Hear, hear! She complained to the head of her studio, J. Arthur Rank, that she was sick of sinning, but paradoxically, as her roles grew nicer, her popularity declined. For the remaining years of her life, she was a complete recluse at her home in Kingston upon Thames, rejecting all invitations and offers of work. The first of these, The Man in Grey (1943), co-starring James Mason, was torrid escapist melodrama with Lockwood portraying a treacherous, opportunistic vixen, all the while exuding more sexual allure than was common for films of this period. The third actress daughter of the Raj - following Merle Oberon and Vivien Leigh - she was born on 15th September, 1916. Lockwood entered films in 1934, and in 1935 she appeared in the film version of Lorna Doone. clerk, was educated in London and studied to be an actress at the Then, in 1972, she married the actor Ernest Clark, best known as the irascible Geoffrey Loftus in Doctor in the House and its TV sequels, and her fellow star in the Ray Cooney farce The Mating Game (Apollo theatre, 1972). For Black and director Robert Stevenson she supported Will Fyffe in Owd Bob (1938), opposite John Loder. In 1944, in "A Place of One's Own", she added one further attribute to her armoury: a beauty spot painted high on her left cheek. This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Margaret-Lockwood, Margaret Lockwood - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). According to the American Academy of Dermatology, there are severalkinds of birthmarks, but each one fits into just two main groups: pigmented and vascular. Margaret Lockwood moved to Dolphin Square, Pimlico, London in 1937. Barbara insouciantly dons the costume and pistols of a villainous male archetype associated with sexual conquests: the assumption of a highwaymans costume connotes both womens assumption of dangerous jobs formerly done by men and their liberation as sexually independent beings, both products of the war. In the postwar years, Lockwoods popularity fell out of favor. The property has now been converted to flats. These days, Crawford realizes that her well-placed spot helps her remain recognizable and unique. The turning point in her career came in 1943, when she was cast opposite James Mason in "The Man in Grey", as an amoral schemer who steals the husband of her best friend, played by Phyllis Calvert, and then ruthlessly murders her. She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for the 1955 film Cast a Dark Shadow. In contrast, even natural moles were looked at as "a mark of disgrace," Madeleine Marsh, author of The Compacts and Cosmetics: Beauty from Victorian Times to the Present Day, explained toBBC. Job specializations: Beauty/Hairdressing. She was supposed to make cinema adaptations of Rob Roy and The Blue Lagoon, but both projects were shelved due to the outbreak of World War II. Racked explained how women first started applying mouse fur yes, mouse fur to their pockmarks. Believing she will die, she gives up her lover Kit (Granger) to an actress, Judy (Roc), who is mounting an outdoor production of The Tempest on a rugged Cornwall coastal spot. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Lockwood had a small role in The Amateur Gentleman (1936), another with Fairbanks. Instead, she calls it her"forever moving mole" and sometimes draws it on to cover a blemish. She also starred in the television series Justice (197174). According toBBC,stars, hearts, and half moons were all popular choices back in the day. Lockwood studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Englands leading drama school, and made her film debut in Lorna Doone (1935). The music was written by Hubert Bath. 12, when she played a fairy in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" in 1928. She was survived by her daughter, the actress Julia Lockwood (ne Margaret Julia Leon, 19412019). "I like moles. 2023 BygonelyPrivacy policyTerms of ServiceContact us. The sadomasochistic elements ofLeslie Arlisss film in which Lockwoods character is sexually commandeered and eventually raped by Masons lord were 50 shades stronger than 2015s most ballyhooed eroticdrama. "[10], She did another with Reed, Night Train to Munich (1940), an attempt to repeat the success of The Lady Vanishes with the same screenwriters (Launder and Gilliat) and characters of Charters and Caldicott. You canbe born with one, or you can develop one at a later point in your life. She was known for her stunning looks, artistry and versatility. A visit to Hollywood to appear with Shirley Temple in "Susannah of the Mounties" and with Douglas Fairbanks Jr in "Rulers of the Sea" was not at all to her liking. Lockwoods stage