Hermione Baddeley

Hermione Baddeley
Hermione Baddeley in Brighton Rock (1947)
Born	Ruby Hermione Youlanda Ruby Clinton-Baddeley 13 November 1906(1906-11-13) Broseley, Shropshire, England, UK
Died	19 August 1986(1986-08-19) (aged 79) Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1927–85
Spouse	Hon. David Pax Tennant (m. 1928–1937) «start: (1928)–end+1: (1938)»"Marriage: Hon. David Pax Tennant to Hermione Baddeley" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermione_Baddeley) (divorced); 2 children Major J.H. Willis (1940-19??; his death)

Hermione Baddeley (13 November 1906 – 19 August 1986) was an English character actress of theatre, film and television. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Room at the Top (1959) and a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore in 1963.

Early life

Ruby Hermione Youlanda Clinton-Baddeley, was born in Broseley, Shropshire, England. She and her sister, actress Angela Baddeley, were descendants of British American Revolutionary War general Sir Henry Clinton.

Career

Baddeley was known for standout supporting performances in such films as Mary Poppins (as Ellen, the maidservant), The Belles of St Trinian's, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Passport to Pimlico, The Pickwick Papers, Tom Brown's Schooldays and A Christmas Carol, although she first began making films back in the 1920s. She was a principal character in Brighton Rock (1947). She had a successful professional relationship with Sir Noel Coward, appearing in many of his plays throughout the 1940s and 1950s. The most successful was her teaming with namesake Hermione Gingold in Coward's comedy Fallen Angels. She also appeared in a provincial tour of Pagan in the Parlour in September 1952 directed by James Whale. It appeared that the play would be a hit, however, Hermione Baddeley, starring in the play as the cannibal "Noo-ga," was drinking heavily and began engaging in bizarre antics and disrupting performances. Because she had a run of the play contract she could not be replaced and so producers were forced to close the show.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Simone Signoret's best friend in Jack Clayton's Room at the Top (1959). With under three minutes of screen time, hers is the shortest role to be nominated for an Academy Award. In 1963, she was nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore.

She was best-known to U.S. audiences for roles in Little House on the Prairie and Maude (playing the title character's second housekeeper, Nell Naugatuck). Toward the end of her career, Baddeley was also a sought-after voice-over actress (The Aristocats, The Secret of NIMH).

Death

Hermione Baddeley continued to work sporadically on episodic television and feature films, until shortly before her death following several strokes on Tuesday 19 August 1986, aged 79, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Twice married, she was survived by her two children, Pauline and Anthony. She was interred in the gravesite of her first husband, David Pax Tennant, at Wilsford churchyard near Amesbury, Wiltshire, England.

Selected filmography

• It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)
• Brighton Rock (1947)
• No Room at the Inn (1948)
• Passport to Pimlico (1949)
• The Woman in Question (1950)
• Hell is Sold Out (1951)
• Scrooge (1951)
• Song of Paris (1952)
• Time Gentlemen, Please! (1952)
• The Belles of St Trinian's (1954)
• Women Without Men (1956)
• Expresso Bongo (1959)
• Let's Get Married (1960)
• Rag Doll (1961)
• Information Received (1961)
• The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1964)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• The Happiest Millionaire (1967)
• The Aristocats (1970) (voice)
• Up the Front (1972)
• The Black Windmill (1974)
• There Goes the Bride (1980)
• The Secret of NIMH (1982) (voice)
• The Last Leaf (1983)

See also

• List of Academy Award records

External links

• Hermione Baddeley at the Internet Movie Database
• Hermione Baddeley at the Internet Broadway Database
• Hermione Baddeley at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Performances in the Theatre Archive University of Bristol
• Hermione Baddeley biography and credits at BFI Screenonline