Maria Britneva, Baroness St Just, (2 July 1921 – 15 February 1994) known as Maria St Just, was a Russian-British actress who was a close friend of

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

. As co-trustee of the trust which he set up for his sister, she became his literary executor.

Early life

Maria Britneva was born in

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

in the Soviet Union. Her mother, Mary Britneva, was British by birth, a daughter of Charles Herbert Bucknall, business partner in St Petersburg of the French wholesale gem dealers Leo and Georges Sachs. Her father, Alexander Britnev, was a physician who served in the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and was shot in the purges of 1930. He was rehabilitated (his reputation restored) in 1969. In the summer of 1922, when Britneva was just thirteen months old, her mother left Russia and emigrated to England, taking with her Maria and her brother Vladimir. John Lahr
"The Lady and Tennessee"
''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', 19 December 1994. She was brought up in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, where her mother settled and worked as a translator of

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

, Kit Hesketh-Harvey
"Obituary: Maria St Just"
''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 24 February 1994. and also by teaching Russian and French. In 1939, when registered at the outset of the Second World War, her mother was living in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

and stated her occupation as “writer and translator” and her date of birth as 3 April 1894. Britneva represented her paternal grandfather as having been court physician at

Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...

, but no record has been traced of him. As a child, Britneva studied ballet with Tamara Karsavina and was known as "the little grasshopper" for her ability to jump high, but later she could not pursue a career as a dancer because she was too small or because of foot trouble and, she said, overly large breasts. She instead studied acting at Michel Saint-Denis's London Theatre Studio school, where she was a contemporary of

Peter Ustinov Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov (16 April 192128 March 2004) was a British actor, director and writer. An internationally known raconteur, he was a fixture on television talk shows and lecture circuits for much of his career. Ustinov received #Awa ...

, and

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

employed her in his London theatre company, but he and others considered her a poor actress.

Personal life: Tennessee Williams

In 1948, at a party at her friend

's house in Chelsea, Britneva met

and they became passionate life-long friends. She was the inspiration for Maggie the Cat in ''

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof ''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a 1955 American three-act play by Tennessee Williams. The play, an adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", was written between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his ...

'', which Williams dedicated to her, borrowing Maria's descriptive of her in-laws, (''no-neck monsters''), for one of Maggie's most famous lines. They corresponded for some time,Kim Hubbard
"The Original Maggie the Cat, Maria St. Just, Remembers Her Loving Friend Tennessee Williams"
''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

'', 2 April 1990. and then she moved to New York, where in the early 1950s she lived in a small flat. According to John Lahr, Britneva wanted more than friendship, and fantasized to

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

about Williams wanting to marry her. She discussed the friendship with a psychotherapist, but essentially Britneva and Williams were close friends. The part of Maggie the Cat was first played by

Barbara Bel Geddes Barbara Bel Geddes (October 31, 1922 – August 8, 2005) was an American stage and screen Actor, actress, artist, and children's author whose career spanned almost 5 decades. She was best known for her starring role as Miss Ellie Ewing in th ...

directed by

Elia Kazan Elias Kazantzoglou (, ; September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003), known as Elia Kazan ( ), was a Greek-American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one of the most honored and inf ...

on Broadway in 1955, then by

Kim Stanley Kim Stanley (born Patricia Kimberley Reid; February 11, 1925 – August 20, 2001) was an American actress who was primarily active in television and theatre but also had occasional film performances. She began her acting career in theatre a ...

directed by Peter Hall in London in 1958. Williams arranged parts for Britneva in performances of some of his plays; these were not much praised. He wrote epitaphs for her diabetic cousin, with whom she had been brought up,"A Wreath for Alexandra Molostvova", ''The Collected Poems of Tennessee Williams'', ed. David Roessel and Nicholas Moschovakis, New York: New Directions, 2002,
notes, p. 225
and her bulldog, who always snarled at him. Britneva often traveled with Williams and his partner Frank Merlo; at one point, he said he felt guilty about using her as bait to attract others. She was reported to be the inspiration for the character of Maggie in ''

''. The biographer of

Gore Vidal Eugene Luther Gore Vidal ( ; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his acerbic epigrammatic wit. His novels and essays interrogated the Social norm, social and sexual ...