appearances included Peter Pan (194951, 195758), Spiders Web (195456), which Agatha Christie wrote for her, and Signpost to Murder (196263). More popular was Jassy (1947), the seventh biggest hit at the British box office in 1947. No weekends or evenings required. For the remaining years of her life, she was a complete recluse at her home, in Kingston upon Thames, rejecting all invitations and offers of work. Her last professional appearance was as Queen Alexandra in Royce Ryton's stage play Motherdear (Ambassadors Theatre, 1980). Yet much more than Leigh, especially after Scarlett OHara, Lockwood was the kind of girl youd want to walk home from the pictures in the blackout, or, if you yourself were a girl, walk home with arm-in-arm, dodging puddles and drunkenconscripts. The films worldwide success put Lockwood at the top of Britains cinema polls for the next five years. Her subsequent long-running West End hits include an all-star production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband (196566, in which she played the villainous Mrs Cheveley), W. Somerset Maugham's Lady Frederick (1970), Relative Values (Nol Coward revival, 1973) and the thrillers Signpost to Murder (1962) and Double Edge (1975). These were standard ingnue roles. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). They did. However, there is perhaps no stranger way than to declare your party affiliation via mole. After what she regarded as her mothers painful betrayal at the custody hearing, the two women never met again, and when a friend complimented Mrs Lockwood on her daughters performance in The Wicked Lady, she snapped: That wasnt acting. She travelled to Los Angeles and was put to work supporting Shirley Temple in Susannah of the Mounties (1939), set in Canada, opposite Randolph Scott. Mason and Mullen are artificially aged to play the old couple. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. She had the lead in a TV series The Royalty (19571958) and appeared regularly on TV anthology series. "[22], In September 1943 Variety estimated her salary at being US$24,000 per picture (equivalent to $305,000 in 2021).[23]. However, after being given an initial leg-up by her mother famous for the trademark beauty spot painted high on her left cheek the young Lockwood forged her own career, navigating the difficult transition from child to adult actor. This is partially dictated by Hollywood's elite. That's right ladies, moles are beautiful. In December of the following year, she appeared at the Scala Theatre in the pantomime The Babes in the Wood. When I marry, I shall have a large family. Though, we doubt they'd be the only ones perplexed by the idea. Shortly afterwards, in her early 30s, she gave up acting to concentrate on bringing up her four children. We provide you with all the necessary resources to help you achieve your income goals! Her childhood was repressed and unhappy, largely due to the character of her mother, a dominant and possessive woman who was often cruelly discouraging to her shy, sensitive daughter. She was reunited with her mother on TV in The Royalty (1957-58), as mother and daughter Mollie and Carol running a posh London hotel, and its 1965 sequel, The Flying Swan. Ive been pretty lonely at times.. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). An atmospheric ghost story based on the 1940 novel of the same title by Osbert Sitwell, it stars James Mason, Barbara Mullen, Margaret Lockwood, Dennis Price and Dulcie Gray. After becoming a dance pupil at the Italia Conti school. Gasp! When a proposed film about Elisabeth of Austria was cancelled,[37] she returned to the stage in a record-breaking national tour of Nol Coward's Private Lives (1949)[38] and then played the title role in productions of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan in 1949 and 1950. She is commemorated with a blue plaque at her childhood home, 14 Highland Road in Upper Norwood. [26] In 1946, Lockwood gained the Daily Mail National Film Awards First Prize for most popular British film actress. Lockwood was born on 15 September 1916 in Karachi, British India, to Henry Francis Lockwood, an English administrator of a railway company, and his third wife, Scottish-born Margaret Eveline Waugh. Popular British leading lady of the late 1930s who became England's biggest female star of the WWII era. 1946 10th most popular star in Australia, 1947 4th most popular star and 3rd most popular British star in Britain. She preferred to drink hot chocolate, buying 60 Margaret Lockwood (1916-1990) was Britain's number one box office star during the war years. In 1955, she gave one of her best performances, as a blowsy ex-barmaid, in Cast