Peggy Ashcroft
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Peggy Ashcroft (December 22, 1907–June 14, 1991) was an English actress.
Born Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft in Croydon, a suburb of London, Ashcroft attended the Central School of Speech and Drama. A prolific stage actress from a young age, Peggy 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. In 1937 she appeared in Twelfth Night on the BBC Television Service, the first known instance of a Shakespeare play to be performed on television.
Possibly her best known celluloid role was that of Mrs Moore in A Passage to India - a role which won her an Academy Award in 1984 for Best Actress In A Supporting Role. On television, 1984 saw Peggy Ashcroft appear in the role of Barbie Batchelor in the internationally acclaimed mini-series The Jewel in the Crown, for which she won a BAFTA Best Television Actress award.
Peggy Ashcroft was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1951, and made a Dame Commander in 1956. She died in London on June 14, 1991 of a stroke.
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Appearances
Film
- Madame Sousatzka (1988) - Lady Emily
- A Passage To India (1984) - Mrs Moore
- The 39 Steps (1935)
- The Wandering Jew (1933) - Olalla Quintana
Television
- Twelfth Night (1937)
- She's Been Away Too Long
- The Jewel in the Crown - Barbie Batchelor
- Play of the Month: The Rat Wife (1982)
- Play of the Month: Little Eyolf (1982)
- Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978) - Queen Mary
- Play of the Month The Cherry Orchard (1971)
- The Wednesday Play: Days in the Trees (1967)