CINEFILER

Phyllis Calvert

Born
February 18, 1915
Died
October 8, 2002
Phyllis Calvert (18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002) was an English film, stage and television actress. Born Phyllis Hannah Bickle in Chelsea, she trained at the Margaret Morris School of Dancing and performed from the age of ten, gaining her first film role at the age of 12, in The Arcadians (1927), also known as The Land of Heart's Desire. Calvert performed in repertory theatre and in several films, before making her London stage debut in A Woman's Privilege in 1939. During the following decade, she starred in many romances, including Fanny by Gaslight, with James Mason and Stewart Granger, and My Own True Love, becoming one of Britain's highest paid stars. However, three Hollywood studios failed to pay her what she asked. She first found success in the film adaptation of H. G. Wells' Kipps (1941), but it was The Man in Grey (1943) that confirmed her status. She acted in over 40 films, her later films include Oh! What a Lovely War and The Walking Stick. Calvert had already appeared on television, playing Mrs. March in the 1958 serials Little Women and Good Wives (both adapted from Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women), as well as individual episodes of several other programmes, when, in 1970, she landed the part of an agony aunt with problems of her own in Kate. She made TV appearances in programmes such as Crown Court, Ladykillers, Tales of the Unexpected, Boon, After Henry and The Line Grove Story. She was married to the actor and antiquarian bookseller Peter Murray Hill, with whom she had two children, Ann Auriol (born 1943) and Piers Auriol (born 1954). She died in London in 2002, from natural causes, aged 87.
Known For
Mrs. Dalloway
(1997)
Aunt Helena
Oh! What a Lovely War
(1969)
Lady Dorothy Haig
Indiscreet
(1958)
Mrs. Margaret Munson
The Man in Grey
(1943)
Clarissa Richmond Rohan / Clarissa Rohan
Appointment with Danger
(1950)
Sister Augustine
Twisted Nerve
(1968)
Enid Durnley
Full Filmography
Acting
Let George Do It!
(1940)
Mary Wilson
They Came by Night
(1940)
Sally
Neutral Port
(1940)
Helen Carter
Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt
(1940)
Betty Forsythe
Kipps
(1941)
Ann Pornick (adult)
Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It
(1941)
Mrs. Wilkinson
The Young Mr. Pitt
(1942)
Eleanor Eden
Uncensored
(1942)
Julie Lanvin
The Man in Grey
(1943)
Clarissa Richmond Rohan / Clarissa Rohan
Two Thousand Women
(1944)
Freda Thompson
Fanny by Gaslight
(1944)
Fanny
Madonna of the Seven Moons
(1945)
Maddalena Labardi
They Were Sisters
(1945)
Lucy Moore
The Magic Bow
(1946)
Jeanne
Men of Two Worlds
(1946)
Dr. Caroline Munro
The Root of All Evil
(1947)
Jeckie Farnish
Time Out of Mind
(1947)
Kate Fernald
My Own True Love
(1948)
Joan Clews
Broken Journey
(1948)
Mary Johnstone
The Golden Madonna
(1949)
Patricia Chandler
Appointment with Danger
(1950)
Sister Augustine
The Woman with No Name
(1950)
Yvonne Winter
Mr. Denning Drives North
(1951)
Kay Denning
Mandy
(1952)
Christine Garland
The Net
(1953)
Lydia Heathley
Child in the House
(1956)
Evelyn Acheson
It's Never Too Late
(1956)
Laura Hammond
Indiscreet
(1958)
Mrs. Margaret Munson
The Young and the Guilty
(1958)
Gladys Connor
A Lady Mislaid
(1958)
Esther Wallace
Oscar Wilde
(1960)
Constance Wilde
The Battle of the Villa Fiorita
(1965)
Margot
Twisted Nerve
(1968)
Enid Durnley
Oh! What a Lovely War
(1969)
Lady Dorothy Haig
The Walking Stick
(1970)
Erica Dainton
All Passion Spent
(1986)
Carrie
The Death of the Heart
(1987)
Mrs. Heccomb
The Woman He Loved
(1988)
Queen Mary
Across the Lake
(1988)
Lady Dolly Campbell
Bed
(1995)
Woman
Mrs. Dalloway
(1997)
Aunt Helena
Data provided by TMDB