Cathleen Nesbitt

Cathleen Nesbitt (born Kathleen Mary Nesbitt; 24 November 18882 August 1982) was an English actress.

Early life and education Kathleen Mary Nesbitt was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, in 1888. She was of Welsh and Irish descent. Her parents were Thomas and Mary Catherine (née Parry) Nesbitt. She was educated in Lisieux, France, and at the Queen's University of Belfast and the Sorbonne. Her younger brother, Thomas Nesbitt, Jr., acted in one film in 1925, before his death in South Africa in 1927 from an apparent heart attack.

Career

Nesbitt made her debut in London in the stage revival of Arthur Wing Pinero's The Cabinet Minister (1910). She acted in many plays after that. In 1911, she joined the Irish Players, went to the United States and debuted on Broadway in The Well of the Saints. She also was in the cast of John Millington Synge's The Playboy of the Western World with the Irish Players when the whole cast was pelted with fruits and vegetables by the offended Irish American Catholic audience.

Nesbitt returned to the United States and appeared on Broadway in Quinneys (1915) and John Galsworthy's Justice (1916) as John Barrymore's leading lady in his first dramatic stage role. After five other plays there, she returned to England. For the rest of the decade she performed in London; her roles included the title role in a revival of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. Her film debut was in the silent A Star Over Night (1919). She then performed in The Faithful Heart (1922). She did not appear in a film again until 1930, when she played the role of Anne Lymes in Canaries Sometimes Sing, which was an early talkie. In 1932, she appeared in The Frightened Lady. She appeared in the 1938 film version of Pygmalion as "a lady" who attends the Embassy ball. In the opening credits her first name was spelled as "Kathleen", but as "Cathleen" at the end of the film. She played the role of Lady Macbeth in the 1945 16 minute short film " Famous Scenes From Shakespeare No 2: Macbeth ." She played the part of Mother in the 1949 BBC TV remake of the drama film Elizabeth of Ladymead, and Julia in the August premiere of T.S. Eliot's play The Cocktail Party.

Nesbitt's first Hollywood film was Three Coins in the Fountain (1954), in which she played the character role of La Principessa. This was followed that same year by Black Widow, in which she played Lucia Colletti. She was Cary Grant's Grandmother Janou in 1957's An Affair to Remember (though she was only 16 years older than Grant) and, the following year, was part of the ensemble cast of Separate Tables. She also appeared in The Parent Trap (1961), and Promise Her Anything (1965).

Other Broadway appearances included Aunt Alicia in the original Anita Loos adaptation of Gigi (1951), Sabrina Fair (1953), and Anastasia (1954). In 1956, she played Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady starring Rex Harrison. Nesbitt reprised the role in 1981, in her 90s, in a Broadway revival, opposite Harrison, who was in his 70s.

Nesbitt portrayed Agatha Morley, the mother of a Congressman (played by William Windom) and mother-in-law to his former governess (played by Inger Stevens), in the TV series The Farmer's Daughter from 1963 to 1966. She guest starred on such shows as The United States Steel Hour; Wagon Train; Naked City, Dr. Kildare and Upstairs, Downstairs (as Rachel Gurney's mother, Mabel, Countess of Southwold).

In 1969, Nesbitt played Richard Burton's mother in the film Staircase and again in Villain two years later. She had a small but memorable role as an elderly drug addict in French Connection II (1975) alongside Gene Hackman. Her next film was Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976), in which she played Julia Rainbird. She then appeared as the grandmother in Julia (1977). Her final film was Never Never Land (1980) as Edith Forbes.

Personal life

In 1912, Nesbitt became the love of English poet Rupert Brooke, who wrote love sonnets to her. They were engaged to be married, but he died in 1915 at age 27 of blood poisoning, the result of a bite from an infected mosquito while he served in the Royal Navy during World War I.

Nesbitt lived for many years in the United States, but returned to the United Kingdom, where she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1978. Her autobiography, A Little Love and Good Company, was published in 1973.

Nesbitt died of natural causes at age 93 in London on 2 August 1982.

Partial filmography Year Title Role Notes 1919 A Star Over Night Short film1922 The Faithful Heart Diana Oughterson Mary Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots Short film 1930 Canaries Sometimes Sing Anne Lymes 1932 The Frightened Lady Lady Lebanon 1934 Falling in Love Mother 1935 The Passing of the Third Floor Back Mrs. Tomkin 1936 Well Done, Henry Mrs. McNab The Beloved Vagabond Mme. Boin Hearts of Humanity Mrs. Bamford 1937 Knights for a Day Lady Agatha Against the Tide Margaret Leigh 1938 Pygmalion Old Lady A Dream of Love Baroness St. Cricq Short film; Uncredited1940 Law and Disorder Miss. Sampson The Door with Seven Locks Ann Cody 1943 The Lamp Still Burns The Matron 1944 Fanny by Gaslight Kate Somerford 1945 The Agitator Mrs. Montrose Caesar and Cleopatra Egyptian Lady Uncredited1946 Men of Two Worlds Mrs. Upjohn 1947 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby Miss Knag Jassy Elizabeth Twisdale 1949 Madness of the Heart Mother Superior1950 So Long at the Fair Madame Hervé 1954 Three Coins in the Fountain Principessa Black Widow Lucia Colletti Désirée Mme. Bonaparte 1957 An Affair to Remember Grandmother Janou Trooper Hook 1958 Separate Tables Lady Matheson 1961 The Parent Trap Louise McKendrick 1963 The Farmer's Daughter (1963 to 1966) Agatha Morley TV Series - Comedy1966 Promise Her Anything Mrs. Brock The Trygon Factor Livia Embarday 1969 Staircase Harry's Mother 1971 Villain Mrs. Dakin1975 French Connection II The Old Lady 1976 Family Plot Julia Rainbird 1977 Full Circle Heather Rudge Julia Grandmother 1980 Never Never Land Edith Forbes Last film role

Selected stage credits

The Eldest Son by John Galsworthy (1912) The Perfect Cure by Stanley Houghton (1913) Loyalties by John Galsworthy (1922) Diversion by John Van Druten (1927) Good Losers by Michael Arlen and Walter Hackett (1931) Somebody Knows by John Van Druten (1932) Land's End by F.L. Lucas (1938) The Shop at Sly Corner by Edward Percy Smith (1945) The Uninvited Guest by Mary Hayley Bell (1953) My Fair Lady by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe (1956)