May Whitty

Dame Mary Louise Webster (née Whitty; 19 June 1865 – 29 May 1948), known professionally as May Whitty and later, for her charity work, Dame May Whitty, was an English stage and film actress. She was one of the first two women entertainers to become a Dame. The British actors' union Equity was established in her home in 1930.

Dame May Whitty DBE
Born	Mary Louise Whitty (1865-06-19)19 June 1865 Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Died	29 May 1948(1948-05-29) (aged 82) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1881–1948
Spouse	Ben Webster ​ ​ (m. 1892; died 1947)​
Children	2, including Margaret

Her film roles included Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938) in which she played Miss Froy, a British spy posing as a governess who disappears on a train. After a successful career both on the West End stage and in British films, she moved over to Hollywood films at the age of 72.

Background

Whitty was born in Liverpool, England, to William Alfred Whitty (circa 1837–1876), a newspaper proprietor,^[1] and Mary Louisa (née Ashton, circa 1837–1894). Her grandfather was Michael James Whitty, Chief Constable in Liverpool and founder of the Liverpool Daily Post.^[2] She made her first stage appearance in Liverpool in 1881, later moving to London to appear in the West End.^[3]

She married the actor-manager Ben Webster on 3 August 1892 in St Giles's Parish Church, London.^[4] In 1895 they visited the United States, where Whitty appeared on Broadway. Their first child, a son, died at birth. Their only surviving child, a daughter born in New York in 1905, Margaret Webster, was a producer who held dual US and UK citizenship. She was chair of the Actresses' Franchise League (AFL).^[2]

Whitty's stage career continued for the rest of her life. In March 1910, she made her transition to middle-aged and elderly character roles, playing Amelia Madras in Harley Granville-Barker's four-act comedy The Madras House.^[5] During World War I she was active in the AFL, working there to help organize the Women's Emergency Corps.^[6] In March 1922, she played the role of Mrs. Bennet before the Queen in a benefit performance of Pride and Prejudice. She acted opposite her husband, who played Mr. Darcy.^[7]

Honours

In the 1918 New Year Honours, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE, gazetted under her legal married name Mary Louise Webster) in recognition of her charitable work during the First World War for the Three Arts Women's Employment Fund and the British Women's Hospitals Committee.^[2] She was the first stage and film actress to receive a damehood, along with the opera singer Nellie Melba, who was also thus honoured in 1918.^[8][9]

Film career and death

I've got everything Betty Grable has—I've just had it longer.^[5]

Whitty made her Hollywood film debut at the age of 72, recreating her 1935 stage role in the Hollywood film Night Must Fall (1937), which also starred Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell. She received an Oscar nomination. This led to several supporting roles in films, including that of the vanishing lady, Miss Froy, in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938).^[2]

In 1939, Whitty permanently moved to the United States - although she never became a US citizen; and appeared both on stage and in Hollywood films, usually playing wealthy dowagers. It was one such part, as Lady Beldon in Mrs. Miniver (1942), that brought her a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.^[2]

She continued to act for the remainder of her life, and died on 29 May 1948 in Beverly Hills, California, from cancer at the age of 82;^[2] her husband had died the previous year during surgery. She is commemorated with a plaque at St Paul's parish church in Covent Garden, London, alongside the plaque to her husband.

Stage roles

Dates are of the first performance.

