Fay Compton

Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie, (; 18 September 1894 – 12 December 1978), known professionally as Fay Compton, was an English actress. She appeared in several films, and made many broadcasts, but was best known for her stage performances. She was known for her versatility, and appeared in Shakespeare, drawing room comedy, pantomime, modern drama, and classics such as Ibsen and Chekhov. In addition to performing in Britain, Compton appeared several times in the US, and toured Australia and New Zealand in a variety of stage plays.

Life and career Early years Compton was born in Fulham, London, the sixth and youngest child and fourth daughter of Edward Compton (1854–1918), actor and manager (whose real surname was Mackenzie), and his wife, the actress Virginia Frances Bateman (1853–1940) daughter of the actor Hezekiah Linthicum Bateman, of Baltimore, US. One of her brothers became well known as the author Compton Mackenzie.

Compton made her first professional appearance in 1911 with the concert party The Follies under the leadership of H. G. Pelissier, her first husband, whom she married while still in her teens. The marriage was short-lived: Pelissier died in September 1913 at the age of 39, leaving his young widow with an infant son, who would become the producer and director Anthony Pelissier. In 1914, she made the first of many appearances on the American stage, at the Shubert Theatre, New York, in To-Night's the Night, subsequently touring in the same part. In London during the First World War she played a variety of roles, including the title role in Peter Pan in 1917.

1920s and 30s

In 1921 she was the eponymous star of the play Mary Rose written especially for her by J. M. Barrie. This work was partly inspired by Compton's own tragic marriage to the West End satirist H. G. Pélissier and her subsequent youthful widowhood. In the 1920s her parts included the first of many Shakespeare roles, Ophelia, to the Hamlet of John Barrymore.

1940s to 1960s During the 1940s Compton appeared at the Old Vic as Regan in King Lear, played Ruth in Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit for 15 months, Regina in The Little Foxes, toured for the British Council, in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland, in Othello, Candida and Hamlet, and made her first appearance in an Ibsen play as Gina Ekdal in The Wild Duck.

Filmography Film

She Stoops to Conquer (1914, Short) - Barmaid The Labour Leader (1917) - Diana Hazlitt One Summer's Day (1917) - Maisie Judge Not (1920) - Nelly A Woman of No Importance (1921) - Rachel Arbuthnot The Old Wives' Tale (1921) - Sophie Barnes The House of Peril (1922) - Sylvia Bailey Diana of the Crossways (1922) - Diana A Bill of Divorcement (1922) - Margaret Fairfield This Freedom (1923) - Rosalie Aubyn The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots (1923) - Mary Stuart Claude Duval (1924) - Duchess Frances The Eleventh Commandment (1924) - Ruth Barchester The Happy Ending (1925) - Mildred Craddock Settled Out of Court (1925) - The Woman London Love (1926) - Sally Hope Robinson Crusoe (1927) - Sophie Somehow Good (1927) - Rosalind Nightingale Zero (1928) - Mrs. Garth Fashions in Love (1929) - Marie De Remy Cape Forlorn (1931) - Eileen Kell Uneasy Virtue (1931) - Dorothy Rendell Tell England (1931) - Mrs. Doe Autumn Crocus (1934) - Jenny Gray Waltzes from Vienna (1934) - Countess Helga von Stahl Song at Eventide (1934) - Helen d'Alaste Wedding Group (1936) - Florence Nightingale The Mill on the Floss (1936) - Mrs. Tulliver So This Is London (1939) - Lady Worthing The Prime Minister (1941) - Queen Victoria Odd Man Out (1947) - Rosie Nicholas Nickleby (1947) - Madame Mantalini/Mme Mantalini London Belongs to Me (1948) - Mrs. Josser Esther Waters (1948) - Mrs. Barfield Britannia Mews (1949) - Mrs. Culver Blackmailed (1951) - Mrs. Christopher Laughter in Paradise (1951) - Agnes Russell Othello (1951) - Emilia Lady Possessed (1952) - Mme. Brune I Vinti (The Vanquished) (1953) - Mrs. Pinkerton Aunt Clara (1954) - Gladys Smith Doublecross (1956) - Alice Pascoe Town on Trial (1957) - Mrs. Crowley The Story of Esther Costello (1957) - Mother Superior Il fiore e la violenza (1962) - Mrs. Pinkerton (segment "Il delitto") The Haunting (1963) - Mrs. Sanderson Uncle Vanya (1963) - Marya, the mother Journey to Midnight (1968) - Queen Victoria (episode 'Poor Butterfly') I Start Counting (1969) - Mrs. Bennett The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970) - Grandma

Television

Douglas Fairbanks Presents (1955, 1 episode) - Mrs. Saunders London Playhouse (1955, 1 episode) - Adeline Girard Nicholas Nickleby (1956, 2 episodes) - Mrs. Squeers BBC Sunday-Night Theatre (1955-1959, 4 episodes) - Kate / Fanny Cavendish / Emmie Rockley / Mary ITV Television Playhouse (1956-1961, 3 episodes) - Great Aunt Julia / Nannie / Mrs. Gillis Armchair Theatre (1957-1964, 3 episodes) - Victoria / Angelica Our Mutual Friend (1958, 3 episodes) - Mrs. Betty Higden The Widow of Bath (1959, 5 episodes) - Mrs. Leonard BBC Sunday-Night Play (1960-1962, 2 episodes) - Mrs. Umney / Mrs. Flint / Mrs. Sarah Victoria Marryot ITV Play of the Week (1961, 2 episodes) - Victoria Verity No Hiding Place (1961-1962, 3 episodes) - Mrs. Halfpenny / Mrs. Haven / Mrs. Palmer Dixon of Dock Green (1962-1965, 3 episodes) - Nelly Cook / Sarah Conroy / Mrs. Binney Maigret (1962, 1 episode) - Jaquette Call Oxbridge 2000 (1962, 1 episode) - Miss Effie Tavener First Night (1964, 1 episode) - Alice Walmer Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1964, 1 episode) - Mrs. Tennant Story Parade (1965, 1 episode) - Miss Babbage Our Man at St. Mark's (1965, 1 episode) - Edie Russell Knock on Any Door (1965, 1 episode) - Hester Warren The Forsyte Saga (1967, 6 episodes) - 'Aunt Ann' Forsyte Sanctuary (1967-1968, 4 episodes) - Sister Juliana Cold Comfort Farm (1968, 3 episodes) - Aunt Ada Doom (Starkadder) Journey to the Unknown (1969, 1 episode) - Queen Victoria Dombey and Son (1969, 7 episodes) - Mrs. Brown Fraud Squad (1970, 1 episode) - Lady Flanders (final appearance)

Publications Rosemary: some remembrances (1926), introduction by Compton Mackenzie