth unsuccessful Best Actress nomination, out of a career total of six nominations) as suffragette Olive Chancellor in the film adaptation of Henry James' novel by director James Ivory, The Bostonians (with two nominations and no wins) Australian actress Judy Davis (with her first nomination) as the young Englishwoman Adela Quested in the film adaptation of Forster's novel about sexual repression and racial prejudice in early 20th century India, A Passage to India Among the five Best Supporting Actor nominees, three were first-time movie performers.

The Best Supporting Actor winner was Cambodian native Haing S. Ngor (a non-professional actor in his film debut who actually survived Cambodia's horrors) as a Cambodian refugee doctor and advisor/interpreter Dith Pran for a photojournalist (Sam Waterston) who miraculously survives the horrors and tortures of war and Pol Pot's regime in producer David Puttnam's British film The Killing Fields . Ngor became the first Asian performer to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar. [Tragically, he was murdered 12 years later in February of 1996 by a gang of drug dealers in a Los Angeles parking garage.] The losing nominees for Best Supporting Actor were: John Malkovich (with his first nomination in his debut film) as the blind boarder Mr. Will in Places in the Heart Adolph Caesar (with his first and sole nomination, and his film debut) as the tough and hated black drill Sgt. Waters who is murdered and the subject of an investigation in A Soldier's Story [A year later, Caesar died of a heart attack on the set of the Kirk Douglas-Burt Lancaster film Tough Guys (1986)].

Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita (with his first nomination) as sage Japanese handyman/karate tutor Miyagi in director John Avildsen's The Karate Kid (the film's sole nomination) Ralph Richardson (with his second unsuccessful nomination and in his final film role) as Tarzan's eccentric grandfather - the 6th Lord of Greystoke - in director Hugh Hudson's Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes (with three nominations and no wins - and faithful to the classic Edgar Rice Burroughs pulp books). [Richardson died on October 10, 1983, just before he would have learned that he was nominated for the Best Supporting Oscar.] [Note: Writer Robert Towne used the name of his sheepdog P.H. Vazak for the screenwriter credit - and received a nomination -- an Academy first!] Talented British stage actress Peggy Ashcroft (with her only nomination and Oscar win) won the Best Supporting Actress award as Judy Davis' prospective mother-in-law Mrs. Moore, a Raj matron in frail health in A Passage to India.

[At the age of 77, Ashcroft's win made her the oldest winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in Academy history.] The other four nominees were: Geraldine Page (with her seventh unsuccessful nomination of a total of eight career nominations) - as a corrupt policeman's mother in The Pope of Greenwich Village; with this nomination, Page joined both Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole as the most nominated performers in Academy history with no Oscar wins; however she went on to win Best Actress the following year for The Trip to Bountiful (1985) Christine Lahti (with her first nomination) as Goldie Hawn's neighbor Hazel Zanussi in the 1940s-era romance - director Jonathan Demme's Swing Shift (the film's sole nomination) Glenn Close (with her third consecutive nomination) as Iris (Robert Redford's virtuous childhood sweetheart and naive girlfriend) in the film adaptation of Bernard Malamud's novel about the world's greatest baseball player, director Barry Levinson's fairy tale The Natural Lindsay Crouse (with her first nomination) as Margaret Lomax (the sister of Sally Field's character) in Places in the Heart This year, all five nominees for Best Original Song were well

-known radio hits, something fairly rare.

Stevie Wonder won for his song "I Just Called to Say I Love You," from the film The Woman in Red, thereby becoming the first blind Academy Award winner. The Best Song category was fiercely competitive, with nominees including Phil Collins' title song ("Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)") from Against All Odds (its sole nomination), two nominations from Footloose (for "Footloose" and "Let's Hear It For the Boy"), and the title song from Ghostbusters . This year's honoree with an Honorary Oscar was the venerable James Stewart, who had won a Best Actor Oscar forty-four years earlier for The Philadelphia Story (1940) - his only win out of five Best Actor career nominations (he had also been nominated in 1939, 1946, 1950, and 1959). He was honord for "his fifty years of memorable performances. For his high ideals both on and off the screen.