Date (year, month, day)	Title	Author(s)	City	Theatre	Role
1890-02-14	The Home Feud	Walter Frith	London	Comedy	Helen Joliffe[10]
1890-07-04	Vanity of Vanities	Justin Huntly McCarthy	London	Shaftesbury	Princess Nicholas[11]
1891-01-07	Private Enquiry	F. C. Burnand (based on Albert Valabrègue's La Sécurité des Familles)	London	Royal Strand	Mrs. Buckleigh[12]
1891-02-14	Turned Up	Mark Melford	London	Royal Strand	Sabina Medway[13]
1891-04-01	Linda Grey	Sir Charles L. Young	London	Princes	Lady Broughton[14]
1891-04-15	Our Daughters	T.G. Warren & Willie Edouin	London	Royal Strand	Nellie Mayhew[15]
1891-07-01	Mrs. Annesley	J. F. Cooke	London	Criterion	Estelle Brandreth[16]
1891-07-27	Fate and Fortune, or, The Junior Partner	James J. Blood	London	Princess's	Grace Hasluck[17]
1892-01-06	The Showman's Daughter	Frances Hodgson Burnett	London	Royalty	Linda Hurst[18]
1892-02-16	The Silver Shield	Sydney Grundy	London	Vaudeville	Lucy Preston[19]
1892-05-10	A Caprice	Justin Huntly McCarthy, adapted from Alfred de Musset's Un Caprice	London	Vaudeville	Mathilde[20]
1892-05-25	The Noble Art	Eille Norwood	London	Terry's	Gertie Fullalove[21]
1892-05-26	In the Season	Langdon Elwyn Mitchell	London	Vaudeville	Sybil March[22]
1892-09-14	Our Boys	Henry James Byron	London	Vaudeville	Mary Melrose[23]
1893-01-28	The Guv'Nor	Robert Reece (writing under the pseudonym E.G. Lankester)	London	Vaudeville	Aurelia[24]
1893-02-16	Flight	Walter Frith	London	Terry's	Mrs. Amherst[25]
1893-06-09	The Younger Son	R.S. Sievier	London	Gaiety	Evelyn Brookfield[26]
1893-06-19	The Adventures of a Night	Meyrick Milton, adaptated from Los Empenos de Seis Horas by Pedro Calderón de la Barca	London	Royal Strand	Donna Bianca[27]
1893-12-21	Beauty's Toils	Charles S. Fawcett, founded on Her Fatal Beauty by W.B. Maxell	London	Royal Strand	Ethel Cumming[28]
1894-07-02	Our Flot	Mrs. H. Musgrave	London	Royal Strand	Margery Sylvester[29]
1895-03-12	A Loving Legacy	Fred W. Sidney	London	Royal Strand	Kitty O'Rourke[30]
1895-04-15	Fanny	George Robert Sims and Cecil Raleigh	London	Royal Strand	Grace Dormer[31]
1895-04-15	The Backslider	Osmond Shillingford	London	Royal Strand	Mrs. Agatha Dolomite[32]
1895-06-27	Louis XI	Dion Boucicault, adaptated by Saimir Delavigne	London	Lyceum	Marie[33]
1895-07-12	The Lyons Mail	Charles Reader, adaptation of Le Courrier de Lyon by Émile Moreau, Giraudin & Delacour	London	Lyceum	Julie Lesurques[34]
1895-07-15	The Corsican Brothers	Dion Boucicault, adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's The Corsican Brothers	London	Lyceum	Emelie de l'Esparre[35]
1895-07-24	Macbeth	William Shakespeare	London	Lyceum	A gentlewoman[36]
1896-12-03	A Princess of Orange	Fred James	London	Lyceum	Louise, Princess of Orange[37]
1896-12-10	An Old Song	Rev. Freeman Wills and A. Fitzmaurice King	London	Criterion	Signora Sara Rosetti[38]
1897-12-23	Secret Service: A Romance of the Southern Confederacy	William Gillette	London	Adelphi	Edith Varney[39]
1898-12-03	Cupboard Love	Henry V. Esmond	London	Court	Rosamond Pilliner[40]
1899-06-06	The Heather Field	Edward Martyn	London	Terry's	Grace Tyrrell[41]
1899-09-04	The Last Chapter	George H. Broadhurst	London	Royal Strand	Katherine Blake[42]
1901-05-11	Toff Jim	Fred Wright	London	Apollo	Primrose[43]
1908-01-20	Irene Wycherley	Anthony P. Wharton	New York	Astor	Carrie Hardinge[44]
1910-03-01	The Sentimentalists	George Meredith	London	Duke of York's	Dame Dresden[45]
1910-03-10	The Madras House	Harley Granville-Barker	London	Duke of York's	Amelia Madras[46]
1910-04-05	Trelawny of the Wells	Arthur Wing Pinero	London	Duke of York's	Miss Trafalgar Gower[47]
1910-11-18	The Home Coming	Cicely Hamilton	London	Aldwych	Mrs. Daly[48]
1911-05-08	The First Actress	Christabel Marshall	London	Kingsway	Peg Woffington[49]
1911-05-12	The Baron's Wager	Charles Young	London	Playhouse	Clothislde, Marquise de Marsay[50]
1912-02-01	The Bear-Leaders	R. C. Carton	London	Comedy	Dowager Countess of Grimsdal[51]
1912-02-09	Edith	Elizabeth Baker	London	Princess's	Mrs. Stott[52]
1912-08-12	Ready Money	James Montgomery	London	New	Mrs. John Tyler[53]
1913-03-31	A Matter of Money (first played in Glasgow under the title The Cutting of the Know)	Cicely Hamilton	London	Little	Mrs. Channing[54]
