Dame Mary Louise Webster (née Whitty; 19 June 1865 – 29 May 1948), known professionally as May Whitty and later, for her charity work, Dame May Whitty, was an English stage and film actress. She was one of the first two women entertainers to become a Dame. The British actors' union Equity was established in her home in 1930.
After a successful career both on the West End stage and in British films, she moved over to Hollywood films at the age of 72. In 1937, Whitty made her American debut in Night Must Fall, for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Subsequently, Whitty starred in a string of commercial and critical successes that elevated her career and star-status. She starred in two Alfred Hitchcock films, The Lady Vanishes (1938) and Suspicion (1941), and earned her second Academy Award nomination for the war-drama Mrs. Miniver (1942), the highest grossing film of 1942. Her other film roles include The Constant Nymph (1943), Lassie Come Home (1943), Madame Curie (1943), Gaslight (1944), and Green Dolphin Street (1947).
Background Whitty was born in Liverpool, England, to William Alfred Whitty (circa 1837–1876), a newspaper proprietor,L.H.J., "Histrionic Geography", The Stage (2 March 1893), p. 9. and Mary Louisa (née Ashton, circa 1837–1894). Her grandfather was Michael James Whitty, Chief Constable in Liverpool and founder of the Liverpool Daily Post. She made her first stage appearance in Liverpool in 1881, later moving to London to appear in the West End.
She married the actor-manager Ben Webster on 3 August 1892 in St Giles's Parish Church, London.Grimalkin, "Chit Chat", The Stage (4 August 1892), p. 11. In 1895 they visited the United States, where Whitty appeared on Broadway. Their first child, a son, died at birth. Their only surviving child, a daughter born in New York in 1905, Margaret Webster, was a producer who held dual US and UK citizenship. She was chair of the Actresses' Franchise League (AFL).
Whitty's stage career continued for the rest of her life. In March 1910, she made her transition to middle-aged and elderly character roles, playing Amelia Madras in Harley Granville-Barker's four-act comedy The Madras House. During World War I she was active in the AFL, working there to help organize the Women's Emergency Corps. In March 1922, she played the role of Mrs. Bennet before the Queen in a benefit performance of Pride and Prejudice. She acted opposite her husband, who played Mr. Darcy.
Honours
In the 1918 New Year Honours, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE, gazetted under her legal married name Mary Louise Webster) in recognition of her charitable work during the First World War for the Three Arts Women's Employment Fund and the British Women's Hospitals Committee. She was the first stage and film actress to receive a damehood, along with the opera singer Nellie Melba, who was also thus honoured in 1918."War Honours", The Times, 8 January 1918, p. 7
Film career and death Whitty made her Hollywood film debut at the age of 72, recreating her 1935 stage role in the Hollywood film Night Must Fall (1937), which also starred Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell. She received an Oscar nomination. Whitty’s supporting roles in film included that of the vanishing lady, Miss Froy, in Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (1938).
In 1939, Whitty moved to the United States, although she never became a US citizen. She appeared on stage and in Hollywood films, often playing wealthy dowagers. It was one such part, as Lady Beldon in Mrs. Miniver (1942), that brought her a second Academy Award nomination.
Whitty’s husband died in 1947. She died on 29 May 1948 in Beverly Hills, California, from cancer at the age of 82. She is commemorated with a plaque at St Paul's Church in Covent Garden, London, beside a plaque to her husband.
