Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury (20 November 1863 – 24 July 1950) was an English-American actress.[1][2]

Zeffie Tilbury
Tilbury in 1913
Born
Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury

(1863-11-20)20 November 1863
Died24 July 1950(1950-07-24) (aged 86)
Resting placeChapel of the Pines Crematory
OccupationActress
Years active1881–1942
Spouses
  • Arthur Frederick Lewis (m. 1887; div. 19??)
L. E. Woodthorpe
(m. 1904; died 1915)
RelativesClara T. Bracy(aunt)
Sidney Bracey(cousin)

Early years

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Born in Paddington, Middlesex, England, Tilbury was the only child of the variety performer Lydia Thompson and John Christian Tilbury, a riding-master and "fashionable 'man about town'" from a comfortably wealthy background, his grandfather, of the Tilbury family firm of London coachbuilders, having created the Tilbury carriage.[3][4][5] Her father died aged 26 in 1864; having borrowed an inexperienced horse, "All Fours", to participate in the South Essex Steeplechase at Brentwood, Essex, he was crushed by the horse when it failed to clear a fence and rolled on him. Although he didn't appear badly injured, his skull was fractured and he had suffered severe internal injuries, which caused his death the next day.[6][7]

Career

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Cigarette card from the 1880s

Tilbury was known first on the London stage and on Broadway in New York City.[8] In 1881, she debuted on stage in Nine Points of the Law at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, England.[3]

She is today best known for playing wise or evil older characters in films, such as the distinguished lady gambler at dinner with Garbo in The Single Standard, as the pitiful Grandma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath and Grandma Lester in Tobacco Road.

She appeared in over 70 films. Her earliest surviving silent film is the Valentino / Nazimova 1921 production of Camille. Tilbury is probably best remembered as the old woman in the 1936 Hal Roach Our Gang comedy Second Childhood. She is befriended by Spanky and his friends on her birthday and, as a result, is transformed from a lonely, disagreeable recluse to a happy and loving carefree soul. In the same year she also portrayed the Gypsy Queen in the Laurel and Hardy film The Bohemian Girl.

Personal life

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Tilbury was married twice. First to Arthur Frederick Lewis in West Derby in June 1887,[9] and later to L.E. Woodthorpe in 1904, who died on 8 April 1915.

In 1899 Zeffie had a painful accident:

Playgoers will be glad to learn that Miss Zeffie Tilbury is rapidly recovering from the severe burns she suffered from the bursting of a spirit lamp while devotedly nursing her mother, Miss Lydia Thompson.[10]

Death

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She died in Los Angeles, California in 1950 at the age of 86.

Stage performances

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This list was created from a search of advertisements and reviews in British newspapers.[11]

Year Play Role Genre Theatre
1881 Nine Points of the Law Theatre Royal, Brighton
1884 The Private Secretary Eva Webster Farce Globe
1885 Ruth's Romance Comedietta Olympic
1886 Turned Up Sabina Melodramatic Farcical Comedy Comedy
Curiosity Mrs Daisy Bangerpush Farcical Comedy Vaudeville
1887 Pygmalion and Galatea Cynisca Mythological Comedy Theatre Royal, Sheffield
Fazio; or The Italian Wife's Revenge Aldabella Tragedy Alexandra, Liverpool
The Winter's Tale Mopsa Lyceum
1890 [Title not known] Valerie De Vaux Military Comedy Academy of Music, Halifax, Nova Scotia
1893 The Crust of Society Grand Opera House, Toronto
1894 The Idler Schiller, Chicago
1898 Love Wisely; or The Setting of the Sun Lucy One-act Play The Avenue, London
She Stoops to Conquer Miss Neville Farce Terry's
The School for Scandal Lady Sneerwell Comedy of Manners Terry's
1899 Counsel's Opinion Mrs Lovelace A Legal Episode in One Act Lyceum
1900 The Meeting Constance Duologue St Martin's Town Hall
Henry V Isabel, Queen of France History Play Lyceum
1901 Twelfth Night Maria Her Majesty's
Macaire Aline Melodramatic Farce Her Majesty's
The Red Lamp Felise Melodrama Grand Theatre, Fulham
The Last of the Dandies Lady Carrollby Four-act Play Her Majesty's
1902 The Merry Wives of Windsor Mistress Quickly Farce Her Majesty's
1903 The Merry Wives of Windsor Mistress Quickly Farce Touring America
1909 The Passion Flower Social Life in New York Touring America
1911 Everywoman and Anyman The Woman Vaudeville Sketch Winter Garden, New York

