Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was an English and American actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell".
Early life Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, the daughter of Bertram Thomas Winnifrith, a headmaster and Anglican rector, and his second wife, Edith Maude Digby-Roper. Her father supported his daughter in her desire to become an actress. Lee's grandfather, Reverend Alfred Winnifrith, was Rector of Mariansleigh. During WWI, he provided for Belgian refugees and was awarded the Medaille du Roi Albert. Lee's brother, Sir John Winnifrith, was a senior British civil servant who became permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture. She was the goddaughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and lifelong friend of his daughter, Dame Jean Conan Doyle.
Career Britain Lee trained at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art at the Royal Albert Hall, and made her debut with a bit part in His Lordship (1932), when she was 19. She played a number of minor, often uncredited, roles in films during the early 1930s. Lee began to get more prominent roles in films to satisfy the Cinematograph Films Act 1927 (17 & 18 Geo. 5. c. 29), which was an act of the United Kingdom Parliament designed to stimulate the declining British film industry.Chibnall, pp.40–41 She was known for her roles in films set amongst the wealthy, particularly in Chelsea Life (1933), in which she starred with Louis Hayward.Chibnall, pp. 117–18
In 1934, Lee signed a contract with Gainsborough Pictures, the biggest British production company of the era. She played leading lady roles in a variety of different genres at Gainsborough, including the comedy-thriller The Camels Are Coming, the drama The Passing of the Third Floor Back, the horror film The Man Who Changed His Mind and the war film OHMS. She appeared in the 1935 Jessie Matthews musical First a Girl as the aristocratic playgirl and other woman, Princess Miranoff. In 1937, she starred in one of the studio's large-budget productions, King Solomon's Mines.
In 1933, Lee met the director Robert Stevenson, who became her first husband, while shooting The Camels Are Coming on location in Egypt.The Unknown 1930s p. 163 In 1937, she starred in his picture, Non-Stop New York, for Gaumont British. During 1938, she took time off from acting to give birth to her first child.The Unknown 1930s, p. 173 In 1939, Lee and her husband switched to Ealing Studios run by Michael Balcon, the former head of Gainsborough. She played a 19th-century Irish music hall performer who falls in love with an aristocrat in the comedy Young Man's Fancy (1939) and a journalist who helps heroes thwart a foreign enemy's plot against Britain in The Four Just Men (1939).
Her final film in Britain was Return to Yesterday, a film about a young repertory theatre actress who falls in love with a Hollywood star she meets while touring in a small seaside town.The Unknown 1930s p.174-76 Lee and Stevenson emigrated to the United States, her husband having gained a contract with David O. Selznick. She remained supportive of the British war effort during World War II, and in 1943 appeared alongside other British actors in Forever and a Day, a film made to raise money for British charities.
United States After her move to Hollywood, she became associated with John Ford, appearing in several of his films, including How Green Was My Valley (1941), Fort Apache (1948), and Two Rode Together (1961). She co-starred with John Wayne and John Carroll in Flying Tigers (1942).
She had a lead role opposite Brian Donlevy and Walter Brennan in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1943), a wartime thriller relating to the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. She worked for producer Val Lewton in the horror/thriller Bedlam (1946).
Lee made frequent appearances on television anthology series in the 1940s and 1950s, including Robert Montgomery Presents, The Ford Theatre Hour, Kraft Television Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre and Wagon Train. She made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as Crystal Durham in "The Case of the Unsuitable Uncle" (1962). She guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the 1963 episode “Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans” (S1E28).
In 1958, she returned to Britain to appear in John Ford's Gideon's Day (US Title: Gideon of Scotland Yard), in which she played the detective's wife. She had a small role as Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music, one of the two nuns who thwarted the Nazis by removing car engine parts, allowing the Von Trapps to escape. Lee appeared in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) in a main supporting role as Mrs. Bates, a neighbour of the sisters played by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. In 1994, Lee took the leading role in the feature film What Can I Do?, directed by Wheeler Winston Dixon.
In later years, she became known as matriarch Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital and Port Charles. Lila was a contract role until 2003, when Lee was taken off contract and dropped to recurring status by Jill Farren Phelps, a move widely protested in the soap world.Soap Opera Weekly, 13 February 2007, p. 2 According to fellow General Hospital actress Leslie Charleson, Lee had been promised a job for life by former General Hospital executive producer Wendy Riche. When interviewed in 2007, Charleson said, "The woman was in her 90s. And then when the new powers-that-be took over they fired her, and it broke her heart. It was not necessary."
Personal life Lee married director Robert Stevenson, in 1933 and moved to Hollywood in 1939. They had two daughters, Venetia and Caroline. Venetia Stevenson, a former actress, was married to Don Everly of the Everly Brothers and has three children, Edan, Erin, and Stacy. Lee and Stevenson divorced in March 1944, with Venetia and Caroline electing to live with their father. Lee met her second husband, George Stafford, the pilot of the plane on her USO tour during the Second World War. They married on 8 June 1944, and had three sons, John, Stephen and Tim Stafford.Star Diary, 10 October 1954.
Tim Stafford is an actor under the stage name of Jeffrey Byron. Lee and Stafford divorced in 1964. Her final marriage was to novelist Robert Nathan (The Bishop's Wife, Portrait of Jennie), on 5 April 1970, and ended at his death in 1985.
Lee became a naturalised US citizen under the name Joanna Boniface Stafford (#123624) on 6 April 1945; certificate issued 8 June 1945 (#6183889, Los Angeles, California).
