Edana Romney
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Edana Romney (15 March 1919 – 17 December 2002) was a South African actress, writer, and television presenter, based in London and later in Southern California.


Early life and career

Born as Edna Rubenstein in
Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...
, Edana Romney was of Jewish ancestry, her paternal grandfather being an Irish Jew who had emigrated to
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. Romney trained as a dancer from an early age and made her performing debut in Johannesburg in 1930, the year she turned eleven. Relocating to London, Romney - then 14 - successfully auditioned for the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts 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 ...
(RADA), claiming to be the eligibility age of 16, and won a scholarship to study at RADA in 1935 and 1936.Sue Luftschein
"Finding aid for the Edana Romney papers"
USC Libraries Special Collections.
After leaving RADA, Romney acted mostly in UK regional theatre productions, including the
Prince's Theatre, Bristol The Prince's Theatre was a theatre on Park Row in Bristol in England which was built in 1867 and was destroyed by The Blitz, bombing in 1940 in the Bristol Blitz during World War II. Owned by members of the Chute family for most of its existence, ...
production of the
Matheson Lang Matheson Alexander Lang (May 15, 1879 – April 11, 1948) was a Canadian-born stage and film actor and playwright. He is best remembered for his theatrical performances in Great Britain in Shakespeare plays. Biography Lang was born in Montreal, Q ...
play ''The Matador'' in 1936. She appeared in the West End production of
James Bridie James Bridie (3 January 1888 in Glasgow – 29 January 1951 in Edinburgh) was the pseudonym of a Scottish playwright, screenwriter and physician whose real name was Osborne Henry Mavor.Daniel Leary (1982) ''Dictionary of Literary Biography: ...
's ''Tobias and the Angel'' at
St Martin's Theatre St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of '' The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world. The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, i ...
in 1938. In the same year she performed in the Regent's Park Open Air productions of ''Tobias and the Angel'' and as Titania in ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
''. The first of Romney's occasional screen acting roles was a reprise of her theatrical role in a 1939
BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...
version of ''Tobias and the Angel''. She made her feature film debut in ''
East of Piccadilly ''East of Piccadilly'' (U.S. title: ''The Strangler'') is a 1941 British mystery film directed by Harold Huth and starring Judy Campbell, Sebastian Shaw, Niall MacGinnis, Henry Edwards, Martita Hunt, Charles Victor and Frederick Piper. The sc ...
'' (1941), playing the small but pivotal role of the victim murdered in the film's opening sequence.