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1917 Blind Man's Luck Mrs. Guerton
1919 The Avalanche Mrs. Ruyler Lost film
A Society Exile Mrs. Stanley Shelby Lost film
1920 Mothers of Men Mrs. De La Motte
Clothes Mrs. Cathcart Lost film
1921 The Marriage of William Ashe Lady Tranmore
Big Game
Camille Prudence
1924 Another Scandal Brownie Lost film
1927 The Night of Love Lady in Waiting Uncredited
1929 The Single Standard Mrs. Handley
1930 The Ship from Shanghai Lady Daley
1931 Charlie Chan Carries On Mrs. Luce Lost film
1933 Made on Broadway Aunt Ada Uncredited
Blind Adventure Uncredited
1934 Two Alone Rogers' Neighbor Uncredited
Mystery Liner Granny Plimpton
Bachelor Bait Miss Turner Uncredited
1935 Women Must Dress Peg Martin
The Mystery of Edwin Drood The Opium Woman
Werewolf of London Mrs. Moncaster
Public Hero No. 1 Deaf Woman in Scottsdale Bar Uncredited
Stranded Old Hag Uncredited
The Farmer Takes a Wife Old Townswoman Uncredited
Alice Adams Mrs. Dresser Uncredited
Navy Wife Bridge Player Uncredited
The Last Days of Pompeii The Wise Woman
Bad Boy Deaf Woman Uncredited
1936 The Bohemian Girl Gypsy Queen
Desire Aunt Olga
Second Childhood Grandma Short
Parole! Molly Smith Uncredited
The White Angel Woman Donating Sheets Uncredited
Anthony Adverse Old Woman at Chalet Uncredited
The Gorgeous Hussy Mrs. Daniel Beall
Give Me Your Heart Esther Warren
Old Hutch Elderly Woman in Bank Uncredited
Camille Old Duchess Bidding 3750 Francs Uncredited
After the Thin Man Aunt Lucy Uncredited
1937 Under Cover of Night Mrs. Nash
Bulldog Drummond Escapes Jail Cell Drunk Uncredited
Maid of Salem Goody Rogers
Midnight Taxi Mrs. Lane Uncredited
Parnell Old Lady Uncredited
Rhythm in the Clouds Maggie Conway - the Duchess de Lovely
Hideaway Mrs. Beamish Uncredited
Fit for a King Duchess Louise - Reception Guest Uncredited
Bulldog Drummond Comes Back Effie
It Happened in Hollywood Miss Gordon
Federal Bullets Mrs. Crippen
1938 Bulldog Drummond's Peril Mrs. Weevens
Kidnapped Old Woman Uncredited
Hunted Men Flower Woman Uncredited
Woman Against Woman Grandma
Marie Antoinette Dowager at Birth of Dauphin Uncredited
Block-Heads Dowager Seated Near Stairs (scenes deleted)
Arrest Bulldog Drummond Aunt Meg
1939 Boy Trouble Mrs. Jepson
The Story of Alexander Graham Bell Mrs. Sanders
Tell No Tales Miss Mary
Lady of the Tropics Woman Congratulating Manon Uncredited
Balalaika Princess Natalya Petrovna
1940 Emergency Squad Mrs. Cobb Uncredited
The Earl of Chicago Miss Nana Uncredited
The Grapes of Wrath Grandma Joad
Comin' Round the Mountain Granny Stokes
She Couldn't Say No Ma Hawkins
1941 Tobacco Road Grandma Lester
Sheriff of Tombstone Granny Carson
1942 Flying with Music Fortune Teller Uncredited, (final film role)

References

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  1. ^ Zeffie Tilbury profile at Probert Encyclopedia
  2. ^ Zeffie Tilbury profile at Cinemorgue. Archived 2020-01-22 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b Nissen, Axel (2016). Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood. McFarland. p. 192. ISBN 9781476626062. Retrieved 21 May 2018.
  4. ^ Lydia Thompson: Queen of Burlesque, Kurt Ganzl, Routledge, 2002, p. 54
  5. ^ My Life: Sixty Years' Recollections of Bohemian London, George R. Sims, Eveleigh Nash Co., 1917, p. 275
  6. ^ Gänzl, Kurt. Lydia Thompson in Encyclopaedia of the Musical Theatre, Blackwell/Schirmer (1994)
  7. ^ Lydia Thompson: Queen of Burlesque, Kurt Ganzl, Routledge, 2002, p. 59
  8. ^ "Classical Plays: Souvenirs and Portraits", Rob Wilton Theatricalia
  9. ^ GRO Marriage Index
  10. ^ "Behind the Scenes". The People. London. 15 October 1899.
  11. ^ "Search page". The British Newspaper Archive. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
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