1913-03-11	Open Windows	A.E.W. Mason	London	St. James's	Lady Cluffe[55]
1913-10-04	The Grand Seigneur	Edward Ferris and Bertram P. Matthews	London	Savoy	Comtesse Malise[56]
1914-09-08	The Impossible Woman	C. Haddon Chambers	London	Savoy	Mrs. Talcot[57]
1915-04-15	The Green Flag	Keble Howard	London	Vaudeville	Mrs. Kesteven[58]
1915-10-16	Iris Intervenes	John Hastings Turner	London	Kingsway	Mary Cumbers[59]
1916-02-28	The Arm of the Law	Arthur Bourchier, adapted from La Robe Rouge by Eugène Brieux	London	His Majesty's	Mme. Vagret[60]
1916-05-28	The Eternal Snows	Michael Orme [pseudonym of Alix Augusta Grein]	London	Criterion	Mary Chartwell[61]
1917-04-09	The Passing of the Third Floor Back	Jerome K. Jerome	London	Playhouse	Cheat, Mrs. Sharpe, Lady of the House[62]
1917-07-27	Trelawny of the Wells	Arthur W. Pinero	London	New	Miss Trafalgar Gower[63]
1917-09-07	Trelawny of the Wells	Arthur W. Pinero	London	New	Miss Trafalgar Gower[64]
1922-03-01	The Enchanted Cottage	Arthur Pinero	London	Duke of York's	Mrs. Corsellis[65]
1922-03-24	Pride and Prejudice	Eileen H.A. Squire & J.C. Squire, adapted from Jane Austen's novel	London	Palace	Mrs. Bennett[66]
1922-05-18	Life's a Game	Michael Orme [pseud. Alix Augusta Grein]	London	Kingsway	Lady Raunds[67]
1922-12-04	Destruction	Agnese de Llana	London	Royalty	Ella Singleton[68]
1924-09-18	The Fool	Channing Pollock	London	Apollo	Mrs. Henry Gilliam[69]
1925-05-11	My Lady's Dress	Edward Knblock	London	Adelphi	La Grisa[70]
1925-06-22	March Hares (The Temperamentalists)	Harry Wagstaff Gribble	London	Little	Mrs. Janet Rodney[71]
1925-09-22	The Last of Mrs. Cheyney	Frederick Lonsdale	London	St. James's	Mrs. Ebley[72]
1927-12-27	Sylvia	James Dyrenforth	London	Vaudeville	Mrs. Considine[73]
1928-04-19	Come With Me	Basil Dean and Margaret Kennedy	London	New	Lady Alethea Zaidner[74]
1929-06-01	Sybarites	H. Dennis Bradley	London	Arts	Lady Byfleet[75]
1929-07-24	Gentlemen of the Jury	Francis A. Campton	London	Arts	Lady Blakeney[76]
1929-09-05	Dear Brutus	J. M. Barrie	London	Playhouse	Mrs. Coade[77]
1929-12-03	The Major Explains	W.R. Walkes	London	Prince of Wales	[unnamed role][78]
1929-12-03	The Amorists	H. Dennis Bradley	London	Royalty	Lady Byfleet[79]
1930-12-26	A Business Marriage	Anonymous	London	Court	Mrs. Mabley Jones[80]
1931-10-12	There's Always Juliet	John Van Druten	London	Apollo	Florence[81]
1931-10-12	There's Always Juliet	John Van Druten	New York	Empire	Florence[82]
1932-08-16	Behold, We Live	John van Druten	London	St. James's	Dame Frances Evers[83]
1932-10-02	Please Don't Be Nervous	Ann Stephenson	London	Shaftesbury	Mother[84]
1933-08-08	In Vino Veritas	Walter Hudd	London	Arts	Oakley[85]
1933-08-08	The Long Christmas Dinner	Thornton Wilder	London	Arts	Mother Bayard[85]
1933-08-01	The Lake	Dorothy Massingham (with Murray Macdonald)	London	Arts	Mildred Surrege[86]
1933-08-01	The Lake	Dorothy Massingham (with Murray Macdonald)	London	Westminster	Mildred Surrege[87]
1933-11-29	Man Proposes	Warren Chetham-Strode	London	Wyndham's	Mary Railton[88]
1934-05-03	The Voysey Inheritance	Harley Granville-Barker	London	Sadler's Wells	Mrs. Voysey[89]
1934-06-14	Meeting At Night	Marjorie Sharp	London	Globe	Mrs. Crowborough[90]
1934-07-04	The Maitlands	Ronald Mackenzie	London	Wyndham's	May Maitland[91]
1934-11-08	It Happened To Adam	David Boehm	London	Duke of York's	Mrs. Sloane[92]
1935-03-11	Ringmaster	Keith Winter	London	Shaftesbury	Mrs. West[93]
1935-04-07	One Must Go On	George Porter	London	Comedy	Mrs. John Brown[94]
1935-05-31	Night Must Fall	Emlyn Williams	London	Duchess	Mrs. Bramson[95]
1935-12-01	Farm of Three Echoes	Noel Langley	London	Wyndham's	Ouma Gerart[96]
1936-09-28	Night Must Fall	Emlyn Williams	New York	Ethel Barrymore	Mrs. Bramson[95]
1938-01-10	Your Obedient Husband	Horace Jackson	New York	Broadhurst	Mrs. Scurlock[97]
1938-05-23	Here's To Our Enterprise	Edward Knoblock	London	Lyceum	[herself][98]
1940-05-09	Romeo and Juliet	William Shakespeare	New York	51st Street	Nurse to Juliet[99]
1941-04-08	The Trojan Women	Euripides	New York	Cort	Hecuba[100]
1945-10-09	Therese	Thomas Job, based on Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola	New York	Biltmore	Madame Raquin[101]

