Katie Johnson

Bessie Kate Johnson (18 November 1878 – 4 May 1957) was an English actress who appeared on stage from 1894 and on screen from the 1930s to the 1950s. She is perhaps best remembered for her BAFTA award-winning performance in The Ladykillers.

Biography In 1908 she married the actor Frank Goodenough Bayly. The couple had two children.

Katie Johnson’s stage career included memorable performances such as Little Lord Fauntleroy at the Prince’s Theatre in Bristol and her role as Lady McClean in “Escape Me Never” at the Apollo in London in 1933, which she later reprised on Broadway in 1935. She also appeared in 'The Rescue Party' at the Comedy Theatre, London in 1926. For much of her career, well into her seventies, she played mostly minor roles.

She first appeared in a film at age 53, in 1932, but never received critical acclaim for her performances until 1955, when she starred, aged 76, in the Ealing Studios comedy The Ladykillers as Mrs Louisa Wilberforce. She subsequently played the intriguing role of Aunt Alice, an eavesdropping amateur detective, in “How to Murder a Rich Uncle” (1957). This remained her final performance as she died at the age of 78.

Selected filmography

After Office Hours (1932) – Miss Wilesden A Glimpse of Paradise (1934) – Mrs. Fielding Laburnum Grove (1936) – Mrs. Radfern Dusty Ermine (1936) – Emily Kent Farewell Again (1937) – Mother of soldier in hospital (uncredited) The Last Adventurers (1937) – (uncredited) Sunset in Vienna (1937) – Woman in Café (uncredited) The Dark Stairway (1938) – (uncredited) Marigold (1938) – Santa Dunlop Gaslight (1940) – Alice Barlow's Maid (uncredited) Two for Danger (1940) – (uncredited) Freedom Radio (1941) – Granny Schmidt Jeannie (1941) – Mathilda The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) – Train Passenger (uncredited) Talk About Jacqueline (1942) – Ethel Tawny Pipit (1944) – Miss Pyman He Snoops to Conquer (1944) – Ma – George's Landlady (uncredited) Love Letters (1945) – Nurse (uncredited) The Years Between (1946) – Old Man's Wife I See a Dark Stranger (1946) – Old Lady on Train Meet Me at Dawn (1947) – Henriette – Mme. Vermomel's Housekeeper Code of Scotland Yard (1947) – Music Box Seller. (uncredited) Death of an Angel (1952) – Sarah Oddy I Believe in You (1952) – Miss Mackiln Lady in the Fog (1952) – 'Mary Stuart' – Old Inmate at Murder Scene The Large Rope (1953) – Grandmother Three Steps in the Dark (1953) – Mrs. Riddle The Rainbow Jacket (1954) – (uncredited) The Delavine Affair (1954) – Mrs. Bissett Out of the Clouds (1955) – Passenger (uncredited) John and Julie (1955) – Old Lady The Ladykillers (1955) – Mrs. Wilberforce (The Old Lady) How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957) – Alice (final film role) – (released posthumously, in June 1957)

Additional sources Film academy awards, The Times, 13 February 1956, pg. 5 Obituary, The Times, 9 May 1957, pg. 12 Will, The Times, 29 July 1957, pg. 10