Peggy Ashcroft

1. Early Life and Education

Peggy Ashcroft was born in Croydon, Surrey (now part of Greater London), on December 22, 1907. She was the younger child and only daughter of Violetta Maud Bernheim (1874-1926) and William Worsley Ashcroft (1878-1918), a land agent. Her mother, Violetta, was of Danish and German Jewish descent and was an enthusiastic amateur actress. Ashcroft's father died in active service during the First World War.

From an early age, Ashcroft developed a strong desire to become a professional actress. Despite facing opposition from her teachers and her mother, who did not approve of her career choice, Ashcroft remained determined. At 16, she enrolled at the Central School of Speech and Drama, an institution run by Elsie Fogerty, who had previously taught Ashcroft's mother. While the school emphasized vocal training and elegant diction, Ashcroft found more inspiration in texts like My Life in Art by the influential Russian theatre director Konstantin Stanislavski, which focused on internal truth and emotional depth in acting.

2. Early Career and Artistic Development

Even before graduating from drama school, Ashcroft made her professional stage debut at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. This occurred in a revival of J. M. Barrie's play Dear Brutus, where she performed opposite Ralph Richardson, an actor she greatly admired from his touring company performances during her school years. After graduating from the Central School in 1927 with University of London's Diploma in Dramatic Art, Ashcroft chose to hone her skills with smaller, experimental companies in fringe theatre rather than immediately pursuing stardom in the West End.

Her first notable West End role came in 1929 as Naemi in Jew Süss. Despite the extravagant theatricality of the production, Ashcroft earned acclaim for her naturalistic and truthful portrayal. In the same year, she married Rupert Hart-Davis, an aspiring actor who later became a publisher. Hart-Davis later described their marriage as a "sad failure" due to their youth and immaturity, leading to their divorce.

In 1930, Ashcroft was cast as Desdemona in an Othello production at the Savoy Theatre, opposite Paul Robeson in the title role. Although the production itself received mixed reviews, Ashcroft's performance was widely praised. This experience marked a significant "political awakening" for Ashcroft. She was deeply shocked and angered by the hate mail she received for appearing on stage with a black actor, and particularly by the fact that Robeson, despite being the star of the play, was not permitted to stay at the adjoining Savoy Hotel due to racial discrimination. This period led to a brief affair between Ashcroft and Robeson, which contributed to the end of Robeson's marriage to Essie Robeson. Her first marriage also ended, followed by another affair with writer J. B. Priestley. In 1933, Hart-Davis was granted a divorce on the grounds of Ashcroft's adultery with director Theodore Komisarjevsky, whom she married in 1934.

Among those impressed by her Desdemona was John Gielgud, a rising star in the West End, who remarked on her radiant presence. In 1932, Gielgud invited Ashcroft to play Juliet in the Oxford University Dramatic Society's production of Romeo and Juliet, which he directed. Her performance, alongside Edith Evans as the Nurse, garnered critical acclaim.

Ashcroft joined the Old Vic company for the 1932-33 season. The Old Vic, located in an unfashionable area of London south of the River Thames, was run by Lilian Baylis with the mission of providing classic plays and operas, predominantly Shakespearean works, to a largely working-class audience at affordable prices. Despite the modest wages, many West End stars joined the Old Vic for the invaluable experience of performing a diverse repertory of classics. During this season, Ashcroft played five Shakespearean heroines, as well as Kate in She Stoops to Conquer, Mary Stuart in a new play by John Drinkwater, and Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal. In 1933, she made her first film appearance in The Wandering Jew, though she was not particularly drawn to cinema and made only four more films over the next 25 years.

Her professional and personal relationship with Komisarjevsky, whom she left in 1936, significantly shaped her artistic approach. From him, she learned the importance of discipline, perfectionism, and the principle that an actor, even during moments of intense emotional expression, must maintain a thoughtful, intellectual engagement with their role.

