Kay Walsh
Acting · Writing
Born November 15, 1911, Chelsea, London, England, UK
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Kay Walsh (born Kathleen Walsh, 15 November 1911,Chelsea, London, England; died 16 April 2005, Chelsea, London) was an English actress and dancer. She grew up in Pimlico, brought up by her grandmother. She began her career as a dancer in West End music halls. Walsh made her film debut in How's Chances? (1934) in a small part, and had a larger role in another 1934 film, Get Your Man. 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 off her engagement to Pownell Pellew. Walsh and Lean married on 23 November 1940. She moved on to higher-prestige films with appearances in two Noel Coward-scripted films, In Which We Serve (1942) and This Happy Breed (1944), both directed by Lean. Walsh had campaigned for Lean to receive co-director credit on In Which We Serve. Walsh contributed dialogue to the 1938 film of Pygmalion, and also devised the scenario for the closing sequence of Lean's film adaptation of Great Expectations (1946), for which she received a writing credit on the latter film. She also devised the opening sequence of Lean's adaptation of Oliver Twist (1948), as well as performing the role of Nancy. Walsh and Lean divorced in 1949, on grounds of infidelity based on Lean's relationship with 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. Between films, she appeared regularly in plays and farces at the Strand and Aldwych Theatres, directed by Basil Dean. She was a semi-regular on the 1979 Anglo-Polish TV series Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. She remained active in films until her retirement in 1981, after the film Night Crossing. Walsh later lived in retirement in London. She died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital from multiple burns, following an accident, aged 93. Her second marriage was to the Canadian psychologist Elliott Jaques, and they adopted a daughter, Gemma, in 1956. This marriage also ended in divorce. Description above from the Wikipedia article Kay Walsh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia
Filmography
- 2008Walt Disney Treasures - Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh — Mrs. Waggett (archive footage)
- 1982Night Crossing
- Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson — Mrs. Watson
- 1972The Ruling Class — Mrs. Piggott-Jones
- 1970Connecting Rooms — Mrs. Brent
- 1970Scrooge — Mrs. Fezziwig
- 1970The Virgin and the Gypsy — Aunt Cissie
- 1969Journey to the Unknown — Joan Walker
- 1969Taste of Excitement — Miss Barrow
- Journey to the Unknown — Mrs Joan Walker
- 1967Bikini Paradise — Harriet Pembroke
- ABC Stage 67 — Greta
- 1966The Witches — Stephanie Bax
- 1965A Study in Terror — Cathy Eddowes
- Gideon's Way — Harriet Bright
- 1965He Who Rides a Tiger — Mrs. Woodley
- 1964The Beauty Jungle — Mrs. Freeman
- The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh — Mrs. Waggett
- 196380,000 Suspects — Matron
- 1963Dr. Syn, Alias the Scarecrow — Mrs. Waggett
- The Human Jungle — Mrs. Kross
- 1962Lunch Hour — The Manageress
- 1962Reach for Glory — Mrs. Curlew
- 1962The L-Shaped Room — Prostitute (uncredited)
- 1961Greyfriars Bobby — Mrs. Brown
- 1960Tunes of Glory — Mary Titterington
- 1958The Horse's Mouth — Dee Coker
- 1956Now and Forever — Miss Muir
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Mrs. Morgan
- 1955Cast a Dark Shadow — Charlotte Young
- 1954Lease of Life — Mrs. Vera Thorne
- 1954The Rainbow Jacket — Barbara Crain
- The Wonderful World of Disney — Mrs. Waggett
- 1953Gilbert Harding Speaking of Murder — Priscilla
- 1953Young Bess — Mrs. Ashley
- 1952Hunted — Mrs. Sykes
- 1952Meet Me Tonight — Lily Pepper
- 1952The Magic Box — Hotel Receptionist
- 1951Encore — Miss Molly Reid
- 1950Last Holiday — Mrs. Poole
- 1950Stage Fright — Nellie Goode
- 1950The Magnet — Mrs Brent
- 1948Oliver Twist — Nancy
- 1948Vice Versa — Florence 'Fanny' Verlane
- 1947The October Man — Molly Newman
- 1946Great Expectations — Screenplay
- 1944This Happy Breed — Queenie Gibbons
- 1942In Which We Serve — Freda Lewis / Freda
- 1940All At Sea — Diana
- 1940The Chinese Bungalow — Sadie Merivale
- 1940The Middle Watch — Fay Eaton
- 1940The Second Mr. Bush — Angela Windel-Todd
- 1939Sons of the Sea — Alison Devar
- 1939The Mind of Mr. Reeder — Peggy Gillette
- 1939The Missing People — Peggy Gillette
- 1938I See Ice — Judy Gaye
- 1938Meet Mr. Penny — Peggy Allgood
- 1937Keep Fit — Joan Allen
- 1936All That Glitters — Eve Payne-Coade
- 1936The Secret of Stamboul — Diana
- 1935A Little Bit of Bluff — Enid's Friend (uncredited)
- 1935The Luck of the Irish — Eileen O'Donnell
Appearances as themselves (1)
- The World of Hammer — Self (archive footage)