Brenda Forbes (14 January 1909 – 11 September 1996) was a British-born American actress of stage and screen.

Personal life

Born as Dorothy Brenda Taylor in

Wandsworth, London Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

, the daughter of Ernest John and Ethel Louise Taylor. Her mother was actress

Mary Forbes Mary Forbes (born Ethel Louise Young; 1 January 1883 – 22 July 1974) was a British-American film actress, based in the United States in her latter years, where she died. She appeared in more than 130 films from 1919 to 1958.Ralph Forbes Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States. Early life Forbes was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Ethe ...

(né Ralph Forbes Taylor), she made her first film appearance in 1935 and her last in 1995. She appeared on Broadway between 1931 and 1985, mostly in revivals of classics.

Career

Forbes created the role of the outspoken maid, Wilson, in the original production of ''

The Barretts of Wimpole Street ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her domineering father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. Presented f ...

'' opposite

Katharine Cornell Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893 – June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York. Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by cri ...

. She played the role in various revivals as well. She co-starred as Lady Vale in the 1967 musical '' Darling of the Day'' in which she and

Peter Woodthorpe Peter Woodthorpe (25 September 1931 – 13 August 2004) was an English actor who supplied the voice of Gollum in the 1978 Bakshi version of ''The Lord of the Rings'' and the BBC's 1981 radio serial. He also provided the voice of Pigsy in the c ...

introduced the song ''

Panache Panache () is a word of French origin that carries the connotation of flamboyant manner and reckless courage, derived from the helmet-plume worn by cavalrymen in the Early Modern period. The literal translation is a plume, such as is worn on a ...

'' and appeared in the 1976 revival of ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...

'' as Mrs. Higgins; also in that production was George Rose whom she starred with in the 1986 all star cast revival of ''

Aren't We All? ''Aren't We All?'' is a stage play in three acts by Frederick Lonsdale. The plot of this drawing room comedy concerns the Hon William Tatham, whose wife catches him kissing another woman at a party, but she had an extramarital kiss of her own ...

''IBDb profile
ibdb.com; accessed 18 November 2015. On screen she appeared in several films over a 50-year period including '' The Imperfect Lady'' (1935) and ''

Mrs. Miniver ''Mrs. Miniver'' is a 1942 American romantic war drama film directed by William Wyler, and starring Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon. Inspired by the 1940 novel '' Mrs. Miniver'' by Jan Struther, it shows how the life of an unassuming Britis ...

'' (1942). Her last role, a small one, was in '' The Jerky Boys: The Movie''.

Family

She was married to Merrill Shepard from 1947 until his death in 1986; they had no children.

Death

She died from cancer in 1996, aged 87, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forbes, Brenda 1909 births 1996 deaths Actresses from London American film actresses American stage actresses British film actresses British stage actresses Deaths from cancer in New York (state) British emigrants to the United States Actors from the London Borough of Wandsworth 20th-century American actresses 20th-century English actresses People from Wandsworth