Stage roles Dates are of the first performance. Date (year, month, day)TitleAuthor(s)CityTheatreRole1890-02-14 The Home Feud Walter FrithLondonComedy Helen Joliffe1890-07-04Vanity of VanitiesJustin Huntly McCarthyLondonShaftesburyPrincess Nicholas1891-01-07Private EnquiryF. C. Burnand (based on Albert Valabrègue's La Sécurité des Familles)LondonRoyal StrandMrs. Buckleigh1891-02-14Turned UpMark MelfordLondonRoyal StrandSabina Medway1891-04-01Linda GreySir Charles L. YoungLondonPrincesLady Broughton1891-04-15Our Daughters T.G. Warren & Willie EdouinLondonRoyal StrandNellie Mayhew1891-07-01Mrs. AnnesleyJ. F. CookeLondonCriterion Estelle Brandreth1891-07-27Fate and Fortune, or, The Junior PartnerJames J. BloodLondonPrincess'sGrace Hasluck1892-01-06 The Showman's DaughterFrances Hodgson BurnettLondonRoyaltyLinda Hurst1892-02-16 The Silver Shield Sydney GrundyLondonVaudevilleLucy Preston1892-05-10 A CapriceJustin Huntly McCarthy, adapted from Alfred de Musset's Un CapriceLondonVaudevilleMathilde1892-05-25 The Noble ArtEille NorwoodLondonTerry'sGertie Fullalove1892-05-26 In the SeasonLangdon Elwyn MitchellLondonVaudevilleSybil March1892-09-14 Our BoysHenry James ByronLondonVaudevilleMary Melrose1893-01-28The Guv'Nor Robert Reece (writing under the pseudonym E.G. Lankester)LondonVaudevilleAurelia1893-02-16FlightWalter FrithLondonTerry'sMrs. Amherst1893-06-09The Younger SonR.S. SievierLondonGaietyEvelyn Brookfield1893-06-19The Adventures of a NightMeyrick Milton, adaptated from Los Empenos de Seis Horas by Pedro Calderón de la BarcaLondonRoyal StrandDonna Bianca1893-12-21Beauty's ToilsCharles S. Fawcett, founded on Her Fatal Beauty by W.B. MaxellLondonRoyal StrandEthel Cumming1894-07-02Our FlotMrs. H. MusgraveLondonRoyal StrandMargery Sylvester1895-03-12A Loving LegacyFred W. SidneyLondonRoyal StrandKitty O'Rourke1895-04-15FannyGeorge Robert Sims and Cecil RaleighLondonRoyal StrandGrace Dormer1895-04-15The BacksliderOsmond ShillingfordLondonRoyal StrandMrs. Agatha Dolomite1895-06-27Louis XIDion Boucicault, adaptated by Saimir DelavigneLondonLyceumMarie1895-07-12The Lyons MailCharles Reader, adaptation of Le Courrier de Lyon by Émile Moreau, Giraudin & DelacourLondonLyceumJulie Lesurques1895-07-15The Corsican BrothersDion Boucicault, adaptation of Alexandre Dumas's The Corsican BrothersLondonLyceumEmelie de l'Esparre1895-07-24MacbethWilliam ShakespeareLondonLyceumA gentlewoman1896-12-03A Princess of OrangeFred James LondonLyceumLouise, Princess of Orange1896-12-10An Old SongRev. Freeman Wills and A. Fitzmaurice KingLondonCriterionSignora Sara Rosetti 1897-12-23Secret Service: A Romance of the Southern ConfederacyWilliam GilletteLondonAdelphiEdith Varney1898-12-03Cupboard LoveHenry V. EsmondLondonCourtRosamond Pilliner1899-06-06The Heather FieldEdward MartynLondonTerry'sGrace Tyrrell1899-09-04The Last ChapterGeorge H. BroadhurstLondonRoyal StrandKatherine Blake1901-05-11Toff JimFred WrightLondonApolloPrimrose1908-01-20Irene WycherleyAnthony P. WhartonNew YorkAstorCarrie Hardinge1910-03-01The SentimentalistsGeorge MeredithLondonDuke of York'sDame Dresden1910-03-10The Madras HouseHarley Granville-BarkerLondonDuke of York'sAmelia Madras1910-04-05Trelawny of the WellsArthur Wing PineroLondonDuke of York'sMiss Trafalgar Gower1910-11-18The Home ComingCicely HamiltonLondonAldwychMrs. Daly1911-05-08The First ActressChristabel MarshallLondonKingswayPeg Woffington1911-05-12The Baron's WagerCharles YoungLondonPlayhouseClothislde, Marquise de Marsay1912-02-01The Bear-LeadersR. C. CartonLondonComedyDowager Countess of Grimsdal1912-02-09EdithElizabeth BakerLondonPrincess'sMrs. Stott1912-08-12Ready MoneyJames MontgomeryLondonNewMrs. John Tyler1913-03-31A Matter of Money (first played in Glasgow under the title The Cutting of the Know)Cicely HamiltonLondonLittleMrs. Channing1913-03-11Open WindowsA.E.W. MasonLondonSt. James'sLady Cluffe1913-10-04The Grand SeigneurEdward Ferris and Bertram P. MatthewsLondonSavoyComtesse