Margaret rutherford young

During her heyday, Margaret was a familiar, and a wee bit unconventional, face on stage, screen and television.

The world at your fingertips. BY James Oliver. Margaret Rutherford will always be known as the harmless battleaxe of black and white British cinema. Not only was she one of the great performers of her age, but also one of the most loved. Film buff James Oliver takes us on a journey through her career in pictures. Margaret Rutherford wasn't just one of the best British actresses of the last century or so, she was probably the most popular.

Margaret rutherford young

Rutherford's early life was overshadowed by tragedies involving both of her parents. One month after the marriage, he suffered a nervous breakdown and was admitted to Bethnal House Lunatic Asylum. Released to travel under his family's supervision, he murdered his father, the Reverend Julius Benn, a Congregational Church minister, by bludgeoning him to death with a chamber pot , before slashing his own throat with a pocket knife at an inn in Matlock, Derbyshire on 4 March Seven years later, on 26 July , he was discharged from Broadmoor and reunited with his wife. He legally dropped his surname. Margaret's uncle, Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet , was a politician, and her first cousin once removed was the Labour politician Tony Benn. Hoping to start a new life far from the scene of their recent troubles, the Rutherfords emigrated to Madras , India , but Margaret was sent back to Britain when she was three years old to live with her aunt Bessie Nicholson in Wimbledon , South London, after her pregnant mother hanged herself from a tree. Young Margaret had been told that her father died of a broken heart soon afterward. When she was 12 years old, she was shocked to learn that her father had actually been readmitted to Broadmoor Hospital in , where he remained until his death on 4 August Her parents' mental afflictions gave rise to a fear that she might succumb to similar maladies, a fear that haunted her for the rest of her life. She suffered intermittent bouts of depression and anxiety.

Rutherford, a talented pianist, first found work as a piano teacher and a teacher of elocution.

Sign In Sign In. New Customer? Create account. Margaret Rutherford Actress Soundtrack. Play trailer A Countess from Hong Kong Rare is the reference to Margaret Rutherford that doesn't characterize her as either jut-chinned, eccentric, or both.

A young girl is engaged to a man she doesn't love, and rather than marry him, she decides to flee the situation altogether. She is helped by a crusty old barge Captain. Votes: A young man's mother wants him to marry a wealthy heiress, but the man falls in love with the girl's sister. Director: Walter C.

Margaret rutherford young

English actress who rose to stardom in middle age and created an ensemble of eccentrics for film and stage, including Agatha Christie 's Miss Marple. September 18, , who before her sex-correction operation in was known as Gordon Langley Hall. Margaret Rutherford was 13 when she learned that her father, whom she had been told had died in India nursing the sick when she was a baby, had not died at all. Instead, he was living in Broadmoor, an asylum for the criminally insane. Throughout her life, she kept the news secret, fearful of exposure that would end her career and fearful for her own sanity. Soon after her parents married in , her father William Rutherford Benn, having manifested symptoms of manic-depression, had entered the Bethnal House Asylum in East London. William was known to talk to himself and quote from the Bible. His father, the Reverend Julius Benn, a dedicated evangelist who worked with the poor, was concerned for his son and arranged to have him stay at a home in Matlock to live with a "Godly and properly Christian couple" for a period of rest. Margaret's mother Florence Benn , too young to cope, heartily agreed. Thus, it was the Reverend Benn who accompanied his son to Matlock and stayed the night with him before returning home.

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Talking of Orson Welles, he must have been impressed by her performance in The VIPs because he cast her in Chimes at Midnight , his compendium of Shakespeare's history plays. While the Sun Shines. Her jaunty performance, cycling about the Kent countryside, head held high, back straight, and cape fluttering behind her, established the model for portraying that role thereafter. How much have you seen? Rutherford began her acting career first as a student at London's Old Vic, debuting on stage in Wikimedia Commons. By the time they reached the altar, Rutherford was 53 and her husband was When her aunt died, she left a legacy that allowed Rutherford to secure entry to the Old Vic School. The Mouse on the Moon 6. Margaret wrote her own autobiography while Andy Merriman wrote the most recent, accessible bio. She suffered intermittent bouts of depression and anxiety. Upload your demo reel.

Dame Margaret Rutherford, a famed British actress known for her eccentric and distinctive on-screen presence, delivered outstanding performances in numerous classic films throughout her career. It's no wonder that film enthusiasts and critics alike debate the best Rutherford movies, as this remarkable actress left an indelible mark on the cinematic world.

The Mouse on the Moon. The Mouse on the Moon 6. She was, though, something of a late bloomer—opportunity didn't knock until she was in nearly fifty. Salaries Chimes at Midnight. Agatha Christie felt the same way, at first. Stringer Davis. A Countess from Hong Kong. These illnesses, sometimes involving stays in mental hospitals and electric shock treatment , were kept hidden from the press during Rutherford's lifetime. Miss Jane Marple. Margaret Rutherford Timothy Spall in drag tells her life story in cabaret form before an audience. Margaret Rutherford Makes Me Happy. Paging Dr. How much have you seen? Starting out as a pianist and elocution teacher, Rutherford took up acting relatively late in life, making her stage debut at age 33 in