In the 1930s, Lee occupied a house at 49 Bankside in London; she was later interviewed by writer Gillian Tindall for a book written about the address, The House by the Thames, released in 2006. Built in 1710, the house has served as a home for coal merchants, an office, a boarding house, a hangout for derelicts, and a private residence in the 1900s. The house is listed in tour guides as a famous residence and has been variously claimed as possibly being home to Christopher Wren during the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral.
In 1981, a car accident left her paralysed from the waist down.
Lee was a staunch Conservative and stated that her views coincided with those of Sir Winston Churchill.Obituary, Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 September 2015.Obituary, The Independent. Retrieved 22 September 2015.Interview, westernclippings.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
Awards and honours In the 1983 New Year Honours, Lee was awarded an MBE for services to the British community in Los Angeles, after fundraising for the White Cliffs at Dover and Ightham Mote. In 1995, her star was installed on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. On 21 May 2004, she was posthumously awarded a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award; she was scheduled for months to receive the award, but died from pneumonia at age 91 before she could receive it. Her son, Jeffrey Byron, accepted the award on her behalf. On 16 July 2004, General Hospital aired a tribute to Lee by holding a memorial service for Lila Quartermaine.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes1932 Ebb Tide Uncredited Say It with Music His Lordship Scrub Girl Chorine Uncredited1933 The King's Cup Minor Role Uncredited Yes, Mr. Brown Uncredited Mayfair Girl Bit Role Uncredited The Bermondsey Kid Chelsea Life Muriel Maxton Mannequin Babette 1934 Faces Madeleine Pelham Rolling in Money Lady Eggleby Lucky Loser Ursula Hamilton The Camels Are Coming Anita Rodgers 1935 Heat Wave Jane Allison The Passing of the Third Floor Back Vivian First a Girl Princess Miranoff 1936 The Man Who Changed His Mind Dr Wyatt 1937 OHMS Sally Briggs King Solomon's Mines Kathy O'Brien Non-Stop New York Jennie Carr 1939 The Four Just Men Ann Lodge Young Man's Fancy Miss Ada 1940 Return to Yesterday Carol Sands Seven Sinners Dorothy 1941 My Life with Caroline Caroline How Green Was My Valley Bronwyn 1942 Flying Tigers Brooke Elliott Commandos Strike at Dawn Judith Bowen 1943 Forever and a Day Cornelia Trimble-Pomfret Flesh and Fantasy Rowena (Episode #2) Hangmen Also Die! Masha Novotny 1944 Summer Storm Nadena Kalenin 1946 Bedlam Nell Bowen G.I. War Brides Linda Powell 1947 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir Mrs Miles Fairley High Conquest Marie Correl 1948 Fort Apache Mrs Emily Collingwood Best Man Wins Nancy Smiley 1949 Prison Warden Elisa Pennington Burnell 1958 Gideon's Day (US Title: Gideon of Scotland Yard) Mrs Kate Gideon The Last Hurrah Gert Minihan 1959 The Horse Soldiers Mrs Buford This Earth Is Mine Charlotte Rambeau The Crimson Kimono Mac Jet Over the Atlantic Ursula Leverett 1960 The Big Night Mrs Turner 1961 Two Rode Together Mrs Malaprop 1962 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Mrs. Prescott Uncredited Jack the Giant Killer Lady Constance What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Mrs. Bates Mutiny on the Bounty Uncredited1964 For Those Who Think Young Laura Pruitt The Unsinkable Molly Brown Titanic Passenger in Lifeboat Uncredited1965 The Sound of Music Sister Margaretta 1966 7 Women Mrs Russell Picture Mommy Dead Elsie Kornwald 1967 In Like Flint Elisabeth 1968 Star! Hostess Uncredited1978 Legend of the Northwest 1979 The Night Rider Lady Earl 1987 Right Hand Man Worn Woman Beyond the Next Mountain Governor's Wife 1989 Listen to Me Garson's Grandmother Beverly Hills Brats Gertie 1994 What Can I Do Elderly Woman
Television Year Title Role Notes1950 Robert Montgomery Presents Frances Lawrence 1 episode1951 Studio One Anita Derr 1 episode1952 Robert Montgomery Presents Ann Hammond 2 episodes1958 Peter Gunn Sister Thomas Aquinas 1 episode Perry Mason Lucille Alfred 1 episode1960 The Barbara Stanwyck Show 1 episode1960 Wagon Train Allyris a nurse, and wife of Dr. Craven (portrayed by Carleton Young) S4 E9 "The Colter Craven Story"1962 Perry Mason Crystal Durham 1 episode McHale's Navy Pamela Parfrey 1 episode (Christmas) 111963 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Roberta Saunders Season 1 Episode 28: "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans"1964 The Movie Maker TV movie1965 Combat! Sister Lescaut (episode: "The Enemy")1966 My Three Sons Louise Allen 1 episode1967 Gunsmoke Amy Bassett 1 episode1968 Mannix Mrs. Harriman (episode: "Edge of the Knife")1970 Mission: Impossible Maria Malik (episode: "The Martyr")1973 My Darling Daughters' Anniversary Judge Barbara Hanline TV movie1977 Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years Laura Delano TV movie1978 The Beasts Are on the Streets Mrs. Jackson TV movie1979–2003 General Hospital Lila Quartermaine (final appearance)1980 Scruples Aunt Wilhelmina 3 episodes1997 Port Charles Lila Quartermaine
References
Sources Chibnall, Steve. Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film. British Film Institute, 2007. Richards, Jeffrey (ed.). The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939. I.B. Tauris & Co, 1998.
External links
Photos of Anna Lee in 'Hangmen Also Die' by Ned Scott