The English actress Edith Evans, appeared in a wide range of stage and screen productions. After playing in amateur productions she turned professional in 1912 under the tutelage of the director William Poel. She came to wide public notice in 1924 with her performance as Millamant in The Way of the World and for the next fifty years was one of the leading performers on the British stage. She played several seasons on Broadway and made occasional appearances in continental Europe.

After briefly working in silent films during the First World War, Evans made no more screen appearances until after the Second. From 1949 to 1977 she made nineteen films. Two of them captured her celebrated stage performances: Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest and Mrs St Maugham in Enid Bagnold's The Chalk Garden. In some films she played supporting character roles, and in others took a leading part, notably The Whisperers in 1967 for which she received several awards and an Oscar nomination.

Evans can also be heard in sound recordings of two of her most famous roles - Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, opposite John Gielgud, and the Nurse in the Caedmon Records production of Romeo and Juliet.

Theatre Year Play Role VenueLondon, unless otherwise stated 1912 Sakuntalá Gautaumi Cambridge University 1912 Troilus and Cressida Cressida King's Hall, Covent Garden 1913 Elizabeth Cooper Martin Haymarket 1914 Hamlet Gertrude Little Theatre 1914 The Ladies' Comedy Isota Little Theatre 1914 Acid Drops Mrs Taylor Royalty 1914 My Lady's Dress Moeder Kaatje and Miss Sylvia Royalty 1914 Milestones Mrs Rhead Royalty 1916 The Conference Lady Frances Ponsonby Court 1916 The Man Who Stayed at Home Miss Myrtle Royalty 1918 The Dead City Nurse Court 1918 The Merry Wives of Windsor (basket scene, in variety) Mistress Ford London Coliseum and on tour 1918 The Merchant of Venice (trial scene, in variety) Nerissa London Coliseum and on tour 1918 Manfred Witch of the Alps and Destiny Drury Lane 1919 The Player Queen Nona King's Hall, Covent Garden 1919 The Merchant of Venice Nerissa Court 1920 My Lady's Dress Moeder Kaatje and Lady Appleby Royalty 1920 Wedding Bells Mrs Hunter Playhouse 1920 Venice Preserv'd Aquilina Lyric, Hammersmith"Venice Preserv'd", The Times, 1 December 1920, p. 10 1921 Daniel Madame Girard St James's 1921 Mother Eve Mrs Chester Ambassadors"Mother Eve", The Times, 26 April 1921, p. 8 1921 Polly With a Past Mrs Van Zile St James's 1921 The Witch of Edmonton Anne Ratcliffe Lyric, HammersmithBrown, Ivor. "The Witch of Edmonton", The Manchester Guardian, 27 April 1921, p. 6 1921 Out to Win Mrs Barraclough Shaftesbury 1921 Heartbreak House Lady Utterword Court 1922 The Wheel Mrs Faraker Apollo 1922 All for Love Cleopatra Shaftesbury 1922 I Serve Kate Harding Kingsway 1922 The Laughing Lady Cynthia Dell Globe 1922 Rumour Ruby Globe 1923 Taffy Marged Prince of Wales 1923 Back to Methuselah The Serpent, the Oracle, the She Ancient, the Ghost of the Serpent Birmingham Repertory"Back to Methuselah!" , Birmingham Repertory Theatre programme, October 1923 1923 The Merry Wives of Windsor Mistress Page Lyric, Hammersmith 1924 The Way of the World Millamant Lyric, Hammersmith 1924 The Adding Machine Daisy Devore Strand"Stage Society", The Times, 18 March 1924, p. 12 1924 Tiger Cats Suzanne Savoy 1924 Getting Married Mrs George Collins Everyman, Hampstead 1924 Back to Methuselah The Serpent, the She Ancient Court 1924 A Midsummer Night's Dream Helena Drury Lane 1925 The Painted Swan Ann Everyman, Hampstead 1925 The Merchant of Venice Portia Old Vic 1925 Richard III Queen Margaret Old Vic 1925 The Taming of the Shrew Katherina Old Vic 1925 Measure for Measure Mariana Old Vic 1925 Antony and Cleopatra Cleopatra Old Vic 1925 The Child in Flanders Vision Old Vic 1925 The Merry Wives of Windsor Mistress Page Old Vic 1926 She Stoops To Conquer Kate Hardcastle Old Vic 1926 Julius Caesar Portia Old Vic 1926 As You Like It Rosalind Old Vic 1926 Everyman Old Vic"Everyman at the Old Vic, London during the 1925–1926 season", University of Bristol Theatre Collection. Retrieved 7 August 2013 1926 Romeo and Juliet Nurse Old Vic 1926 The Shoemaker's Holiday Dame Margery Eyre Old Vic 1926 Much Ado About Nothing Beatrice Old Vic 1926 Caroline Maude Fulton Playhouse 1926 Rosmersholm Rebecca West Kingsway 1927 The Beaux' Stratagem Mrs Sullen Lyric, Hammersmith 1927 The Lady in Law Maître Bolbec Wyndham's 1927 The Way of the World Millamant Wyndham's 1928 Back to Methuselah The Serpent, the ghost of the Serpent Court 1928 The Tragic Muse Miriam Rooth Arts 1928 Napoleon's Josephine Josephine Fortune 1929 The Lady with a Lamp Florence Nightingale Arts (transferred to Garrick) 1929 The Apple Cart Orinthia Malvern Festival 1929 Heartbreak House Lady Utterword Malvern Festival 1929 The Apple Cart Orinthia Queen's 1930 The Beaux' Stratagem Mrs Sullen Royalty 1930 Delilah Delilah Prince of Wales 1931 OHMS Mrs Carruthers Arts (transferred to New) 1931 Tiger Cats Suzanne Royalty 1931 The Old Bachelor Laetitia Lyric, Hammersmith 1931 The Lady with a Lamp Florence Nightingale Maxine Elliott Theatre, New York 1932 Othello Emilia Old Vic 1932 Twelfth Night Viola Old Vic 1932 Heartbreak House Lady Utterword Queen's 1932 Evensong Irela Queen's 1932 Bulldog Drummond Irma Petersen Adelphi 1933 Evensong Irela Selwyn Theatre, New York 1933 Once in a Lifetime May Daniels Queen's 1933 The Late Christopher Bean Gwenny St James's 1934 Viceroy Sarah Duchess of Marlborough Arts 1934 Romeo and Juliet Nurse Martin Beck Theatre, New York 1935 The Old Ladies Agatha Payne New 1935 Romeo and Juliet Nurse New 1936 The Seagull Arkadina New 1936 The Country Wife Lady Fidget Old Vic 1936 As You Like It Rosalind Old Vic 1936 The Witch of Edmonton Mother Savage Old Vic 1937 As You Like It Rosalind New 1937 The Taming of The Shrew Katherina New 1937 Robert's Wife Sanchia Carson Globe 1939 The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Bracknell Globe and on tour 1940 Cousin Muriel Muriel Meilhac Globe 1940 Diversion (revue) various Wyndham's 1941 Diversion No 2 (revue) various Wyndham's 1941 Old Acquaintance Katherine Markham Apollo 1942 The Importance of Being Earnest Lady Bracknell Phoenix 1942 ENSA revue various Gibraltar 1943 Heartbreak House Hesione Hushabye Cambridge 1944 The Late Christopher Bean Gwenny India (ENSA tour) 1945 The Rivals Mrs Malaprop Criterion 1946 Crime and Punishment Katerina New 1946 Antony and Cleopatra Cleopatra Piccadilly 1948 The Way of the World Lady Wishfort New 1948 The Cherry Orchard Ranevskaya New 1949 Daphne Laureola Lady Pitts Wyndham's 1950 Daphne Laureola Lady Pitts Music Box Theatre, New York 1951 Waters of the Moon Helen Lancaster Haymarket 1954 The Dark Is Light Enough Countess Rosmarin Ostenburg Aldwych 1956 The Chalk Garden Mrs St Maugham Haymarket 1958 Henry VIII Queen Katherine Old Vic, and toured to Paris, Antwerp, and Brussels 1959 All's Well That Ends Well Countess of Rousillon Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford 1959 Coriolanus Volumnia Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford 1961 Richard III Queen Margaret Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford 1961 Romeo and Juliet Nurse Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford 1963 Gentle Jack Violet Queen's 1964 Hay Fever Judith Bliss Old Vic 1965 The Chinese Prime Minister Mrs Forest Globe 1968 Aerial Football and The Black Girl in Search of God Narrator Mermaid 1971 Dear Antoine Carlotta Chichester Festival 1974 Edith Evans and Friends Reciter Haymarket Sources: Who's Who in the Theatre,Gaye, pp. 579–581 and Who's Who,"Evans, Dame Edith (Dame Edith Mary Booth)", Who Was Who, online edition, Oxford University Press, December 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2013 except where noted in fourth column

