Faith Brook (16 February 1922 – 11 March 2012) was an English actress who appeared on stage, in films and on television, generally in upper-class roles. She was the daughter of actor

Clive Brook Clifford Hardman "Clive" Brook (1 June 1887 – 17 November 1974) was an English stage and film actor. After making his first screen appearance in 1920, Brook emerged as a leading British actor in the early 1920s. After moving to the Unit ...

Early years

Although she was born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

, England, she was raised in Hollywood. Her father was the actor

, and her brother Lyndon Brook was also an actor. Brook was educated in Los Angeles, London and Gstaad, Switzerland. As a teenager, she studied at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art 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 ...

Film

Brook's screen debut came via a small role in '' Suspicion'' (1941). Her first credited film appearance was ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

'' (1942). ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'' described her as being cast "almost invariably in well-bred roles ..."

Stage

In September 1941, Brook debuted on stage in ''Lottie Dundass'' in Santa Barbara. During World War II, Brook served in Britain's

Auxiliary Territorial Service The Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS; often pronounced as an acronym) was the women's branch of the British Army during the World War II, Second World War. It was formed on 9 September 1938, initially as a women's voluntary service, and existe ...

. Following that, she acted in the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

. Later, in London, she joined the company of

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit producing theatre in Waterloo, London, England. It was established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Theatre. In 1871 it was rebuilt and reopened as the Royal ...

. She also appeared on the London stage in ''The Colour of Poppies'' and ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897, and first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstan ...

'' in 2008. She performed on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, in ''Letters to Lucerne'' (1941), '' You Never Can Tell'' (1947) and ''

The Cocktail Party ''The Cocktail Party'' is a verse drama in three acts by T. S. Eliot written in 1948 and performed in 1949 at the Edinburgh Festival. It was published in 1950. It was the most popular of Eliot's seven plays in his lifetime, although his 1935 pl ...

'' (1949).

Television

Brook portrayed Julia Naughton in the American television series '' Claudia'' (1952). In Britain, she appeared in ''

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 ...

'' (1972) on the BBC and '' The Irish RM'' on Channel 4, among other programmes.

Personal life

Brook was married twice, first to Charles Moffett and then later to Michael Horowitz. Brook and her second husband had a son. She was a supporter of the

British Humanist Association Humanists UK, known from 1967 until May 2017 as the British Humanist Association (BHA), is a charitable organisation which promotes secular humanism and aims to represent non-religious people in the UK through a mixture of charitable servic ...

Selected filmography

* '' Suspicion'' (1941) - Alice Barham (uncredited) * ''

Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' is an 1894 collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, who ...

'' (1942) - English Girl * '' No Time for Love'' (1943) - Pert Brunette (uncredited) * '' Uneasy Terms'' (1948) - Viola Alardyse * '' Wicked as They Come'' (1956) - Virginia Collins * '' The Intimate Stranger'' (1956) - Lesley Wilson * '' Across the Bridge'' (1957) - Kay * '' Man in the Shadow'' (1957) - Joan Lennox * '' Chase a Crooked Shadow'' (1958) - Elaine Whitman * '' The 39 Steps'' (1959) - Nannie * '' We Shall See'' (1964) - Alva Collins * '' The Heroes of Telemark'' (1965) - Woman on Bus * ''

To Sir, with Love ''To Sir, with Love'' is a 1967 British drama film that deals with social and racial issues in a secondary school in the East End of London. It stars Sidney Poitier and features Christian Roberts, Judy Geeson, Suzy Kendall, Patricia Routle ...

'' (1967) - Grace Evans * ''

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

'' (1968) - Dickson * '' The Smashing Bird I Used to Know'' (1969) - Dr. Sands * '' Walk a Crooked Path'' (1969) - Elizabeth Hemming * ''

'' (1972, BBC TV) - Countess Rostova * '' North Sea Hijack'' (1980) - Prime Minister * ''

Bloodbath Bloodbath is a Swedish death metal supergroup (music), supergroup from Stockholm, formed in 1998. The band has released six full-length albums, two EPs and two DVDs depicting their performances at Wacken Open Air (in 2005) and Bloodstock Open A ...

'' (1979) - Heather * '' The Curse of King Tut's Tomb'' (1980) - Lady Almina Carnarvon * '' The Sea Wolves'' (1980) - Mrs. Grice * '' Eye of the Needle'' (1981) - Lucy's Mother * ''

The Razor's Edge ''The Razor's Edge'' is a 1944 novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It tells the story of Larry Darrell, an American pilot traumatized by his experiences in World War I, who sets off in search of some transcendent meaning in his life. Maugham is th ...

'' (1984) - Louisa Bradley (Isabel's Mother) * ''

Miss Beatty's Children ''Miss Beatty's Children'' is a 1992 English-language Indian drama film directed by Pamela Rooks in her directorial debut, with Jenny Seagrove, Faith Brook and Protima Bedi in lead roles. The film set in 1936 in South India, was based on Rook ...

'' (1992) - Mabel Forster * ''

Mrs Dalloway ''Mrs Dalloway'' is a novel by Virginia Woolf published on 14 May 1925. It details a day in the life of Clarissa Dalloway, a fictional upper-class woman in post-First World War England. The working title of ''Mrs Dalloway'' was ''The Hours ...

'' (1997) - Lady Bexborough * '' AKA'' (2002) - Contessa de la Reche

Selected television credits

Selected radio

* '' The Reluctant Peer'' by

William Douglas-Home William Douglas Home (3 June 1912 – 28 September 1992) was a British dramatist and politician. Early life Douglas-Home (he later dropped the hyphen from his surname) was the third son of Charles Douglas-Home, 13th Earl of Home, and Lady Li ...

broadcast on BBC (1967)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brook, Faith 1922 births 2012 deaths English film actresses English humanists English stage actresses English television actresses Actresses from York Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art