Ethel Griffies
Ethel Griffies was a British actress. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds. 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.
Biography
Griffies was born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, the daughter of actor and manager Samuel Rupert Woods and actress Lillie Roberts. Taken onstage at the age of three, she continued to act for the next 86 years.
Griffies married actor Walter Beaumont in 1900; he died in 1910. In 1917, she married actor Edward Cooper, who predeceased her by almost two decades.
On 9 September 1975, Griffies died of a stroke in London.
Career
Griffies appeared in numerous plays, making her theatre debut in London in 1899. After making brief cameos in films since 1917, she began a full career in the industry by 1930 with the film version of the play Old English. She went on to appear in more than 90 film and television roles, with her career lasting until her retirement in 1967.
She played Grace Poole in two versions of Jane Eyre: the 1934 Monogram version and the better-known 1943 version. One of her last well-known roles was the elderly ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. She also performed in Billy Liar the same year as The Birds.
Filmography (selected)
The Cost of a Kiss Hard Cash – Mrs. HardieSweet Kitty Bellairs – Gossip Old English – Adela HeythorpThe Millionaire – Mrs. Andrews Chances – Drunken Flower Vendor in Pub Waterloo Bridge – Mrs. Hobley, LandladyThe Road to Singapore – Mrs. Everard Once a Lady – Miss BleekerManhattan Parade – Mrs. Beacon Union Depot – Cross Woman at Magazine Stand The Impatient Maiden – Nurse LovettAre You Listening? – Mrs. PetersDevil's Lottery – Nurse Westward Passage – Lady CaverlyLove Me Tonight – Second AuntPayment Deferred – Customer in Madame Collins' Dress Shop Evenings for Sale – Boat Passenger Tonight Is Ours – ZanaA Lady's Profession – Lady McDougalLooking forward – Miss Judd Horse Play – EmilyMidnight Club – The DuchessTorch Singer – Agatha AldenDoctor Bull – Miss Ace Bombshell – Mrs. Ward – Orphanage Representative White Woman – Mrs. ChisholmAlice in Wonderland – Miss Simpson the Governess Four Frightened People – Mrs. Ainger's motherThe House of Rothschild – Guest at Reception HallStolen Sweets – Ship Passenger Sadie McKee – Woman in Subway Call It Luck – Lady Poindexter Jane Eyre – Grace PooleBulldog Drummond Strikes Back – Mrs. FieldWe Live Again – Aunt MarieThe Painted Veil – Lady Coldchester Enchanted April – Mrs. Hawkins The Mystery of Edwin Drood – Miss TwinkletonVanessa: Her Love Story – Winifred TrentHold 'Em Yale – Mrs. Peavey Werewolf of London – Mrs. WhackAnna Karenina – Mme. KartasovThe Return of Peter Grimm – Mrs. Martha BartholomewTwice Branded – Mrs. Etta HamiltonNot So Dusty – Miss MillerGuilty Melody – Lady RochesterKathleen Mavourneen – Hannah O'DwyerCrackerjack – AnnieThe Mysterious Mr. Davis – Mabel Wilcox Over the Moon – Miss Bates – the governess I'm from Missouri – Miss WildhackThe Star Maker – Voice TeacherWe Are Not Alone – Mrs. RaymondVigil in the Night – Matron EastIrene – Princess MinettiWaterloo Bridge – Mrs. Clark – Landlady Anne of Windy Poplars – Hester PringleStranger on the Third Floor – Mrs. Kane, Michael's landladyDead Men Tell – Miss Patience Nodbury Billy the Kid – Mrs. HankyA Yank in the R.A.F. – Lady FitzhughMan at Large – Mrs. ZagraGreat Guns – Aunt AgathaHow Green Was My Valley – Mrs. Nicholas, housekeeperRemember the Day – Undetermined Role Right to the Heart – Minerva BromleySon of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake – Matron Castle in the Desert – Madame SaturniaThe Postman Didn't Ring – Catherine VandewaterBetween Us Girls – GallagherMrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch – Mrs. Graham Time to Kill – Mrs. MurdockForever and a Day – Wife of Man in Air Raid ShelterFirst Comes Courage – Nurse Holy Matrimony – Lady ValeJane Eyre – Grace Poole Pardon My Rhythm – Mrs. DeanThe White Cliffs of Dover – Woman on Train Opening Window It Happened Tomorrow – Mrs. O'Connor, Boardinghouse Tenant The Keys of the Kingdom – Mrs. Glennie Music for Millions – Mrs. McGuffThe Horn Blows at Midnight – Lady StoverThrill of a Romance – Mrs. FenwayMolly and Me – Mrs. Lamb The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry – Mrs. Nelson Saratoga Trunk – Clarissa Van SteedDevotion – Aunt Elizabeth BranwellSing While You Dance – Mrs. Abigail SmithThe Brasher Doubloon – Undetermined Secondary Role Millie's Daughter – Aunt KatherineThe Homestretch – Aunt MarthaThe Birds – Mrs. Bundy, ornithologistBilly Liar – Grandma FlorenceBus Riley's Back in Town – Mrs. Spencer