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Elizabeth Allan (English actress)
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Allan was an English actress who worked in both England and Hollywood, making about 50 films over more than a quarter century.
She was born at Skegness
, Lincolnshire
in 1908 (some sources indicate 1910), and after four years onstage with the Old Vic, she made her film debut in 1931, first appearing in Alibi
. In 1932 she joined Wilfred J. O'Bryen — to whom she had been introduced by actor Herbert Marshall
— in a marriage that lasted until his death in 1977.
Her first US/UK co-production and first US production came in 1933, and she worked in the United States under contract with MGM. 1935 was her most memorable year in Hollywood, when she not only distinguished herself in two memorable Dickens'
adaptations as David's unfortunate young mother in George Cukor
's David Copperfield and as Lucie Manette in Jack Conway's A Tale of Two Cities
, but was also featured in Tod Browning
's Mark of the Vampire
.
Allan did not think highly of the latter film, to which she had been assigned, and considered it "slumming". MGM announced her for a leading part in King Vidor
's The Citadel
, and, when she was subsequently replaced by Rosalind Russell
, Elizabeth sued the studio. The studio retaliated by refusing to let her work, and, frustrated, she returned to England in 1938.
By the 1950s, Allan had made the transition to character parts. Particularly memorable is her appearance as Trevor Howard
's brittle and dissatisfied wife in the film adaptation of Graham Greene
's The Heart of the Matter
(1953). In 1958, she appeared as Boris Karloff
's wife in The Haunted Strangler
.
Late in her career, she was a frequent panelist on television game shows, including the British version of What's My Line?. She was named Great Britain's Top Female TV Personality of 1952.
She died at Hove
, East Sussex
, aged 82.
bus 655.
She was born at Skegness
Skegness
Skegness is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. Located on the Lincolnshire coast of the North Sea, east of the city of Lincoln it has a total resident population of 18,910....
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
in 1908 (some sources indicate 1910), and after four years onstage with the Old Vic, she made her film debut in 1931, first appearing in Alibi
Alibi (1931 film)
Alibi is a British mystery detective film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Austin Trevor, Franklin Dyall, and Elizabeth Allen....
. In 1932 she joined Wilfred J. O'Bryen — to whom she had been introduced by actor Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall
Herbert Marshall , born Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall, was an English actor.His parents were Percy F. Marshall and Ethel May Turner. He graduated from St. Mary's College in Old Harlow, Essex and worked for a time as an accounting clerk...
— in a marriage that lasted until his death in 1977.
Her first US/UK co-production and first US production came in 1933, and she worked in the United States under contract with MGM. 1935 was her most memorable year in Hollywood, when she not only distinguished herself in two memorable Dickens'
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
adaptations as David's unfortunate young mother in George Cukor
George Cukor
George Dewey Cukor was an American film director. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO and later MGM, where he directed What Price Hollywood? , A Bill of Divorcement , Dinner at Eight , Little Women , David Copperfield , Romeo and Juliet and...
's David Copperfield and as Lucie Manette in Jack Conway's A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities (1935 film)
A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 film based upon Charles Dickens' 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The film stars Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton, Donald Woods and Elizabeth Allan. The supporting players include Basil Rathbone, Blanche Yurka, and Edna Mae Oliver. It was directed by Jack...
, but was also featured in Tod Browning
Tod Browning
Tod Browning was an American motion picture actor, director and screenwriter.Browning's career spanned the silent and talkie eras...
's Mark of the Vampire
Mark of the Vampire
Mark of the Vampire is a 1935 horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt and directed by Tod Browning...
.
Allan did not think highly of the latter film, to which she had been assigned, and considered it "slumming". MGM announced her for a leading part in King Vidor
King Vidor
King Wallis Vidor was an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter whose career spanned nearly seven decades...
's The Citadel
The Citadel (film)
The Citadel is a 1938 film based on the novel of the same name by A. J. Cronin, first published in 1937. The film was directed by King Vidor and produced by Victor Saville.-Plot:...
