Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft, DBE (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), always known as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than sixty years.Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was determined from an early age to become an actress, despite parental opposition. She was working in smaller theatres even before graduating from drama school, and within two years thereafter she was starring in the West End. Ashcroft maintained her leading place in British theatre for the next fifty years. Always attracted by the ideals of permanent theatrical ensembles she did much of her work for the Old Vic in the early 1930s, John Gielgud's companies in the 1930s and 40s, the Royal Shakespeare Company from the 1950s and the National Theatre from the 1970s.Well regarded in Shakespeare, Ashcroft was also known for her commitment to modern drama, appearing in plays by Bertolt Brecht, Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter. Her career was almost wholly spent in the live theatre until the 1980s, when she turned to television and cinema with considerable success, winning an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and several British and European awards.
Jeremy Hutchinson, Baron Hutchinson of Lullington (m. 1940–1965)
Children
Nicholas Hutchinson, Eliza Hutchinson
Parents
René of Anjou, Isabella, Duchess of Lorraine
Siblings
Yolande, Duchess of Lorraine, John II, Duke of Lorraine, Louis of Anjou, Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson, Anne of Anjou, Louise of Anjou, Charles, Count of Guise, Isabelle of Anjou
Albums
Julian Bream Edition, Volume 17
Star Sign
Capricorn
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Quote
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I do think I'm very, very fortunate that just at the age when playing a stage role night after night is becoming difficult, I've had these opportunities to play in film and TV. You still have to have a lot of concentration. Acting is the same whatever you're doing, but that long sustaining of energy is not demanded of you.
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They told me if I wanted to be a film star, I'd have to have my nose straightened and my teeth fixed, but I've never really wanted to be a film star - it seems to lead only to tax problems.
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[on Trevor Howard] One of the most remarkable actors of our century. His great films are classics. He was also one of the most popular actors in the business because he was so straight down the line. He always said what he felt.
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Fact
1
Ashcroft made her professional acting debut in "Dear Brutus" in 1926 with Ralph Richardson also in the cast. They played together several times after that including "The Heiress." The same year Ashcroft won the Supporting Actress Award for "A Passage for India" from the New York Film Critics, he was honored posthumously as Best Supporting Actor in "Greystoke," his last film.
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When she was named Dame of the British Empire in 1956, she (along with Sybil Thorndike who received the honor in 1931) became the youngest actress to be so honored. However, she seldom or ever uses the title for billing purposes.
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Won the London Evening Standard Best Stage Actress Award twice- for 'The Chalk Garden' and 'The War of the Roses.'.
$20 Million
