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Frieda Inescort

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Occupation  Actress
TV shows  Meet Corliss Archer
Role  Actress
Name  Frieda Inescort
Years active  1935–1961

Frieda Inescort httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb6

Full Name  Frieda Wrightman
Born  29 June 1901 (1901-06-29) Edinburgh, Scotland
Died  February 26, 1976, Woodland Hills, California, United States
Spouse  Ben Ray Redman (m. 1926–1961)
Parents  John "Jock" Wrightman, Elaine Inescourt
Movies  Pride and Prejudice, The Return of the Vampire, The Letter, Tarzan Finds a Son!, You'll Never Get Rich
Similar People  Mary Boland, Edward Ashley‑Cooper, Lew Landers, Sidney Lanfield, Robert Z Leonard

Frieda Inescort (29 June 1901 – 26 February 1976) was a Scottish-born actress best known for creating the role of Sorel Bliss in Noël Coward's play Hay Fever. She played the shingled lady in John Galsworthy's 1927 Broadway production Escape.

Contents

Frieda Inescort Frieda Inescort 1949 newsgr

Early years

Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, as Frieda Wrightman, she was the daughter of Scots-born journalist John "Jock" Wrightman and actress Elaine Inescourt, who was of German and Polish descent. They married in 1899 but parted ways when their daughter was still a young child.

While she lived in England, Inescort wrote for a newspaper in London and worked as secretary to Lord Astor. (Another source says that she was secretary to Lady Astor.)

After coming to the United States, she not only acted but also worked as associate editor of The Exporter's Encyclopedia.

Stage

Frieda Inescort Inescort

Inescort's acting debut came in The Truth About Blayds (1922), which was presented at the Booth Theatre on Broadway. Her other Broadway credits include You and I (1923), The Woman on the Jury (1923), Windows (1923), The Fake (1924), Ariadne (1925), Hay Fever (1925), Love in a Mist (1926), Mozart (1926), Trelawny of the "Wells" (1927), Escape (1927-1928), Napi (1931), Company's Coming (1931), Springtime for Henry (1931-1932), When Ladies Meet (1933), False Dreams, Farewell (1934), Lady Jane (1934), Soldier's Wife (1944-1945), The Mermaids Singing (1945-1946), and You Never Can Tell (1948).

Film

Frieda Wrightman adopted her mother's surname as her professional name and moved to Hollywood and made her film debut in The Dark Angel (1935). Her other films include Mary of Scotland (1936), The Letter (1940), The Trial of Mary Dugan (1941), You'll Never Get Rich (1941) and A Place in the Sun (1951).

She appeared with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson as the conniving Caroline Bingley in the 1940 film version of Pride and Prejudice. She had a leading role in Call It A Day, a 1937 film in which she appeared with Olivia de Havilland, Bonita Granville, Roland Young, and Ian Hunter. She appeared in at least one episode of Perry Mason, as Hope Quentin in "The Case of the Jealous Journalist" (season 5, 1961).

Personal life

On 2 August 1961, she and her husband since 1926, Ben Ray Redman, dined out. Redman had been despondent for some time. Returning home before her, he went upstairs to bed. He then called Frieda, informing her that he was depressed over the state of the world and had taken 12 sedative pills. By the time the paramedics arrived, he had died, a suicide at the age of 65. He had been working as a writer for the Saturday Review and was also involved in the translation of European classics into English.

Inescort had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in the 1930s. Her disease accelerated after her husband's death, and she was using a wheelchair by the mid 1960s. On 7 July 1964, her estranged mother, British actress Elaine Inescourt, died in Brighton, England, aged 87. Frieda worked as much as possible for the funding of multiple sclerosis research. She was often seen in the Hollywood area seated in her wheelchair, she collected donations outside supermarkets and in malls.

Death

Inescort died at the Motion Picture Country Home at Woodland Hills, California, from multiple sclerosis, a disease she had battled since 1932, aged 74.

Partial filmography

  • Give Me Your Heart (1936)
  • The King Steps Out (1936)
  • Another Dawn (1937)
  • Call It a Day (1937)
  • The Great O'Malley (1937)
  • Woman Doctor (1939)
  • Convicted Woman (1940)
  • Pride and Prejudice (1940)
  • The Letter (1940)
  • Father's Son (1941)
  • Street of Chance (1942)
  • The Courtship of Andy Hardy (1942)
  • It Comes Up Love (1943)
  • The Return of the Vampire (1943)
  • The Judge Steps Out (1949)
  • A Place in the Sun (1951)
  • The Alligator People (1959)
  • References

    Frieda Inescort Wikipedia