Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy
Biography
Jessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy (June 7, 1909 – September 11, 1994) was an English-American stage and film actress. She first appeared on the London stage in 1926 at the age of 16, playing, among others, Katherine opposite Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and Cordelia opposite John Gielgud's King Lear. She also worked in British films. Following the end of her marriage to Jack Hawkins, she moved to New York, where she met Canadian actor Hume Cronyn. He became her second husband and frequent partner on stage and screen. She won the Tony Award for her performance as Blanche Dubois in the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948, sharing the prize with Katherine Cornell (who won for Antony and Cleopatra) and Judith Anderson (for the latter's portrayal of Medea). Over the following three decades, her career continued sporadically and included a substantial role in Alfred Hitchcock's film, The Birds (1963), and a Tony Award-winning performance in The Gin Game (playing in the two-character play opposite her husband, Cronyn) in 1977. She, along with Cronyn was a member of the original acting company of The Guthrie Theater. In the mid 1980s she enjoyed a career revival. She appeared opposite Hume Cronyn in the Broadway production of Foxfire in 1983 and its television adaptation four years later, winning both a Tony Award and an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Annie Nations. During these years, she appeared in films such as Cocoon (1985), also with Cronyn. She became the oldest actress to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Driving Miss Daisy (1989), for which she also won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). At the height of her success, she was named as one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People". She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1990, and continued working until shortly before her death.
Known For
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
78
Gender
Female
Birthday
1909-06-07 (116 years old)
Place of Birth
London, England
Acting

2006

A Streetcar on Broadway as Self (archive footage)

2003

Miss Daisy's Journey: From Stage to Screen as Daisy Werthan (archive footage) (uncredited)

2003

Jessica Tandy: Theatre Legend to Screen Star as Self (archive footage)

1994

Nobody's Fool as Beryl Peoples

1994

Camilla as Camilla Cara

1993

Intimate Portrait as Self

1993

To Dance with the White Dog as Cora Peek

1992

Used People as Freida

1991

Fried Green Tomatoes as Ninny Threadgoode

1991

The Story Lady as Grace McQueen

1990

Dream On as (archive footage)

1989

Driving Miss Daisy as Daisy Werthan

1988

Cocoon: The Return as Alma Finley

1988

The House on Carroll Street as Miss Venable

1987

*batteries not included as Faye Riley

1987

Foxfire as Annie Nations

1985

Cocoon as Alma Finley

1984

The Bostonians as Miss Birdseye

1982

The World According to Garp as Mrs. Fields

1982

Still of the Night as Grace Rice

1982

Best Friends as Eleanor McCullen

1981

Honky Tonk Freeway as Carol

1981

The Gin Game as Fonsia Dorsey

1974

Butley as Edna Shaft

1973

Tennessee Williams' South as Not available

1967

Judd for the Defense as Not available

1967

Judd for the Defense as Helen Wister

1965

The F.B.I. as Ardyth Nolan

1963

The Birds as Lydia Brenner

1959

The Moon and Sixpence as Blanche Stroeve

1958

The Christmas Tree as Mrs. Martin

1958

The Light in the Forest as Myra Butler

1957

Suspicion as Not available

1956

Tony Awards as Self - Nominee

1956

Tony Awards as Self - Nominee/Performer

1956

Tony Awards as Self - Winner

1956

Tony Awards as Self - Award Accepter

1956

Tony Awards as Self - Presenter

1956

Tony Awards as Self (archive footage)

1956

Telephone Time as Not available

1955

Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Edwina Freel

1955

Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Julia Lester

1955

Alfred Hitchcock Presents as Laura Bowlby

1955

The Fourposter as Not available

1954

Producers' Showcase as Agnes

1954

The Marriage as Liz Marriott

1953

General Electric Theater as Laura Whitemore

1952

Omnibus as Not available

1952

Omnibus as Self - Reader

1952

Omnibus as Louisa Catherine Johnson

1952

Omnibus as Jackie

1951

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel as Frau Lucie Marie Rommel

1951

Goodyear Television Playhouse as Leticia Blacklock

1951

Hallmark Hall of Fame as Mrs. Martin

1951

Hallmark Hall of Fame as Annie Nations

1951

Schlitz Playhouse of Stars as Cora Torrence

1950

September Affair as Catherine Lawrence

1950

Prudential Family Playhouse as Not available

1949

Lights Out as Not available

1948

The Philco Television Playhouse as Liz Marriott

1948

Studio One as Connaught O'Brien

1948

Studio One as Mrs. Moore

1948

A Woman's Vengeance as Janet Spence

1947

Forever Amber as Nan Britton

1946

Dragonwyck as Peggy O'Malley

1946

The Green Years as Kate Leckie

1945

The Valley of Decision as Louise Kane

1944

Golden Globe Awards as Self - Nominee

1944

The Seventh Cross as Liesel Roeder

1944

Blonde Fever as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)

1938

Murder in the Family as Ann Osborne

1932

Indiscretions of Eve as Penelope, the Maid