Margaret Rutherford
English actress known for Miss Marple and Oscar-winning role.
Her personal life was marked by family tragedy, including her father's murder of his own father and her mother's suicide.[1][2] Margaret Rutherford was a comic performer from the UK, noted for her late start in acting and her prominent chin.[3][4] Her best-known role was Miss Jane Marple in four films from the 1960s, which were only loosely inspired by Agatha Christie's novels.[5]
Quick Facts
- Born
- 11 May 1892
- Birthplace
- Balham, London, England
- Died
- 22 May 1972
- Place of death
- Chalfont St. Peter, Buckinghamshire, England
- Birth name
- Margaret Taylor Rutherford
- Occupation
- Actress
- Years active
- 1925–1967
- Resting place
- St. James's Church, Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
After the murder, William changed his surname to Rutherford to avoid disgracing the Benn family name.[2] Rutherford's mother Florence hanged herself when Margaret was three years old.[2] Rutherford was educated at Wimbledon High School and later at Raven's Croft School in Seaford.[6] She first worked as a piano teacher and a teacher of elocution before making her stage debut at age 33.[3]
Her autobiography stated she never intended to play for laughs and was surprised audiences found her funny.[3] She married character actor Stringer Davis in 1945 after a 15-year courtship.[7] Rutherford and Davis unofficially adopted writer Gordon Langley Hall in the 1950s.[8] In her final years, Alzheimer's disease afflicted Rutherford, and she passed away on 22 May 1972.[9]
What the cited sources add
A 2009 newspaper article by Norman states that Rutherford lived in fear she had inherited her father's madness.[2] The same article reveals that an unrequited love affair with a philandering gay man precipitated her most serious breakdown.[2] Norman's article notes that Rutherford was institutionalised for over six months after that breakdown.[2] The article also reports that a producer was astonished when Rutherford saw herself as Juliet, not the Nurse.[2]
According to that same autobiography, the money her aunt left behind enabled Rutherford to gain admission to the Old Vic School.[3]
References
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sweet, "A life in films: Murder she hid", The Independent on Sunday, 7 March 2004; Merriman, "Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners", Aurum, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Norman, "Miss. Marple's torment", Express: Home of the Daily and Sunday Express, 24 September 2009. facts only, no text reused. express.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rutherford, "Margaret Rutherford: An autobiography", W. H. Allen, 1972 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tynan, "Acting and the Theatre" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Merriman, "Margaret Rutherford: Dreadnought with Good Manners", Aurum, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gielgud, "Rutherford [married name Stringer Davis], Dame Margaret Taylor (1892–1972)" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Norman, "Miss. Marple's torment", Express: Home of the Daily and Sunday Express, 24 September 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Merriman, Andy Margaret Rutherford- Dreadnought with Good Manners, London: Aurum, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Margaret Rutherford" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Obituary", Variety, 24 May 1972, p. 71; Merriman, Andy Margaret Rutherford- Dreadnought with Good Manners, London: Aurum, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Margaret Rutherford (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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