Alison Leggatt | |
|---|---|
 Photo byBassano Ltd,1927 | |
| Born | Alison Joy Leggatt (1904-02-07)7 February 1904 Kensington,London, England |
| Died | 15 July 1990(1990-07-15) (aged 86) London, England |
| Alma mater | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama |
| Occupation | Actress |
Alison Joy Leggatt (7 February 1904 – 15 July 1990) was an Englishcharacter actress.
Born in theKensington district ofLondon, Leggatt trained underElsie Fogerty at theCentral School of Speech and Drama, then based in theRoyal Albert Hall, London.[1] Leggatt spent the early part of her career primarily on the stage. Her performance inMiles Malleson'sThe Fanatics in 1927 launched her, according toThe New York Times, as "one of the most promising theatrical newcomers of her generation".[2][3] Other stage work included the original 1931Drury Lane production ofCavalcade byNoël Coward.[4] Her first major film credit was as Aunt Sylvia inThis Happy Breed (1944), Noël Coward's homage to theBritishworking class.[5] She was known for playing a variety of disapproving in-laws, motherly landladies, nosy neighbours and helpful housekeepers.[6] She played oppositePetula Clark three times, inHere Come the Huggetts (1948),The Card (1952) andGoodbye, Mr. Chips (1969). In theJohn Schlesinger film version ofFar from the Madding Crowd (1967) she played Mrs Hurst; her final screen appearance was in theSherlock Holmes filmThe Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976).[7]
Additional theatre work included appearances atStratford, as well as the originalWest End productions ofBernard Shaw'sGeneva in 1938;T.S. Eliot'sThe Cocktail Party andThe Confidential Clerk in 1950 and 1954;John Osborne'sEpitaph for George Dillon in 1958 (and itsBroadway transfer);Harold Pinter'sA Slight Ache in 1961; andN. F. Simpson'sOne Way Pendulum in 1959 (and its 1964film version).[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
Leggatt's television credits includeJonathan Miller’s production ofAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1966) (as the Queen of Hearts), the 1975 mini-seriesEdward the Seventh, in which she portrayedQueen Victoria's mother, theDuchess of Kent,[16] and a memorable turn in an episode of the prison drama seriesWithin These Walls (1978), where she played Alice Drewett, the narcissistic sister of an inmate who is released into her 'care'.
Alison Leggatt died of natural causes in London, aged 86.[2]
