Ethel Griffies

Shows · Ethel Griffies

Actor 1878–1975 On stage 1924–1967

Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods; 26 April 1878 – 9 September 1975) was a British actress. She is remembered for portraying the ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds (1963). She appeared in stage roles in the United Kingdom and the United States, and had featured roles in around 100 motion pictures. Griffies was one of the oldest working actors in the English-speaking theatre at the time of her death at 97 years old. She acted alongside such stars as May Whitty, Ellen Terry, and Anna Neagle.

On stage 21 productions, 43 years

1924	Havoc Maxine Elliotts Theatre · Original · directed by Leo G. Carroll	48 perf.
1924	Old English Ritz Theatre · Original	183 perf.
1926	Loose Ends Ritz Theatre · Original	40 perf.
1927	Interference Empire Theatre · Original · directed by Campbell Gullan	224 perf.
1927	Mariners Plymouth Theatre · Original · directed by Guthrie McClintic	16 perf.
1928	Lady Dedlock Ambassador Theatre · Original · directed by Margaret Anglin	40 perf.
1928	The Cherry Orchard Bijou Theatre · Revival	5 perf.
1929	The Criminal Code National Theatre · Original	173 perf.
1930	Stepdaughters of War Empire Theatre · Original · directed by Chester Erskin	24 perf.
1947	The Druid Circle Morosco Theatre · Original	69 perf.
1948	The Hallams Booth Theatre · Original	12 perf.
1948	The Leading Lady National Theatre · Original · directed by Garson Kanin	8 perf.
1949	Miss Liberty Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Moss Hart	308 perf.
1949	The Shop at Sly Corner Booth Theatre · Original · directed by Margaret Perry	7 perf.
1950	Legend of Sarah Fulton Theatre · Original · directed by Benn W. Levy	29 perf.
1951	The Autumn Garden Coronet Theatre · Original · directed by Harold Clurman	101 perf.
1951	The Royal Family City Center · Revival · directed by Richard Whorf	15 perf.
1961	Write Me a Murder Belasco Theatre · Original · directed by George Schaefer	196 perf.
1965	A Very Rich Woman Belasco Theatre · Original · directed by David Pardoll	28 perf.
1966	Ivanov Shubert Theatre · Revival	47 perf.
1967	The Natural Look Longacre Theatre · Original · directed by Martin Fried	1 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in. That is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once7 names

Winifred Fraser	2 productions
Ossie Davis	2 productions
Mollie Johnson	2 productions
Mildred Dunnock	2 productions
Margaret Barker	2 productions
Guy Spaull	2 productions
Arthur Wontner	2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership. A long-running company puts the same forty people together every night, but it is where one would start looking. 6 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

In the literature1 passages

Cast: Eddie Albert, Allyn Ann McLerie, Mary McCarty, Charles Dingle, Philip Bourneuf, Ethel Griffies, Herbert Berghof, Tommy Rail, Janice Rule, Maria Karnilova, Dody GoodmanBroadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
Which of the credits above the roles on this record (actor) apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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