Margaret Lockwood
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Margaret Lockwood
Birth nameMargaret Mary Lockwood DayBorn
September 15,
1916
Karachi, India [now Pakistan]Died
July 15,
1990 (aged 73)
London, EnglandSpouse(s)Rupert de Leon (1937-1949)ChildrenJulia Lockwood (b.1941)
Margaret Lockwood,
CBE (
15 September 1916-
15 July 1990) was a
British actress.
Born and Christened
Mary Margaret Lockwood Day in
Karachi,
British India (now
Pakistan), Lockwood's family returned to the United Kingdom while she was a child. She then attended
Sydenham Girls' High School, and a ladies school in
Kensington,
London.
She began studying for the stage at an early age under Italia Conti, and made her debut in 1928, at the age of 12, at the
Holborn Empire, where she played a fairy in
A Midsummer Night's Dream. In December of the following year, she appeared at the
Scala Theatre in the
pantomime The Babes in the Wood. In 1932, she appeared at the
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in
Cavalcade.
Lockwood then trained at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in
London, where she was seen by a talent scout and signed to a contract. In June 1934, she played Myrtle in
House on Fire at the
Queen's Theatre, and on
August 22,
1934 appeared as Margaret Hamilton in Gertrude Jenning's play
Family Affairs when it premiered at the
Ambassadors Theatre; Helene Ferber in
Repayment at the
Arts Theatre in January 1936; Trixie Drew in Henry Bernard's play
Miss Smith at the
Duke of York's Theatre in July 1936; and back at the Queen's in July 1937 as Ann Harlow in
Ann's Lapse. After 1937, she devoted herself entirely to films.
Lockwood had entered films in 1934, and in
1935 she appeared in the film version of
Lorna Doone. In 1938, she played the role of Jenny Sunley, the self-centred, frivolous wife of
Michael Redgrave's character in
The Stars Look Down. Her most successful film of that decade was
Alfred Hitchcock's
The Lady Vanishes, in which she again starred with Redgrave.
She also appeared in the
Gate Theatre,
Dublin, during which time she accidentally set her dressing room on fire.
In the early 1940s, Lockwood changed her on-screen image to play villainesses in both contemporary and period films, becoming the most successful actress in British films during that period. Her greatest success was in the title role in
The Wicked Lady (1945), a film which was controversial in its day and brought her considerable publicity.
In 1946 Lockwood gained the
Daily Mail First Prize for most popular British film actress.
She continued to act until the late 1970s. One of her last major roles was in the television series
Justice. She was created a
CBE in 1980. Her acceptance of this award marked her last public appearance.
Margaret Lockwood had married Rupert de Leon. She lived her final years in seclusion and died in
Kingston upon Thames, UK, from
cirrhosis of the liver, aged 73.
She is survived by her daughter, actress Julia Clark (née Margaret Julia de Leon)
Partial filmography