Virginia McKenna
- Actress
- Additional Crew
Talented flaxen-blonde British star combined her deep loves for acting
and for wildlife throughout most her adult life. Born in London,
England on June 7, 1931, her family possessed a sturdy theatrical
background. Mother Anne was a jazz pianist, composer and cabaret
performer while father Terry, an auctioneer, had relatives in the arts
including actress Fay Compton and author
Compton MacKenzie.
Virginia's boarding house education was interrupted by the London
Blitz. She and her mother (her parents were divorced by this time)
evacuated from England to Cape Town, South Africa, a move that lasted
six years. Upon her return to England, she acted in a few school plays.
Her interest stuck and she auditioned and was accepted into the London
School of Central Speech and Drama. Two years later she became a
six-month member of Scotland's renowned Dundee Repertory. Spotted by a
talent scout playing Estella in a production of "Great Expectations,"
Virginia was invited in 1951 to return to London to portray Dorcas in
"A Penny for a Song" with a stellar cast that included
Ronald Squire,
Alan Webb,
Marie Lohr and leading man
Ronald Howard, the son of "Gone
With the Wind" star Leslie Howard.
This quickly led to TV and film offers.
Virginia made her cinematic debut with a prominent role in
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1952)
starring Hugh Sinclair and
Pamela Brown, then played
Richard Attenborough's
sister-in-law in
Father's Doing Fine (1952).
Two more films arrived the following year with
The Horse's Mouth (1953) starring
Robert Beatty and the
Oscar-nominated WWII drama
The Cruel Sea (1953) with
Jack Hawkins,
Donald Sinden,
Stanley Baker and
Denholm Elliott, the last mentioned to
whom she later married in 1954. Following classical stage parts in
"Richard II," "Love's Labour's Lost," "Henry IV" and "As You Like It"
at the Old Vic during its 1954-1955 season and her acclaimed
BAFTA-winning role as Juliet opposite
Tony Britton's Romeo in a BBC-TV version of
"Romeo and Juliet," Virginia returned to filming with
Simba (1955) starring
Dirk Bogarde and
PT Raiders (1955),
another WWII drama that reunited her with
Richard Attenborough. Film stardom
came with her crop-haired role as WWII Japanese captive Jean Paget in
A Town Like Alice (1956)
opposite Peter Finch. Both actors
won BAFTA film awards for their roles. As such Virginia grew in
box-office status.
Virginia met second husband,
Bill Travers when they appeared
together in the play "I Capture the Castle" in London in 1954. Both
were married at the time. They met again, however, after her two-year
breakup with Denholm Elliott and this
time they connected and married in 1957. Virginia and Bill appeared
together on film for the first time in one of her highly rare comedy
films
Big Time Operators (1957).
They went on to do six other movies together. In the second film, Bill
and Jennifer Jones starred as
Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning in
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)
with Virginia and John Gielgud in strong
support. The couple then appeared in
Storm Over Jamaica (1958).
Acclaim (and a BAFTA nomination) for Virginia came again with her movie
role alongside Paul Scofield in
Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)
portraying Special Operations Executive agent Violette Szabo who, after
her husband was killed during WWII, undertook dangerous missions as an
undercover agent for British intelligence until caught and executed by
the Nazis in 1944. The role had a strong impact on Virginia. In 2000
she performed the opening ceremony of the Violette Szabo Museum in
Herefordshire. The actress then appeared opposite American actors
Gary Cooper and
Charlton Heston in the adventure yarn
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959).
Back on stage for a few years in potent roles as Sister Jeanne in "The
Devils" and Lucy in "The Beggar's Opera," she and Bill were invited to
appear together in the film
Two Living, One Dead (1961),
a Post Office robbery crime drama.
The couple's next film together would alter the course of both their
personal and professional destinies when they signed up to play Joy and
George Adamson, noted wildlife welfare preservationists, in a landmark
film version of the best-selling novel
Born Free (1966). The movie was a
massive, international box office smash. The shooting, with the real
George Adamson serving as tech advisor, deeply affected the couple so
much that for the rest of their lives/careers they dedicated themselves
to wildlife causes with many of their subsequent pictures having
related themes. The couple went on to form a documentary film company
and served as writers/producers to create wildlife films. One of the
best known of their many documentaries is
The Lion Who Thought He Was People (1971).
A few years later Virginia and Bill filmed two animal-related movie
adventures,
Ring of Bright Water (1969)
and
An Elephant Called Slowly (1970).
