Margaret Leighton's Main TV Roles Show Character(s) The Upper Crusts (UK) Lady Seacroft

Main Movie Roles 1970 - The Go-Between 1965 - The Loved One 1962 - Waltz of the Toreadors 1955 - Carrington V.C. 1949 - Under Capricorn

BIOGRAPHY:

British theatre actress Margaret Leighton made her classical stage debut at age 16. The daughter of a businessman, she joined the Old Vic Company under the direction of Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson (I) and in the late 40s and 50s earned kudos for her theatrical endeavors on both the London and Broadway stages. She was nominated for four Tony awards, winning twice. The tall, reedy, opulent lady with strikingly odd, yet fascinating facial features also gave rich performances on film, stealing more than a few features away from the stars with her neurotic, brittle matrons and their unique brand of sophisticated eccentricity. Her first husband was noted publisher Max Reinhardt, famous for his collection of letters and photographs from playwright and novelist George Bernard Shaw. Her second husband was actor Laurence Harvey (I), who appeared with her in the movie The Good Die Young (1954). Both marriages ended in divorce. Her last marriage to actor Michael Wilding, who co-starred with her in Lady Caroline Lamb (1972), was a long and enduring match up. Other notable screen credits include The Constant Husband (1955), Waltz of the Toreadors (1962), The Madwoman of Chaillot (1969) and the TV-movie, Great Expectations (1974) (TV) as the incomparable Miss Havisham. In 1971, Margaret was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis but didn't let it slow her down. Even by 1975 when she was no longer capable of walking, she continued to act. She died from complications of the disease the following year.


TRIVIA:

• Her frequent co-star on both stage and screen was 'Ralph Richardson (I)' (qv). She played Roxane to his Cyrano in the 1946 London stage revival of "Cyrano de Bergerac", one of Richardson's greatest stage successes.
• Appeared with her future husband 'Michael Wilding' (qv) in the Hitchcock film _Under Capricorn (1949)_ (qv). After their marriage in 1964, they worked together several more times, but, by his own admission, Wilding preferred retirement and was happy just to be a supportive audience member for his wife.
• She suffered from claustrophobia for most of her life.
• Won two Tony Awards for Broadway performances as Best Actress (Dramatic): in 1957 for "Separate Tables" and in 1962 for 'Tennessee Williams' (qv)' "The Night of the Iguana." She also received two other nominations in the same category: in 1960 for Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and in 1963 for "Tchin-Tchin."