Beatrix Alice Lehmann (1 July 1903 – 31 July 1979) was a British actress, theatre director, writer and novelist.

Early life and family

Lehmann was born in Bourne End,

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. She came from a family of notable achievers: the third of four children of author and publisher Rudolph Chambers Lehmann. Her great-uncle was Henri Lehmann the artist. Her brother was publisher John Lehmann and one of her two elder sisters was the novelist Rosamond Lehmann.

Career

Lehmann trained at

RADA 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 Lond ...

and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production ''

The Way of the World ''The Way of the World'' is a play written by the English playwright William Congreve. It premiered in early March 1700 in the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is widely regarded as one of the best works of Restoration comedy ev ...

'' at the

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a nonprofit theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London."About the Lyric" > "History" ''Lyric'' official website. Retrieved January 2024. Background The Lyric Theatre ...

. She also appeared in films and on television. She wrote short stories and two novels, including ''Rumour of Heaven'', first published in 1934 (). In 1946 Lehmann became director and producer of the Arts Council Midland Theatre Company. She was awarded Britain's Radio Actress of the Year in 1977. In 1962 she played the matriarch Bernadette Amorelle in a Maigret episode, The Dirty House. She played Susan Calvin in " The Prophet" (1967), a now lost episode of the British science fiction television series '' Out of the Unknown'', and appeared in the ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' serial '' The Stones of Blood'' (1978) as Professor Emilia Rumford. In 1978 she played Mrs Pleasant in a film version of '' The Cat and The Canary''. Other roles include ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', ''

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold ''The Spy Who Came in from the Cold'' is a 1963 Cold War spy fiction, spy novel by the British author John le Carré. It depicts Alec Leamas, a United Kingdom, British intelligence officer, being sent to East Germany as a faux Defection, defect ...

'', ''

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ''A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. Inspired by the farces of the ancient Roman playwright Plautus (254–184 BC), specif ...

'', ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'', '' Love for Lydia'', ''

Staircase A stairwell or stair room is a room in a building where a stair is located, and is used to connect walkways between floors so that one can move in height. Collectively, a set of stairs and a stairwell is referred to as a staircase or stairway ...

'', '' Armchair Thriller'' and ''

Crime and Punishment ''Crime and Punishment'' is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal '' The Russian Messenger'' in twelve monthly installments during 1866.

''.

Death

Lehmann died in

Camden, London The London Borough of Camden () is a borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former metropolitan boroughs of Holborn, St Pancra ...

, aged 76. There are 12 portraits of Lehmann in the British

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

Collection.

Filmography

* '' The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' (1935) as Miss Kite * '' Strangers on Honeymoon'' (1936) as Elfrida * '' The Rat'' (1937) as Marguerite * '' Candles at Nine'' (1944) as Julia Carberry, Everard's Housekeeper * '' The Key'' (1958) as Housekeeper * '' On the Fiddle'' (1961) as Lady Edith * '' Psyche 59'' (1964) as Mrs. Crawford * ''

'' (1965) as Tribunal President * ''

'' (1966) as Domina's Mother * '' Wonderwall'' (1968) as Mother * '' The Portrait of a Lady'' (1968, TV Series) as Lydia Touchett * ''

'' (1969) as Charlie's Mother * '' The Cat and the Canary'' (1978) as Mrs. Pleasant * '' The Stones of Blood (Doctor Who) '' (1978) as Professor Rumford

References

External links

Performances listed in Theatre Archive University of Bristol
*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehmann, Beatrix 1903 births 1979 deaths Lehmann family English stage actresses English film actresses English television actresses Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Buckinghamshire 20th-century British businesspeople English LGBTQ actors 20th-century English LGBTQ people