Isobel Elsom (born Isabelle Reed; 16 March 1893 – 12 January 1981) was an English film, theatre, and television actress. She was often cast as aristocrats or upper-class women.

Early years

Born in Chesterton, Cambridge, Elsom attended Howard College, Bedford, England.

Career

She debuted on stage in London as a member of the chorus of ''The Quaker Girl'' (1911). Gilbert Miller promoted her to stardom in ''The Outsider''. Over the course of three decades, she appeared in 17 Broadway productions, beginning with ''The Ghost Train'' (1926). Her best-known stage role was the wealthy murder victim in '' Ladies in Retirement'' (1939), a role she repeated in the 1941 film version. Her other theatre credits included '' The Innocents'' and ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

''. Elsom made her first screen appearance during the

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

era (she frequently co-starred with Owen Nares) and appeared in nearly 100 films throughout her career. Elsom appeared as the leading lady for the Elitch Theatre summer season of 1928. At Elitch, she appeared in the role she created in the play '' The Outsider'' earlier that year on Broadway. A Denver reviewer of the play wrote:

If there is anybody in this man's town who doubts that Isobel Elsom, leading woman at the Elitch Gardens Theatre, is an actress of the highest rank, let that doubting Thomas see her work in ''The Outsider'' ... She not only is scoring a brilliant personal triumph, but is demonstrating to local playgoers exactly why she was one of the most popular actresses London ever knew!

She met her first husband, director

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

, when he cast her in his 1919 film '' Quinneys''. He directed her in eight more films before they divorced. Elsom's other screen credits included '' The White Cliffs of Dover'' (1944), '' The Unseen'' (1945), '' Of Human Bondage'' (1946), '' The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'', '' Monsieur Verdoux'', '' The Paradine Case'', and '' The Two Mrs. Carrolls'' (all 1947), ''

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), '' Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'' (1955), '' Lust for Life'' and '' 23 Paces to Baker Street'' (both 1956), and '' The Pleasure Seekers'' and ''

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 ...

'' (both 1964). She appeared opposite

Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian, with a career spanning seven decades in film, stage, television and radio. Famously nicknamed as "Th ...

in four of his late 1950s/early 1960s films. Elsom's television credits included ''

Armstrong Circle Theatre ''Armstrong Circle Theatre'' is an American anthology drama television series which ran from June 6, 1950, to June 25, 1957, on NBC, and from October 2, 1957, to August 28, 1963, on CBS. It alternated weekly with '' The United States Steel Ho ...

'', ''

Hallmark Hall of Fame ''Hallmark Hall of Fame'', originally called ''Hallmark Television Playhouse'', is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas Citybased greeting card company. It is the longest-ru ...

'', ''

Lux Video Theatre ''Lux Video Theatre'' is an American television anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1957. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays. Overview The ''Lux Vi ...

'', ''

My Three Sons ''My Three Sons'' is an American television sitcom that aired from September 29, 1960, to April 13, 1972. The series was filmed in black-and-white and broadcast on ABC during its first five seasons, before moving to CBS for the remaining seve ...

'', ''

Alfred Hitchcock Presents ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' is an American television anthology series created, hosted and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, airing on CBS and NBC, alternately, between 1955 and 1965. It features dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. Between 1962 ...

'' (at least four appearances), ''

Playhouse 90 ''Playhouse 90'' is an American television anthology drama series that aired on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 134 episodes. The show was produced at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California. Since live anthology drama series of t ...

'', ''

Hawaiian Eye ''Hawaiian Eye'' is an American detective television series that ran from October 1959 to April 1963 on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network. Premise Private investigator Tracy Steele (Anthony Eisley) and his half-Hawaiian ...

'', '' Straightaway'', and '' Dr. Kildare''.

Personal life

Elsom's second husband was actor Carl Harbord, married from 1947 until his death in 1958. She had no children.

Death

Elsom died of heart failure at the

Motion Picture & Television Hospital The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as temp ...

in Woodland Hills, California, aged 87.

National Portrait Gallery

Five portraits of Elsom are included in the Photographs Collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.National Portraits Gallery website
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Partial filmography

