Katie Johnson (English actress)

This article is about the British actress. For American model/actress, see Katie Johnson (American actress). For the personal secretary to Barack Obama, see Katie Johnson (personal secretary).

Katie Johnson
File:Katie-johnson-trailer.jpg Katie Johnson in trailer for "Three Steps in the Dark" (1953)
Born	Bessie Kate Johnson 18 November 1878 Clayton, Sussex, England
Died	4 May 1957 (1957-05-05) (aged 78) Elham, Kent, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1894−1957
Spouse	Frank Goodenough Bayly (1908 - 1923) (his death)
Awards	Best British Actress 1955 The Ladykillers

Bessie Kate "Katie" Johnson (18 November 1878 in Clayton, Sussex, – 4 May 1957 in Elham, Kent) was an English actress who appeared on stage from 1894 and on screen from the 1930s to the 1950s. In 1908 she married the actor Frank Goodenough Bayly (1873 – 28 November 1923, Newcastle upon Tyne).

She first appeared in a film at age 53, in 1932, but never received critical acclaim for her performances until 1955, when she starred, aged 76, in the Ealing Studios comedy The Ladykillers as Mrs Louisa Wilberforce. The role earned her a British Film Academy award for best British actress. She died less than two years afterwards having only appeared in a single further film.

She also appeared in the BBC science fiction serial The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and played a spy in I See a Dark Stranger (1946).

Selected filmography

• After Office Hours (1932) - Miss Wilesden
• A Glimpse of Paradise (1934) - Mrs. Fielding
• Laburnum Grove (1936) - Mrs. Radfern
• Dusty Ermine (1936) - Emily Kent
• Farewell Again (1937) - Mother of soldier in hospital (uncredited)
• The Last Adventures (1937) - (uncredited)
• Sunset in Vienna (1937) - Woman in Café (uncredited)
• The Dark Stairway (1938) - (uncredited)
• Marigold (1938) - Santa Dunlop
• Gaslight (1940) - Alice Barlow's Maid (uncredited)
• Two for Danger (1940) - (uncredited)
• Freedom Radio (1941) - Granny Schmidt
• Jeannie (1941) - Mathilda
• The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) - Train Passenger (uncredited)
• Talk About Jacqueline (1942) - Ethel
• Tawny Pipit (1944) - Miss Pyman
• He Snoops to Conquer (1944) - Ma - George's Landlady (uncredited)
• Love Letters (1945) - Nurse (uncredited)
• The Years Between (1946) - Old Man's Wife
• I See a Dark Stranger (1946) - Old Lady on Train
• Meet Me at Dawn (1947) - Henriette - Mme. Vermomel's Housekeeper
• Code of Scotland Yard (1947) - Music Box Seller. (uncredited)
• Death of an Angel (1952) - Sarah Oddy
• I Believe in You (1952) - Miss Mackiln
• Lady in the Fog (1952) - 'Mary Stuart' - Old Inmate at Murder Scene
• The Large Rope (1953) - Grandmother
• Three Steps in the Dark (1953) - Mrs. Riddle
• The Rainbow Jacket (1954) - (uncredited)
• Delavine Affair (1954) - Mrs. Bissett
• Out of the Clouds (1955) - Passenger (uncredited)
• John and Julie (1955) - Old Lady
• The Ladykillers (1955) - Mrs. Wilberforce (The Old Lady)
• How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957) - Alice (Last appearance)

References

• Film academy awards, The Times, February 13, 1956, pg. 5
• Obituary, The Times, May 9, 1957, pg. 12
• Will, The Times, July 29, 1957, pg. 10

External links

• Katie Johnson at IMDb
• Katie Johnson at the Internet Broadway Database
• Performances listed in Theatre Archive University of Bristol