With the respect and affection of his colleagues." Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Writer/director James Cameron's low-budget, science-fiction action film The Terminator - with Arnold Schwarzenegger as the threatening, leather-clad cyborg, and Linda Hamilton as the rescued Sarah Connor by Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) was entirely absent from any awards categories. So was Australian director Paul Cox's touching yet kinky Man of Flowers, as was writer/director/star Rob Reiner's quasi-documentary spoof This Is Spinal Tap about an aging British heavy metal band. And Sergio Leone's final film, Once Upon a Time In America, went completely unnominated, with its lead performances by Robert DeNiro (as 'Noodles') and James Woods (as 'Max') as childhood friends/rivals spanning four decades, Elizabeth McGovern's supporting role as Deborah, and Ennio Morricone's score. Its neglect by Academy voters was attributed to a disastrous studio cut which severely truncated the film -- had the original nearly four hour running time version been released, the film might have been given far more consideration.

Tri-Star, a new studio, released its first film - Barry Levinson's sports drama The Natural, with four unsuccessful nominations - Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Supporting Actress. And the biggest box-office earner of the year, Beverly Hills Cop , with Eddie Murphy in a star-making role as Axel Foley, was overlooked. Although Jeff Bridges received a Best Actor nomination (the film's sole nomination), director/co-screenwriter John Carpenter's Starman was neglected in these other categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress (Karen Allen as Jenny Hayden), Best Supporting Actor (Charles Martin Smith as scientist Mark Shermin), Best Original Score (Jack Nitzsche) and Best Original Screenplay. [Bridges' nomination was the only nomination ever given to any of John Carpenter's films.] British director and co-writer Michael Radford's faithfully-adapted Nineteen Eighty-Four was also overlooked in all categories with zero nominations, bypassing performances by John Hurt (as Winston Smith), Richard Burton (as O'Brien), and Suzanna Hamilton (as Julia), and the cinematography of acclaimed Roger Deakins.

Many other actors were denied award opportunities: Robert Englund in a unique, infamous, otherworldly role as burn victim terrorizer Freddy Krueger in Wes Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (with no nominations) Victor Banerjee as Dr. Aziz in A Passage to India Steve Martin as mind-body switched lawyer Roger Cobb (possessed by his dying wealthy client Lily Tomlin) in director Carl Reiner's All of Me Howard E. Rollins, Jr. as black investigating officer Capt. Davenport and Denzel Washington as Pfc. Peterson in Norman Jewison's A Soldier's Story Keir Dullea in a difficult reprise of his 2001 Dave Bowman role and Bob Balaban as Dr. Chandra in 2010 (with five unsuccessful nominations) George Burns in a dual role as God and the Devil in the third (and final) film of the series - Oh God! You Devil (with no nominations) Tom Hanks as Allen Bauer and Daryl Hannah as mermaid Madison in director Ron Howard's Splash two actors in the Coen Brothers' un-nominated debut film - a modern day film noir titled Blood Simple - M.

Emmet Walsh as sleazy private detective Visser and Dan Hedaya as repugnant Texas strip-bar owner Julian Marty Kathleen Turner as romance novelist Joan Wilder in the entertaining action-adventure film Romancing the Stone and as prostitute China Blue in Ken Russell's violent and sexually-explicit Crimes of Passion Taxi TV sitcom star Danny DeVito's star-making role as diminutive, foul-mouthed, sarcastic Brooklyn mobster Ralph in Romancing the Stone Molly Ringwald as alienated, teenaged high school student Samantha Baker in director John Hughes' debut film Sixteen Candles Lesley Ann Warren as small bar owner Eve in Alan Rudolph's romantic comedy/drama Choose Me Elizabeth Berridge as Constanze Mozart, and Jeffrey Jones as Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II in Amadeus Mia Farrow - unrecognizable as Tina Vitale, a NJ mobster moll in Broadway Danny Rose Robert Preston (in his last major film role and screen appearance) as intergalactic, alien recruiter Centauri (modeled after his Harold Hill character in The Music Man (1962)) in The Last Starfighter Like TRON (1982) two years earlier, the innovative CGI effects of The Last Starfighter, with its use of CGI to replace model

 miniatures for all its spaceship shots -- were overlooked.

Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters was nominated in two categories (without winning either): Best Song (Ray Parker, Jr.) and Best Visual Effects. It should have been recognized in other categories as well - Best Actor (Bill Murray), Best (Supp.) Actress (Sigourney Weaver), Best Original Screenplay (Aykroyd, Ramis, and Torokvei), Best Production Design (John De Cuir), and Best Cinematography (Laszlo Kovacs and Herb Wagreitch). Edith Margaret Emily Hutchinson (Ashcroft) (1907 - 1991) - Genealogy About Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an English actress.