A Dark Shadow, opposite Dirk Bogarde, but her box office appeal had waned and the British cinema suddenly lost interest in her. The promise of a screen test with Columbia Pictures came to nothing apart from the nose operation and filed teeth that she had in preparation for it. InBernard KnowlessThe White Unicorn(1947), she andJoan Greenwoodwere cast as women of different social backgrounds a warden at a home for delinquent girls and a troubled teenage mother whose reminiscences reveal that female suffering isendemic. A report published by theJournal of the American Academy of Dermatology(via NCBI) highlighted the "disfiguring scars" left in the disease's wake. "[14], She was offered the role of Bianca in The Magic Bow but disliked the part and turned it down. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. In 1980, she made her final professional appearance as Queen Alexandra in Royce Rytons theatrical play Motherdear.. 10-06-22 . Due to the success of the film, Margaret spent some time in Hollywood but was given poor material and soon returned home. [30] "I was sick of getting mediocre parts and poor scripts," she later wrote. Even still, the trend took off and transformed intodecorative patchesormouches("flies" in French), in which faux moles made of colorful silk, taffeta, and leather were applied to the face. Her likeable core personality made her characters, whether good or evil, easy for women to identify with. Salmon patches (sometimes known as "stork bites"), hemangioma (what some people call "strawberry marks"), and port wine stains, are some common forms of vascular birthmarks. She was meant to appear in Hatter's Castle but fell pregnant and had to drop out. Margaret Lockwood visits Luton on February 16, 1948 to see the town at work and is greeted at the Town Hall by the mayor, Cllr W.J. When peace came, her mother was keen for her daughter to follow in her footsteps. Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. She also performed in a pantomime of Cinderella for the Royal Film performance with Jean Simmons; Lockwood called this "the jolliest show in which I have ever taken part. Margaret Lockwood, an actress who became one of the most popular figures in British films of the late 1940's, died on Sunday. The film had one of the top audiences for a film of its period, 18.4 million. She starred in the Royalty (19571958) television series and was a regular on TV anthology shows. She returned with relief to Britain to star in two of Carol Reeds best films, The Stars Look Down, again with Redgrave, and Night Train to Munich, opposite Rex Harrison. Long live the mouches! she made her stage debut at 15 as a fairy in " A Midsummer Night's Dream" at the Holborn Empire. Back at Gainsborough, producer Edward Black had planned to pair Lockwood and Redgrave much the same way William Powell and Myrna Loy had been teamed up in the "Thin Man" films in America, but the war intervened and the two were only to appear together in the Carol Reed-directed The Stars Look Down (1940). Various polls of exhibitors consistently listed Lockwood among the most popular stars of her era: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. We celebrate one of the Britains biggest film stars of the 1940s. Her body was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium. Seven ingenue screen roles followed before she played opposite Maurice Chevalier in the 1936 remake of "The Beloved Vagabond". Later, aged 16 and playing Wendy, she joined her mother in the 1957 Christmas production. "[8] Gaumont increased her contract from three years to six.[10]. "Hollywood revolutionised women's faces," Marsh explained, "Suddenly you were seeing these HUGE women's faces, bigger than we had ever seen them before." Karen Hearn, an honorary professor of English at University College London, told BBC, "He found them worrying." What made her a front rank star was The Man in Grey (1943), the first of what would be known as the Gainsborough melodramas. Registered charity 287780, Watch Margaret Lockwood films on BFI Player, In praise of 1940s icon and Lady Vanishes star Margaret Lockwood. "[14], Gaumont British had distribution agreements with 20th Century Fox in the US and they expressed an interest in borrowing Lockwood for some films. Samuel Pepys, who originally prohibited his wife from wearing one, had a change of heart. Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE (15 September 1916 - 15 July 1990), was an English actress. Lockwood then had her best chance to-date, being given the lead in Bank Holiday, directed by Carol Reed and produced by Black. MICHAEL REDGRAVE & MARGARET LOCKWOOD Character (s): Gilbert & Iris Henderson Film 'THE LADY VANISHES' (1938) Directed By ALFRED HITCHCOCK (Allstar/GAINSBOROUGH) SHE was the Queen Of The Silver . Lockwood gained custody of her daughter, but not before Mrs Lockwood had sided with her son-in-law to allege that Margaret was "an unfit mother.". For Rowland, it all began with putting a dot of black Duo lash glue on her face. After poisoning several husbands in Bedelia (1946), Lockwood became less wicked in Hungry Hill, Jassy and The White Unicorn, all opposite Dennis Price. Lockwood attended drama school from the age of five and following her parents divorce was just 12 when cast as the star of Heidi for a 1953 childrens TV serial. This naturally raises the question: Why are there two different names? Lockwood had a change of pace with the comedy Cardboard Cavalier (1949), with Lockwood playing Nell Gwyn opposite Sid Field. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. She lived her final years in seclusion in Kingston upon Thames, London. She had one last film role, as the stepmother with the sobriquet, "wicked", omitted but implied, in Bryan Forbes's Cinderella musical, "The Slipper and the Rose" in 1976. Lockwood married Rupert Leon in 1937, and the marriage lasted for 13 years. Her final stage appearance, as Queen Alexandra in "Motherdear", ran for only six weeks at the Ambassadors' Theatre in 1980. Cindy Crawford and other big names with facial moles. Still, our work isn't quite done yet. her flawless complexion - enhanced by a beauty-spot! This is the ITV DVD Region 2 DVD release of the Margaret Lockwood films - The Wicked Lady from 1945 and Bank Holiday from 1938. . She was borrowed by Paramount for Rulers of the Sea (1939), with Will Fyffe and Douglas Fairbanks Jr.[15] Paramount indicated a desire to use Lockwood in more films[16] but she decided to go home. The actor Julia Lockwood, who has died of pneumonia aged 77, began life in the shadow of her famous mother, Margaret Lockwood, who was confirmed as one of Britains biggest box-office stars with her appearance in the 1945 film classic The Wicked Lady, four years after her daughters birth. Edwards, before she visits Skefko, Vauxhall and Electrolux and two cinemas - the Odeon in Dunstable Road and the Palace in Mill Street, whose manager, Mr S. Davey, had arranged the tour. She was best known for her roles in The Lady Vanishes (1938) and The Wicked Lady (1945) but also enjoyed a successful stage and television career. The turning point in her career came in 1943, when she was cast opposite James Mason in The Man in Grey, as an amoral schemer who steals the husband of her best friend, played by Phyllis Calvert, and then ruthlessly murders her. Margaret Lockwood made her screen debut in the drama picture Lorna Doone in 1934. In addition to her role in a wide variety of films, she was a vibrant brunette with a beauty spot on her left cheek. Several kings and queens even succumbed to the disease and, according to History.com, it is thought that 400,000 commoners died each year as a result. She had a bit part in the Drury Lane production of "Cavalcade" in 1932, before completing her training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.Her film career began in 1934 with Lorna Doone (1934) and she was already a seasoned performer when Alfred Hitchcock cast her in his thriller, The Lady Vanishes (1938), opposite relative newcomer Michael Redgrave. Early Years Location: Fullerton, CA. She enjoyed a steady flow of work in films and on television but gained her greatest fulfilment in the theatre. They were going to look after me as no one else had done before. In June 1939, Lockwood returned to the United Kingdom. In 1938, Lockwood's role as a young London nurse in Carol Reed's film, "Bank Holiday", established her as a star, and the enormous success of her next film, "The Lady Vanishes", opposite Michael Redgrave, gave her international status. [44], In 1952, Lockwood signed a two picture a year contract with Herbert Wilcox at $112,000 a year, making her the best paid actress in British films. If so, please share it with your friends and family to help spread the word. And I loved it. She wouldn't have been the only one to fake it, though. - makes her the epitome of the British noblewoman. From the books you read to the clothes you wear, there are plenty of ways to make a political statement. Instead she was a murderess in Bedelia (1946), which did not perform as well, although it was popular in Britain.