Beatrix Alice Lehmann (1 July 1903 – 31 July 1979) was a British actress, theatre director, writer and novelist.[1][2]
Beatrix Lehmann | |
|---|---|
 Photo by John Vickers | |
| Born | Beatrix Alice Lehmann 1 July 1903 Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Died | 31 July 1979 (aged 76) Camden, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, theatre director, author |
| Years active | 1924–1979 |
| Partner | Henrietta Bingham |
| Parent(s) | Rudolph Chambers Lehmann (father) Alice Mary Davis (mother) |
| Relatives | Rosamond Lehmann (sister) John Lehmann (brother) Henri Lehmann (great-uncle) |
Early life and family
editLehmann was born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. She came from a family of notable achievers: the third of four children of author and publisher Rudolph Chambers Lehmann. Her great-uncle was Henri Lehmann the artist.[3] Her brother was publisher John Lehmann and one of her two elder sisters was the novelist Rosamond Lehmann.[4]
Career
editLehmann trained at RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Hammersmith.[5] She also appeared in films and on television.[6] She wrote short stories and two novels, including Rumour of Heaven, first published in 1934 (ISBN 014016166X).[2] In 1946 Lehmann became director and producer of the Arts Council Midland Theatre Company.[5]
She was awarded Britain's Radio Actress of the Year in 1977.[7] In 1962 she played the matriarch Bernadette Amorelle in a Maigret episode, The Dirty House. She played Susan Calvin in "The Prophet" (1967), a now lost episode of the British science fiction television series Out of the Unknown, and appeared in the Doctor Who serial The Stones of Blood (1978) as Professor Emilia Rumford.[8] In 1978 she played Mrs Pleasant in a film version of The Cat and The Canary.[9] Other roles include Z-Cars, The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, War and Peace, Love for Lydia, Staircase, Armchair Thriller and Crime and Punishment.
Death
editLehmann died in Camden, London, aged 76.
There are 12 portraits of Lehmann in the British National Portrait Gallery Collection.[5]
Filmography
edit- The Passing of the Third Floor Back (1935) as Miss Kite
- Strangers on Honeymoon (1936) as Elfrida
- The Rat (1937) as Marguerite
- Candles at Nine (1944) as Julia Carberry, Everard's Housekeeper
- The Key (1958) as Housekeeper
- On the Fiddle (1961) as Lady Edith
- Psyche 59 (1964) as Mrs. Crawford
- The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) as Tribunal President
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) as Domina's Mother
- Wonderwall (1968) as Mother
- The Portrait of a Lady (1968, TV Series) as Lydia Touchett
- Staircase (1969) as Charlie's Mother
- The Cat and the Canary (1978) as Mrs. Pleasant
- The Stones of Blood (Doctor Who) (1978) as Professor Rumford
References
edit- ^ "Beatrix Lehmann". Oxfordreference.com.
- ^ a b "Rumour of Heaven". Goodreads.com. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ Guppy, Shusha (11 August 1985). "Rosamond Lehmann, The Art of Fiction No. 88". The Paris Review. Vol. Summer 1985, no. 96 – via www.theparisreview.org.
- ^ "Lehmann Family Papers - Rare Books and Special Collections". rbsc.princeton.edu.
- ^ a b c "Beatrix Lehmann – Person – National Portrait Gallery". Npg.org.uk. 22 September 1970. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ "Beatrix Lehmann – Movies and Filmography – AllMovie". AllMovie.
- ^ "Beatrix Lehmann, British Actress of Stage, Screen, TV and Radio". The New York Times. 2 August 1979. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
- ^ "Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide – The Stones of Blood – Details". BBC. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
- ^ "The Cat and the Canary (1981)". Bfi.org. Archived from the original on 20 July 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.