Wiki - Dame Peggy Ashcroft From Wikipedia Dame Peggy Ashcroft DBE Peggy Ashcroft 1962.jpg Peggy Ashcroft in 1962 Born Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft 22 December 1907 Croydon, Surrey, England Died 14 June 1991 (aged 83) London Occupation Actress Years active 1929–1991 Spouse(s) Rupert Hart-Davis (m. 1929–33) Theodore Komisarjevsky (m. 1934) Jeremy Hutchinson (m. 1940–65) Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991)[1] 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.[2] 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.[3] 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 – 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), The Taming of the Shrew (1960), and The Wars of the Roses, the Royal Shakespeare Company's massive landmark compendium of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III, directed by Peter Hall for the RSC in 1963.

Her last appearances for the RSC were as the Countess of Rousillon in Trevor Nunn's 1981 All's Well That Ends Well, a "perfect…performance" according to Financial Times critic Bertram Young,[4] and in a revival of The Hollow Crown for a gala performance at The Swan on 22 June 1986. Ashcroft's film and television appearances were rare but memorable. One of her earliest film roles was the minor part of the crofter's wife in the Robert Donat version of The Thirty-Nine Steps, directed by Alfred Hitchcock. In 1937, she appeared in a 30-minute excerpt of Twelfth Night on the BBC Television Service, alongside Greer Garson, the first known instance of a Shakespeare play being performed on television. She had minor supporting roles in The Nun's Story (1959) opposite Audrey Hepburn; Joseph Losey's Secret Ceremony (1968) starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mia Farrow; and Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) featuring Peter Finch and Glenda Jackson.

Peggy Ashcroft in 1962 In the 1970s, she starred in Der Fußgänger (English title: The Pedestrian), the Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning film, which won the Best Foreign Language Foreign Film of 1974. The film was directed by Austrian actor-director Maximilian Schell, and starred former international early screen peers Käthe Haack, Lil Dagover and Françoise Rosay. Possibly her best known celluloid role was that of Mrs. Moore in David Lean's 1984 film A Passage to India — a role for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress among many other awards, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. Ashcroft did not appear in person at the telecast to accept the Oscar, so Angela Lansbury accepted it on her behalf. Ashcroft's final theatrical film role was in John Schlesinger's Madame Sousatzka (1988) starring Shirley MacLaine.

On television, Ashcroft played Barbie Batchelor in the internationally acclaimed British miniseries The Jewel in the Crown (1984), for which she won a BAFTA Best Television Actress award and an Emmy Award nomination. Other memorable television roles include the miniseries Edward & Mrs. Simpson, Stephen Poliakoff's drama specials Caught on a Train and She's Been Away (both directed by Peter Hall), and a miniseries version of John le Carré's A Perfect Spy, for which she received her second Emmy nomination. Other: In May 1986 Ashcroft was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.[citation needed]. She was Godmother to commercials director Patrick Cadell and Jennifer Caron Hall, and said to be the only honorary female member of the Garrick Club. Honours: Ashcroft was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951, and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1956.

Personal life: She was married three times, firstly to Sir Rupert Hart-Davis (between 1929 and 1933), secondly to Theodore Komisarjevsky (in 1934) and thirdly to Jeremy Hutchinson, Baron Hutchinson of Lullington, whom she married in 1940 and divorced in 1965.[1] By her third husband, Peggy had two children, a son Nicholas, born 1946[1] and a daughter Eliza[1] born in 1941. One of her granddaughters is the French singer Emily Loizeau.[5] Ashcroft was the inspiration for the character Julie Walters portrayed in the film Driving Lessons, written and directed by Jeremy Brock who had worked for Ashcroft decades earlier. Peggy Ashcroft died of a stroke on 14 June 1991, aged 83. Legacy: She was commemorated with memorial plaque in Poet's Corner, Westminster Abbey (just above the grave of fellow Central School of Speech and Drama pupil and friend Laurence Olivier and 18th-century actor David Garrick).

The Ashcroft Theatre is a theatre located within the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, South London. The theatre was named after Croydon-born Dame Peggy Ashcroft and is a proscenium theatre with a stepped auditorium.

