May Whitty

Dame May Whitty (June 19, 1865 - May 29, 1948) was a British theater and cinema actress.

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Born Mary Whitty in Liverpool, England, Mary Whitty made her first stage appearance in Liverpool in 1881 before moving to London to appear on the West End. She married the actor-manager Ben Webster (actor) in 1892 and in 1895 they visited the United States where Whitty appeared on Broadway. Their only child, a daughter born in the U.S. in 1905, Margaret Webster, was a stage actress. Dame May's stage career continued for the rest of her life.

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In 1918 she was made Dame of the British Empire (DBE) in recognition for her charitable work during World War I, and for her contributions to acting.

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She made her first major Hollywood film appearance, recreating her stage role in the film Night Must Fall (1937) (which also starred Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell, and received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This led to several supporting roles in films including that of the missing spy, "Miss Froy", in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938). She moved permanently to the U.S. (although she never become as U.S. citizen) in 1939 and appeared both on stage and in Hollywood films where she usually played wealthy dowagers. It was one such part, as "Lady Beldon" in Mrs Miniver (1942), that brought her a second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

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She continued to act for the remainder of her life and died in Beverly Hills, California from cancer at the age of 82; her husband, Ben Webster (actor), had died the previous year during surgery.

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Quote

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"I have everything Betty Grable has - I've just had it longer".

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June 19: June 19 is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 195 days remaining....

1865: 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday....

May 29: May 29 is the 149th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (150th in leap years). There are 216 days remaining....

May Whitty related Images and Photos (experimental)

May	May	May Queen	May Britt
May Basket	May Morning	May 2002	May 2002
May Transition	Sean May	May Inspiration	The May Queen