Sonia Dresdel (5 May 1909 – 18 January 1976) was an English actress, whose career ran between the 1940s and 1970s.

Life

She was born Lois Obee in

Hornsea Hornsea is a seaside town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The settlement dates to at least the early medieval period. The town was expanded in the Victorian era with the coming of the Hull and Hornsea Railway in 18 ...

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...

, England, and was educated at

Aberdeen High School for Girls Harlaw Academy is a six-year comprehensive secondary school situated 200 yards from the junction of Union Street and Holburn Street in the centre of Aberdeen, Scotland. It is directly adjacent to St Margaret's School for Girls. The academy draw ...

and

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the S ...

Career

Her performance in the lead role of

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''

Hedda Gabler ''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been ca ...

'' at the

Westminster Theatre The Westminster Theatre was a theatre in London, on Palace Street in Westminster. History The structure on the site was originally built as the Charlotte Chapel in 1766, by William Dodd with money from his wife Mary Perkins. Through Peter ...

in 1942 "was legendary. It was the performance on which her reputation was founded.

James Agate James Evershed Agate (9 September 1877 – 6 June 1947) was an English diarist and theatre critic between the two world wars. He took up journalism in his late twenties and was on the staff of ''The Manchester Guardian'' in 1907–1914. He later ...

was ecstatic..."N. de J., 'Obituary: Sonia Dresdel', ''The Guardian'', 19 January 1976 For a decade Dresdel was regarded as one of England's foremost stage actresses. Her leading role in the 1947 film ''

While I Live ''While I Live'' is a 1947 British drama film directed and co-written by John Harlow and starring Sonia Dresdel, Tom Walls and Carol Raye. ''While I Live'' is best remembered for its musical theme "The Dream of Olwen" composed by Charles Wil ...

'' also gained her a great deal of acclaim. In the film she plays Julia Trevelyan, a spinster living in a lonely cliff top house in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

and haunted by the death of her sister 25 years earlier. Her best remembered role is as Mrs. Baines in the film version of

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

's '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), which starred

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He w ...

, Michèle Morgan and

Bobby Henrey Robert Henrey (born 26 June 1939) is an Anglo-French former child actor best known for his role as the son of the French ambassador to London in the classic 1948 English film '' The Fallen Idol'', directed by Carol Reed. Personal Henrey was the ...

. The film received

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominations for Best Director ( Sir Carol Reed) and

Best Screenplay Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporation, ...

. In the 1950s, as well as appearing increasingly on television, Dresdel moved more to the management side of things, becoming a theatre director under the aegis of the ''New White Rose Players'', directing plays including the thriller ''Night of the Shoot''. In the 1970s she played the Witch in BBC Television series "Lizzie Dripping", and played Lady Dorothy in the series “Sykes” series 2 episode 5 “Rolls”.

Death

She died of lung cancer, aged 66. The critic Philip Hope-Wallace, said Dresdel was "an actress of high definition with a real power to take an audience by the wrist and give them the works. She had terrific personality and was terribly underused and misused. She would have been the Lady Macbeth of all Lady Macbeths."

Partial filmography

* ''

The World Owes Me a Living ''The World Owes Me a Living'' is a 1945 British Second World War drama film directed by Vernon Sewell and starring David Farrar and Judy Campbell. The film is based on a novel by John Llewellyn Rhys, a young author who was killed in action in 1 ...

'' (1945) as Eve Heatherley * ''

'' (1947) as Julia Trevelyan * ''

This Was a Woman ''This Was a Woman'' is a 1948 British crime film directed by Tim Whelan and starring Sonia Dresdel, Walter Fitzgerald and Emrys Jones. It was made at the Riverside Studios with sets designed by the art directors Ivan King and Andrew Mazzei ...

'' (1948) as Sylvia Russell * '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948) as Mrs. Baines * ''

The Clouded Yellow ''The Clouded Yellow'' is a 1950 British mystery film directed by Ralph Thomas and produced by Betty E. Box for Carillon Films. A dismissed secret service agent falls in love with a disturbed young woman who is wrongly accused of murder and t ...

'' (1951) as Jess Fenton * ''

The Third Visitor ''The Third Visitor'' is a 1951 British crime film directed by Maurice Elvey and starring Sonia Dresdel, Guy Middleton and Karel Stepanek. It was based on a play by Gerald Anstruther, and filmed at Merton Park Studios. Cast * Sonia Dresdel as ...

