Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods, 26 April 1878, Sheffield – 9 September 1975, London) was an English actress of stage, screen and television. She was the daughter of actors Samuel Rupert Woods and Lillie Roberts, and taken onstage at the age of three, and would continue to act for the next 86 years. She was married, secondly, to fellow actor Edward Cooper, who predeceased his wife by almost two decades.
They get to know your face too well out there in Hollywood, and you're finished.
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Fact
1
Her first husband's stage name was 'Walter Beaumont'.
2
Ethel Griffies played (uncredited) the Landlady in BOTH Waterloo Bridge (1931) & Waterloo Bridge (1940). She was Mrs. Hobley in the earlier version and Mrs. Clark in the later version.
3
Parents were players Samuel Rupert Woods and Lillie Roberts.
4
At the time of her death she was the oldest working actress in English Theatre. Her career began as a baby in 1881 when she was carried onstage by her acting parents.
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
Doctor Bull
1933
Miss Ace (uncredited)
Midnight Club
1933
The Duchess
Horse Play
1933
Emily
Looking Forward
1933
Miss Judd (uncredited)
A Lady's Profession
1933
Lady McDougal
Tonight Is Ours
1933
Zana
Evenings for Sale
1932
Boat Passenger (uncredited)
Payment Deferred
1932
Customer in Madame Collins' Dress Shop (uncredited)
Love Me Tonight
1932
Second Aunt
Westward Passage
1932
Lady Caverly
Devil's Lottery
1932
Nurse (uncredited)
Are You Listening?
1932
Mrs. Peters
The Impatient Maiden
1932
Nurse Lovett
Union Depot
1932
Cross Woman at Magazine Stand (uncredited)
Manhattan Parade
1931
Mrs. Beacon (uncredited)
Once a Lady
1931
Miss Bleeker
The Road to Singapore
1931
Mrs. Everard (uncredited)
Waterloo Bridge
1931
Mrs. Hobley, Landlady
Chances
1931
Drunken Flower Vendor in Pub (uncredited)
The Millionaire
1931
Mrs. Andrews (uncredited)
Old English
1930
Adela Heythorp
Sweet Kitty Bellairs
1930
Gossip (uncredited)
Hard Cash
1921
Mrs. Hardie
The Cost of a Kiss
1917
The Trials of O'Brien
1966
TV Series
Gypsy Woman
Bus Riley's Back in Town
1965
Mrs. Spencer
The Doctors and the Nurses
1965
TV Series
Mrs. Jameson Pierce
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1964
TV Series
Lulu
Billy Liar
1963
Grandma Florence
The United States Steel Hour
1963
TV Series
Mrs. McEwan
The Birds
1963
Mrs. Bundy - Ornithologist
The Bun House Wedding
1961
TV Movie
Miss Butterworth
ITV Play of the Week
1960
TV Series
Mrs. Mary Ellis
Suspense
1950
TV Series
The Clock
1950
TV Series
Kraft Theatre
1948-1950
TV Series
The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
1949-1950
TV Series
Grandmother / Mrs. White
Lights Out
1950
TV Series
The Chevrolet Tele-Theatre
1948-1949
TV Series
The Homestretch
1947
Aunt Martha
Millie's Daughter
1947
Aunt Katherine
The Brasher Doubloon
1947
Undetermined Secondary Role (unconfirmed, uncredited)
Sing While You Dance
1946
Mrs. Abigail Smith
Devotion
1946
Aunt Elizabeth Branwell
Saratoga Trunk
1945
Clarissa Van Steed
The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry
1945
Mrs. Nelson (uncredited)
Molly and Me
1945
Mrs. Lamb (uncredited)
Thrill of a Romance
1945
Mrs. Fenway
The Horn Blows at Midnight
1945
Lady Stover
Music for Millions
1944
Mrs. McGuff
The Keys of the Kingdom
1944
Mrs. Glennie (scenes deleted)
The White Cliffs of Dover
1944
Woman on Train Opening Window (uncredited)
Pardon My Rhythm
1944
Mrs. Dean
It Happened Tomorrow
1944
Mrs. O'Connor, Boardinghouse Tenant (uncredited)
Jane Eyre
1943
Grace Poole (uncredited)
Holy Matrimony
1943
Lady Vale
First Comes Courage
1943
Nurse (uncredited)
Forever and a Day
1943
Wife of Man in Air Raid Shelter
Time to Kill
1942
Mrs. Murdock
Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch
1942
Mrs. Graham (uncredited)
Between Us Girls
1942
Gallagher
The Postman Didn't Ring
1942
Catherine Vandewater
Castle in the Desert
1942
Madame Saturnia
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
1942
Matron (uncredited)
Right to the Heart
1942
Minerva Bromley
Remember the Day
1941
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
How Green Was My Valley
1941
Mrs. Nicholas
Great Guns
1941
Aunt Agatha
Man at Large
1941
Mrs. Zagra
A Yank in the R.A.F.
1941
Lady Fitzhugh
Billy the Kid
1941
Mrs. Hanky
Dead Men Tell
1941
Miss Patience Nodbury
Stranger on the Third Floor
1940
Mrs. Kane, Michael's Landlady
Anne of Windy Poplars
1940
Hester Pringle
Waterloo Bridge
1940
Mrs. Clark - Landlady (uncredited)
Irene
1940
Princess Minetti
Vigil in the Night
1940
Matron East
We Are Not Alone
1939
Mrs. Raymond
The Star Maker
1939
Voice Teacher
I'm from Missouri
1939
Miss Wildhack
Over the Moon
1939
Miss Bates - the Governess (uncredited)
The Mysterious Mr. Davis
1939
Mabel Wilcox (uncredited)
The Man with 100 Faces
1938
Annie
Kathleen
1937
Hannah O'Dwyer
Guilty Melody
1936
Lady Rochester
Not So Dusty
1936
Miss Miller
Twice Branded
1936
Mrs. Etta Hamilton
The Return of Peter Grimm
1935
Mrs. Martha Bartholomew
Anna Karenina
1935
Mme. Kartasoff
Werewolf of London
1935
Mrs. Whack
Hold 'Em Yale
1935
Mrs. Peavey (uncredited)
Vanessa: Her Love Story
1935
Winifred Trent
Mystery of Edwin Drood
1935
Miss Twinkleton
Enchanted April
1935
Mrs. Hawkins (uncredited)
The Painted Veil
1934
Lady Coldchester (uncredited)
We Live Again
1934
Aunt Marie
Bulldog Drummond Strikes Back
1934
Mrs. Field
Jane Eyre
1934
Grace Poole
Call It Luck
1934
Lady Poindexter (uncredited)
Sadie McKee
1934
Woman in Subway (uncredited)
Stolen Sweets
1934
Ship Passenger (uncredited)
The House of Rothschild
1934
Guest at Reception Hall
Four Frightened People
1934
Mrs. Ainger's mother
Alice in Wonderland
1933
Miss Simpson the Governess (uncredited)
White Woman
1933
Mrs. Chisholm
Bombshell
1933
Mrs. Ward - Orphanage Representative (uncredited)
Torch Singer
1933
Agatha Alden
Soundtrack
Title
Year
Status
Character
Love Me Tonight
1932
performer: "Mimi" 1932, "The Son of a Gun Is Nothing But a Tailor" 1932 - uncredited
$9 Million
