Anne Heather Firth (1 August 191816 January 1961) was a British

film actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She appeared in several leading roles in films of the 1940s. She also worked on the West End stage, appearing in the 1937 play '' Bonnet Over the Windmill'' by

Dodie Smith Dorothy Gladys "Dodie" Smith (3 May 1896 – 24 November 1990) was an English novelist and playwright. She is best known for writing '' I Capture the Castle'' (1948) and the children's novel '' The Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1956). Other work ...

and in 1939 appearing in

Goodness, How Sad ''Goodness, How Sad'' is a play written by the British actor Robert Morley, which was first performed in 1937. The work was strongly influenced by Morley's affection for provincial theatre.Richards p.175 Synopsis A British-born Hollywood idol re ...

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, often in ...

Personal life

She was born to Ivan Eustace Firth (1891–1963) and Dorothy Gurney (1890–1965) in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England. In 1945 she was stricken with paralysis of the spine, interrupting her career for eighteen months. She was unable to walk, but slowly recovered in time to be cast in ''Scott of the Antarctic''. In 1953, she was injured in a van crash that left her badly disfigured. She was later married to John Michael Brigstocke, a retired naval officer, but left him after only a few weeks of marriage. She died of an intentional aspirin overdose after losing her job as a bartender due to injuries.

Selected filmography

* '' Suspected Person'' (1942) * ''

The Goose Steps Out ''The Goose Steps Out'' is a British film released in 1942, starring Will Hay, who also co-directed with Basil Dearden. It is a comedy of mistaken identity, with Hay acting as a German spy and also an Englishman who is his double. It was the fil ...

'' (1942) * ''

The First of the Few ''The First of the Few'' (US title ''Spitfire'') is a 1942 British black-and-white biographical film produced and directed by Leslie Howard (actor), Leslie Howard, who stars as R. J. Mitchell, the designer of the Supermarine Spitfire fighter air ...

'' (1942) * ''

Bell-Bottom George ''Bell-Bottom George'' is a 1943 black-and-white British comedy musical film directed by Marcel Varnel, starring George Formby and Anne Firth. A wartime morale booster, it features the songs "Swim Little Fish", "It Serves You Right", "If I Had A ...

'' (1944) * '' Demobbed'' (1944) * '' Scott of the Antarctic'' (1948) * '' Vengeance Is Mine'' (1949)

References

Bibliography

* Chapman, James. ''Past and Present: National Identity and the British Historical Film''. I.B.Tauris, 2005.

External links

* 1918 births 1967 deaths British film actresses People from Westcliff-on-Sea {{UK-stage-actor-stub