Theatre Register

Ethel Griffies

Shows · Ethel Griffies

Actor 1878–1975 On stage 19241967

Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods; 26 April 1878 – 9 September 1975) was a British actress. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds (1963). She appeared in stage roles in the United Kingdom and the United States, and had featured roles in around 100 motion pictures. Griffies was one of the oldest working actors in the English-speaking theatre at the time of her death at 97 years old. She acted alongside such stars as May Whitty, Ellen Terry, and Anna Neagle.

On stage 21 productions, 43 years

1924 Havoc Maxine Elliotts Theatre · Original · directed by Leo G. Carroll 48 perf.
1924 Old English Ritz Theatre · Original 183 perf.
1926 Loose Ends Ritz Theatre · Original 40 perf.
1927 Interference Empire Theatre · Original · directed by Campbell Gullan 224 perf.
1927 Mariners Plymouth Theatre · Original · directed by Guthrie McClintic 16 perf.
1928 Lady Dedlock Ambassador Theatre · Original · directed by Margaret Anglin 40 perf.
1928 The Cherry Orchard Bijou Theatre · Revival 5 perf.
1929 The Criminal Code National Theatre · Original 173 perf.
1930 Stepdaughters of War Empire Theatre · Original · directed by Chester Erskin 24 perf.
1947 The Druid Circle Morosco Theatre · Original 69 perf.
1948 The Hallams Booth Theatre · Original 12 perf.
1948 The Leading Lady National Theatre · Original · directed by Garson Kanin 8 perf.
1949 Miss Liberty Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Moss Hart 308 perf.
1949 The Shop at Sly Corner Booth Theatre · Original · directed by Margaret Perry 7 perf.
1950 Legend of Sarah Fulton Theatre · Original · directed by Benn W. Levy 29 perf.
1951 The Autumn Garden Coronet Theatre · Original · directed by Harold Clurman 101 perf.
1951 The Royal Family City Center · Revival · directed by Richard Whorf 15 perf.
1961 Write Me a Murder Belasco Theatre · Original · directed by George Schaefer 196 perf.
1965 A Very Rich Woman Belasco Theatre · Original · directed by David Pardoll 28 perf.
1966 Ivanov Shubert Theatre · Revival 47 perf.
1967 The Natural Look Longacre Theatre · Original · directed by Martin Fried 1 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once7 names

Winifred Fraser 2 productions
Ossie Davis 2 productions
Mollie Johnson 2 productions
Mildred Dunnock 2 productions
Margaret Barker 2 productions
Guy Spaull 2 productions
Arthur Wontner 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 6 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature1 passages

  • Cast: Eddie Albert, Allyn Ann McLerie, Mary McCarty, Charles Dingle, Philip Bourneuf, Ethel Griffies, Herbert Berghof, Tommy Rail, Janice Rule, Maria Karnilova, Dody Goodmanebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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