Nora Swinburne(1902-2000)
- Actress
Known for her genteel ways and stately beauty in tea service drama,
British actress Nora Swinburne was born Elinore Johnson on July 24,
1902, in Bath, England. Performing on stage as both actress and dancer
from the age of 10, her father, Henry Swinburne Johnson, manufactured
toys for a living.
She was a member of
Clive Currie's Young Players in 1914 and
appeared in shows during that year. Educated at Rosholme College, she
trained for the arts at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Building up
her stage reputation with such pieces as "Suzette" (1917), "Yes,
Uncle!" (1918), "Scandal" (1919), and the title role in "Tilly of
Bloomsbury" (1921), her attractiveness proved quite suitable for films,
entering silent pictures in 1920. She appeared in a handful of
sophisticated fare throughout the early part of the decade such as
Branded (1920),
The Fortune of Christina McNab (1921),
Hornet's Nest (1923), and
A Girl of London (1925).
Divorced from actor Francis Lister, she
was married to actor Edward Ashley at the
time she met Esmond Knight while appearing
in the play "Wise Tomorrow" in 1937. Actually, both actors were married
at the time, but they engaged in a long, discreet affair until both
were free. They finally married in the late 1940s and enjoyed a long
union together. They would appear in several plays over the years from
"Autumn Crocus" (1939) to "The Cocktail Party" (1974). Ms. Swinburne
enjoyed great theatrical success playing the role of Dinah Lot in the
play "Lot's Wife" (1938), which she subsequently reproduced under her
own management, and later replaced
Diana Wynyard in the memorable war drama
"Watch on the Rhine" in 1943.
By the advent of sound, Ms. Swinburne had
been related to opulent supports in films, usually appearing as
ladylike mothers or socialite types in plush Gainsborough dramas. Some
of her later films would include
Perfect Understanding (1933),
The Citadel (1938),
The Man in Grey (1943),
Man of Evil (1944),
Jassy (1947),
Christopher Columbus (1949),
Quartet (1948),
The River (1951) (with husband Knight),
Quo Vadis (1951) (as Pomponia),
Helen of Troy (1956) (as Hecuba),
Decision at Midnight (1965)
(again with Knight),
Interlude (1968) and
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).
An avid gardener by nature, Ms. Swinburne would die of old age in 2000,
thirteen years after husband Knight.
British actress Nora Swinburne was born Elinore Johnson on July 24,
1902, in Bath, England. Performing on stage as both actress and dancer
from the age of 10, her father, Henry Swinburne Johnson, manufactured
toys for a living.
She was a member of
Clive Currie's Young Players in 1914 and
appeared in shows during that year. Educated at Rosholme College, she
trained for the arts at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Building up
her stage reputation with such pieces as "Suzette" (1917), "Yes,
Uncle!" (1918), "Scandal" (1919), and the title role in "Tilly of
Bloomsbury" (1921), her attractiveness proved quite suitable for films,
entering silent pictures in 1920. She appeared in a handful of
sophisticated fare throughout the early part of the decade such as
Branded (1920),
The Fortune of Christina McNab (1921),
Hornet's Nest (1923), and
A Girl of London (1925).
Divorced from actor Francis Lister, she
was married to actor Edward Ashley at the
time she met Esmond Knight while appearing
in the play "Wise Tomorrow" in 1937. Actually, both actors were married
at the time, but they engaged in a long, discreet affair until both
were free. They finally married in the late 1940s and enjoyed a long
union together. They would appear in several plays over the years from
"Autumn Crocus" (1939) to "The Cocktail Party" (1974). Ms. Swinburne
enjoyed great theatrical success playing the role of Dinah Lot in the
play "Lot's Wife" (1938), which she subsequently reproduced under her
own management, and later replaced
Diana Wynyard in the memorable war drama
"Watch on the Rhine" in 1943.
By the advent of sound, Ms. Swinburne had
been related to opulent supports in films, usually appearing as
ladylike mothers or socialite types in plush Gainsborough dramas. Some
of her later films would include
Perfect Understanding (1933),
The Citadel (1938),
The Man in Grey (1943),
Man of Evil (1944),
Jassy (1947),
Christopher Columbus (1949),
Quartet (1948),
The River (1951) (with husband Knight),
Quo Vadis (1951) (as Pomponia),
Helen of Troy (1956) (as Hecuba),
Decision at Midnight (1965)
(again with Knight),
Interlude (1968) and
Anne of the Thousand Days (1969).
An avid gardener by nature, Ms. Swinburne would die of old age in 2000,
thirteen years after husband Knight.