Lucile Watson

Lucile Watson (May 27, 1879 – June 24, 1962) was a Canadian actress, long based in the United States. She was "famous for her roles of formidable dowagers."^[1]

Lucile Watson
Watson in 1953
Born	(1879-05-27)May 27, 1879 Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Died	June 24, 1962(1962-06-24) (aged 83) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1902–1954

Early years

Watson was born in Quebec and raised in Ottawa, the daughter of an officer in the British Army. Despite his wishes, she traveled to New York City and enrolled in a dramatic school.^[2]

Career

Watson as Fanny Farrelly in the original Broadway production of Watch on the Rhine, 1941

Watson was primarily a stage actress, appearing in 39 Broadway plays.^[3]

In perhaps her most acclaimed performance, Watson portrayed Fanny Farrelly in playwright Lillian Hellman's anti-fascist dramatic stage play Watch on the Rhine on Broadway in 1941, starring Paul Lukas.^[4] Two years later in Hollywood, she and Lukas reprised their roles in the film adaptation,^[5] for which Watson received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[6]

Death

Watson died on June 24, 1962.^[7]

Broadway roles

• No More Ladies (1934) as Mrs. Fanny Townsend
• Watch on the Rhine (1941) as Fanny Farrelly^[8]

Partial filmography

Watson in the movie trailer My Forbidden Past (1951)

• The Royal Family of Broadway (1930) as Actress Backstage (uncredited)
• What Every Woman Knows (1934) as La Contessa la Brierre
• The Bishop Misbehaves (1935) as Lady Emily
• The Garden of Allah (1936) as Mother Superior Josephine
• A Woman Rebels (1936) as Betty Bumble
• Three Smart Girls (1936) as Martha
• The Young in Heart (1938) as Mrs. Jennings
• Sweethearts (1938) as Mrs. Marlowe
• Made for Each Other (1939) as Mrs. Harriet Mason
• The Women (1939) as Mrs. Morehead
• Waterloo Bridge (1940) as Lady Margaret Cronin
• Florian (1940) as Countess
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith (1941) as Mrs. Custer
• Rage in Heaven (1941) as Mrs. Monrell
• Footsteps in the Dark (1941) as Mrs. Archer
• The Great Lie (1941) as Aunt Ada
• Model Wife (1941) as J.J. Benson
• Watch on the Rhine (1943) as Fanny Farrelly
• Uncertain Glory (1944) as Mme. Maret
• Till We Meet Again (1944) as Mother Superior
• The Thin Man Goes Home (1945) as Mrs. Charles
• Tomorrow Is Forever (1946) as Aunt Jessica Hamilton
• My Reputation (1946) as Mrs. Mary Kimball
• Never Say Goodbye (1946) as Mrs. Hamilton
• Song of the South (1946) as Grandmother
• The Razor's Edge (1946) as Louisa Bradley
• Ivy (1947) as Mrs. Gretorex
• The Emperor Waltz (1948) as Princess Bitotska
• Julia Misbehaves (1948) as Mrs. Packett
• That Wonderful Urge (1948) as Aunt Cornelia Farley
• Little Women (1949) as Aunt March
• Everybody Does It (1949) as Mrs. Blair
• Let's Dance (1950) as Serena Everett
• Harriet Craig (1950) as Celia Fenwick
• My Forbidden Past (1951) as Aunt Eula Beaurevel

Sources

• Lucile Watson biography by Film historian T. R. Bourgeois