Winifred Oughton

Winifred Oughton was an English actress, educationalist and acting coach. She was a well-received character and comedy actress and was a teacher at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1935 to 1958.

Life

Winifred Oughton was born in 1890 in Camberwell. Her father acted in and produced amateur dramatic performances. Her own stage career began in 1915 with a walk-on-part in The Merchant of Venice at The Old Vic.
She taught drama at schools in Gloucester in the 1920s, and in 1930 was a director of the Schools Theatre. Between 1930 and 1950 she took roles as a character actor in several British films. In 1935 she moved from South London to live in Effingham, Surrey, and alongside her acting career became a teacher at RADA.
After her death in 1964, RADA established the Winifred Oughton Memorial Prize in her honour.