Judith Anderson
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, AC, DBE (February 10, 1897 – January 3, 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. Considered one of the greatest classical stage actors of the 20th century, she has two Emmy Awards and a Tony Award to her name, as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award and an Academy Award each. She began her acting career in Australia but her ambition brought her to New York in 1918. 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.
Known For
Credits
- 2018 · Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood as Self (archive footage)
- 1991 · Preminger: Anatomy of a Filmmaker as actress 'Laura' (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1986 · Impure Thoughts as The Sister of Purgatory (voice)
- 1984 · Santa Barbara as Minx Lockridge
- 1984 · Star Trek III: The Search for Spock as Vulcan High Priestess
- 1983 · Medea as Nurse
- 1975 · Inn of the Damned as Caroline Straulle
- 1974 · The Underground Man as Mrs. Snow
- 1973 · The Borrowers as Aunt Sophie
- 1970 · A Man Called Horse as Buffalo Cow Head
- 1969 · The File on Devlin as Elizabeth Devlin
- 1964 · Macbeth as Lady Macbeth
- 1964 · The Ghost of Sierra de Cobre as Paulina
- 1961 · Hollywood: The Selznick Years as 'Rebecca' (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1961 · Don't Bother to Knock as Maggie Shoemaker
- 1960 · Cinderfella as Wicked Stepmother
- 1959 · A Christmas Festival as Narrator of the final offering
- 1959 · The Moon and Sixpence as Tiare
- 1959 · Medea as Medea
- 1958 · Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as Big Momma
- 1957 · DuPont Show of the Month as Marquesa de Montemayor
- 1956 · The Ten Commandments as Memnet
- 1955 · Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Mrs. Danvers (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 1954 · Climax! as Rachel
- 1953 · Salome as Queen Herodias
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Lady Macbeth
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as The Prioress
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Queen Elizabeth I
- 1951 · Hallmark Hall of Fame as Elizabeth Devlin
- 1950 · The Furies as Flo Burnett
- 1948 · The Ed Sullivan Show as Self
- 1947 · Tycoon as Miss Ellen Braithwaite
- 1947 · Pursued as Mrs. Callum
- 1947 · The Red House as Ellen Morgan
- 1946 · The Strange Love of Martha Ivers as Mrs. Ivers
- 1946 · Specter of the Rose as Madame La Sylph
- 1946 · The Diary of a Chambermaid as Madame Lanlaire
- 1945 · And Then There Were None as Emily Brent
- 1944 · Laura as Ann Treadwell
- 1943 · Stage Door Canteen as Judith Anderson
- 1943 · Edge of Darkness as Gerd Bjarnesen
- 1942 · Kings Row as Harriet Gordon
- 1942 · All Through the Night as Madame
- 1941 · Lady Scarface as Slade
- 1941 · Free and Easy as Lady Joan Culver
- 1940 · Forty Little Mothers as Madame Granville
- 1940 · Rebecca as Mrs. Danvers
- 1933 · Blood Money as Ruby Darling