, who was close to Britneva and Williams, says of Britneva that she "cast herself in the role of devoted sister-caretaker" while a biographer of James Laughlin says she was "Tennessee's confidant and protective demon". In an article published in ''

'' soon after her death, John Lahr wrote that he believed Britneva reminded Williams of his mother. In 1955, Williams said after Britneva’s opening night performance as Blanche in ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'', in a production in Florida, "I thought I had written a good play till I saw her in it."Richard Freeman Leavitt and W. Kenneth Holditch, ''The World of Tennessee Williams'', East Brunswick, New Jersey: Hansen, 2011,
n.p.
Renowned as a hostess, surrounded by close friends

and

Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (; 12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019) was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post–World War II e ...

, Leslie Caron and Tennessee Williams - her greatest talent may have been for friendship. In his Obituary of her in The Independent, Kit Hesketh-Harvey suggests that she also had a great talent for protecting Williams' work: "Tennessee Williams astounded the theatrical world by making Maria St Just his literary executrix' he wrote."She vindicated his trust completely. Too rich to care about money, she was concerned only for the integrity of the performances which she was empowered to authorise. There hasn't been a dud since his death in 1983; and that his reputation is now restored is thanks to her."

Personal life: others

Britneva had other entanglements while in the US. She was rumoured to have slept with

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cinema actors of the 20th century,''Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia''

, and other affairs included one with

John Huston John Marcellus Huston ( ; August 5, 1906 – August 28, 1987) was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote the screenplays for most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics. He rec ...

; according to some reports, she had an abortion in 1951.MacNiven, p. 479 Britneva fell in love with James Laughlin, and in 1954 they became engaged to be married. Williams was reported as saying that for him this would be an "old-time happy ending", because Britneva and Laughlin had "a similar place in my heart"; but Laughlin broke off the engagement. He has been quoted as saying that life with Britneva would have been too restless, and that he had not realized how committed she was to the theatre. One assessment is that Laughlin became "terrified" of Britneva's "castrating willfulness". It is well documented that Williams was inspired by Maria, who called her step-children 'no-neck-monsters' when he wrote Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Wilberry House Vit Brit edited

In 1956, Britneva met an English peer, Peter Grenfell, second Lord St Just, and married him on 25 July 1956. Her mother had been in Canada and returned to England, arriving the day after the wedding. She was then resident of 24, Tennyson Mansions,

. In marrying St Just, Britneva became Lady St Just, stepmother of Laura Claire Grenfell, his six-year-old daughter by his first wife, Leslie Nast, daughter of

Condé Nast Condé Nast () is a global mass media company founded in 1909 by Condé Nast (businessman), Condé Montrose Nast (1873–1942) and owned by Advance Publications. Its headquarters are located at One World Trade Center in the FiDi, Financial Dis ...

. With him, she had two daughters of her own, Katherine Grenfell (born 1957), Charles Mosley, ed., '' Burke's Peerage, Baronetage & Knightage'', 107th edition, volume 2 (2003), p. 1658 known as Katya or Pulcheria, and Natasha Jeannine Mary Grenfell (born 1959) known as Cheddar. One of her daughters had as a godfather

, a good friend of Britneva’s.

Rupert Everett Rupert James Hector Everett (; born 29 May 1959) is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981 when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film '' Another Country'' (1984) as a gay pupil at an English public scho ...

, ''Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography'', London: Abacus, 2007
n.p.
/ref> Britneva kept up her friendship with Williams, who was a frequent visitor to both Wilbury House, her new home in England, and her London home next door to Noel Coward's house in Gerald Road,

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

. As a hostess Maria lionised performing artists, and her lunch and dinner parties would typically include figures such as Claudio Abbado, Darcy Bussell, Lord Goodman, Ishmail Merchant and James Ivory, Leslie Caron and Placido Domingo. In later years her daughter's friends such as Rupert Everett became part of the circle too. In 1964, Britneva’s mother died at the St George’s Retreat,

Burgess Hill Burgess Hill () is a town and civil parish in West Sussex, England, close to the border with East Sussex, on the edge of the South Downs National Park, south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and northeast of the county town, Chichester. ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

, and was buried in Earl's Court, her funeral being conducted by the Russian Orthodox Bishop of Great Britain, Nikodem. The funeral for Lady Maria St Just herself was held at the Russian Orthodox church in Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge.

