Beatrix Lehmann
Beatrix Lehmann | |
---|---|
Photo by John Vickers | |
Born | Beatrix Alice Lehmann 1 July 1903 Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England |
Died | 31 July 1979 Camden, London, England | (aged 76)
Occupation(s) | Actress, theatre director, author |
Years active | 1924–1979 |
Partner | Henrietta Bingham |
Parent(s) | Rudolph Chambers Lehmann (father) Alice Mary Davis (mother) |
Relatives | Rosamond Lehmann (sister) John Lehmann (brother) Henri Lehmann (great-uncle) |
Beatrix Alice Lehmann (1 July 1903 – 31 July 1979) was a British actress, theatre director, writer and novelist.[1][2]
Early life and family
[edit]Lehmann was born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. She came from a family of notable achievers: the third of four children of author and publisher Rudolph Chambers Lehmann. Her great-uncle was Henri Lehmann the artist.[3] Her brother was publisher John Lehmann and one of her two elder sisters was the novelist Rosamond Lehmann.[4]
Career
[edit]Lehmann trained at RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Hammersmith.[5] She also appeared in films and on television.[6] She wrote short stories and two novels, including Rumour of Heaven, first published in 1934 (ISBN 014016166X).[2] In 1946 Lehmann became director and producer of the Arts Council Midland Theatre Company.[5]
She was awarded Britain's Radio Actress of the Year in 1977.[7] In 1962 she played the matriarch Bernadette Amorelle in a Maigret episode, The Dirty House. She played Susan Calvin in "The Prophet" (1967), a now lost episode of the British science fiction television series Out of the Unknown, and appeared in the Doctor Who serial The Stones of Blood (1978) as Professor Emilia Rumford.[8] In 1978 she played Mrs Pleasant in a film version of The Cat and The Canary.[9] Other roles include Z-Cars, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, War and Peace, Love for Lydia, Staircase, Armchair Thriller and Crime and Punishment.
Death
[edit]Lehmann died in Camden, London, aged 76.
There are 12 portraits of Lehmann in the British National Portrait Gallery Collection.[5]
Filmography
[edit]- The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1935) as Miss Kite
- Strangers on Honeymoon (1936) as Elfrida
- The Rat (1937) as Marguerite
- Candles at Nine (1944) as Julia Carberry, Everard's Housekeeper
- The Key (1958) as Housekeeper
- On the Fiddle (1961) as Lady Edith
- Psyche 59 (1964) as Mrs. Crawford
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) as Tribunal President
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) as Domina's Mother
- Wonderwall (1968) as Mother
- The Portrait of a Lady (1968, TV Series) as Lydia Touchett
- Staircase (1969) as Charlie's Mother
- The Cat and the Canary (1978) as Mrs. Pleasant
- The Stones of Blood (Doctor Who) (1978) as Professor Rumford
References
[edit]- ^ "Beatrix Lehmann". Oxfordreference.com.
- ^ a b "Rumour of Heaven". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ Guppy, Shusha (11 August 1985). "Rosamond Lehmann, The Art of Fiction No. 88". The Paris Review. Vol. Summer 1985, no. 96 – via www.theparisreview.org.
- ^ "Lehmann Family Papers - Rare Books and Special Collections". rbsc.princeton.edu.
- ^ a b c "Beatrix Lehmann – Person – National Portrait Gallery". Npg.org.uk. 22 September 1970. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ "Beatrix Lehmann – Movies and Filmography – AllMovie". AllMovie.
- ^ "Beatrix Lehmann, British Actress of Stage, Screen, TV and Radio". The New York Times. 2 August 1979. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – The Stones of Blood – Details". BBC. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ "The Cat and the Canary (1981)". Bfi.org. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.