After appearing in Alfred Hitchcock's film The 39 Steps (1935) and a series of less successful stage productions, Ashcroft was again cast as Juliet by Gielgud in a highly anticipated West End production from October 1935 to March 1936. Her Romeos were played alternately by Laurence Olivier and Gielgud himself, and while critics debated the merits of her leading men, Ashcroft's performance earned glowing reviews. In May 1936, Komisarjevsky directed a production of The Seagull, with Ashcroft as Nina, a role that received ecstatic critical reception despite the difficulties caused by the recent collapse of her marriage to the director during rehearsals.

After a brief and unfulfilling period in New York, Ashcroft returned to London in 1937 for a season of four plays presented by Gielgud at the Queen's Theatre. She played the Queen in Richard II, Lady Teazle in The School for Scandal, Irina in Three Sisters, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice. This company, which included actors like Harry Andrews, Glen Byam Shaw, George Devine, and Michael Redgrave, is considered by some critics to have laid the groundwork for post-war theatrical ensembles like the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre. However, the looming threat of the Second World War and the Munich crisis delayed further development of such a company for a decade.

3. Established Career in British Theatre

Peggy Ashcroft spent the majority of her career dedicated to live theatre, establishing herself as a leading figure in British drama. She was a crucial part of several prominent theatrical companies, where she performed a wide range of roles from classic Shakespearean heroines to complex characters in modern and avant-garde plays. Her commitment to permanent ensembles allowed her to deeply explore and develop her acting style, which was characterized by its naturalism, emotional depth, and intellectual rigor.

3.1. Major Company Engagements and Representative Works

In 1940, Ashcroft married Jeremy Hutchinson, a rising lawyer. Their daughter, Eliza, was born the following year, leading Ashcroft to reduce her stage work during the early years of the war. Her notable appearances during this period were with Gielgud's company at the Haymarket Theatre in 1944, where she played Ophelia in Hamlet, Titania in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the title role in The Duchess of Malfi. While her performances were critically praised, the productions were sometimes unfavourably compared to the dynamic work of the rival Old Vic company led by Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier. After the Haymarket season, Ashcroft took another break from theatre to campaign for her husband, who was a Labour candidate in the 1945 United Kingdom general election, and then to have their second child, Nicholas, in 1946.

Returning to the stage in 1947, Ashcroft achieved consecutive long-running successes. She starred as the alcoholic Evelyn Holt in Edward, My Son in the West End and subsequently on Broadway, and as the downtrodden Catherine Sloper in The Heiress in 1949.

The 1950s began with Ashcroft's return to Shakespeare at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon. Here, she played Beatrice to Gielgud's Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing and Cordelia to his King Lear. In 1951, she returned to the Old Vic to play Viola in Twelfth Night, the title role in Electra, and Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor. Her portrayal of Electra was particularly noted for its ability to convey the "austere peaks of Greek tragedy."

Throughout the remainder of the decade, Ashcroft balanced commercial West End productions with appearances in the burgeoning subsidized theatres, engaging in both Shakespearean and experimental works. In commercial theatre, she made a profound impression as the adulterous, suicidal Hester Collyer in Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea (1952) and received positive reviews as the governess Miss Madrigal in Enid Bagnold's The Chalk Garden (1956). Her roles for non-commercial companies included Shakespearean performances at Stratford and on tour, Hedda Gabler (1954), and the challenging double role of Shen Te and Shui Ta in The Good Woman of Setzuan (1956). Although the latter was not a critical success, Ashcroft was commended for her courage in taking on such a demanding role.

In 1958, Peter Hall, who was appointed to lead the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, approached Ashcroft with his vision for a permanent company based in Stratford and London, featuring a salaried ensemble performing a mix of classical and new plays. Ashcroft immediately agreed to join, and Hall believed her commitment was instrumental to the success of the newly formed Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC).

In the RSC's initial seasons, Ashcroft took on roles such as Katharina in The Taming of the Shrew, Paulina in The Winter's Tale (1960), The Duchess of Malfi (1961), Emilia in Othello (1961), and Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard, opposite Gielgud as Gaev. These performances generally received positive reviews, but her portrayal in The Wars of the Roses in 1963 and 1964 garnered widespread critical acclaim. This production was a reshaping of Shakespeare's three Henry VI plays and Richard III. Ashcroft, then 56, played Margaret of Anjou, depicting her character's aging from youthful vivacity to fierce old age as the plays progressed. Critic Philip Hope-Wallace lauded her "marvellous, fearsome performance" as Margaret, highlighting her transformation from a "lightfooted, ginger, sub-deb sub-bitch" to a "bedraggled crone with glittering eye, rambling and cussing with undiminished fury," becoming a "battle-axe and a maniac monster of rage and cruelty."