The former, filmed in London and the Scottish coast, was based on a
best-selling book and told of the romance of an office worker/artist
(Bill), his otter pal Mij, and his love interest (Virginia), the town's
doctor. Virginia later helped create a museum to honor the film's
author, naturalist Gavin Maxwell.
The latter, which was filmed in Kenya, had the couple "adopting" three
young elephants.
Throughout the 1970s, Virginia continued to be seen to good advantage
in a sprinkling of film, theatre and TV roles. Cinematically she joined
Rod Steiger as Napoleon,
Christopher Plummer as the
Duke of Wellington and Orson Welles as
Louis XVIII in Waterloo (1970) last
as the Duchess of Richmond; was top-billed in the family adventure
Swallows and Amazons (1974);
appeared in the English/Canadian thriller
The Disappearance (1977); and
showed up in the Italian/English end-of-the-world drama
The Chosen (1977). On the
London musical stage Virginia succeeded
Jean Simmons as Desiree Armfeldt in
the Stephen Sondheim hit "A Little
Night Music" and in a 1979 revival of "The King of I" opposite
perennial king Yul Brynner that ran 16
months. On TV the actress gravitated towards period pieces in roles that
ranged from Daisy in
The Edwardians (1972); to
Clemmie Churchill in
The Gathering Storm (1974) (the TV version rather than the feature film of the same name)
to Mrs. Darling in
Peter Pan (1976) to Portia in
Julius Caesar (1979).
Despite appearing in roles from the 1980s on, which included playing
Gertrude alongside Roger Rees in 1984's
"Hamlet," a role in the plush mini-series
The Camomile Lawn (1992)
and a recent support role in the film
Love/Loss (2010), Virginia was more
committed to her wild animals activism. Very much involved with the
global influence of the Born Free Foundation and its Zoo Check project,
Virginia earned an OBE for her services to wildlife conservation and
animal welfare.
Bill died in 1994 but their son
Bill Travers Jr. has embodied their enthusiasm
towards wildlife, becoming the CEO of the Born Free Foundation.
Virginia is the author of several wildlife books and her autobiography
"The Life in My Years" was published in 2009. One of her more recent
outings was a 2011 appearance in the long-running, award-winning BBC
documentary series
Natural World (1983).
and for wildlife throughout most her adult life. Born in London,
England on June 7, 1931, her family possessed a sturdy theatrical
background. Mother Anne was a jazz pianist, composer and cabaret
performer while father Terry, an auctioneer, had relatives in the arts
including actress Fay Compton and author
Compton MacKenzie.
Virginia's boarding house education was interrupted by the London
Blitz. She and her mother (her parents were divorced by this time)
evacuated from England to Cape Town, South Africa, a move that lasted
six years. Upon her return to England, she acted in a few school plays.
Her interest stuck and she auditioned and was accepted into the London
School of Central Speech and Drama. Two years later she became a
six-month member of Scotland's renowned Dundee Repertory. Spotted by a
talent scout playing Estella in a production of "Great Expectations,"
Virginia was invited in 1951 to return to London to portray Dorcas in
"A Penny for a Song" with a stellar cast that included
Ronald Squire,
Alan Webb,
Marie Lohr and leading man
Ronald Howard, the son of "Gone
With the Wind" star Leslie Howard.
This quickly led to TV and film offers.
Virginia made her cinematic debut with a prominent role in
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1952)
starring Hugh Sinclair and
Pamela Brown, then played
Richard Attenborough's
sister-in-law in
Father's Doing Fine (1952).
Two more films arrived the following year with
The Horse's Mouth (1953) starring
Robert Beatty and the
Oscar-nominated WWII drama
The Cruel Sea (1953) with
Jack Hawkins,
Donald Sinden,
Stanley Baker and
Denholm Elliott, the last mentioned to
whom she later married in 1954. Following classical stage parts in
"Richard II," "Love's Labour's Lost," "Henry IV" and "As You Like It"
at the Old Vic during its 1954-1955 season and her acclaimed
BAFTA-winning role as Juliet opposite
Tony Britton's Romeo in a BBC-TV version of
"Romeo and Juliet," Virginia returned to filming with
Simba (1955) starring
Dirk Bogarde and
PT Raiders (1955),
another WWII drama that reunited her with
Richard Attenborough. Film stardom
came with her crop-haired role as WWII Japanese captive Jean Paget in
A Town Like Alice (1956)
opposite Peter Finch. Both actors
won BAFTA film awards for their roles. As such Virginia grew in
box-office status.
