Anna Lee

Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was an English and American actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell".

Career Britain Lee trained at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art at the Royal Albert Hall, and made her debut with a bit part in His Lordship (1932), when she was 19. She was known for her roles in films set amongst the wealthy, particularly in Chelsea Life (1933), in which she starred with Louis Hayward.

In 1934, Lee signed a contract with Gainsborough Pictures, the biggest British production company of the era. She played leading lady roles in a variety of different genres at Gainsborough, including the comedy-thriller The Camels Are Coming, the drama The Passing of the Third Floor Back, the horror film The Man Who Changed His Mind and the war film OHMS. She appeared in the 1935 Jessie Matthews musical First a Girl as the aristocratic playgirl and other woman, Princess Miranoff. In 1937, she starred in one of the studio's large-budget productions, King Solomon's Mines.

In 1933, Lee met the director Robert Stevenson, who became her first husband, In 1937, she starred in his picture, Non-Stop New York, for Gaumont British. During 1938, she took time off from acting to give birth to her first child. In 1939, Lee and her husband switched to Ealing Studios run by Michael Balcon, the former head of Gainsborough. She played a 19th-century Irish music hall performer who falls in love with an aristocrat in the comedy Young Man's Fancy (1939) and a journalist who helps heroes thwart a foreign enemy's plot against Britain in The Four Just Men (1939). Lee and Stevenson emigrated to the United States,

United States After her move to Hollywood, she became associated with John Ford, appearing in several of his films, including How Green Was My Valley (1941), Fort Apache (1948), and Two Rode Together (1961). She co-starred with John Wayne and John Carroll in Flying Tigers (1942).

She had a lead role opposite Brian Donlevy and Walter Brennan in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1943), a wartime thriller relating to the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. She worked for producer Val Lewton in the horror/thriller Bedlam (1946).

Lee made frequent appearances on television anthology series in the 1940s and 1950s, including Robert Montgomery Presents, The Ford Theatre Hour, Kraft Television Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre and Wagon Train. She made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as Crystal Durham in "The Case of the Unsuitable Uncle" (1962). She guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the 1963 episode “Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans” (S1E28).

In 1958, she returned to Britain to appear in John Ford's Gideon's Day (US Title: Gideon of Scotland Yard), in which she played the detective's wife. She had a small role as Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music, one of the two nuns who thwarted the Nazis by removing car engine parts, allowing the Von Trapps to escape. Lee appeared in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) in a main supporting role as Mrs. Bates, a neighbour of the sisters played by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis.

In later years, she became known as matriarch Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital and Port Charles. Lila was a contract role until 2003, when Lee was taken off contract and dropped to recurring status by Jill Farren Phelps, a move widely protested in the soap world. According to fellow General Hospital actress Leslie Charleson, Lee had been promised a job for life by former General Hospital executive producer Wendy Riche. When interviewed in 2007, Charleson said, "The woman was in her 90s. And then when the new powers-that-be took over they fired her, and it broke her heart. It was not necessary."

Tim Stafford is an actor under the stage name of Jeffrey Byron. Lee and Stafford divorced in 1964. Her final marriage was to novelist Robert Nathan (The Bishop's Wife, Portrait of Jennie), on 5 April 1970, and ended at his death in 1985.

Lee became a naturalised US citizen under the name Joanna Boniface Stafford (#123624) on 6 April 1945; certificate issued 8 June 1945 (#6183889, Los Angeles, California).

In the 1930s, Lee occupied a house at 49 Bankside in London; she was later interviewed by writer Gillian Tindall for a book written about the address, The House by the Thames, released in 2006. Built in 1710, the house has served as a home for coal merchants, an office, a boarding house, a hangout for derelicts, and a private residence in the 1900s. The house is listed in tour guides as a famous residence and has been variously claimed as possibly being home to Christopher Wren during the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral.

In 1981, a car accident left her paralysed from the waist down.

Awards and honours In the 1983 New Year Honours, Lee was awarded an MBE for services to the British community in Los Angeles, after fundraising for the White Cliffs at Dover and Ightham Mote. Her son, Jeffrey Byron, accepted the award on her behalf. On 16 July 2004, General Hospital aired a tribute to Lee by holding a memorial service for Lila Quartermaine.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes1932 Ebb Tide Uncredited Say It with Music His Lordship Scrub Girl Chorine Uncredited1933 The King's Cup Minor Role Uncredited Yes, Mr. Brown Uncredited Mayfair Girl Bit Role Uncredited The Bermondsey Kid Chelsea Life Muriel Maxton Mannequin Babette 1934 Faces Madeleine Pelham Rolling in Money Lady Eggleby Lucky Loser Ursula Hamilton The Camels Are Coming Anita Rodgers 1935 Heat Wave Jane Allison The Passing of the Third Floor Back Vivian First a Girl Princess Miranoff 1936 The Man Who Changed His Mind Dr Wyatt 1937 OHMS Sally Briggs King Solomon's Mines Kathy O'Brien Non-Stop New York Jennie Carr 1939 The Four Just Men Ann Lodge Young Man's Fancy Miss Ada 1940 Return to Yesterday Carol Sands Seven Sinners Dorothy 1941 My Life with Caroline Caroline How Green Was My Valley Bronwyn 1942 Flying Tigers Brooke Elliott Commandos Strike at Dawn Judith Bowen 1943 Forever and a Day Cornelia Trimble-Pomfret Flesh and Fantasy Rowena (Episode #2) Hangmen Also Die! Masha Novotny 1944 Summer Storm Nadena Kalenin 1946 Bedlam Nell Bowen G.I. War Brides Linda Powell 1947 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir Mrs Miles Fairley High Conquest Marie Correl 1948 Fort Apache Mrs Emily Collingwood Best Man Wins Nancy Smiley 1949 Prison Warden Elisa Pennington Burnell 1958 Gideon's Day (US Title: Gideon of Scotland Yard) Mrs Kate Gideon The Last Hurrah Gert Minihan 1959 The Horse Soldiers Mrs Buford This Earth Is Mine Charlotte Rambeau The Crimson Kimono Mac Jet Over the Atlantic Ursula Leverett 1960 The Big Night Mrs Turner 1961 Two Rode Together Mrs Malaprop 1962 The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance Mrs. Prescott Uncredited Jack the Giant Killer Lady Constance What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Mrs. Bates Mutiny on the Bounty Uncredited1964 For Those Who Think Young Laura Pruitt The Unsinkable Molly Brown Titanic Passenger in Lifeboat Uncredited1965 The Sound of Music Sister Margaretta 1966 7 Women Mrs Russell Picture Mommy Dead Elsie Kornwald 1967 In Like Flint Elisabeth 1968 Star! Hostess Uncredited1978 Legend of the Northwest 1979 The Night Rider Lady Earl 1987 Right Hand Man Worn Woman Beyond the Next Mountain Governor's Wife 1989 Listen to Me Garson's Grandmother Beverly Hills Brats Gertie 1994 What Can I Do Elderly Woman

Television