Moyna MacGill
Encyclopedia
Moyna Macgill was an Irish
stage
and film
actress and the mother of actress Angela Lansbury
and producers Edgar Lansbury
and Bruce Lansbury.
, she was the daughter of a wealthy solicitor
who also worked as a director of the Belfast Opera
, a position that sparked her interest in theatrics. She was still a teen when she was noticed riding the London Underground
by director George Pearson, who cast her in several of his films. In 1918, she made her stage debut in the play Love in a Cottage at the West End
's Globe Theatre
.
Encouraged by Gerald du Maurier
to change her name to Moyna Macgill (which invariably was misspelled as "MacGill" or "McGill", and on at least one occasion, the film Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven
, as "Magill"), she became a leading actress of the day, appearing in light comedies, melodramas, and classics opposite Herbert Marshall
, John Gielgud
, and Basil Rathbone
, among others.
Twenty-six-year old Macgill was married with a three-year-old daughter, Isolde (who later married Peter Ustinov
), when she became involved romantically with Edgar Lansbury
, a socialist politician, who was son of the well-known popular Labour politician George Lansbury
. Her husband, actor Reginald Denham
, named Lansbury as co-respondent when he filed for divorce. A year after it was finalized, Macgill and Lansbury married and with Isolde settled into a garden flat in London
's Regent's Park
.
Macgill temporarily set aside her career following the birth of daughter Angela and twin sons Edgar, Jr., and Bruce (both of whom would go on to become Broadway
producers, but Bruce is better known for his work on television, such as the series The Wild Wild West
and Mission: Impossible
), although music and dance were prevalent in their upbringing. When they moved into a larger house in suburban Mill Hill
, she turned their home into a salon
for actors, writers, directors, musicians, and artists, all of whom left an impression on young Angela and were instrumental in directing her interests towards acting.
Angela Lansbury
would become a popular stage and film actress in her own right, starring in her own television series in the 1980s, after a string of successful musicals spanning between the 1940s and 1960s.
In 1935, Edgar Lansbury died of stomach cancer
, a year after publishing a biography
of his father George. Macgill began an affair with Scotsman
Leckie Forbes, a former colonel
with the British Army
in India
. The two moved their respective families to a house in Hampstead
, but Macgill soon discovered her husband's military career had made him a staunch disciplinarian who ruled the household like a tyrant
. When the opportunity to take her children to America
presented itself just prior to The Blitz
, she spirited them away under cover of night. She never spoke to Forbes again.
In New York City
, Macgill's career stalled, and she took to presenting dramatic readings at private schools for income. In 1942, she was invited to join a troupe that was rehearsing Noel Coward
's Tonight at 8:30
for a touring production designed to raise funds for the Royal Canadian Air Force
. She accepted, and when the company finished the run in Vancouver
, she headed to Hollywood to seek work there. She soon sent for Angela, and eventually the twins, and the family settled in Laurel Canyon
.
Her career in Hollywood consisted largely of small character parts in films and on television. Among her more notable film credits are Frenchman's Creek and The Picture of Dorian Gray
(which co-starred her daughter Angela). In later years she made guest appearances on such television series as Studio One
, The Twilight Zone
, Dr. Kildare, Mister Ed
, I Dream of Jeannie
and My Favorite Martian
.
She died of throat cancer
in Los Angeles
, just a few weeks shy of her 80th birthday.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
actress and the mother of actress Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
and producers Edgar Lansbury
Edgar Lansbury (producer)
Edgar Lansbury is an award-winning British theatre, film, and television producer.Born in London, Lansbury was the son of Belfast-born actress Moyna MacGill and Edgar Lansbury, a politician and businessman, and the grandson of former Labour Party leader George Lansbury...
and Bruce Lansbury.
Life and career
Born as Charlotte Lillian McIldowie in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, she was the daughter of a wealthy solicitor
Solicitor
Solicitors are lawyers who traditionally deal with any legal matter including conducting proceedings in courts. In the United Kingdom, a few Australian states and the Republic of Ireland, the legal profession is split between solicitors and barristers , and a lawyer will usually only hold one title...
who also worked as a director of the Belfast Opera
Grand Opera House (Belfast)
The Grand Opera House is a theatre in Belfast, Northern Ireland, designed by the most prolific theatre architect of the period, Frank Matcham. It opened on 23 December 1895....
, a position that sparked her interest in theatrics. She was still a teen when she was noticed riding the London Underground
London Underground
The London Underground is a rapid transit system serving a large part of Greater London and some parts of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Essex in England...
by director George Pearson, who cast her in several of his films. In 1918, she made her stage debut in the play Love in a Cottage at the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
's Globe Theatre
Gielgud Theatre
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
.
Encouraged by Gerald du Maurier
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
to change her name to Moyna Macgill (which invariably was misspelled as "MacGill" or "McGill", and on at least one occasion, the film Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven
Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven
Texas, Brooklyn and Heaven is a 1948 American romantic comedy film directed by William Castle and starring Guy Madison and Diana Lynn.- Plot :...
, as "Magill"), she became a leading actress of the day, appearing in light comedies, melodramas, and classics opposite 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...
, John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, and Basil Rathbone
Basil Rathbone
Sir Basil Rathbone, KBE, MC, Kt was an English actor. He rose to prominence in England as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in over 70 films, primarily costume dramas, swashbucklers, and, occasionally, horror films...
, among others.
Twenty-six-year old Macgill was married with a three-year-old daughter, Isolde (who later married Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
), when she became involved romantically with Edgar Lansbury
Edgar Lansbury (politician)
Isaac Edgar Lansbury , known as Edgar Lansbury, was a British socialist politician.Lansbury was the son of Labour Party politician George Lansbury. He grew up in Poplar in the East End of London, and joined the Civil Service at a young age...