''Corridor of Mirrors'' and subsequent career

Although her second film role, in ''
Alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...
'' (1942), was only incidental, Romney formed a production company with the film's screenwriter
Rudolph Cartier Rudolph Cartier (born Rudolph Kacser, renamed himself in Germany to Rudolph Katscher; 17 April 1904 – 7 June 1994) was an Austrian television director, filmmaker, screenwriter and producer who worked predominantly in British television, excl ...
. The partnership acquired the rights to the 1941 Chris Massie novel ''
Corridor of Mirrors ''Corridor of Mirrors'' is Prometheus's ( Benji Vaughan) second album. Track listing # Arcadia Magik (8:51) # One Cell Short of a Brain (6:50) # Drug Sock (7:37) # The Logic of the Polyphonic (8:19) # 9th (The Man Who Swam Through a Speaker) ...
'' for which Cartier and Romney co-wrote a screenplay which they sought to have filmed with Romney as lead actress - a project which would take almost seven years to come to fruition. According to Romney, several film studios wished to purchase the screenplay but were not interested in Romney as star. It was also the intention of Cartier and Romney that Cartier would direct the film. ''Corridor of Mirrors'' was eventually shot in 1947 after Cartier and Romney financed a
showreel A showreel (also known as a demo reel, sizzle reel, or work reel) is a short video showcasing a person's previous work used by people involved in filmmaking and other media, including actors, animators, lighting designers, editors, video games an ...
of Romney in scenes planned for the film, which lured top matinee idol
Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...
onboard the production to act as Romney's leading man.Tom Johnson and Mark A. Miller
''The Christopher Lee Filmography''
(McFarland 2004): 5-7.
''Corridor of Mirrors'' saw the directorial debut of Terence Young - Cartier being disqualified as director due to
trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
objections - and the film was released in 1948 to reasonable critical and commercial success. In November 1949, it was announced that Romney would again star in a film for which she wrote the screenplay, Romney being set to play French tragedienne
Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...
in a
biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...
entitled ''The Magnificent Upstart'' to be directed by
William Dieterle William Dieterle (July 15, 1893 – December 9, 1972) was a German-born actor and film director who emigrated to the United States in 1930 to leave a worsening political situation. He worked in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood primarily a ...
who had helmed the box office hit ''
Love Letters A love letter is a romantic way to express feelings of love in written form. Love Letter(s) or The Love Letter may also refer to: Film and television Film * ''Love Letters'' (1917 film), an American drama silent film * ''Love Letters'' ( ...
'' (1945) adapted from the Chris Massie novel ''Pity My Simplicity''. However, the Rachel biopic was never made, and Romney's acting career after ''Corridor of Mirrors'' comprised only four television roles in the 1950s. Two of these were ''
Sunday Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, ...
'' episodes for the BBC directed by Rudolph Cartier, with Romney playing the leads in the series' versions of '' That Lady'' in 1954 and ''
Dark Victory ''Dark Victory'' is a 1939 American melodrama film directed by Edmund Goulding, starring Bette Davis, and featuring George Brent, Humphrey Bogart, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Ronald Reagan, Henry Travers, and Cora Witherspoon. The screenplay by Casey ...
'' in 1956. Romney appeared regularly as a television personality: she presented ''Is This Your Problem?'' (1955-1957), a BBC panel discussion programme about "delicate" women's issues, such as unexpected pregnancy and unhappiness as housewives. She also wrote a weekly newspaper advice column as a tie-in to the television show. She also hosted a radio show, "Edana Romney's World" and gave talks at women's groups based on her role as a "lovelorn counselor".


Personal life

In 1946, Romney became the second wife of the film producer John Woolf; the couple divorced in 1955. By the 1960s, Romney had relocated to California and was established as a high-profile
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
hostess living at
John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen, and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly a ...
's one-time mansion "The Hacienda", where her "
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...
" parties were of special note."Dorothy Manners' Hollywood"
''Evening Herald'' (17 January 1977): 10. via
Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. It is owned by The ...
Edana Romney died in 2002, aged 83, in
Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, it is approximately northwest o ...
. There is a collection of her papers archived at the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
.


In popular culture

In 2022, Romney was portrayed by
Sian Clifford Sian Clifford (born 7 April 1982) is an English actress. She is best known for playing Claire, the older sister of the titular character in the BBC comedy-drama series ''Fleabag'' (2016–2019) and also portrayed Martha Crawley in the ITV/Amaz ...
in the British-American film '' See How They Run''.


Selected filmography

* ''
East of Piccadilly ''East of Piccadilly'' (U.S. title: ''The Strangler'') is a 1941 British mystery film directed by Harold Huth and starring Judy Campbell, Sebastian Shaw, Niall MacGinnis, Henry Edwards, Martita Hunt, Charles Victor and Frederick Piper. The sc ...
'' (1941) * ''
Alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...
'' (1942) * ''
Corridor of Mirrors ''Corridor of Mirrors'' is Prometheus's ( Benji Vaughan) second album. Track listing # Arcadia Magik (8:51) # One Cell Short of a Brain (6:50) # Drug Sock (7:37) # The Logic of the Polyphonic (8:19) # 9th (The Man Who Swam Through a Speaker) ...
'' (1948)


References


External links

*
Edana Romney's listing at BFI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rommey, Edana 1919 births 2002 deaths 20th-century British screenwriters Actresses from Johannesburg British film actresses British Jews British stage actresses South African emigrants to the United Kingdom South African expatriates in England South African film actresses South African Jews