Elizabeth Allan

Elizabeth Allan (9 April 1910 – 27 July 1990) was an English stage and film actress who worked in both Britain and Hollywood, making about 50 films over more than a quarter century.

Elizabeth Allan
Elizabeth Allan in the trailer for Camille (1936)
Born	9 April 1910[1] Skegness, Lincolnshire, England[1]
Died	27 July 1990 (aged 80) Hove, East Sussex, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1927–1967
Spouse(s)	Wilfrid J. O'Bryen ​ ​ (m. 1932; died 1977)​

Life and career

She was born at Skegness, Lincolnshire, in 1910 and educated in Darlington, County Durham. At age 17, she made her debut onstage at the Old Vic. Four years later, she made her film debut, appearing in Alibi.[1]

She began her career appearing in a number of films for Julius Hagen's Twickenham Studios but also featured in Gainsborough's Michael and Mary and Korda's Service for Ladies.[1] In 1932, she married Wilfrid J. O'Bryen – to whom she had been introduced by actor Herbert Marshall – in a union 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 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. 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, but she was subsequently replaced by Rosalind Russell. When she was replaced again by Greer Garson in Goodbye, Mr Chips, Elizabeth successfully sued the studio.[2] The studio retaliated by refusing to let her work, and, frustrated, she returned to the UK 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 panellist 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.

Death

She died at Hove, on the Sussex coast, at age 80. She was cremated at Woodvale Crematorium in Brighton and the ashes were taken by the family.[3]

Legacy

Her name is on Brighton & Hove's Scania OmniDekka bus 655.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1931	Alibi	Ursula Browne
1931	Rodney Steps In	Masked Lady	Short
1931	The Rosary	Vera Mannering
1931	Black Coffee	Barbara Amory
1931	Chin Chin Chinaman	Olga Dureska
1931	Michael and Mary	Romo
1931	Many Waters	Freda Barcaldine
1932	Service for Ladies	Sylvia Robertson
1932	The Chinese Puzzle	Naomi Melsham
1932	Nine till Six	Gracie Abbott
1932	Down Our Street	Maisie Collins
1932	Insult	Pola Dubois
1932	The Lodger	Daisy Bunting
1933	The Shadow	Sonia Bryant
1933	Looking Forward	Caroline Service
1933	The Lost Chord	Joan Elton
1933	No Marriage Ties	Peggy Wilson
1933	The Solitaire Man	Helen Heming
1933	Ace of Aces	Nancy Adams
1934	The Mystery of Mr. X	Jane Frensham
1934	Men in White	Barbara
1934	Java Head	Nettie Vollar
1934	Outcast Lady	Venice Harpenden
1935	David Copperfield	Clara Copperfield
1935	Mark of the Vampire	Irena Borotyn
1935	A Tale of Two Cities	Lucie Manette
1936	A Woman Rebels	Flora Anne Thistlewaite
1936	Camille	Nichette
1937	The Soldier and the Lady	Nadia
1937	Slave Ship	Nancy Marlowe
1938	Dangerous Medicine	Victoria Ainswell
1938	It Might Be You	Betty	Short
1939	Inquest	Margaret Hamilton
1940	The Girl Who Forgot	Leonora Barradine
1940	Saloon Bar	Queenie King
1942	Went the Day Well?	Peggy Pryde
1942	The Great Mr. Handel	Mrs. Cibber
1945	He Snoops to Conquer	Jane Strawbridge
1948	Virtuoso	Judith Wainwright
1949	If This Be Sin	Sybil
1951	No Highway in the Sky	Shirley Scott
1952	Folly to Be Wise	Angela Prout
1953	Twice Upon a Time	Carol-Anne Bailey
1953	The Heart of the Matter	Louise Scobie
1954	Front Page Story	Susan Grant
1955	The Brain Machine	Philippa Roberts
1958	The Haunted Strangler	Barbara Rankin

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1951	The Concert	Frances Hein	TV film
1955–56	The Adventures of Annabel	Annabel	TV series
1956	The Chalet	Cyra Carter	TV film
1956	The Adventures of Aggie	Toni	Episode: "Top Secret"
1961	Call Oxbridge 2000	Peggy Graham	TV series

References

1. "This Week's Pen Portrait". Sheffield Evening Telegraph. 9 February 1939. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
2. p.97 Vieira, Mark A. Majestic Hollywood: The Greatest Films of 1939 Running Press, 10 December 2013
3. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14000 Famous Persons by Scott Wilson

External links

• Elizabeth Allan at IMDb
• Elizabeth Allan at the Internet Broadway Database
• Photographs and literature on Elizabeth Allan