Margaret Lockwood, an actress who became one of the most popular figures in British films of the late 1940's, died on Sunday. What Austin, Texas looked like in the 1970s Through These Fascinating Photos, Rare Historical Photos Of old Mobile, Alabama From Early 20th Century, What El Paso, Texas, looked like at the Turn of the 20th Century, Fascinating Historical Photos of Portland from the 1900s, Stunning Historical Photos Of Old Memphis From 20th Century. However, after being given an initial leg-up by her mother famous for the trademark beauty spot painted high on her left cheek the young Lockwood forged her own career, navigating the difficult transition from child to adult actor. This started filming in November 1939. Margaret Lockwood made her screen debut in the drama picture Lorna Doone in 1934. In 1920, she and her brother, Lyn, came to England with their mother to settle in the south London suburb of Upper Norwood, and Margaret enrolled as a pupil at Sydenham High School. This was even more daring in its depiction of immorality, and the controversy surrounding the film did no harm at the box office. By Brittany Brolley / Updated: Feb. 2, 2021 6:14 pm EST. A visit to Hollywood to appear with Shirley Temple in "Susannah of the Mounties" and with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in "Rulers of the Sea" was not at all to her liking. In spite of this, she was warmly remembered by the public. For this, British Lion put her under contract for 500 a year for the first year, going up to 750 a year for the second year.[3]. "I was terribly distressed when I read the press notices of the film", wrote Lockwood. "[14], Gaumont British had distribution agreements with 20th Century Fox in the US and they expressed an interest in borrowing Lockwood for some films. When the author Hilton Tims was preparing his biography, Once a Wicked Lady, a stall holder from whom he was buying some flowers for her, snatched up a second bunch and said, Give her these from me. As an only child herself, she had once said: I love children. A free trial, then 4.99/month or 49/year. "It was the cutest stinking mole, and I was sold," she admitted. Later, aged 16 and playing Wendy, she joined her mother in the 1957 Christmas production. A first-time star, she gave an intelligent, convincing performance as the curious girl who confronts an elderly lady (May Whitty) who seems to vanish into thin air on a train journey. She returned with relief to Britain to star in two of Carol Reeds best films, The Stars Look Down, again with Redgrave, and Night Train to Munich, opposite Rex Harrison. Spectral in black, with her dark, dramatic looks, cold but beautiful eyes, and vividly overpainted thin lips, Lockwood was queen among villainesses. The enormous popular success of this picture led to her second key role in 1945 (again with Mason) as the cunning and cruel title character of The Wicked Lady (1945), a female Dick Turpin. And even if that new mole is fine today, that doesn't mean it will be tomorrow. It became her trade mark and the impudent ornament of her most outrageous film, The Wicked Lady, again opposite Mason, in which she played the ultimate in murderous husband-stealers, Lady Skelton, who amuses herself at night with highway robbery. In 1938, Lockwoods role as a young London nurse in Carol Reeds film, Bank Holiday, established her as a star, and the enormous success of her next film, Alfred Hitchcocks taut thriller The Lady Vanishes, opposite Michael Redgrave, gave her international status. When I marry, I shall have a large family. Used Margie Day briefly as her stage name at the very beginning of her stage career. Margaret Lockwood, the daughter of an English administrator of an Indian railway company, by his Scottish third wife, was born in Karachi, where she lived for the first three and a half years of her life. Registered charity 287780, Watch Margaret Lockwood films on BFI Player, In praise of 1940s icon and Lady Vanishes star Margaret Lockwood. Seventy years ago, the British film industrys comparatively modest version of the Hollywood studio system meant that the national cinema had not, like MGM alone, more stars than there are in heaven, but enough to make up a small glittering constellation. Margaret Mary Lockwood, the daughter of an English administrator of an Indian railway company, by his Scottish third wife, was born in Karachi, where she lived for the first three and a half years of her life. Margaret Lockwood, in full Margaret Mary Lockwood, (born Sept. 15, 1916, Karachi, India [now Pak. [42] She turned down the female lead in The Browning Version, and a proposed sequel