, and, when she was subsequently replaced by Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell was an American actress of stage and screen, perhaps best known for her role as a fast-talking newspaper reporter in the Howard Hawks screwball comedy His Girl Friday, as well as the role of Mame Dennis in the film Auntie Mame...
, Elizabeth sued the studio. The studio retaliated by refusing to let her work, and, frustrated, she returned to England in 1938.
By the 1950s, Allan had made the transition to character parts. Particularly memorable is her appearance as Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...
's brittle and dissatisfied wife in the film adaptation of Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
's The Heart of the Matter
The Heart of the Matter (film)
The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British film based on the book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot, cast and production:...
(1953). In 1958, she appeared as Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
's wife in The Haunted Strangler
The Haunted Strangler
The Haunted Strangler is a 1958 British horror film directed by Robert Day. It was adapted from "Stranglehold", a story which screenwriter Jan Read had written specially for Boris Karloff, and was shot back to back with producer Richard Gordon's Fiend Without a Face, with both later being...
.
Late in her career, she was a frequent panelist on television game shows, including the British version of What's My Line?. She was named Great Britain's Top Female TV Personality of 1952.
She died at Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
, East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
, aged 82.
Legacy
Her name is on Brighton & Hove's Scania OmniDekkaScania OmniDekka
The Scania OmniDekka is a double-decker bus built for sale in the UK...
bus 655.
Selected filmography
- Many WatersMany Waters (film)Many Waters is a 1931 British romance film directed by Milton Rosmer and starring Lillian Hall-Davis, Arthur Margetson and Elizabeth Allan. It was based on a play by Leon M. Lion. An elderly couple reminisce about the romantic adventures of their youth...
(1931) - AlibiAlibi (1931 film)Alibi is a British mystery detective film directed by Leslie S. Hiscott and starring Austin Trevor, Franklin Dyall, and Elizabeth Allen....
(1931) - Service for Ladies (1932)
- The Chinese Puzzle (1932)
- Down Our StreetDown Our Street (1932 film)-Plot:This drama, set during the Depression, sees the character Charlie Stubbs trying to escape his poverty by becoming a criminal. When this course of action fails he cleans up his act and becomes a cab driver for the woman he loves, Annie Collins...
(1932) - The LodgerThe Lodger (1932 film)The Lodger is a British thriller film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Ivor Novello, Elizabeth Allan and Jack Hawkins. It is based on the novel The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes, also filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1927, by John Brahm in 1944, as Man in the Attic directed by Hugo Fregonese,...
(1932) - The ShadowThe Shadow (1933 film)The Shadow is a 1933 British film directed by George A. Cooper.-Cast:* Henry Kendall as Reggie Ogden* Elizabeth Allan as Sonia Bryant* Felix Aylmer as Sir Richard Bryant* Jeanne Stuart as Moya Silverton* Cyril Raymond as Silverton...
(1933) - Looking ForwardLooking Forward (film)Looking Forward is a 1933 American drama film starring Lionel Barrymore and Lewis Stone. Based on the Dodie Smith play Service, it depicts the desperate struggle of a London department store owner to save his business during the Great Depression....
(1933) - The Mystery of Mr. XThe Mystery of Mr. XThe Mystery of Mr. X is a 1934 crime film starring Robert Montgomery as a jewel thief who gets mixed up in a series of murders in 19th century London. It is based on the novel X v. Rex by Philip MacDonald .-Plot:...
(1934) - Men in WhiteMen in White (1934 film)Men in White is a Pre-Code film starring Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, and directed by Ryszard Bolesławski. Because of the suggested illicit romance and the suggested abortion in the movie, it was frequently cut...
(1934) - David Copperfield (1935)
- Mark of the VampireMark of the VampireMark of the Vampire is a 1935 horror film, starring Lionel Barrymore, Elizabeth Allan, Bela Lugosi, Lionel Atwill, and Jean Hersholt and directed by Tod Browning...