[27]. The film inaugurated a series of hothouse melodramas that came to be known as Gainsborough Gothic and had film fans queueing outside cinemas all over Britain. This film also included the final appearance of Edith Evans and one of the later appearances of Kenneth More. She was survived by her daughter, the actress Julia Lockwood. Margaret Lockwood as Lydia Garth Paul Dupuis as Paul de Vandiere Kathleen Byron as Verite Faimont Maxwell Reed as Joseph Rondolet Thora Hird as Rosa Raymond Lovell as Comte de Vandiere Maurice Denham as Doctor Simon Blake David Hutcheson as Max Ffoliott Cathleen Nesbitt as Mother Superior Peter Illing as Doctor Matthieu Jack McNaughton as Attendant She had the lead in Someday (1935), a quota quickie directed by Michael Powell and in Jury's Evidence (1936), directed by Ralph Ince. When Barbara smothers the godly old servant (Felix Aylmer) whos lingering on after drinking her poison, she was speaking for all mid-40s women who were impatient to dispense with patriarchalcant. However she was soon to suffer what has been called "a cold streak of poor films which few other stars have endured. [1] She returned to England in 1920 with her mother, brother 'Lyn' and half-brother Frank, and a further half-sister 'Fay' joined them the following year, but her father remained in Karachi, visiting them infrequently. Spectral in black, with her dark, dramatic looks, cold but beautiful eyes, and vividly overpainted thin lips, Lockwood was queen among villainesses. That's not to say all faux beauty marks went out of style. She However, her best-remembered performances came in two classic Gainsborough period dramas. The third actress daughter of the Raj - following Merle Oberon and Vivien Leigh - she was born on 15th September, 1916. Karachi-born Margaret Lockwood, daughter of a British colonial railway clerk, was educated in London and studied to be an actress at the Italia Conti Drama School. "All beauty marks are moles,"Neal Schultz, a New York City-based cosmetic and medical dermatologist and host of DermTV, explained. Guaranteed competitive hourly wage average wage is $16-$18 an hour, plus an incentive commission and tips! Size: 46 Pages, Transcript. "Since 1945 I had been sick of it there had been little or no improvement to me in the films I was being offered. As an only child herself, she had once said: I love children. She had one last film role, as the stepmother with the sobriquet, wicked, omitted but implied, in Bryan Forbess Cinderella musical The Slipper and the Rose in 1976. Margaret Lockwood autographed publicity for Jassy, The Wicked Lady (1945) photograph (48) | Margaret Lockwood, Margaret Lockwoods jumper Bestway knitting leaflet, Jassy (1947) photograph (34) | Margaret Lockwood, Patricia Roc, Margaret Lockwood photograph (37) | Highly Dangerous 1950, Queen of the Silver Screen Margaret Lockwood biography Spence 2016, Once a Wicked Lady biography of Margaret Lockwood by Hilton Tims, Lucky Star The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood, My Life and Films autobiography by Margaret Lockwood (1948), 34 Upper Park Rd, Kingston upon Thames KT2 5LD. She was known for her stunning looks, artistry and versatility. She played an aging West End star attempting a comeback in The Human Jungle with Herbert Lom (1965). So, while Cindy Crawford and other big names with facial molesare often credited with having iconic beauty marks, celebs with body moles aren't given quite the same label. She also doesn't apply the spot in the same place. That year, she was created CBE, but her presence at her investiture at Buckingham Palace, accompanied by her three grandchildren, was her last public appearance. Leigh was a great classical actress and a member of Hollywood and West End royalty, but Lockwood was one of us. Directed by: Leslie Arliss. Pigmented birthmarks simply mean your spots contain more color than other parts of your skin. By Brittany Brolley / Updated: Feb. 2, 2021 6:14 pm EST. In 1933, she enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was seen in Leontine Sagans production of Hannele by a leading London agent, Herbert de Leon, who at once signed her as a client and arranged a screen test which impressed the director, Basil Dean, into giving her the second lead in his film, Lorna Doone when Dorothy Hyson fell ill. Her RADA-trained voice was posh, of course, but not supercilious. Used Margie Day briefly as her stage name at the very beginning of her stage career. Lady barrister Harriet Peterson tackles cases in London. Her gentle beauty was heightened by different degrees of melancholy inBank Holiday(1938) andThe Lady Vanishes(1938), undimmed by her playing an indolent, pouting trollop inThe Stars Look Down(1939), and coarsened by the twisted thoughts of her Regency-era social climber Hesther in The Man in Grey (1943), her highwaywoman Barbara Worth inThe Wicked Lady(1945), her psychopathic title characterinBedelia(1946).