Mona Washbourne

Mona Lee Washbourne (27 November 1903 – 15 November 1988) was an English actress of stage, film, and television.[1][2] Her most critically acclaimed role was in the film Stevie (1978), late in her career, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award.

Mona Washbourne
Born	Mona Lee Washbourne 27 November 1903 Solihull, Warwickshire, England
Died	15 November 1988 (aged 84) London, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1924–1984
Spouse(s)	Basil Dignam ​ ​ (m. 1940; died 1979)​

Early life

Mona Washbourne was born in Sparkhill, Birmingham, and began her entertaining career training as a concert pianist.[3][4][5] Her sister Katherine Washbourne was a violinist with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Adrian Boult.

Career

Washbourne was performing professionally from the early 1920s.[4] She married the actor Basil Dignam.[4] Her brother-in-law Mark Dignam was also a stage and film actor.[6] In 1948, after numerous stage musical performances, Washbourne began appearing in films.[7] Her film credits include the horror movie The Brides of Dracula, Billy Liar (1963) and The Collector (1965).[8] She is probably best known to American audiences for her role as housekeeper Mrs. Pearce in My Fair Lady (1964). She also appeared as the stern and caustic Mrs. Bramson in the remake of Night Must Fall (also 1964), and the Matron in the film, If.... (1968).[2]

She appeared at both the Royal Court Theatre in London and on Broadway in 1970 in David Storey's Home.[9] She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play.[10] In 1975 she appeared on the West End stage with James Stewart in a revival of Mary Chase's play Harvey, in the role originally taken by Josephine Hull.[11] Washbourne won the 1981 New York Film Critics' Circle Awards for Best Supporting Actress in Stevie (1978).[12]

Later life

In 1981, Washbourne appeared in Granada Television's TV miniseries adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited as Nanny Hawkins.[13] One of her last television appearances was in Where's the Key? (1983),[14] a BBC play about Alzheimer's disease. She died in 1988, aged 84, in London.[1]

Selected filmography

• Evergreen (1934) – Barmaid (uncredited)
• The Winslow Boy (1948) – Miss Barnes
• Once Upon a Dream (1949) – Vicar's Wife
• The Huggetts Abroad (1949) – Lugubrious Housewife (uncredited)
• Adam and Evelyne (1949) – Mrs. Salop – Lady Gambler (uncredited)
• Maytime in Mayfair (1949) – Lady Leveson
• Double Confession (1950) – Fussy Mother
• Dark Interval (1950) (unspecified role)[15]
• The Gambler and the Lady (1952) – Miss Minter
• Johnny on the Run (1953) – Mrs. MacGregor
• Adventure in the Hopfields (1954) – Mrs. McBain
• The Million Pound Note (1954) – Mum with Pram (uncredited)
• Star of My Night (1954) – Bit Part (uncredited)
• Doctor in the House (1954) – Midwifery Sister (uncredited)
• Betrayed (1954) – Waitress (uncredited)
• Child's Play (1954) – Miss Emily Goslett
• To Dorothy a Son (1954) – Mid Wife Appleby.
• John and Julie (1955) – Miss Rendlesham
• Cast a Dark Shadow (1955) – Monica Bare
• Alias John Preston (1955) – (uncredited)
• The Vise (1955) – Supporting Role (episode "Count of Twelve")
• Lost (1956) – Library Manageress (uncredited)
• Yield to the Night (1956) – Mrs. Thomas, landlady
• Loser Takes All (1956) – Nurse (uncredited)
• Circus Friends (1956) – Miss Linstead[16]
• It's Great to Be Young (1956) – Miss Morrow, School Mistress
• The Good Companions (1957) – Mrs. Joe Brundit
• Stranger in Town (1957) – Agnes Smith
• Son of a Stranger (1957)
• Dunkirk (1958) – Worker Who Speaks to Holden (uncredited)
• A Cry from the Streets (1958) – Mrs. Daniels
• Count Your Blessings (1959) – Nanny
• The Brides of Dracula (1960) – Frau Lang
• No Love for Johnnie (1961) – Well-wisher at Railway Station (uncredited)
• Billy Liar (1963) – Alice Fisher
• Night Must Fall (1964) – Mrs. Bramson
• My Fair Lady (1964) – Mrs. Pearce
• Ferry Cross the Mersey (1965) – Aunt Lil
• One Way Pendulum (1965) – Aunt Mildred
• The Collector (1965) – Aunt Annie
• The Third Day (1965) – Catherine Parsons
• Casino Royale (1967) – Tea Lady (uncredited)
• Two a Penny (1968) – Mrs. Duckett
• Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter (1968) – Mrs. Brown
• If.... (1968) – Matron: Staff
• The Bed Sitting Room (1969) – Mother
• The Games (1970) – Mrs. Hayes
• Fragment of Fear (1970) – Mrs. Gray
• What Became of Jack and Jill? (1972) – Gran Alice Tallent
• O Lucky Man! (1973) – Neighbour / Usher / Sister Hallett
• Identikit (1974) – Mrs. Helen Fiedke
• The Old Curiosity Shop (1975) – Mrs. Jarley
• The Blue Bird (1976) – Grandmother
• Stevie (1978) – Aunt
• The London Connection (1979) – Aunt Lydia
• Brideshead Revisited (1981) – Nanny Hawkins

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result
1971	25th Tony Awards	Best Featured Actress in a Play	Home	Nominated
1977	2nd Laurence Olivier Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Stevie	Won
1978	4th Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Stevie	Won
1979	36th Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture		Nominated
	32nd British Academy Film Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role		Nominated
1981	53rd National Board of Review Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Won
1982	16th National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	2nd Boston Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Won
	47th New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Won

References

1. League, The Broadway. "Mona Washbourne – Broadway Cast & Staff – IBDB". ibdb.com.
2. "Mona Washbourne". BFI. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
3. "Mona Washbourne". IMDb.
4. "BFI Screenonline: Washbourne, Mona (1904–1988) Biography". screenonline.org.uk.
5. "Education for Mona Washbourne". Turner Classic Movies. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 22 September 2017.
6. "Mark Dignam – Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos – AllMovie". AllMovie.
7. "Mona Washbourne – Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos – AllMovie". AllMovie.
8. "Mona Washbourne – Movies and Filmography – AllMovie". AllMovie.
9. League, The Broadway. "Home – Broadway Play – Original – IBDB". ibdb.com.
10. League, The Broadway. "Home – Broadway Play – Original – IBDB". ibdb.com.
11. "Harvey With James Dreyfus Heads into The West End". britishtheatre.com.
12. "Awards – New York Film Critics Circle". nyfcc.com.
13. "Brideshead Revisited Episode 11 (1981)". BFI. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
14. "BBC Active: Video for Learning". Bbcactivevideoforlearning.com. 14 September 2010. Archived from the original on 2 April 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2012.
15. "Dark Interval (1950)". BFI.
16. Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set – The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. ISBN 9781317740636.

External links

• Mona Washbourne at IMDb
• Mona Washbourne at the Internet Broadway Database
• Performances listed in the Theatre Archive University of Bristol
• Mona Washbourne at the BFI's Screenonline