(1935) - A Tale of Two CitiesA Tale of Two Cities (1935 film)A Tale of Two Cities is a 1935 film based upon Charles Dickens' 1859 historical novel, A Tale of Two Cities. The film stars Ronald Colman as Sydney Carton, Donald Woods and Elizabeth Allan. The supporting players include Basil Rathbone, Blanche Yurka, and Edna Mae Oliver. It was directed by Jack...
(1935) - A Woman RebelsA Woman RebelsA Woman Rebels is a 1936 RKO film adapted from the novel Portrait of a Rebel by Netta Syrett and starring Katharine Hepburn as Pamela Thistlewaite, who rebels against the social mores of Victorian England...
(1936) - CamilleCamille (1936 film)Camille is an American romantic drama film directed by George Cukor and produced by Irving Thalberg and Bernard H. Hyman, from a screenplay by James Hilton, Zoe Akins and Frances Marion. The picture is based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils...
(1936) - Slave ShipSlave Ship (1937 film)Slave Ship is a 1937 film directed by Tay Garnett, starring Warner Baxter and Wallace Beery. The supporting cast includes Mickey Rooney, George Sanders, Jane Darwell, and Joseph Schildkraut...
(1937) - Dangerous MedicineDangerous MedicineDangerous Medicine is a 1938 British crime film, directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Elizabeth Allan and Cyril Ritchard. It is now classed as a lost film.-Plot:...
(1938) - InquestInquest (1939 film)Inquest is a 1939 British crime film directed by Ray Boulting and starring Elizabeth Allan, Herbert Lomas, Hay Petrie and Barbara Everest. A young widow is accused of murder, and enlists the support of a King's Counsel to help prove her innocence...
(1939) - Went the Day Well?Went the Day Well?"Went the Day Well?" is a British war film produced by Ealing Studios in 1942 as unofficial propaganda. It tells of how an English village is taken over by German paratroopers . Made during the war, it reflects the greatest potential nightmares of many Britons of the time, although the threat of...
(1942) - He Snoops to ConquerHe Snoops to ConquerHe Snoops to Conquer is a 1944 British comedy film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring George Formby, Robertson Hare, Elizabeth Allan, and Claude Bailey. An odd job man becomes mixed up in corruption in politics and town planning.-Plot:...
(1944) - No Highway in the SkyNo Highway in the SkyNo Highway in the Sky is a 1951 British disaster film directed by Henry Koster and starring James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich...
(1951) - Folly to Be WiseFolly to Be WiseFolly to Be Wise is a 1953 British comedy film directed by Frank Launder and starring Alastair Sim, Elizabeth Allan, Roland Culver, Colin Gordon, Martita Hunt and Edward Chapman. It is based on the play It Depends What You Mean by James Bridie...
(1953) - Twice Upon a Time (1953)
- The Heart of the MatterThe Heart of the Matter (film)The Heart of the Matter is a 1953 British film based on the book of the same name by Graham Greene. It was directed by George More O'Ferrall for London Films. It was entered into the 1953 Cannes Film Festival.-Plot, cast and production:...
(1953) - Front Page StoryFront Page StoryFront Page Story is a 1954 British drama film directed by Gordon Parry and starring Jack Hawkins, Elizabeth Allan and Eva Bartok.-Cast:* Jack Hawkins as Grant* Elizabeth Allan as Susan Grant* Eva Bartok as Mrs. Thorpe* Derek Farr as Teale...
(1954) - The Haunted StranglerThe Haunted StranglerThe Haunted Strangler is a 1958 British horror film directed by Robert Day. It was adapted from "Stranglehold", a story which screenwriter Jan Read had written specially for Boris Karloff, and was shot back to back with producer Richard Gordon's Fiend Without a Face, with both later being...
(also known as Grip of the Strangler) (1958)