to The Wicked Lady, The Wicked Lady's Daughter, was never made. Lockwood then had her best chance to-date, being given the lead in Bank Holiday, directed by Carol Reed and produced by Black. She likes what she likes, okay? Much more popular than either of these was another melodrama with Arliss and Granger, Love Story (1944), where she played a terminally ill pianist. Margaret Lockwood as Lydia Garth Paul Dupuis as Paul de Vandiere Kathleen Byron as Verite Faimont Maxwell Reed as Joseph Rondolet Thora Hird as Rosa Raymond Lovell as Comte de Vandiere Maurice Denham as Doctor Simon Blake David Hutcheson as Max Ffoliott Cathleen Nesbitt as Mother Superior Peter Illing as Doctor Matthieu Jack McNaughton as Attendant Yet, even she considered having surgery to get rid of it. Vascular birthmarks, on the other hand, are formed when "extra blood vessels clump together." Margaret Lockwood, CBE, film, stage and television actress, who became Britain's leading box-office star in the 1940s, died in London on July 15 aged 73. She also had another half-brother, John, from her father's first marriage, brought up by his mother in Britain. In 1941, she gave birth to a daughter by Leon, Julia Lockwood, affectionately known to her mother as "Toots", who was also to become a successful actress. She was survived by her daughter, the actress Julia Lockwood. She was reunited with her mother on TV in The Royalty (1957-58), as mother and daughter Mollie and Carol running a posh London hotel, and its 1965 sequel, The Flying Swan. In 1948, she made her television debut in the role of Eliza Doolittle in the series Eliza Doolittle. Cindy Crawford, for example, is notorious for her iconic "blemish." Full Time, Part Time position. She had one last film role, as the stepmother with the sobriquet, "wicked", omitted but implied, in Bryan Forbes's Cinderella musical, "The Slipper and the Rose" in 1976. Her subsequent long-running West End hits include an all-star production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband (196566, in which she played the villainous Mrs Cheveley), W. Somerset Maugham's Lady Frederick (1970), Relative Values (Nol Coward revival, 1973) and the thrillers Signpost to Murder (1962) and Double Edge (1975). 2023 Getty Images. [34] then went off suspension when she made a comedy for Corfield and Huth, Look Before You Love (1948). Listed on 2023-02-26. ]died July 15, 1990, London, Eng. Due to the success of the film, Margaret spent some time in Hollywood but was given poor material and soon returned home. [47], Her next two films for Wilcox were commercial disappointments: Laughing Anne (1953) and Trouble in the Glen (1954). They did. One of those famous faces was Marilyn Monroe. Margaret scored another hit with Bedelia (1946), as a demented serial poisoner, and then played a Gypsy girl accused of murder in the Technicolor romp Jassy (1947).As her popularity waned in the 1950s she returned to occasional performances on the West End stage and appeared on television, making her greatest impact as a dedicated barrister in the ITV series Justice (1971), which ran from 1971 to 1974. The turning point in her career came in 1943, when she was cast opposite James Mason in "The Man in Grey", as an amoral schemer who steals the husband of her best friend, played by Phyllis Calvert, and then ruthlessly murders her. The Leons separated soon after her birth and were divorced in 1950. I think they're the cutest thing. As if that weren't cringe-worthy and problematic enough, the use of makeup was reserved for "prostitutes and actresses.". This last blow, coupled with the sudden death of her trusted agent, Herbert de Leon, and the onset of a viral ear infection, vestibulitis, caused her to turn her back gradually on a glittering career. Even more popular was her next movie, The Lady Vanishes, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, produced by Black and co-starring Michael Redgrave. she made her stage debut at 15 as a fairy in " A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Holborn Empire. Her childhood was repressed and unhappy, largely due to the character of her mother, a dominant and possessive woman who was often cruelly discouraging to her shy, sensitive daughter. Edwards, before she visits Skefko, Vauxhall and Electrolux and two cinemas - the Odeon in Dunstable Road and the Palace in Mill Street, whose manager, Mr S. Davey, had arranged the tour. Margaret Lockwood (1916-1990) was Britain's number one box office star during the war years. She lived her final years in seclusion in Kingston upon Thames, London. Cindy Crawford, for example, is notorious for her iconic "blemish." Yet, even she considered having surgery to get . - makes her the epitome of the British noblewoman. Lee dropped out and was replaced by Lockwood. All rights reserved. Lockwood was born on 15 September 1916 in Karachi, British India, to Henry Francis Lockwood, an English administrator of a railway company, and his third wife, Scottish-born Margaret Eveline Waugh. clerk, was educated in London and studied to be an actress at the before completing her training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Was a committed teetotaller all her life and detested the taste of It's hard to even imagine Crawford without it. Rank wanted to star her in a film about Mary Magdalene but Lockwood was unhappy with the script. The title of The Lady Vanishes is thought to refer to the kidnapped British spy Miss Froy (May Whitty), but it is the prim lady in Lockwoods Iris Henderson that vanishes under the influence ofMichael Redgraves charming musicologist with his battery of phallic symbols. The Getty Images design is a trademark of Getty Images. Lockwood later admitted "I was far from being reconciled to my role of the unpleasant girl and everyone treated me warily. As a result, Margaret took refuge in a world of make believe and dreamed of becoming a great star of musical comedy. [1] She returned to England in 1920 with her mother, brother 'Lyn' and half-brother Frank, and a further half-sister 'Fay' joined them the following year, but her father remained in Karachi, visiting them infrequently. After becoming a dance pupil at the Italia Conti school. [13] According to Filmink Lockwood's "speciality [now] was playing a bright young thing who got up to mischief, usually by accident rather than design, and she often got to drive the action. She returned to Britain to live in Somerset in 2007. When the author Hilton Tims, was preparing his recent biography, "Once a Wicked Lady", a stall holder from whom he was buying some flowers for her, snatched up a second bunch and said, "Give her these from me. [21] Her return to acting was Alibi (1942), a thriller which she called "anything but a success a bad film. A rather controversial biographer once . Summary: An interview of Margaret Lockwood conducted 1992 Aug. 27 and Sept. 15, by Robert Brown, for the Archives of American Art. For the remaining years of her life, she was a complete recluse at her home in Kingston upon Thames, rejecting all invitations and offers of work. The amount of cleavage exposed by Lockwoods Restoration gowns caused consternation to the film censors, and apprehension was in the air before the premiere, attended by Queen Mary, who astounded everyone by thoroughly enjoying it. Instead, she calls it her"forever moving mole" and sometimes draws it on to cover a blemish. [9] This movie was a hit and launched Lockwood as a star. The third actress daughter of the Raj - following Merle Oberon and Vivien Leigh - she was born on 15th September, 1916. Lockwood gained custody of her daughter, but not before Mrs Lockwood had sided with her son-in-law to allege that Margaret was an unfit mother. While a real mole's shape is fixed, a mouche could be designed in a variety of styles. Rank was to put her in an adaptation of Ann Veronica by H. G. Wells but the film was postponed. Under Queen Victoria's reign,beauty standards left little room for anything but smooth, white skin. When peace came, her mother was keen for her daughter to follow in her footsteps. [17][18], Lockwood returned to Britain in June 1939. If a woman were to wear the appliqud beauty mark on the left side of her face, this would mean she supported the Tory political party. A year later, she married a man of whom her mother disapproved strongly, so much so that for six months Margaret Lockwood did not live with her husband and was afraid to tell her mother that the marriage had taken place. Lockwood entered films in 1934, and in 1935 she appeared in the film version of Lorna Doone. Lockwood studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, England's leading drama school, and made her film debut in Lorna Doone (1935). "[11] Hitchcock was greatly impressed by Lockwood, telling the press: She has an undoubted gift in expressing her beauty in terms of emotion, which is exceptionally well suited to the camera. In June 1939, Lockwood returned to the United Kingdom. "Since 1945 I had been sick of it there had been little or no improvement to me in the films I was being offered. Format: Originally recorded on 2 sound cassettes.Reformatted in 2010 as 3 digital wav files. Margaret Lockwood lived at 34 Upper Park Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT2 5LD between 1960 and 1990. From the books you read to the clothes you wear, there are plenty of ways to make a political statement. The Wicked Lady: Directed by Leslie Arliss. "[50], As her popularity waned in the post war years, she returned to occasional performances on the West End stage and appeared on television; her television debut was in 1948 when she played Eliza Doolittle.