Filmography Film: Year Title Role Notes 1933 The Wandering Jew Olalla Quintana 1935 The 39 Steps Margaret, the crofter's wife 1941 Quiet Wedding 1959 The Nun's Story Mother Mathilde Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 1968 Secret Ceremony Hannah 1969 Three Into Two Won't Go Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role 1971 Sunday Bloody Sunday Mrs Greville 1973 The Pedestrian (German: Der Fußgänger) Lady Gray 1984 A Passage to India Mrs Moore Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress National Board of Review Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated – National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress 1986 When the Wind Blows Hilda Bloggs (voice) 1988 Madame Sousatzka

 Lady Emily Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Television: Year Title Role Notes 1937 Twelfth Night 1967 The Wednesday Play: Days in the Trees 1971 Play of the Month: The Cherry Orchard 1978 Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actress (also for Edward & Mrs.

Simpson) 1978 Edward & Mrs.

Simpson Queen Mary Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actress (also for Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures) 1980 Caught on a Train Frau Messner Cream in My Coffee British Academy Television Award for Best Actress (also for BBC2 Playhouse) BBC2 Playhouse British Academy Television Award for Best Actress (also for Cream in My Coffee) Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress 1982 Play of the Month: Little Eyolf The Rat Wife 1984 The Jewel in the Crown Barbie Batchelor British Academy Television Award for Best Actress Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie 1987 A Perfect Spy Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie 1989 Screen One: She's Been Away Lillian Huckle Venice Film Festival – Golden Ciak Award for Best Actress Venice Film Festival – Pasinetti Award for Best Actress Volpi Cup Award for Best Actress Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actress Nominated – Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress Radio: The Duchess of Malf

i BBC Third Programme, (1954) Macbeth BBC Third Programme, (1966) References: ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography" entry on Flickr, accessed 9 May 2010 Jump up ^ Ian Herbert, ed.

(1981). "ASHCROFT, Dame Peggy". Who's Who in the Theatre 1. Gale Research Company. pp. 24–26. ISSN 0083-9833. Jump up ^ Duberman, Martin. Paul Robeson, 1989, pg 143. Jump up ^ Review, 6 July 1982 Jump up ^ Hutcheon, David (26 April 2011). "Emily Loizeau: Pays Sauvage". The Sunday Times. External links: Wikimedia Commons has media related to Peggy Ashcroft. Peggy Ashcroft at the Internet Broadway Database Peggy Ashcroft at the Internet Movie Database Peggy Ashcroft at the British Film Institute's Screenonline Ashcroft] Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE's Timeline 1907 Peggy Ashcroft - The Full Wiki The Full Wiki More info on Peggy Ashcroft Wikis Note: Many of our articles have direct quotes from sources you can cite, within the Wikipedia article! This article doesn't yet, but we're working on it! See more info or our list of citable articles .

Related top topics From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Peggy Ashcroft Dame Peggy Ashcroft, DBE (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991) was an English actress. Contents 10 External links Early years Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon , Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama . [1] 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. 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 - 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), The Taming of the Shrew (1960), and The War of the Roses , the Royal Shakespeare Company 's massive landmark compendium of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III , directed by Peter Hall for the RSC in 1963. Ashcroft's film and television appearances were rare but memorable. One of her earliest film roles was the minor part of the crofter's wife in the Robert Donat version of The Thirty-Nine Steps , directed by Alfred Hitchcock .

In 1937, she appeared in a 30-minute excerpt of Twelfth Night on the BBC Television Service , alongside Greer Garson , the first known instance of a Shakespeare play being performed on television. In the 1970s, she starred in Der Fußgänger (English title: The Pedestrian ), the Academy Award -nominated and Golden Globe -winning film, which won the Best Foreign Language Foreign Film of 1974, . The film was directed by Austrian actor-director Maximilian Schell , and starred former international early screen peers Käthe Haack , Lil Dagover and Françoise Rosay . Possibly her best known celluloid role was that of Mrs. Moore in David Lean 's 1984 film A Passage to India — a role for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress among many other awards, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award . Ashcroft did not appear in person at the telecast to accept the Oscar, so Angela Lansbury accepted it on her behalf. Ashcroft final theatrical motion picture role was in John Schlesinger 's Madame Sousatzka (1988) starring Shirley MacLaine .

On television, Ashcroft played Barbie Batchelor in the internationally acclaimed British miniseries The Jewel in the Crown (1984), for which she won a BAFTA Best Television Actress award and an Emmy Award nomination. Other memorable television roles include the miniseries Edward and Mrs. Simpson , Stephen Poliakoff 's drama special Caught on a Train , and a miniseries version of John Le Carre 's A Perfect Spy , for which she received her second Emmy nomination. Other In May 1986 Ashcroft was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University. Honours Ashcroft was appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951, and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1956. Personal life She was married three times, first to Rupert Hart-Davis (from 1929-33), and then to Theodore Komisarjevsky (1934). She had two children with her third husband, Jeremy Hutchinson , whom she married in 1940 and divorced in 1965. Her granddaughter is the French singer Emily Loizeau .

