Margaret Rutherford
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| Dame Margaret Rutherford | ||||||||||
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 Margaret Rutherford as Miss Marple |
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| Born | Margaret Rutherford May 11, 1892 Balham, London, England |
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| Died | May 22, 1972 (aged 80) Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire, England |
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| Spouse(s) | Stringer Davis (1945-1972) | |||||||||
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Dame Margaret Rutherford DBE (May 11, 1892 – May 22, 1972) was an Academy Award-winning English character actress who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.
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[edit] Biography
Born in the South London suburb of Balham she was the only child of Mr. and Mrs. William Rutherford Benn (William Rutherford). Her father suffered from mental illness for many years, and on 4 March 1883, he battered his father to death.[1]
Rutherford made her stage debut at the Old Vic in 1925 at the age of thirty-three. However, her physical appearance was such that romantic heroines were almost out of the question, and she soon established her name in comedy, appearing in many of the most successful British films of the mid-20th century. "I never intended to play for laughs. I am always surprised that the audience thinks me funny at all," Rutherford wrote in her autobiography.[2] In most of these films, she had originally played the role on stage. She married the actor Stringer Davis in 1945. They often appeared together in films.
In the 1950s, Rutherford and Davis adopted the writer Gordon Langley Hall, then in his 20s. Hall later had gender reassignment surgery and became Dawn Langley Simmons, under which name she wrote a biography of Rutherford in 1983.
In 1961, Rutherford first played the film role with which she was most often associated in later life, that of Miss Marple in a series of films loosely-based on the novels of Agatha Christie. Rutherford won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe for The V.I.P.s (1963), as the absent-minded Duchess of Brighton, opposite Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
She was created an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961, and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in 1967. Rutherford was a cousin of the radical left-wing Labour politician Tony Benn. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease at the end of her life.
Margaret Rutherford is buried along with her husband, Stringer Davis, in the graveyard of St. James Church, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1936 | Talk of the Devil | Housekeeper | |
| Dusty Ermine | Evelyn Summers aka Miss Butterby, old gang moll | ||
| Troubled Waters | Bit role | uncredited | |
| 1937 | Missing, Believed Married | Lady Parke | |
| Catch As Catch Can | Maggie Carberry | ||
| Big Fella | Nanny | uncredited | |
| Beauty and the Barge | Mrs. Baldwin | ||
| 1941 | Spring Meeting | Aunt Bijou | |
| Quiet Wedding | Magistrate | ||
| 1943 | Yellow Canary | Mrs. Towcester | |
| The Demi-Paradise | Rowena Ventnor | ||
| 1944 | English Without Tears | Lady Christabel Beauclerk | |
| 1945 | Blithe Spirit | Madame Arcati | |
| 1947 | While the Sun Shines | Dr. Winifred Frye | |
| Meet Me at Dawn | Madame Vernore | ||
| 1948 | Miranda | Nurse Carey | |
| 1949 | Passport to Pimlico | Professor Hatton-Jones | |
| 1950 | The Happiest Days of Your Life | Muriel Whitchurch | |
| Her Favorite Husband | Mrs. Dotherington | ||
| 1951 | The Magic Box | Lady Pond | |
| 1952 | Curtain Up | Catherine Beckwith/Jeremy St. Claire | |
| Miss Robin Hood | Miss Honey | ||
| The Importance of Being Earnest | Miss Letitia Prism | ||
| Castle in the Air | Miss Nicholson | ||
| 1953 | Innocents in Paris | Gwladys Inglott | |
| Trouble in Store | Miss Bacon | ||
| 1954 | The Runaway Bus | Miss Cynthia Beeston | |
| Mad About Men | Nurse Carey | ||
| Aunt Clara | Clara Hilton | ||
| 1955 | An Alligator Named Daisy | Prudence Croquet | |
| 1957 | The Smallest Show on Earth | Mrs. Fazackalee | |
| Just My Luck | Mrs. Dooley | ||
| 1959 | I'm All Right Jack | Aunt Dolly | |
| 1961 | On the Double | Lady Vivian | |
| Murder, She Said | Miss Jane Marple | ||
| 1963 | Murder at the Gallop | Miss Jane Marple | |
| The Mouse on the Moon | Grand Duchess Gloriana XIII | ||
| The V.I.P.s | The Duchess of Brighton | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe |
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| 1964 | Murder Most Foul | Miss Jane Marple | |
| Murder Ahoy! | Miss Jane Marple | ||
| 1965 | Chimes at Midnight | Mistress Quickly | |
| The Alphabet Murders | Miss Jane Marple | uncredited cameo | |
| 1967 | A Countess from Hong Kong | Miss Gaulswallow | |
| Arabella | Princess Ilaria | ||
| The Wacky World of Mother Goose | Mother Goose | voice |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Patty Duke for The Miracle Worker |
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress 1963 for The V.I.P.s |
Succeeded by Lila Kedrova for Zorba the Greek |
| Preceded by Angela Lansbury for The Manchurian Candidate |
Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture 1964 for The V.I.P.s |
Succeeded by Agnes Moorehead for Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte |
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Rutherford, Margaret, as told to Gwen Robyns. Margaret Rutherford: An Autobiography. W. H. Allen, London. 1972.
- Simmons, Dawn Langley. Margaret Rutherford. A Blithe Spirit. London, 1983.
[edit] External links
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Miss Marple Murder films with Margaret Rutherford
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Films Murder, She Said | Murder at the Gallop | Murder Most Foul | Murder Ahoy! Based on the Agatha Christie novels 4.50 from Paddington | After the Funeral | Mrs. McGinty's Dead |
Cast Margaret Rutherford | Stringer Davis | Bud Tingwell Crew |