Virginia met second husband,
Bill Travers when they appeared
together in the play "I Capture the Castle" in London in 1954. Both
were married at the time. They met again, however, after her two-year
breakup with Denholm Elliott and this
time they connected and married in 1957. Virginia and Bill appeared
together on film for the first time in one of her highly rare comedy
films
Big Time Operators (1957).
They went on to do six other movies together. In the second film, Bill
and Jennifer Jones starred as
Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning in
The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957)
with Virginia and John Gielgud in strong
support. The couple then appeared in
Storm Over Jamaica (1958).
Acclaim (and a BAFTA nomination) for Virginia came again with her movie
role alongside Paul Scofield in
Carve Her Name with Pride (1958)
portraying Special Operations Executive agent Violette Szabo who, after
her husband was killed during WWII, undertook dangerous missions as an
undercover agent for British intelligence until caught and executed by
the Nazis in 1944. The role had a strong impact on Virginia. In 2000
she performed the opening ceremony of the Violette Szabo Museum in
Herefordshire. The actress then appeared opposite American actors
Gary Cooper and
Charlton Heston in the adventure yarn
The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959).
Back on stage for a few years in potent roles as Sister Jeanne in "The
Devils" and Lucy in "The Beggar's Opera," she and Bill were invited to
appear together in the film
Two Living, One Dead (1961),
a Post Office robbery crime drama.
The couple's next film together would alter the course of both their
personal and professional destinies when they signed up to play Joy and
George Adamson, noted wildlife welfare preservationists, in a landmark
film version of the best-selling novel
Born Free (1966). The movie was a
massive, international box office smash. The shooting, with the real
George Adamson serving as tech advisor, deeply affected the couple so
much that for the rest of their lives/careers they dedicated themselves
to wildlife causes with many of their subsequent pictures having
related themes. The couple went on to form a documentary film company
and served as writers/producers to create wildlife films. One of the
best known of their many documentaries is
The Lion Who Thought He Was People (1971).
A few years later Virginia and Bill filmed two animal-related movie
adventures,
Ring of Bright Water (1969)
and
An Elephant Called Slowly (1970).
The former, filmed in London and the Scottish coast, was based on a
best-selling book and told of the romance of an office worker/artist
(Bill), his otter pal Mij, and his love interest (Virginia), the town's
doctor. Virginia later helped create a museum to honor the film's
author, naturalist Gavin Maxwell.
The latter, which was filmed in Kenya, had the couple "adopting" three
young elephants.
Throughout the 1970s, Virginia continued to be seen to good advantage
in a sprinkling of film, theatre and TV roles. Cinematically she joined
Rod Steiger as Napoleon,
Christopher Plummer as the
Duke of Wellington and Orson Welles as
Louis XVIII in Waterloo (1970) last
as the Duchess of Richmond; was top-billed in the family adventure
Swallows and Amazons (1974);
appeared in the English/Canadian thriller
The Disappearance (1977); and
showed up in the Italian/English end-of-the-world drama
The Chosen (1977). On the
London musical stage Virginia succeeded
Jean Simmons as Desiree Armfeldt in
the Stephen Sondheim hit "A Little
Night Music" and in a 1979 revival of "The King of I" opposite
perennial king Yul Brynner that ran 16
months. On TV the actress gravitated towards period pieces in roles that
ranged from Daisy in
The Edwardians (1972); to
Clemmie Churchill in
The Gathering Storm (1974) (the TV version rather than the feature film of the same name)
to Mrs. Darling in
Peter Pan (1976) to Portia in
Julius Caesar (1979).
Despite appearing in roles from the 1980s on, which included playing
Gertrude alongside Roger Rees in 1984's
"Hamlet," a role in the plush mini-series
The Camomile Lawn (1992)
and a recent support role in the film
Love/Loss (2010), Virginia was more
committed to her wild animals activism. Very much involved with the
global influence of the Born Free Foundation and its Zoo Check project,
Virginia earned an OBE for her services to wildlife conservation and
animal welfare.
Bill died in 1994 but their son
Bill Travers Jr. has embodied their enthusiasm
towards wildlife, becoming the CEO of the Born Free Foundation.
Virginia is the author of several wildlife books and her autobiography
"The Life in My Years" was published in 2009. One of her more recent
outings was a 2011 appearance in the long-running, award-winning BBC
documentary series
Natural World (1983).