May Whitty


Dame Mary Louise Webster, , 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. After a successful career she moved over to Hollywood films at the age of 72. She went to live in America, where she won awards for her film roles.

Background

Born in Liverpool, England, to William Alfred Whitty, a newspaper proprietor and Mary Louisa. Her grandfather was, Michael James Whitty, Chief Constable in Liverpool and founder of the Liverpool Daily Post. She made her first stage appearance in Liverpool in 1881, later moving to London to appear in the West End.
She married actor-manager Ben Webster on 3 August 1892 in St Giles's Parish Church, London. 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 and held dual US/UK citizenship. She was chair of the Actresses' Franchise League. 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. 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 performed its Mr. Darcy''.

Honours

In the 1918 New Year Honours, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire 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. She was the first film and stage actress to receive a damehood, along with the opera singer Nellie Melba, who was also thus honoured in 1918.

Film career and death

Whitty made her Hollywood film debut at the age of 72, recreating her 1935 stage role in the Hollywood film Night Must Fall, 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.
She moved permanently to the United States in 1939 and appeared both on stage and in Hollywood films, usually playing wealthy dowagers. It was one such part, as Lady Beldon in Mrs. Miniver, that brought her a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
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; her husband had died the previous year during surgery.

Stage roles

Dates are of the first performance.
Date TitleAuthorCityTheaterRole
1890-02-14The Home FeudWalter FrithLondonComedy TheatreHelen Joliffe
1890-07-04Vanity of VanitiesJustin Huntly McCarthyLondonShaftesbury TheatrePrincess Nicholas
1891-01-07Private EnquiryF. C. Burnand LondonRoyal Strand TheatreMrs. Buckleigh
1891-02-14Turned UpMark MelfordLondonRoyal Strand TheatreSabina Medway
1891-04-01Linda GreySir Charles L. YoungLondonPrincesLady Broughton
1891-04-15Our DaughtersT.G. Warren & Willie EdouinLondonRoyal Strand TheatreNellie Mayhew
1891-07-01Mrs. AnnesleyJ. F. CookeLondonCriterion TheatreEstelle Brandreth
1891-07-27Fate and Fortune, or, The Junior PartnerJames J. BloodLondonPrincess’sGrace Hasluck
1892-01-06The Showman’s Daughter""Frances Hodgson BurnettLondonRoyalty TheatreLinda Hurst
1892-02-16The Silver ShieldSydney GrundyLondonVaudeville TheatreLucy Preston
1892-05-10A CapriceJustin Huntly McCarthy, adapted from Alfred de Musset’s Un CapriceLondonVaudeville TheatreMathilde
1892-05-25The Noble ArtEille NorwoodLondonTerry's TheatreGertie Fullalove
1892-05-26In the SeasonLangdon Elwyn MitchellLondonVaudeville TheatreSybil March
1892-09-14Our BoysHenry James ByronLondonVaudeville TheatreMary Melrose
1893-01-28The Guv’NorRobert Reece Cicely HamiltonLondonLittleMrs. Channing
1913-03-11Open WindowsA.E.W. MasonLondonSt. James’sLady Cluffe
1913-10-04The Grand SeigneurEdward Ferris and Bertram P. MatthewsLondonSavoyComtesse Malise
1914-09-08The Impossible WomanC. Haddon ChambersLondonSavoyMrs. Talcot
1915-04-15The Green FlagKeble HowardLondonVaudeville TheatreMrs. Kesteven
