Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994), known professionally asJessica Tandy, was an English and American actress. She appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving anAcademy Award, fourTony Awards, aBAFTA Award, aGolden Globe Award, and aPrimetime Emmy Award.
The youngest of three siblings, Tandy was born in Geldeston Road inHackney, London, to Harry Tandy and his wife, Jessie Helen Horspool.[1] Her mother was from a largeFenland family inWisbech, Cambridgeshire, and the head of a school for disabled children, and her father was a travelling salesman for a rope manufacturer.[2] She was educated atDame Alice Owen's School inIslington.
Her father died when she was 12, and her mother subsequently taught evening courses to earn an income. Her brother Edward was later aprisoner of war of the Japanese in Asia.[3]
She entered films in Britain, but after her marriage toJack Hawkins failed, she moved to the United States hoping to find better roles. During her time as a leading actress on the stage in London, she often had to fight over roles with her two rivals,Peggy Ashcroft andCelia Johnson.[5] In the following years, she played supporting roles in several Hollywood films.
Like many stage actors, Tandy also worked in radio. Among other programs, she was a regular onMandrake the Magician[6] (as Princess Narda), and then with her second husbandHume Cronyn inThe Marriage[7] which ran on radio from 1953 to 1954, and then segued onto television.
However, it was her colourful performance inDriving Miss Daisy (1989), as an aging, stubbornSouthern Jewish matron, that earned her anOscar.[11]
She received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in the grassroots hitFried Green Tomatoes (1991) and co-starred inThe Story Lady (1991 TV film, with her daughter Tandy Cronyn),Used People (1992, asShirley MacLaine's mother), television filmTo Dance with the White Dog (1993, with Cronyn), andCamilla (1994, with Cronyn).Nobody's Fool (1994) proved to be her last performance, at the age of 84.
In 1932, Tandy married English actorJack Hawkins and together they had a daughter, Susan Hawkins.[12] Susan became an actress and was the daughter-in-law ofJohn Moynihan Tettemer, a former Passionist monk who authoredI Was a Monk: The Autobiography of John Tettemer, and was cast in small roles inLost Horizon andMeet John Doe.[13]
Tandy and Hawkins divorced in 1940. She married Canadian actorHume Cronyn in 1942.[12] Prior to moving toConnecticut, she and Cronyn lived for many years in nearbyPound Ridge, New York, and they remained together until her death in 1994. They had two children, daughter Tandy Cronyn, an actress who co-starred with her mother in the TV filmThe Story Lady, and son Christopher Cronyn. Tandy became anaturalised citizen of the US in 1952.
In 1990, Tandy was diagnosed withovarian cancer, and she also suffered fromangina andglaucoma. Despite her illnesses and advancing age she continued working. On September 11, 1994, she died at home inEaston, Connecticut, at the age of 85.[4][14][15]
Harvey Fierstein / Marco Paguia, David Oquendo, Renesito Avich, Gustavo Schartz, Javier Días, Román Diaz, Mauricio Herrera, Jesus Ricardo, Eddie Venegas, Hery Paz, and Leonardo Reyna / Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone, and Edward Pierce (2025)