, a socialist politician, who was son of the well-known popular Labour politician George Lansbury
George Lansbury
George Lansbury was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935....
. Her husband, actor Reginald Denham
Reginald Denham
Reginald Denham was an English writer, theater and film director, actor and film producer.Denham was born in London, England in 1894....
, named Lansbury as co-respondent when he filed for divorce. A year after it was finalized, Macgill and Lansbury married and with Isolde settled into a garden flat in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Regent's Park
Regent's Park
Regent's Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the north-western part of central London, partly in the City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden...
.
Macgill temporarily set aside her career following the birth of daughter Angela and twin sons Edgar, Jr., and Bruce (both of whom would go on to become Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
producers, but Bruce is better known for his work on television, such as the series The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West
The Wild Wild West is an American television series that ran on CBS for four seasons from September 17, 1965 to April 4, 1969....
and Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible
Mission: Impossible is an American television series which was created and initially produced by Bruce Geller. It chronicled the missions of a team of secret American government agents known as the Impossible Missions Force . The leader of the team was Jim Phelps, played by Peter Graves, except in...
), although music and dance were prevalent in their upbringing. When they moved into a larger house in suburban Mill Hill
Mill Hill
Mill Hill is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. It is a suburb situated 9 miles north west of Charing Cross. Mill Hill was in the historic county of Middlesex until it was absorbed by London...
, she turned their home into a salon
Salon (gathering)
A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine taste and increase their knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to...
for actors, writers, directors, musicians, and artists, all of whom left an impression on young Angela and were instrumental in directing her interests towards acting.
Angela Lansbury
Angela Lansbury
Angela Brigid Lansbury CBE is an English actress and singer in theatre, television and motion pictures, whose career has spanned eight decades and earned her more performance Tony Awards than any other individual , with five wins...
would become a popular stage and film actress in her own right, starring in her own television series in the 1980s, after a string of successful musicals spanning between the 1940s and 1960s.
In 1935, Edgar Lansbury died of stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
, a year after publishing a biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of his father George. Macgill began an affair with Scotsman
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
Leckie Forbes, a former colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
with the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The two moved their respective families to a house in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, but Macgill soon discovered her husband's military career had made him a staunch disciplinarian who ruled the household like a tyrant
Tyrant
A tyrant was originally one who illegally seized and controlled a governmental power in a polis. Tyrants were a group of individuals who took over many Greek poleis during the uprising of the middle classes in the sixth and seventh centuries BC, ousting the aristocratic governments.Plato and...
. When the opportunity to take her children to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
presented itself just prior to The Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, she spirited them away under cover of night. She never spoke to Forbes again.
In New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Macgill's career stalled, and she took to presenting dramatic readings at private schools for income. In 1942, she was invited to join a troupe that was rehearsing Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Tonight at 8:30
Tonight at 8:30
Tonight at 8.30 is a cycle of ten one-act plays by Noël Coward. In the introduction to a published edition of the plays, Coward wrote, "A short play, having a great advantage over a long one in that it can sustain a mood without technical creaking or over padding, deserves a better fate, and if,...
for a touring production designed to raise funds for the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
. She accepted, and when the company finished the run in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, she headed to Hollywood to seek work there. She soon sent for Angela, and eventually the twins, and the family settled in Laurel Canyon
Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles, California
Laurel Canyon is a canyon neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was first developed in the 1910s, and became a part of the city of Los Angeles in 1923 ....
.
Her career in Hollywood consisted largely of small character parts in films and on television. Among her more notable film credits are Frenchman's Creek and The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945 film)
The Picture of Dorian Gray is an American horror-drama film based on Oscar Wilde's 1891 novel of the same name. Released in March 1945 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film is directed by Albert Lewin and stars George Sanders as Lord Henry Wotton and Hurd Hatfield as Dorian Gray...
(which co-starred her daughter Angela). In later years she made guest appearances on such television series as Studio One
Studio One (TV series)
Studio One is a long-running American radio–television anthology series, created in 1947 by the 26-year-old Canadian director Fletcher Markle, who came to CBS from the CBC.-Radio:...
, The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
, Dr. Kildare, Mister Ed
Mister Ed
Originally produced in late 1960, Mister Ed is an American television situation comedy produced by Filmways that first aired in syndication from January 5 to July 2, 1961, and then on CBS from October 1, 1961, to February 6, 1966....
, I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie is a 1960s American sitcom with a fantasy premise. The show starred Barbara Eden as a 2,000-year-old genie, and Larry Hagman as an astronaut who becomes her master, with whom she falls in love and eventually marries...
and My Favorite Martian
My Favorite Martian
My Favorite Martian is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963 to May 1, 1966 for 107 episodes...
.
She died of throat cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, just a few weeks shy of her 80th birthday.
Selected filmography
- The Strange Affair of Uncle HarryThe Strange Affair of Uncle HarryThe Strange Affair of Uncle Harry is a 1945 film noir directed by Robert Siodmak, starring George Sanders as an aging bachelor who looks after his two sisters, one of whom tries to sabotage his romance with his co-worker...
(1945) - Private AngeloPrivate Angelo (film)Private Angelo is a 1949 British comedy war film directed by Michael Anderson and Peter Ustinov. It starred Ustinov, Godfrey Tearle, Maria Denis and Marjorie Rhodes. It depicts the misadventures of a soldier in the Italian Army during the Second World War...
(1949)