Ellen Pollock

Ellen Pollock (29 June 1902 – 29 March 1997) was a British character actress who mainly appeared on stage in London's West End. She also appeared in several films and TV productions.

The second child of Hanover merchant Adolph Meyer (1890-?) and Hedwig née Kahn (1876-1965), sister of Otto Hermann Kahn (wealthy investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts) and composer Robert Kahn, she became the stepdaughter of Raymond Anselmo Pollak (c. 1872-c. 1930) when her divorced mother remarried in April 1904 to the Austrian businessman, who himself had two sons from a first marriage to Elsa Julia Harris, a New Zealander.

A devotee of Bernard Shaw, she was president of the Shaw Society from 1949. In its obituary, The Independent wrote "Pollock is believed to have played, in a career spanning 72 years, more Shavian heroines than anyone else. She directed London seasons of his plays; and it was during the London premiere of one of his lesser-known works – Farfetched Fables (Watergate, 1950) – that she announced Shaw's death from the stage."

Pollock's dedication to acting began as a seven-year-old, when she saw Sarah Bernhardt on stage; she knew then that she wanted to be an actress herself. Pollock was also a theatre director and a teacher of drama at RADA and Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art; and her varied television work included several appearances in The Forsyte Saga for the BBC.

Selected filmography

Moulin Rouge (1928) – Girl Piccadilly (1929) – Vamp (uncredited) The Informer (1929) – Prostitute Too Many Crooks (1930, short) – Rose Night Birds (1930) – Flossie Let's Love and Laugh (1931) The Wife's Family (1931) – Dolly White 77 Park Lane (1931; uncredited) A Gentleman of Paris (1931; uncredited) Midnight (1931) The First Mrs. Fraser (1932) – Maid The Last Coupon (1932) – Eliza (uncredited) Heads We Go (1933) – Madame Channel Crossing (1933) – Minor Role Royal Cavalcade (1935) It's a Bet (1935) – Mrs. Joe The Happy Family (1936) – Leo Hutt Aren't Men Beasts! (1937) – The Vamp The Street Singer (1937) – Gloria Weston Non-Stop New York (1937) – Miss Harvey Splinters in the Air (1937) – Charles' Wife Millions (1937) – Janet Mason (uncredited) Sons of the Sea (1939) – Margaret Hulls Spare a Copper (1940) – Lady Hardstaff Kiss the Bride Goodbye (1945) – Gladys Dodd Don Chicago (1945) – Lady Vanessa Bedelia (1946) – McKelvey's Housekeeper Warning to Wantons (1949) – Baroness de Jammes Something in the City (1950) – Mrs. Holley To Have and to Hold (1951) – Roberta The Galloping Major (1951) – Horsey Lady The Fake (1953) – Miss Fossett The Golden Link (1954) – Madame Sonia The Time of His Life (1955) – Lady Florence Carter-Wilson née Pastry Not So Dusty (1956) — Agatha The Hypnotist (1957) – Barbara Barton The Gypsy and the Gentleman (1958) – Haggard's Maid The Long Knife (1958) – Mrs. Cheam So Evil, So Young (1961) – Miss Smith Master Spy (1964) – Dr. Morrell Rapture (1965) – Landlady Who Killed the Cat? (1966) – Ruth Prendergast Finders Keepers (1966) – Grandma Horror Hospital (1973) – Aunt Harris The Wicked Lady (1983) – Mrs. Munce