Jessica Tandy

Jessica Tandy (7 June, 1909 – 11 September, 1994) was a British-American actress, appearing in movies from the Pre-Code era in 1932 until the year of her death in 1994, and appearing on the stage from 1930 to 1986. Her first movie was Cecil Lewis' Pre-code comedy 'The Indiscretions of Eve' (1932), starring Steffi Duna, Fred Conyngham, and Lester Matthews, who also appeared in 'Werewolf of London' (1935), the first full length werewolf movie. One of Jessica Tandy's early Hollywood movies was in a film noir, in the role of an insomniac murderess in Zoltán Korda's film noir drama mystery adapted from a story by Aldous Huxley story 'A Woman's Vengeance' (1948), also starring Ann Blyth, Charles Boyer, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Rachel Kempson, and Mildred Natwick. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. She began on the London stage and was often paired in the leads with Laurence Olivier and very often had to compete for roles with Peggy Ashcroft. She began appearing in movies in the early 1930's in the U.K, as noted. After a divorce from British actor Jack Hawkins in 1940, she moved to New York City for Broadway and would travel to Los Angeles to appear in Hollywood movies . She played Blanche DuBois in the original Broadway production of 'A Streetcar Named Desire' in 1948. I believe this was her finest and most celebrated performance of all. Her films included Alfred Hitchcock's 'The Birds' (1963) with Tippi Hedron, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, and Veronica Cartwright, and 'The Gin Game' (1981) also starring her husband, Canadian actor Hume Cronyn. At 80, she became the oldest actress to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in 'Driving Miss Daisy' (1989) with Morgan Freeman, Dan Aykroyd, and Patti LuPone. I was not a fan of 'Driving Miss Daisy'. I didn't care for the story, but her performance in it was masterful. After 'The Birds', my favourite movie of hers was 'Still of the Night' (1982) also starring Roy Scheider and Meryl Streep, in which she played the psychiatrist mother of her psychiatrist son, Roy Scheider, advising him in formal shrink sessions. I also loved her in her other later roles in 'Cocoon' (1985) also starring her husband Hume Cronyn, Wilfrid Brimley, Don Ameche, Steve Guttenberg, Brian Dennehy, Maureen Stapleton, and Jack Gilford, and in 'Fried Green Tomatoes' (1991) with Kathy Bates, Cicely Tyson, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker, Chris O'Donnell, Nick Searcy, and Stan Shaw. She was such a brilliant actress. She was photographed here in 1943.