[51]. So much so that, in 1650, they created a bill to prevent "the vice of painting, wearing black patches, and immodest dresses of women.". The excitement of walking on in Noel Cowards mammoth spectacular, Cavalcade, at Drury Lane in 1931 came to an abrupt conclusion when her mother removed her from the production after learning that a chorus boy had uttered a forbidden four-letter expletive in front of her. She is survived by her children with Clark, Nick, Lucy and Katharine, and her son, Tim, from a previous relationship. Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 - 15 July 1990), was an English actress. In 1941, she gave birth to a daughter by Leon, Julia Lockwood, affectionately known to her mother as Toots, who was also to become a successful actress. In contrast, even natural moles were looked at as "a mark of disgrace," Madeleine Marsh, author of The Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day, explained toBBC. A year later, she played another fairy, for 30 shillings a week, in Babes in the Wood at the Scala Theatre. Margaret Lockwood autographed publicity for Jassy, The Wicked Lady (1945) photograph (48) | Margaret Lockwood, Margaret Lockwoods jumper Bestway knitting leaflet, Jassy (1947) photograph (34) | Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc, Margaret Lockwood photograph (37) | Highly Dangerous 1950, Queen of the Silver Screen Margaret Lockwood biography Spence 2016, Once a Wicked Lady biography of Margaret Lockwood by Hilton Tims, Lucky Star The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood, My Life and Films autobiography by Margaret Lockwood (1948), 34 Upper Park Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT2 5LD. Lockwood wanted to play the part of Clarissa, but producer Edward Black cast her as the villainous Hesther. 1948 3rd most popular star and 2nd most popular British star in Britain, 1949 5th most popular British star in Britain, This page was last edited on 25 February 2023, at 07:39. Her final stage appearance, as Queen Alexandra in Motherdear, ran for only six weeks at the Ambassadors Theatre in 1980. A visit to Hollywood to appear with Shirley Temple in Susannah of the Mounties and with Douglas Fairbanks, Jnr, in Rulers of the Sea was not at all to her liking. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. So, while Cindy Crawford and other big names with facial molesare often credited with having iconic beauty marks, celebs with body moles aren't given quite the same label. Had Lockwoods Darjeeling-born brunette rivalVivien Leigh, a voracious careerist, focused less on theatre which allowed her five 1940s films only, compared with Lockwoods 19 (and a TV Pygmalion) she would have likely eaten into Lockwoods CV. In between playing femmes fatales, she had a popular hit in the 1944 melodrama A Lady Surrenders (1944) as a brilliant but fatally ill pianist and was sympathetic enough as a young girl who is possessed by a ghost in A Place of One's Own (1945). Miss Margaret Lockwood, CBE, film, stage and television actress who became Britain's leading box-office star in the 1940s, died of cirrhosis of the liver in London on 15th July, 1990 aged 73. Below are some glamorous photos of young Margaret Lockwood from her early life and career. In your lifetime, beauty marks have likely been seen as a sign of, well, beauty. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). "[22], In September 1943 Variety estimated her salary at being US$24,000 per picture (equivalent to $305,000 in 2021).[23]. "[48], Lockwood returned to the stage in Spider's Web (1954) by Agatha Christie, expressly written for her. Early Years She travelled to Los Angeles and was put to work supporting Shirley Temple in Susannah of the Mounties (1939), set in Canada, opposite Randolph Scott. "[14], She was offered the role of Bianca in The Magic Bow but disliked the part and turned it down. Hear, hear! A year later, she played another fairy, for 30 shillings a week, in "Babes in the Wood" at the Scala Theatre. It was nerve wracking to have to find that now that I live in Fullerton. She also performed in a pantomime of Cinderella for the Royal Film performance with Jean Simmons; Lockwood called this "the jolliest show in which I have ever taken part.