Later years

Britneva and Williams continued to write to each other, until shortly before his death in 1983.

and Maria St. Just, ''Five O'Clock Angel: Letters of Tennessee Williams to Maria St. Just, 1948–1982'', New York: Knopf, 1990, . She was increasingly protective of him, going so far as to attempt to push his brother Dakin off a catwalk at the Lyceum Theatre after the Broadway opening of '' Out Cry'' in 1973.Sam Staggs, ''When Blanche Met Brando: The Scandalous Story of "A Streetcar Named Desire"'', New York: St. Martin's, 2005,
pp. 284–85
In 1975, Williams angered Britneva by mentioning her only briefly in his memoirs, in which he referred to her as "an occasional actress" and said she was "afflicted with ''folie de grandeur''". At her insistence, he wrote an apology, claiming that editors had cut down his description of "this richly sustaining attachment". She was certainly the model for the Countess in his play '' This Is'' (1976). She was sometimes cruel to the other women in his life, and probably caused him to dismiss his agent Audrey Wood. Late in his life, some friends were sure she supplied Williams with drugs. However, at the end of his life, his friendship for her was cooling. Williams named Maria St Just as co-trustee (with John Eastman, a celebrity lawyer and the brother of

Linda McCartney Linda Louise, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, cookbook author, and activist. She was the keyboardist and harmony vocalist in the band Paul McCartney and Wings, Wings tha ...

) of the trust for his lobotomized sister, Rose. This had the effect of making her his literary executor, since the copyrights to his works were vested in the trust. In this role, she fiercely defended his legacy, to an extent that many found excessive, such as involving herself in casting and advising actors, denying scholars access to Williams's papers, demanding the right to vet the manuscript of the authorized biography, and rescinding permission that Williams had granted to Lyle Leverich for such a biography. She also refused permission for a biography by Margot Peters. Lahr describes her as considering herself "Williams' widow without a ring". In 1981, Britneva’s daughter Katya married Oliver Gilmour and had two children, Natalia Claire Gilmour (born 1981) and Marco Oliver Gilmour (1988). This marriage ended in divorce. Maria was given a small role as

Daniel Day-Lewis Sir Daniel Michael Blake Day-Lewis (born 29 April 1957) is an English actor. Often described as one of the greatest actors in the history of cinema, he is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Daniel Day-Lewis, numerous a ...

' mother Mrs Vyse in the

Merchant Ivory A merchant is a person who trades in goods produced by other people, especially one who trades with foreign countries. Merchants have been known for as long as humans have engaged in trade and commerce. Merchants and merchant networks operated i ...

1985 film, A Room With a View, and in 1987 their film Maurice starring Hugh Grant was filmed at her country house. Lord St Just died in 1986, and in 1990 Britneva published a collection of her correspondence with Williams, under the title ''Five O'Clock Angel: Letters of Tennessee Williams to Maria St. Just, 1948–1982''. This book was adapted for the stage by Kit Hesketh-Harvey. In the book, Britneva changes

Brooks Atkinson Justin Brooks Atkinson (November 28, 1894 – January 14, 1984) was an American theater critic. He worked for ''The New York Times'' from 1922 to 1960. In his obituary, the ''Times'' called him "the theater's most influential reviewer of his ...

's review in ''The New York Times'' of her 1955 performance as Blanche in ''

'' from a pan to a rave. Britneva died in London in February 1994. The cause of death was heart failure as a result of

rheumatoid arthritis Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a long-term autoimmune disorder that primarily affects synovial joint, joints. It typically results in warm, swollen, and painful joints. Pain and stiffness often worsen following rest. Most commonly, the wrist and h ...

. On her instructions, she was buried at Wilbury House, the Grenfell

country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, with her dogs rather than with her in-laws, with whom she did not get on well.

Films

Britneva had minor parts in several films: ''Peccato che sia una Canaglia'' (1954; English title '' Too Bad She's Bad''); ''

The Scapegoat A scapegoat is a goat used in a religious ritual or the victim of scapegoating, the singling out of a party for unmerited blame. Scapegoat or The Scapegoat may also refer to: Places * Scapegoat Wilderness, a Wilderness Area in Montana ** Scapego ...

'' (1959); ''

Suddenly, Last Summer ''Suddenly Last Summer'' is a one-act play by Tennessee Williams, written in New York in 1957. It opened off Broadway on January 7, 1958, as part of a double bill with another of Williams' one-acts, '' Something Unspoken'' (written in London in ...

'' (1959); '' The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone'' (1961); '' A Room with a View'' (1985); and '' Maurice'' (1987)."Maria Britneva"

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

. Retrieved 12 January 2016.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Britneva, Maria Alumni of the London Theatre Studio Soviet emigrants to the United Kingdom Actresses from London People from Hammersmith 20th-century English actresses 1921 births 1994 deaths Actors from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham