Adrianne Allen (7 February 1907 – 14 September 1993) was an English stage actress. Most often seen in light comedy, Allen played Sybil Chase in the original West End production of ''

Private Lives ''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetuall ...

'' and Elizabeth Bennet in the 1935 Broadway production of ''

Pride and Prejudice ''Pride and Prejudice'' is the second published novel (but third to be written) by English author Jane Austen, written when she was age 20-21, and later published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabe ...

''. She appeared in several films and was the mother of actors Daniel and

Anna Massey Anna Raymond Massey (11 August 19373 July 2011) was an English actress. She won a British Academy Film Awards, BAFTA Best Actress Award for the role of Edith Hope in the Hotel du Lac (film), 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's novel ''Hotel ...

Life and career

Allen was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

on 7 February 1907 to John and Margaret Allen. After her education in France and Germany, she trained as an actress at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

, where her 1926 graduation performance caught the attention of

Basil Dean Basil Herbert Dean CBE (27 September 1888 – 22 April 1978) was an English actor, writer, producer and director in the theatre and in cinema. He founded the Liverpool Playhouse, Liverpool Repertory Company in 1911 and in the First World War, a ...

, who cast her as Nina Vansittart in the

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

play '' Easy Virtue'', when it arrived to London from Broadway. In 1929, she married

Raymond Massey Raymond Hart Massey (August 30, 1896 – July 29, 1983) was a Canadian actor known for his commanding stage-trained voice. For his lead role in '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' (1940), Massey was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. He r ...

, after he had cast her for a part in Noël Coward's play '' The Rat Trap''. Her first West End appearance followed in July 1930, where she played the role of Sibyl in Noël Coward's ''

''. She had two children with Raymond Massey, Daniel and Anna, who later became actors. The marriage ended in divorce in 1939. Shortly after her divorce she married William Dwight Whitney, the lawyer who had handled the divorce. During this time she appeared on Broadway, in ''Cynara'', and as Judy Linden in '' The Shining Hour'', and in several films, most notably '' Merrily We Go to Hell''. In 1942, she played "Doris" in the original London production of Terence Rattigan's play '' Flare Path''. She starred in more films, and appeared on British

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, before returning to Broadway in 1957, where she starred alongside her daughter in '' The Reluctant Debutante''. Her acting career ended in 1958.

Death

Allen died from cancer on 14 September 1993 in

Montreux Montreux (, ; ; ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, Swiss municipality and List of towns in Switzerland, town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Swiss Alps, Alps. It belongs to the Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut (district), Riviera-Pays ...

, Switzerland.Obituary
nytimes.com. Accessed 20 November 2022.

Selected Broadway and West End roles

* ''Cynara'' (1931) as Doris Lea * '' The Shining Hour'' (1934) as Judy Linden * ''Pride and Prejudice'' (1935) as

Elizabeth Bennet Elizabeth Bennet is the protagonist in the 1813 novel '' Pride and Prejudice'' by Jane Austen. She is often referred to as Eliza or Lizzy by her friends and family. Elizabeth is the second child in a family of five daughters. Though the circ ...

* '' Flare Path'' (1942) as Doris, Countess Skriczevinsky * ''Love for Love'' (1947) as Mrs. Frail * '' Edward, My Son'' (1948) as Evelyn Holt * '' Someone Waiting'' (1953) as Vera * '' The Reluctant Debutante'' (1956) as Sheila Broadbent

Filmography

* '' Loose Ends'' (1930) * '' The Stronger Sex'' (1931) *'' The Woman Between'' (1931) * '' Black Coffee'' (1931) * '' Merrily We Go to Hell'' (1932) * '' The Night of June 13'' (1932) * '' The Morals of Marcus'' (1935) * '' The October Man'' (1947) * ''

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

'' (1948) * '' Vote for Huggett'' (1949) * '' The Final Test'' (1953) * ''

Meet Mr. Malcolm ''Meet Mr. Malcolm'' is a 1954 British B movie, 'B' crime film directed by Daniel Birt and starring Adrianne Allen, Sarah Lawson (actress), Sarah Lawson and Meredith Edwards (actor), Meredith Edwards. It was written by Brock Williams (screenwrite ...

'' (1954)

References

External links

* *
Photo of Adrianne Allen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Adrianne 1907 births 1993 deaths Massey family Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Deaths from cancer in Switzerland English film actresses English stage actresses English television actresses English expatriates in Switzerland Actresses from Manchester 20th-century English actresses English expatriate actresses in the United States 20th-century English businesspeople