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes1915Honeymoon for ThreeA Welsh SingerMrs Pomfrey1916East Is EastAunt1949The Queen of SpadesThe Old Countess RanevskayaThe Last Days of DolwynMerriaka Women of Dolwyn1952The Importance of Being Earnest Augusta Lady Bracknell1958Look Back in AngerMrs Tanner1959The Nun's StoryRev Mother Emmanuel(as Dame Edith Evans)National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture1963Tom JonesMiss WesternNominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated – BAFTA Award for Best British Actress1964The Chalk Garden Mrs St MaughamNational Board of Review Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting ActressNominated – BAFTA Award for Best British Actress1965Young CassidyLady Gregory1967The Whisperers Mrs Maggie RossBAFTA Award for Best British ActressSilver Bear for Best Actress (Berlin)"Berlinale1967: Prize Winners", berlinale.de. Retrieved 7 August 2013Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture DramaNational Board of Review Award for Best ActressNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNominated – Academy Award for Best ActressFitzwillyMiss Victoria Woodworth1968Prudence and the PillLady Roberta Bates1969Crooks and CoronetsLady Sophie FitzmoreThe Madwoman of Chaillot Josephine1970David CopperfieldAunt Betsy TrotwoodTV movieScroogeGhost of Christmas Past1973A Doll's HouseAnne-MarieEl caballo torero1974QB VIIDr. Parmentier1 episodeCrazeAunt Louise Nash1976The Slipper and the RoseDowager Queen1977Nasty HabitsSister Hildegard(final film role); Posthumous Release

Notes

References