Filmography

See the British Film Institute.^[102]

• Enoch Arden (1914) as Miriam Lane
• The Little Minister (1915) as Nanny Webster
• Colonel Newcombe, the Perfect Gentleman (1920) as Mrs. Mackenzie
• Keep Your Seats, Please (1936) as Aunt Georgina Withers (uncredited)
• Night Must Fall (1937) as Mrs. Bramson
• Conquest (1937) as Maria Letizia Buonaparte
• I Met My Love Again (1938) as Aunt William
• Parnell (1938, TV movie) as Aunt Caroline
• The Lady Vanishes (1938) as Miss Froy
• Mary Rose (1939, TV movie) as Mrs. Morland
• The Royal Family of Broadway (1939, TV movie) as Fanny Cavendis
• Rake's Progress (1939, TV movie) as Mrs. Mead, Wilkes's mother-in-law
• Raffles (1939) as Lady Melrose
• Return to Yesterday (1940) as Mrs. Truscott
• A Bill of Divorcement (1940) as Aunt Hester Fairfield
• One Night in Lisbon (1941) as Florence
• Suspicion (1941) as Mrs. Martha McLaidlaw
• Mrs. Miniver (1942) as Lady Beldon
• Thunder Birds (1942) as Lady Jane Stackhouse
• Forever and a Day (1943) as Mrs. Lucy Trimble
• Slightly Dangerous (1943) as Baba
• Crash Dive (1943) as Grandmother
• The Constant Nymph (1943) as Lady Constance Longborough
• Stage Door Canteen (1943) as herself
• Lassie Come Home (1943) as Dally
• Flesh and Fantasy (1943) as Lady Pamela Hardwick (Episode 2)
• Madame Curie (1943) as Madame Eugene Curie
• Gaslight (1944) as Miss Bessie Thwaites
• The White Cliffs of Dover (1944) as Nanny
• My Name Is Julia Ross (1945) as Mrs. Hughes
• Devotion (1946) as Lady Thornton
• Green Dolphin Street (1947) as Mother Superior
• This Time for Keeps (1947) as Grandmother Cambaretti
• If Winter Comes (1947) as Mrs. Perch
• The Sign of the Ram (1948) as Clara Brastock
• The Return of October (1948) as Aunt Martha Grant (final film role)

See also

• Biography portal

• List of actors with Academy Award nominations