Zeffie Tilbury
Encyclopedia
Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury (20 November 1863 - 24 July 1950) was an English
actress
, Middlesex
, England Tilbury was known first on the London stage and later for playing wise or evil older characters in films, such as the distinguished lady gambler at dinner with Garbo
in The Single Standard
, as 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
.
Our Gang
comedy Second Childhood
.
and John Christian Tilbury, a riding-master, who died in a steeplechasing accident in 1864, when he was rolled on by his horse.
Tilbury was married twice. First to Arthur Frederick Lewis in June, 1887, and later to L. E. Woodthorpe, who died on April 8, 1915.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actress
Career
Born in PaddingtonPaddington
Paddington is a district within the City of Westminster, in central London, England. Formerly a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965...
, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
, England Tilbury was known first on the London stage and later for playing wise or evil older characters in films, such as the distinguished lady gambler at dinner with Garbo
Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo , born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson, was a Swedish film actress. Garbo was an international star and icon during Hollywood's silent and classic periods. Many of Garbo's films were sensational hits, and all but three were profitable...
in The Single Standard
The Single Standard
The Single Standard is a 1929 romantic drama film directed by John S. Robertson and starring Greta Garbo, Nils Asther, and Johnny Mack Brown....
, as Grandma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath (film)
The Grapes of Wrath is a 1940 drama film directed by John Ford. It was based on John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F...
and Grandma Lester in Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road (film)
Tobacco Road is a 1941 film directed by John Ford starring Charley Grapewin, Marjorie Rambeau, Gene Tierney, William Tracy and Dana Andrews. It was based on the novel of the same name by Erskine Caldwell, but the plot was rewritten for the film.-Cast:...
.
She appeared in over 70 films. Her earliest surviving silent film is the Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
/Nazimova
Alla Nazimova
Alla Nazimova , was a Russian American film and theatre actress, a screenwriter and film producer. She is perhaps best known as simply Nazimova, but also went under the name Alia Nasimoff.-Early life:...
1921 production of Camille
Camille (1921 film)
Camille is a 1921 silent film starring Rudolph Valentino and Alla Nazimova. It is one of numerous screen adaptations of La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The original play opened in Paris in 1852. The first Broadway production of the play opened on 9 December 1853...
.
Our Gang
Tilbury is probably best remembered as the old lady who 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 1936 Hal RoachHal Roach
Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an American film and television producer and director, and from the 1910s to the 1990s.- Early life and career :Hal Roach was born in Elmira, New York...
Our Gang
Our Gang
Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together. Created by comedy producer Hal Roach, the series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively...
comedy Second Childhood
Second Childhood (film)
Second Childhood is a 1936 Our Gang short comedy film directed by Gus Meins. It was the 144th Our Gang short that was released.-Plot:...
.
Personal
Tilbury was the daughter of the variety performer Lydia ThompsonLydia Thompson
Lydia Thompson, born Eliza Hodges Thompson , was an English dancer, actress and theatrical producer....
and John Christian Tilbury, a riding-master, who died in a steeplechasing accident in 1864, when he was rolled on by his horse.
Tilbury was married twice. First to Arthur Frederick Lewis in June, 1887, and later to L. E. Woodthorpe, who died on April 8, 1915.
External links
- Zeffie Tilbury portrait at NYP Library