* ''Milestones'' (1916) – Lady Monkhurst * ''The Way of an Eagle'' (1918) – Mariel Roscoe * ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor'' (1918) – Isobel Bunter * ''God Bless Our Red, White and Blue'' (1918) – The Wife * ''The Man Who Won'' (1918) – Milly Cooper * '' Onward Christian Soldiers'' (1918) – The Girl * '' Quinneys'' (1919) – Posy Quinney * '' Linked by Fate'' (1919) – Nina Vernon * ''Hope'' (1919) – Jenny Northcote * '' Edge O' Beyond'' (1919) – Joyce Grey * '' A Member of Tattersall's'' (1919) – Mary Wilmott * '' The Elder Miss Blossom'' (1919) – Sophie Blossom * '' Mrs. Thompson'' (1919) – Enid Thompson * '' Nance'' (1920) – Nance Gray * '' Aunt Rachel'' (1920) – Ruth * '' For Her Father's Sake'' (1921) – Lilian Armitage * '' The Game of Life'' (1922) – Alice Fletcher * '' Dick Turpin's Ride to York'' (1922) – Esther Bevis * '' A Debt of Honour'' (1922) – Hope Carteret * '' The Harbour Lights'' (1923) – Dora Nelson * '' The Wandering Jew'' (1923) – Olalla Quintane * '' The Sign of Four'' (1923) – Mary Morstan * '' The Love Story of Aliette Brunton'' (1924) – Aliette Brunton * '' Who Is the Man?'' (1924) – Genevieve Arnault * '' The Last Witness'' (1925) – Letitia Brand * ''Le réveil'' (1925) – Thérèse de Mégèe * '' Tragedy of a Marriage'' (1927) – Louise Radcliffe *'' Dance Magic'' (1927) – Selma Bundy * '' The Other Woman'' (1931) – Roxanne Paget * '' Stranglehold'' (1931) – Beatrice * '' The Crooked Lady'' (1932) – Miriam Sinclair * '' Illegal'' (1932) – Mrs. Evelyn Dean * ''The Thirteenth Candle'' (1933) – Lady Sylvia Meeton * '' The Primrose Path'' (1934) – Brenda Dorland * '' Eagle Squadron'' (1942) – Dame Elizabeth Whitby * '' The War Against Mrs. Hadley'' (1942) – Mrs. Laura Winters * '' Laugh Your Blues Away'' (1942) – Mrs. Westerly * '' Seven Sweethearts'' (1942) – Miss Abagail Robbins * '' You Were Never Lovelier'' (1942) – Mrs. Maria Castro * '' Forever and a Day'' (1943) – Lady Trimble-Pomfret * '' First Comes Courage'' (1943) – Rose Lindstrom * '' My Kingdom for a Cook'' (1943) – Lucille Scott * '' The White Cliffs of Dover'' (1944) – Mrs. Bancroft (uncredited) * '' Between Two Worlds'' (1944) – Genevieve Cliveden-Banks * '' Casanova Brown'' (1944) – Mrs. Ferris * '' The Unseen'' (1945) – Marian Tygarth * '' Two Sisters from Boston'' (1946) – Aunt Jennifer * '' Of Human Bondage'' (1946) – Mrs. Betty Athelny * '' The Two Mrs. Carrolls'' (1947) – Mrs. Latham * '' Monsieur Verdoux'' (1947) – Marie Grosnay * '' The Ghost and Mrs. Muir'' (1947) – Angelica Muir * '' Ivy'' (1947) – Charlotte Chattle * '' Escape Me Never'' (1947) – Mrs. MacLean * '' Love from a Stranger'' (1947) – Auntie Loo-Loo * '' The Paradine Case'' (1947) – Innkeeper * '' Smart Woman'' (1948) – Mrs. Rogers * ''Addio Mimí!'' (1949) – Madame Garzin * ''

'' (1949) – Governess * '' Désirée'' (1954) – Mme. Clary – Désirée's Mother * '' Deep in My Heart'' (1954) – Mrs. Harris * '' The King's Thief'' (1955) – Mrs. Bennett * '' Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing'' (1955) – Adeline Palmer-Jones * ''

'' (1956) (Season 1 Episode 23: "Back for Christmas") – Hermione Carpenter * '' Over-Exposed'' (1956) – Mrs. Payton Grange * '' 23 Paces to Baker Street'' (1956) – Lady Syrett * '' Lust for Life'' (1956) – Mrs. Stricker * ''

'' (1957) (Season 2 Episode 30: "The Three Dreams of Mr. Findlater") – Minnie Findlater * ''

'' (1957) (Season 3 Episode 10: "The Diplomatic Corpse") – Mrs. Tait * '' The Guns of Fort Petticoat'' (1957) – Mrs. Charlotte Ogden * '' Rock-A-Bye Baby'' (1958) – Mrs. Van Cleeve * '' The Young Philadelphians'' (1959) – Mrs. Dewitt Lawrence (uncredited) * '' The Miracle'' (1959) – Mother Superior * '' The Turn of the Screw'' (1959) – Mrs. Grose * '' The Bellboy'' (1960) – Hotel Guest (uncredited) * '' The Errand Boy'' (1961) – Irma Paramutual * '' The Second Time Around'' (1961) – Mrs. Rogers * '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1962) (Season 1 Episode 6: "Final Vow") – Reverend Mother * '' The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'' (1963) (Season 1 Episode 29: "The Dark Pool") – Sister Marie Therese * '' Who's Minding the Store?'' (1963) – Hazel, a Dowager * ''

'' (1964) – Mrs. Eynsford-Hill * '' The Pleasure Seekers'' (1964) – Dona Teresa Lacayo

References

External links

*
Jessie Matthews
at Theatricalia * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Elsom, Isobel 1893 births 1981 deaths English stage actresses English film actresses English silent film actresses English television actresses People from Chesterton, Cambridge English expatriate actresses in the United States 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Cambridge