1915-10-16Iris IntervenesJohn Hastings TurnerLondonKingswayMary Cumbers
1916-02-28The Arm of the LawArthur Bourchier, adapted from La Robe Rouge by Eugène BrieuxLondonHis Majesty’sMme. Vagret
1916-05-28The Eternal SnowsMichael Orme LondonCriterion TheatreMary Chartwell
1917-04-09The Passing of the Third Floor BackJerome K. JeromeLondonPlayhouseCheat, Mrs. Sharpe, Lady of the House
1917-07-27Trelawny of the WellsArthur W. PineroLondonNewMiss Trafalgar Gower
1917-09-07Trelawny of the WellsArthur W. PineroLondonNewMiss Trafalgar Gower
1922-03-01The Enchanted CottageArthur PineroLondonDuke of York’sMrs. Corsellis
1922-03-24Pride and PrejudiceEileen H.A. Squire & J.C. Squire, adatped from Jane Austen’s novelLondonPalaceMrs. Bennett
1922-05-18Life’s a GameMichael Orme LondonKingwayLady Raunds
1922-12-04DestructionAgnese de LlanaLondonRoyalty TheatreElla Singleton
1924-09-18The FoolChanning PollockLondonApolloMrs. Henry Gilliam
1925-05-11My Lady’s DressEdward KnblockLondonAdelphiLa Grisa
1925-06-22March Hares Harry Wagstaff GribbleLondonLittleMrs. Janet Rodney
1925-09-22The Last of Mrs. CheyneyFrederick LonsdaleLondonSt. James’sMrs. Ebley
1927-12-27SylviaJames DyrenforthLondonVaudeville TheatreMrs. Considine
1928-04-19Come With MeBasil Dean and Margaret KennedyLondonNewLady Alethea Zaidner
1929-06-01SybaritesH. Dennis BradleyLondonArtsLady Byfleet
1929-07-24Gentlemen of the JuryFrancis A. CamptonLondonArtsLady Blakeney
1929-09-05Dear BrutusJ. M. BarrieLondonPlayhouseMrs. Coade
1929-12-03The Major ExplainsW.R. WalkesLondonPrince of Wales’s
1929-12-03The AmoristsH. Dennis BradleyLondonRoyalty TheatreLady Byfleet
1930-12-26A Business MarriageAnonymousLondonCourtMrs. Mabley Jones
1931-10-12There's Always JulietJohn Van DrutenLondonApolloFlorence
1931-10-12There’s Always JulietJohn Van DrutenNew YorkEmpireFlorence
1932-08-16Behold, We LiveJohn van DrutenLondonSt. James’sDame Frances Evers
1932-10-02Please Don’t Be NervousAnn StephensonLondonShaftesburyMother
1933-08-08In Vino VeritasWalter HuddLondonArtsOakley
1933-08-08The Long Christmas DinnerThornton WilderLondonArtsMother Bayard
1933-08-01The LakeDorothy Massingham LondonArtsMildred Surrege
1933-08-01The LakeDorothy Massingham LondonWestminsterMildred Surrege
1933-11-29Man ProposesWarren Chetham-StrodeLondonWyndham’sMary Railton
1934-05-03The Voysey InheritanceHarley Granville-BarkerLondonSadler’s WellsMrs. Voysey
1934-06-14Meeting At NightMarjorie SharpLondonGlobeMrs. Crowborough
1934-07-04The MaitlandsRonald MackenzieLondonWyndham’sMay Maitland
1934-11-08It Happened To AdamDavid BoehmLondonDuke of York’sMrs. Sloane
1935-03-11RingmasterKeith WinterLondonShaftesburyMrs. West
1935-04-07One Must Go OnGeorge PorterLondonComedyMrs. John Brown
1935-05-31Night Must FallEmlyn WilliamsLondonDuchessMrs. Bramson
1935-12-01Farm of Three EchoesNoel LangleyLondonWyndham’sOuma Gerart
1936-09-28Night Must FallEmlyn WilliamsNew YorkEthel Barrymore TheatreMrs. Bramson
1938-01-10Your Obedient HusbandHorace JacksonNew YorkBroadhurst TheatreMrs. Scurlock
1938-05-23Here’s To Our EnterpriseEdward KnoblockLondonLyceum Theatre
1940-05-09Romeo and JulietWilliam ShakespeareNew York51st Street TheatreNurse to Juliet
1941-04-08The Trojan WomenEuripidesNew YorkCort TheatreHecuba
1945-10-09ThereseThomas Job, based on Thérèse Raquin'' by Émile ZolaNew YorkBiltmore TheatreMadame Raquin

Filmography