Kathleen Walsh (15 November 1911 – 16 April 2005) was an English actress, dancer, and screenwriter. Her film career prospered after she met her future husband film director David Lean, with whom she worked on prestige productions such as In Which We Serve and Oliver Twist.
Kay Walsh | |
|---|---|
 Walsh in Lease of Life (1954) | |
| Born | Kathleen Walsh 15 November 1911 |
| Died | 16 April 2005 (aged 93) Chelsea, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, dancer, writer |
| Years active | 1934–1981 |
| Spouses | |
Early life and career
editWalsh was born on 15 November 1911 in Chelsea, London.[1][2] She was raised in Pimlico by her grandmother.[3] She began her career as a dancer in West End music halls, and at the age of 17 she began going out with Pownoll Pellew (later 9th Viscount Exmouth), and they shared an interest in sports cars.[4] She made her film debut in How's Chances? (1934) in a small part, and had a larger role in Get Your Man, another 1934 film. She continued to act in "quota quickies" films for several years. Walsh first met David Lean, then a film editor, in 1936, during the filming of Secret of Stamboul. They began a relationship, and Walsh broke her engagement to Pellew. Walsh and Lean married on 23 November 1940. She moved on to prestige films with appearances in In Which We Serve (1942) and This Happy Breed (1944), both directed by Lean and written by Noël Coward. Walsh campaigned for Lean to receive co-director credit on In Which We Serve.[5]
Walsh contributed dialogue to the 1938 film of Pygmalion,[5] and devised the scenario for the closing sequence of Lean's film adaptation of Great Expectations (1946), receiving a writing credit on the latter film.[6] She devised the opening sequence of Lean's adaptation of Oliver Twist (1948) and played Nancy. Walsh and Lean divorced in 1949 on grounds of infidelity based on Lean's relationship with actress Ann Todd. Walsh continued to work as a character actress in films through the 1950s, including films with Alfred Hitchcock and Ronald Neame. Her own favourite film role was that of the barmaid Miss D. Coker in Neame's 1958 film of The Horse's Mouth, with Alec Guinness.[3]
Between films, she appeared regularly in plays and farces at the Strand and Aldwych theatres, directed by Basil Dean. She starred with Peter Coke in the 1938 thriller Death on the Table and Ralph Lynn at Aldwych in the 1940 comedy Nap Hand. She was a semi-regular on the 1979 Anglo-Polish TV series Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, and remained active in films until her retirement in 1981. Her last role was in Night Crossing.[6]
Second marriage, later life and death
editHer second marriage was to the Canadian psychoanalyst Elliott Jaques, and they adopted daughter Gemma in 1956. This marriage also ended in divorce.
She lived in retirement in London. She died on 16 April 2005 at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, aged 93, from multiple burns, following an accident.[1]
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | The Bedroom Diplomat | Minor Role | uncredited | |
| Get Your Man | Mary Vivien | [5] | ||
| 1935 | Smith's Wives | Mabel Smith | ||
| 1936 | If I Were Rich | Chrissie de la Mothe | ||
| The Luck of the Irish | Eileen O'Donnel | |||
| The Secret of Stamboul | Diana | [3] | ||
| 1937 | All That Glitters | Eve Payne-Coade | ||
| Keep Fit | Joan Allen | [6] | ||
| The Last Adventurers | Margaret Arkell | [5] | ||
| 1938 | I See Ice | Judy Gaye | [5] | |
| Meet Mr. Penny | Peggy Allgood | |||
| 1939 | The Mind of Mr. Reeder | Peggy Gillette | ||
| The Missing People | ||||
| Sons of the Sea | Alison Devar | |||
| 1940 | All at Sea | Diana | ||
| The Chinese Bungalow | Sadie Merivale | |||
| The Second Mr. Bush | Angela Windel-Todd | |||
| The Middle Watch | Fay Eaton | |||
| 1942 | In Which We Serve | Freda Lewis | [3] | |
| 1944 | This Happy Breed | Queenie Gibbons | [3] | |
| 1947 | The October Man | Molly Newman | ||
| 1948 | Vice Versa | Florence Verlane | [6] | |
| Oliver Twist | Nancy | [6] | ||
| 1950 | Stage Fright | Nellie Goode | [6] | |
| Last Holiday | Mrs Poole | [6] | ||
| The Magnet | Mrs Brent | [6] | ||
| 1951 | The Magic Box | Hotel Receptionist | ||
| Encore | Miss Molly Reid | segment: "Winter Cruise" | [3] | |
| 1952 | Hunted | Mrs. Sykes | ||
| Meet Me Tonight | Lily Pepper | segment: "Red Peppers" | ||
| 1953 | Young Bess | Mrs Ashley | [5] | |
| Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder | Priscilla | |||
| 1954 | Calling Scotland Yard: The Missing Passenger | Priscilla | short | |
| The Rainbow Jacket | Barbara | [7] | ||
| Lease of Life | Vera Thorne | [6] | ||
| 1955 | Cast a Dark Shadow | Charlotte Young | [6] | |
| 1956 | Now and Forever | Miss Muir | ||
| 1958 | The Horse's Mouth | Dee Coker | [5] | |
| 1960 | Tunes of Glory | Mary Titterington | [6] | |
| 1961 | Greyfriars Bobby: The True Story of a Dog | Mrs Brown | ||
| Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Mrs. Morgan | Season 7 Episode 9: "I Spy" | ||
| 1962 | Reach for Glory | Mrs Curlew | [6] | |
| The L-Shaped Room | Prostitute | uncredited | ||
| 1963 | 80,000 Suspects | Matron | [6] | |
| Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow | Mrs Waggett | |||
| Lunch Hour | Manageress | |||
| 1964 | Circus World | Flo Hunt | 1964 TV series Gideon's Way as Martha Smallwood | |
| The Beauty Jungle | Mrs. Freeman | [6] | ||
| 1965 | A Study in Terror | Cathy Eddowes | ||
| He Who Rides a Tiger | Mrs Woodley | [6] | ||
| Gideon's Way : Episodes “The Housekeeper” and "Morna' | Martha and Mrs Harriet Bright | [6] | ||
| 1966 | The Witches | Stephanie Bax | [6] | |
| 1967 | Bikini Paradise | Harriet Pembroke | ||
| 1969 | Journey to the Unknown | Mrs Joan Walker | TV movie, episode: "The Last Visitor" | |
| Taste of Excitement | Miss Barrow | |||
| 1970 | Connecting Rooms | Mrs Brent | ||
| The Virgin and the Gypsy | Aunt Cissie | [6] | ||
| Scrooge | Mrs Fezziwig | [6] | ||
| 1972 | The Ruling Class | Mrs Piggot-Jones | [6] | |
| 1982 | Night Crossing | Doris's mother | [6] |
Notes
edit- ^ a b "Walsh, Kathleen [Kay] (1911–2005)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/95768. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
- ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Tom Vallance (27 April 2005). "Kay Walsh (obituary)". The Independent. London. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ Dave Cox, Ave Atque Vale, p 15
- ^ a b c d e f g "Kay Walsh (obituary)". The Daily Telegraph. London. 29 April 2005. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Brian Baxter (29 April 2005). "Kay Walsh (obituary)". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 21 December 2008.
- ^ "The Rainbow Jacket". studiocanal.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
References
edit- Cox, David (2006). Ave Atque Vale - the story of the Vale Special. Berkshire: Martin Publications. ISBN 978-0-9553010-0-1.
- Kevin Brownlow, David Lean, Faber & Faber, 1997.
- Silverman, Stephen M., David Lean, Harry N. Abrams, 1989.
