Elspeth Dudgeon (4 December 1871 – 11 December 1955) was a Scottish character actress. With a career spanning nearly two decades, she was involved in 67 films, only 14 of which included her name in the credits. Her best known appearances includes '' The Old Dark House'' and ''

Becky Sharp Rebecca "Becky" Sharp, later describing herself as Rebecca, Lady Crawley, is the main protagonist of William Makepeace Thackeray's 1847–48 novel '' Vanity Fair''. She is presented as a cynical social climber who uses her charms to fascinate ...

'' (1935). She also acted in ''

Bride of Frankenstein ''Bride of Frankenstein'' is a 1935 American Gothic science fiction horror film, and the first sequel to Universal Pictures' 1931 film ''Frankenstein''. As with the first film, ''Bride of Frankenstein'' was directed by James Whale starring ...

'' (1935), '' The Last Outpost'' (1935), ''

Show Boat ''Show Boat'' is a musical theatre, musical with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is based on Edna Ferber's best-selling 1926 Show Boat (novel), novel of the same name. The musical follows the lives of the per ...

'' (1936), ''

The Prince and the Pauper ''The Prince and the Pauper'' is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. The plot conce ...

'' (1937), '' The Story of Vernon & Irene Castle'' (1939), '' Bulldog Drummond's Secret Police'' (1939), ''

Calling Dr. Kildare ''Calling Dr. Kildare'' is a 1939 film in the Dr. Kildare series. Directed by Harold S. Bucquet, it stars Lew Ayres as the young Dr. Kildare and Lionel Barrymore as Dr. Gillespie, his mentor. The second of MGM's series of Kildare films, it intro ...

'' (1939), ''

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 ...

'' (1940), ''

Foreign Correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...

'' (1940), ''

Now, Voyager ''Now, Voyager'' is a 1942 American drama (film and television), drama film starring Bette Davis, Paul Henreid, and Claude Rains, and directed by Irving Rapper. The screenplay by Casey Robinson is based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Oli ...

'' (1942), ''

The Canterville Ghost "The Canterville Ghost" is a humorous short story by Oscar Wilde. It was the first of Wilde's stories to be published, appearing in two parts as "The Canterville Ghost – A Hylo-Idealistic Romance: The Redemptive Heroine" in '' The Court and S ...

'' (1944), and ''

The Secret Garden ''The Secret Garden'' is a children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialisation in ''The American Magazine'' (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is seen as a classic of English c ...

'' (1949).

Early life

Dudgeon was born on 4 December 1871 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and developed an interest in theatrics as a young girl. After joining a well known amateur organisation, she became notable for character roles.

Career

Her first break came while she was still in Scotland, when actor-manager Osmond Tearle heard of her ability and booked her to appear in various Shakesperian plays. Before this, she was already well known around Glasgow, such as in her part of a housekeeper in the 1916 play ''Doorsteps'', where her performance was described as "extremely artistic". During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Dudgeon was part of Lena Ashwell's company, performing for soldiers near the English front, occasionally joined by male soldiers on leave. She also worked for Lydia Yvorska's company. Following her emigration to America, she joined Mr Clive's company as the Copyley Theatre. She first appeared in an uncredited part in ''

Waterloo Bridge Waterloo Bridge () is a road and foot traffic bridge crossing the River Thames in London, between Blackfriars Bridge and Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges. Its name commemorates the victory of the British, Dutch and Prussians at the ...

'' (1931), before which she had a long and not very successful career as a theatrical actress. Elspeth Dudgeon and Miriam Hopkins in Becky Sharp

One of her earlier best remembered appearances was in the role of Sir Roderick Femm in the 1932 film '' The Old Dark House''. Director

James Whale James Whale (22 July 1889 – 29 May 1957) was an English film director, theatre director and actor, who spent the greater part of his career in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood. He is best remembered for several horror films: ''Fra ...

needed someone to portray a

centenarian A centenarian is a person who has reached the age of 100. Because life expectancies at birth worldwide are well below 100, the term is invariably associated with longevity. The United Nations estimated that there were 316,600 living centenarian ...

and Dudgeon was the oldest actress he knew of, despite her being just 60 at the time. A beard was pasted onto her and she delivered her lines in her own, high voice. Having played the part of a man, she was credited as ''John Dudgeon'', with actress

Gloria Stuart Gloria Frances Stuart (born Gloria Stewart; July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010) was an American actress, visual artist, and activist. She was known for her roles in pre-code films, and garnered renewed fame late in life for her portrayal of Ro ...

later commenting that none of the cast at the time were aware Dudgeon was actually a female actress until the cast party. Whale was reported to have enjoyed keeping her real gender a secret, although Dudgeon would later work for him again several years later under her own name and gender. She was also known as playing Miss Pinkerton in ''

'' (1935). She featured in some other hit films of the following years, such as '' Camille'' (1936), ''

'' (1940) and a supporting role alongside

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (; 1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British and American actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play wi ...

in ''

'' (1944). She is also remembered by horror film buffs for her startling transformation scene in the cult comedy-thriller ''

Sh! The Octopus ''Sh! The Octopus'' is a 1937 American comedy mystery film produced by Warner Bros., directed by William McGann, and starring Hugh Herbert, Allen Jenkins and Marcia Ralston. While contract players Herbert and Jenkins frequently appeared in the sa ...

'' (1937).

Personal life

She lived in California for 23 years. She was .

Death

She died on 11 December 1955, one week after her 84th birthday, in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Her remains are buried at

Chapel Of The Pines Crematory Chapel of the Pines Crematory is a crematory and columbarium located at 1605 South Catalina Street, Los Angeles, in the U.S. state of California, in the West Adams District a short distance southwest of Downtown. It is beside Angelus-Rosedale ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dudgeon, Elspeth 1871 births 1955 deaths Actresses from Edinburgh Scottish actresses Scottish film actresses Scottish theatre people 20th-century Scottish actresses