Phyllis Konstam

Phyllis Esther Kohnstamm (14 April 1907 – 20 August 1976), known as Phyllis Konstam, was an English film actress born in London. She appeared in 12 films between 1928 and 1964, including four directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Life Phyllis Esther Kohnstamm was born in London in 1907, the daughter of Jewish parents Alfred and Esther Kohnstamm, of Middleheath, Hampstead. Her father, with his brother, cultivated a successful leather business. She had her drama training in Paris before her first appearance which was at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in The Jew of Malta in 1925. The following year she was "a wife" in Escape by John Galsworthy in London's West End. In 1930 she appeared in the first film version directed with the same name by Basil Dean. Together, Austin and Konstam were one of the celebrity couples of the age. Austin played tennis with Charlie Chaplin, was a friend of Daphne du Maurier and met both Queen Mary and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. They had two children.

In her later years, she joined her husband with involvement in the Oxford Group,

Filmography

Champagne (1928) Blackmail (1929) Murder! (1930) Escape (1930) Compromising Daphne (1930) The Skin Game (1931) Tilly of Bloomsbury (1931) A Gentleman of Paris (1931) Jotham Valley (1952) The Forgotten Factor (1952) The Kindled Flame (short) (1939) The Crowning Experience (1960) Voice of the Hurricane (1964)