Edna Best(1900-1974)
- Actress
Genteel, ladylike British actress who was a much respected theatrical
star in the 1920s and '30s, both in her own country and in the United
States. Born in March 1900 in Hove, Sussex, she took to the stage at
the age of seventeen as Ela Delahay in 'Charley's Aunt'. She played
Peter Pan three years later and married the first of her actor
husbands, Seymour Beard. By the
mid '20s, Edna had become the toast
of London for her performances in 'Fallen Angel' (with Tallulah Bankhead),
and (in a role she made her own) as Teresa (Tessa) Sanger in
'The Constant Nymph' (opposite Noël Coward,
and, subsequently, John Gielgud). With the part of
Tessa she also enjoyed a successful run on Broadway in 1926, which was
followed by another
Margaret Kennedy play, 'Come
With Me'. She married her co-star, Herbert Marshall,
after divorcing Beard in 1928.
Edna started in films as early as 1921 but made little headway until
Michael and Mary (1931), for
which she recreated her role from the London stage. She then co-starred
again with husband Herbert Marshall in
Faithful Hearts (1932), but
neither of these films received much international exposure. Her only
Hollywood film at this time was
The Key (1934), which -- though directed by
Michael Curtiz -- was decidedly too 'low-key' as
far as critical plaudits or the box office was concerned. She had smallish
parts in other British films, notably
South Riding (1938) and the
original version of
Alfred Hitchcock's
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
as the mother of kidnap victim Nova Pilbeam.
Not until 1939 did a worthy motion picture role come her way in the
shape of the forlorn wife whom violinist
Leslie Howard deserts for
Ingrid Bergman in
Intermezzo (1939).
Other worthy screen roles included her Catherine Apley in
The Late George Apley (1947)
and the housekeeper Martha in
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947),
which the New York Times review of June 27 considered 'by far the best
performance' in the picture. All in all, Edna's film appearances were few and far
between, and only a handful adequately showcased her talents as an
actress otherwise so abundantly evident from the body of her work in
the theatre.
From 1939 a U.S. resident and a nationalised citizen by the early
1950s, Edna continued her frequent triumphant returns to the stage.
Her most celebrated performances on Broadway were in Terence Rattigan's
'The Browning Version' as downtrodden housewife Millie Crocker-Harris
and in 'Harlequinade' (1949) (both co-starred 'Maurice Evans (I)' (q)) and as the titular character
'Jane' (1952) in a play adapted by S.N. Behrman
from a W. Somerset Maugham short
story. Brooks Atkinson described her
performance as the timorous spinster as both
'comic' and 'forceful'. In
her last significant role on stage she co-starred with Brian Aherne
and Lynn Fontanne in the romantic comedy
'Quadrille' (1954-55),
directed by Alfred Lunt
and outfitted by Cecil Beaton, who also
designed the costumes. Edna retired from acting in the early 1960s and
died in a clinic in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1974.
star in the 1920s and '30s, both in her own country and in the United
States. Born in March 1900 in Hove, Sussex, she took to the stage at
the age of seventeen as Ela Delahay in 'Charley's Aunt'. She played
Peter Pan three years later and married the first of her actor
husbands, Seymour Beard. By the
mid '20s, Edna had become the toast
of London for her performances in 'Fallen Angel' (with Tallulah Bankhead),
and (in a role she made her own) as Teresa (Tessa) Sanger in
'The Constant Nymph' (opposite Noël Coward,
and, subsequently, John Gielgud). With the part of
Tessa she also enjoyed a successful run on Broadway in 1926, which was
followed by another
Margaret Kennedy play, 'Come
With Me'. She married her co-star, Herbert Marshall,
after divorcing Beard in 1928.
Edna started in films as early as 1921 but made little headway until
Michael and Mary (1931), for
which she recreated her role from the London stage. She then co-starred
again with husband Herbert Marshall in
Faithful Hearts (1932), but
neither of these films received much international exposure. Her only
Hollywood film at this time was
The Key (1934), which -- though directed by
Michael Curtiz -- was decidedly too 'low-key' as
far as critical plaudits or the box office was concerned. She had smallish
parts in other British films, notably
South Riding (1938) and the
original version of
Alfred Hitchcock's
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
as the mother of kidnap victim Nova Pilbeam.
Not until 1939 did a worthy motion picture role come her way in the
shape of the forlorn wife whom violinist
Leslie Howard deserts for
Ingrid Bergman in
Intermezzo (1939).
Other worthy screen roles included her Catherine Apley in
The Late George Apley (1947)
and the housekeeper Martha in
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947),
which the New York Times review of June 27 considered 'by far the best
performance' in the picture. All in all, Edna's film appearances were few and far
between, and only a handful adequately showcased her talents as an
actress otherwise so abundantly evident from the body of her work in
the theatre.
From 1939 a U.S. resident and a nationalised citizen by the early
1950s, Edna continued her frequent triumphant returns to the stage.
Her most celebrated performances on Broadway were in Terence Rattigan's
'The Browning Version' as downtrodden housewife Millie Crocker-Harris
and in 'Harlequinade' (1949) (both co-starred 'Maurice Evans (I)' (q)) and as the titular character
'Jane' (1952) in a play adapted by S.N. Behrman
from a W. Somerset Maugham short
story. Brooks Atkinson described her
performance as the timorous spinster as both
'comic' and 'forceful'. In
her last significant role on stage she co-starred with Brian Aherne
and Lynn Fontanne in the romantic comedy
'Quadrille' (1954-55),
directed by Alfred Lunt
and outfitted by Cecil Beaton, who also
designed the costumes. Edna retired from acting in the early 1960s and
died in a clinic in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1974.