Around this time, Ashcroft's third and final marriage began to dissolve. She found solace in her work, dedicating herself to classical and avant-garde plays with increasing fervor. Her roles in the 1960s included Arkadina in The Seagull (1964), Mother in Marguerite Duras's Days in the Trees (1966), Mrs Alving in Ibsen's Ghosts (1967), Agnes in Edward Albee's A Delicate Balance (1969), Beth in Pinter's Landscape (1969), and Katharine of Aragon in Henry VIII (1969).

4. Film and Television Work and Later Success

In the 1970s, Peggy Ashcroft remained a central figure at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). However, when Peter Hall succeeded Laurence Olivier as the director of the Royal National Theatre in 1973, he convinced her to make occasional appearances there. She also performed at the Royal Court Theatre in Marguerite Duras's The Lovers of Viorne (1971), taking on the challenging role of a schizophrenic killer. This performance was so impactful that the young Helen Mirren expressed a desire to "rush out and start all over again" after witnessing it. Many were surprised when Ashcroft appeared with Ralph Richardson at the Savoy Theatre in 1972 in what appeared to be a conventional West End drawing room comedy, Lloyd George Knew My Father, by William Douglas-Home; however, the two stars revealed unexpected depths in their characters.

For the National Theatre, Ashcroft's roles included parts in Henrik Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman, Samuel Beckett's Happy Days, Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, and Harold Pinter's Family Voices. Her RSC roles during this period included Lidya in Aleksei Arbuzov's Old World (1976), and her final stage role was the Countess in All's Well That Ends Well, which she performed at Stratford in 1981 and in London in 1982.

In her later years, Ashcroft made occasional, but highly successful, forays into television and film, which brought her international recognition and numerous awards. For her role in the 1984 television series The Jewel in the Crown, she won a BAFTA award for Best Actress. Her acclaimed portrayal of Mrs. Moore in David Lean's 1984 film A Passage to India earned her further significant accolades: she won another BAFTA Best Actress Award, a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress, and the 1985 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. At 77 years and 93 days old, she became the oldest person to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress at that time.

Her final performance was also a work related to India, a radio play by Tom Stoppard titled In the Native State, broadcast in 1991.

5. Personal Life

Peggy Ashcroft's personal life involved several significant relationships. Her first marriage was to Rupert Hart-Davis, an aspiring actor and later a prominent publisher, which lasted from 1929 to 1933. This marriage ended in divorce due to Ashcroft's affair with director Theodore Komisarjevsky. She then married Komisarjevsky in 1934, but this union was also short-lived, concluding in 1936.

In 1940, Ashcroft married for the third and final time, to Jeremy Hutchinson, a rising lawyer. They had two children: a daughter named Eliza, born in 1941, and a son named Nicholas, born in 1946. Ashcroft largely limited her stage work during the early years of her children's lives. Her marriage to Hutchinson eventually ended in the 1960s. Ashcroft was the grandmother of the French singer Emily Loizeau.

6. Death

Peggy Ashcroft died in London on June 14, 1991, at the age of 83, due to a stroke. In accordance with her wishes, her ashes were scattered around a mulberry tree that she had planted in 1969 in the Great Garden at New Place, Stratford-upon-Avon. A memorial service celebrating her life and career was held at Westminster Abbey on November 30, 1991.

7. Awards and Honours

Peggy Ashcroft received extensive recognition throughout her career for her profound contributions to theatre, film, and television. Her honours included significant state commendations, honorary academic degrees, and numerous prestigious acting awards from national and international bodies.

8. Works

This section provides a comprehensive list of Peggy Ashcroft's known appearances across film, television, and radio.