'' (1951) as Steffy Millington * '' Now and Forever'' (1956) as Miss Fox * ''

The Secret Tent ''The Secret Tent'' is a 1956 crime film directed by Don Chaffey. It stars Donald Gray and Andrée Melly and was made at Shepperton Studios. Plot Respectable wife Ruth attempts to conceal her secret past as a criminal from neighbours and from h ...

'' (1956) as Miss Mitchum-Browne *''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...

'' (1956) as

Betsey Trotwood Betsey Trotwood is a fictional character from Charles Dickens' 1850 novel '' David Copperfield''. Role in novel Betsey Trotwood is David Copperfield's great-aunt on his father's side, and has an unfavourable view of men and boys, having been ill- ...

* ''

Death Over My Shoulder ''Death Over My Shoulder '' is a 1958 British crime film directed by Arthur Crabtree based on a story by American journalist Alyce Canfield. The film stars Keefe Brasselle and his wife Arlene DeMarco one of The DeMarco Sisters. Plot When Jack ...

'' (1958) as Miss Upton * '' The Trials of Oscar Wilde'' (1960) as Lady Wilde * '' George and the Dragon'' (1967–1968, TV Series) as Priscilla * '' The Break'' (1962) as Sarah * ''

Jane Eyre ''Jane Eyre'' ( ; originally published as ''Jane Eyre: An Autobiography'') is a novel by the English writer Charlotte Brontë. It was published under her pen name "Currer Bell" on 19 October 1847 by Smith, Elder & Co. of London. The first ...

'' (1963, TV series) as Mrs. Reed * '' Public Eye'' (1968, TV Series) as Mrs. Briggs * '' Dixon of Dock Green'' (1968) as Mrs. Dewar * '' The Caesars'' (1968) as Livia * ''

Last of the Long-haired Boys ''Last of the Long-haired Boys'' is a 1968 British drama film starring Richard Todd, Gillian Raine and Patrick Barr. Plot summary After the end of the Second World War an RAF pilot struggles to adjust to civilian life. Cast * Richard Todd - Tri ...

'' (1968) as Miss Dearborn * '' Bachelor Father'' (1970–1971, TV Series) as Mother * ''

Paul Temple Paul Temple is a fictional character created by English writer Francis Durbridge. Temple is a professional author of crime fiction and an amateur private detective. With his wife Louise, affectionately known as 'Steve' in reference to her ...

'' (1971, TV Series) as Agnes Armadyne * ''

Wives and Daughters ''Wives and Daughters, An Every-Day Story'' is a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in the ''Cornhill Magazine'' as a serial from August 1864 to January 1866. It was partly written whilst Gaskell was staying with the salon hostess M ...

'' (1971, TV Mini-Series) as Lady Cumnor * ''

The Strauss Family ''The Strauss Family'' is a 1972 British Associated Television series of eight episodes,Acorn DVD sleeve notes about the family of composers of that name, including Johann Strauss I and his sons Johann Strauss II, Eduard Strauss and Josef Straus ...

'' (1972, TV Mini-Series) as Lucari * ''

Lady Caroline Lamb Lady Caroline Lamb (née Ponsonby; 13 November 1785 – 25 January 1828) was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat and novelist, best known for ''Glenarvon'', a Gothic novel. In 1812 she had an affair with Lord Byron, whom she described as "mad, bad, and ...

'' (1972) as Lady Pont * ''

The Onedin Line ''The Onedin Line'' is a BBC television drama series that ran from 1971 to 1980. The series was created by Cyril Abraham. The series is set in Liverpool from 1860 to 1886 and covers the rise of a fictional shipping company, the Onedin Line, na ...

'' (1972, TV Series) as Lady Lazenby * ''

Lizzie Dripping ''Lizzie Dripping'' (released in its second year under the title ''Lizzie Dripping Again'') is a British television children's programme produced by the BBC in 1973 and 1974 (the second series was broadcast in 1975). It was written by Helen Cress ...

'' (1973-1975, TV Series) as The Witch * ''

The Pallisers ''The Pallisers'' is a 1974 BBC television adaptation of Anthony Trollope's Palliser novels. Set in Victorian era England with a backdrop of parliamentary life, Simon Raven's dramatisation covers six of Anthony Trollope's novels and follows the e ...

'' (1974, TV Mini-Series) as the Marchioness of Auld Reekie

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dresdel, Sonia 1909 births 1976 deaths British film actresses People from Hornsea People educated at Harlaw Academy British stage actresses Actresses from Yorkshire 20th-century British actresses 20th-century English women 20th-century English people