Judith Anderson

Judith Anderson

  • Birthday: 1897-02-08
  • Deathday: 1992-01-03
  • Place of birth: Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  • Also know as: Frances Margaret Anderson

Biography

Dame Judith Anderson was born Frances Margaret Anderson on February 10, 1897 in Adelaide, South Australia. She began her acting career in Australia before moving to New York in 1918. There she established herself as one of the greatest theatrical actresses and was a major star on Broadway throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Her notable stage works included the role of Lady Macbeth, which she played first in the 1920s, and gave an Emmy Award-winning television performance in Macbeth (1960). Anderson's long association with Euripides's "Medea" began with her acclaimed Tony Award-winning 1948 stage performance in the title role. She appeared in the television version of Medea (1983) in the supporting character of the Nurse. Anderson made her Hollywood film debut under director Rowland Brown in a supporting role in Blood Money (1933). Her striking, not conventionally attractive features were complemented with her powerful presence, mastery of timing and an effortless style. Anderson made a film career as a supporting character actress in several significant films including Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), for which she was Oscar nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She worked with director Otto Preminger in Laura (1944), then with René Clair in And Then There Were None (1945). Her remarkable performance in a supporting role in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) fit in a stellar acting ensemble under director Richard Brooks. Anderson was awarded Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 1960 Queen's New Year's Honours List for her services to the performing arts. Living in Santa Barbara in her later years, she also had a successful stint on the soap opera Santa Barbara (1984) and was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1984. In the same year, at age 87, she appeared in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) as the High Priestess, and was nominated for a Saturn Award for that role. She was awarded Companion of the Order of Australia in the 1991 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to the performing arts. Anderson died at age 94 of pneumonia on January 3, 1992 in Santa Barbara, California.

Filmography

Inn of the Damned

1975

As Caroline Straulle

Specter of the Rose

1946

As Madame La Sylph

A Christmas Festival

1959

As Narrator of the final offering

The File on Devlin

1969

As Elizabeth Devlin

Medea

1959

As Medea

Blood Money

1933

As Ruby Darling

Lady Scarface

1941

As Slade

Medea

1983

As Nurse

Macbeth

1964

As Lady Macbeth

Hollywood: The Selznick Years

1961

As 'Rebecca' (archive footage) (uncredited)

The Red House

1947

As Ellen Morgan

Pursued

1947

As Mrs. Callum

A Man Called Horse

1970

As Buffalo Cow Head

Stage Door Canteen

1943

As Judith Anderson

Cinderfella

1960

As Wicked Stepmother

Forty Little Mothers

1940

As Madame Granville

Free and Easy

1941

As Lady Joan Culver

The Underground Man

1974

As Mrs. Snow

Rebecca

1940

As Mrs. Danvers

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

1958

As Big Momma

Salome

1953

As Queen Herodias

The Furies

1950

As Flo Burnett

Tycoon

1947

As Miss Ellen Braithwaite

Laura

1944

As Ann Treadwell

The Diary of a Chambermaid

1946

As Madame Lanlaire

The Borrowers

1973

As Aunt Sophie

Edge of Darkness

1943

As Gerd Bjarnesen

Don't Bother to Knock

1961

As Maggie Shoemaker

The Moon and Sixpence

1959

As Tiare

All Through the Night

1942

As Madame

Kings Row

1942

As Harriet Gordon

And Then There Were None

1945

As Emily Brent

Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

1984

As Vulcan High Priestess

The Ten Commandments

1956

As Memnet

Impure Thoughts

1986

As The Sister of Purgatory (voice)

Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker

1991

As actress 'Laura' (archive footage) (uncredited)

Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood

2018

As Self (archive footage)

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