Ashcroft was the inspiration for the character Julie Walters portrayed in the film Driving Lessons , written and directed by Jeremy Brock who worked for Ashcroft decades earlier. Death Peggy Ashcroft died in London of a stroke in June 1991, aged 83. Legacy She was commemorated with memorial plaque in Poet's Corner , Westminster Abbey (just above the grave of fellow Central School of Speech and Drama pupil and friend Laurence Olivier and 18th Century actor David Garrick ). Filmography Peggy Ashcroft : definition of Peggy Ashcroft and synonyms of Peggy Ashcroft (English) 10 External links Early years Born as Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon , Surrey , Ashcroft attended the Woodford School, Croydon and the Central School of Speech and Drama . [2] 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 brief affair.

[3] 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 - 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), The Taming of the Shrew (1960), and The War of the Roses , the Royal Shakespeare Company 's massive landmark compendium of the three Henry VI plays and Richard III , directed by Peter Hall for the RSC in 1963.

Her last appearances for the RSC were as the Countess of Rousillon in Trevor Nunn 's 1981 All's Well That Ends Well , a "perfect…performance" according to Financial Times critic Bertram Young, [4] and in a revival of The Hollow Crown for a gala performance at The Swan on 22 June 1986. Ashcroft's film and television appearances were rare but memorable. One of her earliest film roles was the minor part of the crofter's wife in the Robert Donat version of The Thirty-Nine Steps , directed by Alfred Hitchcock . In 1937, she appeared in a 30-minute excerpt of Twelfth Night on the BBC Television Service , alongside Greer Garson , the first known instance of a Shakespeare play being performed on television. In the 1970s, she starred in Der Fußgänger (English title: The Pedestrian ), the Academy Award -nominated and Golden Globe -winning film, which won the Best Foreign Language Foreign Film of 1974.

The film was directed by Austrian actor-director Maximilian Schell , and starred former international early screen peers Käthe Haack , Lil Dagover and Françoise Rosay . Possibly her best known celluloid role was that of Mrs. Moore in David Lean 's 1984 film A Passage to India — a role for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress among many other awards, including a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award . Ashcroft did not appear in person at the telecast to accept the Oscar, so Angela Lansbury accepted it on her behalf. Ashcroft's final theatrical film role was in John Schlesinger 's Madame Sousatzka (1988) starring Shirley MacLaine . On television, Ashcroft played Barbie Batchelor in the internationally acclaimed British miniseries The Jewel in the Crown (1984), for which she won a BAFTA Best Television Actress award and an Emmy Award nomination. Other memorable television roles include the miniseries Edward & Mrs. Simpson , Stephen Poliakoff 's drama special Caught on a Train , and a miniseries version of John le Carré 's A Perfect Spy , for which she received her second Emmy nomination.

Other In May 1986 Ashcroft was awarded an honorary degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.[ citation needed ] Honours Ashcroft was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1951, and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1956. Personal life She was married three times, firstly to Rupert Hart-Davis (between 1929 and 1933), secondly to Theodore Komisarjevsky (in 1934) and thirdly to Jeremy Hutchinson , whom she married in 1940 and divorced in 1965. [1] By her third husband, Peggy had two children, a son Nicholas, born 1946 [1] and a daughter Eliza [1] born in 1941. Her granddaughter is the French singer Emily Loizeau .[ citation needed ] Ashcroft was the inspiration for the character Julie Walters portrayed in the film Driving Lessons , written and directed by Jeremy Brock who had worked for Ashcroft decades earlier. Death Peggy Ashcroft died of a stroke on 14 June 1991, aged 83.

Legacy She was commemorated with memorial plaque in Poet's Corner , Westminster Abbey (just above the grave of fellow Central School of Speech and Drama pupil and friend Laurence Olivier and 18th century actor David Garrick ). The Ashcroft Theatre is a theatre located within the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, South London. The theatre was named after Croydon-born Dame Peggy Ashcroft and is a proscenium theatre with a stepped auditorium. Filmography

Question: Dame Peggy Ashcroft won an Oscar for her role in which 1984 film?
Answer: A Passage to India