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Peggy Ashcroft was a leading light of London's West End and widely considered one of the century's greatest British stage actresses. Her most famous early role was as Desdemona opposite Paul Robeson's Othello in the early 1940s and her first film was the British Gaumont production "The Wandering Jew" (1933). She was especially memorable as the quiet, emotionally suffocating village wife who briefly shelters the on-the-lam Robert Donat in Alfred Hitchcock's classic "The Thirty Nine Steps" (1935)....
Full Bio , Awards & Milestones

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Filmography

She's Been Away - ( Lillian Huckle / 1991 / Released / Matlon )
Madame Sousatzka - ( Lady Emily / 1988 / Released / Village Roadshow Pictures Worldwide )
When the Wind Blows - ( of Hilda Bloggs / 1988 / Released / )
A Passage to India - ( Mrs Moore / 1984 / Released / Columbia-EMI-Warner )
Caught on a Train - ( Frau Messner / 1980 / Released / )
Hullabaloo Over Georgie and Bonnie's Pictures - ( Lady Gwyneth / 1979 / Released / )
The Pedestrian - ( Lady Gray / 1974 / Released / )
Sunday, Bloody Sunday - ( Mrs Greville / 1971 / Released / United Artists Pictures Inc. )
Three Into Two Won't Go - ( Belle / 1969 / Released / )
Secret Ceremony - ( Aunt Hanna / 1968 / Released / )
Tell Me Lies - ( / 1968 / Released / )
The Nun's Story - ( Mother Mathilde / 1959 / Released / )
The 39 Steps - ( Crofter's Wife / 1935 / Released / MGM/UA Distribution Company )

TV Credits
Backstage at Masterpiece Theatre: A 20th Anniversary Special ( 1991 / Released ): Actor
Cream in My Coffee ( 1990 / Released ): Actor
Murder By the Book ( 1990 / Released ): Actor
The Heat of the Day ( 1990 / Released ): Actor
A Perfect Spy ( 1988 / Released ): Actor
The Jewel in the Crown ( 1984 / Released ): Actor
Laurence Olivier -- A Life ( Released ): Actor

Full Biography (Back to top)


Peggy Ashcroft was a leading light of London's West End and widely considered one of the century's greatest British stage actresses. Her most famous early role was as Desdemona opposite Paul Robeson's Othello in the early 1940s and her first film was the British Gaumont production "The Wandering Jew" (1933). She was especially memorable as the quiet, emotionally suffocating village wife who briefly shelters the on-the-lam Robert Donat in Alfred Hitchcock's classic "The Thirty Nine Steps" (1935). Along with frequent costar John Gielgud, Ashcroft's leading men during her 65-year career included Laurence Olivier, Michael Redgrave and Ralph Richardson. She enjoyed her greatest international acclaim and won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her 1984 role in David Lean's film adaptation of the E.M. Forster novel "A Passage to India" and subsequently won renown for the TV miniseries "The Jewel in the Crown" (1984-85).

Profession(s):
Actor
Sometimes Credited As:
Dame Peggy Ashcroft
Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft
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Family
brother:Edward Ashcroft (only close relative of the actor)
daughter:Eliza Hutchinson (born in 1941; father, Jeremy Hutchinson)
father:William Worsley Ashcroft (killed in WWI when daughter was 10)
husband:Rupert Charles Hart-Davis (married December 23, 1929; divorced in 1931)
husband:Theodore Komisarjevsky (married in November 1934; divorced on June 15, 1937)
husband:Jeremy Nicholas Hutchinson (married on September 14, 1940; divorced in December 1965)
mother:Violetta Maud Ashcroft (died when daughter was 18)
son:Nicholas Hutchinson (born in 1945; father, Jeremy Hutchinson)

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Education
Woodford School Croydon, England
Central School of Speech and Drama London, England
Awards (Back to top)

Special Olivier Award 1990 - 1991
Venice Film Festival Best Actress Award "She's Been Away" 1989
Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actress "A Passage to India" 1984
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actress "A Passage to India" 1984
National Board of Review Award Best Supporting Actress "A Passage to India" 1984
New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress "A Passage to India" 1984
Oscar Best Supporting Actress "A Passage to India" 1984
Society of West End Theatres (SWET) Award Best Actress "Old World" 1975 - 1976
Plays and Players London Theatre Critics Award Best Actress "Lovers of Viorne" and "Henry VIII" 1971
Plays and Players London Theatre Critics Award Best Actress "A Delicate Balance" and "Landscape" 1969
King's Medal "Hedda Gabler" 0

Milestones (Back to top)

1984 Received career boost and widest exposure in years with her acclaimed role in the David Lean film, "A Passage to India"
1962 First British actress to have a theater named after her while still alive--the Ashcroft, in her home town of Croydon
1959 TV debut in "Shadow of Heroes"
1937 Broadway stage debut in "High Tor"
1933 Film acting debut in "The Wandering Jew"
1927 London stage debut in "One Day More"
1926 Stage debut in "Dear Brutus" at Birmingham Repertory Theatre

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