Malise1914-09-08The Impossible WomanC. Haddon ChambersLondonSavoyMrs. Talcot1915-04-15The Green FlagKeble HowardLondonVaudevilleMrs. Kesteven1915-10-16Iris IntervenesJohn Hastings TurnerLondonKingswayMary Cumbers1916-02-28The Arm of the LawArthur Bourchier, adapted from La Robe Rouge by Eugène BrieuxLondonHis Majesty'sMme. Vagret1916-05-28The Eternal SnowsMichael Orme [pseudonym of Alix Augusta Grein]LondonCriterionMary Chartwell1917-04-09The Passing of the Third Floor BackJerome K. JeromeLondonPlayhouseCheat, Mrs. Sharpe, Lady of the House1917-07-27 Trelawny of the WellsArthur W. PineroLondonNewMiss Trafalgar Gower1917-09-07 Trelawny of the WellsArthur W. PineroLondonNewMiss Trafalgar Gower1922-03-01The Enchanted CottageArthur PineroLondonDuke of York'sMrs. Corsellis1922-03-24Pride and PrejudiceEileen H.A. Squire & J.C. Squire, adapted from Jane Austen's novelLondonPalaceMrs. Bennett1922-05-18 Life's a GameMichael Orme [pseud. Alix Augusta Grein]LondonKingswayLady Raunds1922-12-04DestructionAgnese de LlanaLondonRoyaltyElla Singleton1924-09-18The FoolChanning PollockLondonApolloMrs. Henry Gilliam1925-05-11My Lady's DressEdward KnblockLondonAdelphiLa Grisa1925-06-22March Hares (The Temperamentalists)Harry Wagstaff GribbleLondonLittleMrs. Janet Rodney1925-09-22The Last of Mrs. CheyneyFrederick LonsdaleLondonSt. James'sMrs. Ebley1927-12-27SylviaJames DyrenforthLondonVaudevilleMrs. Considine1928-04-19Come With MeBasil Dean and Margaret KennedyLondonNewLady Alethea Zaidner1929-06-01SybaritesH. Dennis BradleyLondonArtsLady Byfleet1929-07-24Gentlemen of the JuryFrancis A. CamptonLondonArtsLady Blakeney1929-09-05Dear BrutusJ. M. BarrieLondonPlayhouseMrs. Coade1929-12-03The Major ExplainsW.R. WalkesLondonPrince of Wales[unnamed role]1929-12-03The AmoristsH. Dennis BradleyLondonRoyaltyLady Byfleet1930-12-26A Business MarriageAnonymousLondonCourtMrs. Mabley Jones1931-10-12There's Always JulietJohn Van DrutenLondonApolloFlorence1931-10-12There's Always JulietJohn Van DrutenNew YorkEmpireFlorence 1932-08-16Behold, We LiveJohn van DrutenLondonSt. James'sDame Frances Evers1932-10-02Please Don't Be NervousAnn StephensonLondonShaftesburyMother1933-08-08In Vino VeritasWalter HuddLondonArtsOakley1933-08-08The Long Christmas DinnerThornton WilderLondonArtsMother Bayard1933-08-01The LakeDorothy Massingham (with Murray Macdonald)LondonArtsMildred Surrege1933-08-01The LakeDorothy Massingham (with Murray Macdonald)LondonWestminsterMildred Surrege1933-11-29Man ProposesWarren Chetham-StrodeLondonWyndham'sMary Railton1934-05-03The Voysey InheritanceHarley Granville-BarkerLondonSadler's WellsMrs. Voysey1934-06-14Meeting At NightMarjorie SharpLondonGlobeMrs. Crowborough1934-07-04The MaitlandsRonald MackenzieLondonWyndham'sMay Maitland1934-11-08It Happened To AdamDavid BoehmLondonDuke of York'sMrs. Sloane1935-03-11RingmasterKeith WinterLondonShaftesburyMrs. West1935-04-07One Must Go OnGeorge PorterLondonComedyMrs. John Brown1935-05-31Night Must FallEmlyn WilliamsLondonDuchessMrs. Bramson1935-12-01Farm of Three EchoesNoel LangleyLondonWyndham'sOuma Gerart1936-09-28Night Must FallEmlyn WilliamsNew YorkEthel BarrymoreMrs. Bramson1938-01-10Your Obedient HusbandHorace JacksonNew YorkBroadhurstMrs. Scurlock 1938-05-23Here's To Our EnterpriseEdward KnoblockLondonLyceum[herself]1940-05-09Romeo and JulietWilliam ShakespeareNew York51st StreetNurse to Juliet 1941-04-08The Trojan WomenEuripidesNew YorkCortHecuba 1945-10-09ThereseThomas Job, based on Thérèse Raquin by Émile ZolaNew YorkBiltmoreMadame Raquin
Filmography See the British Film Institute.
Enoch Arden (1914) as Miriam Lane The Little Minister (1915) as Nanny Webster Colonel Newcombe, the Perfect Gentleman (1920) as Mrs. Mackenzie Keep Your Seats, Please (1936) as Aunt Georgina Withers (uncredited) Night Must Fall (1937) as Mrs. Bramson Conquest (1937) as Maria Letizia Buonaparte I Met My Love Again (1938) as Aunt William Parnell (1938, TV movie) as Aunt Caroline The Lady Vanishes (1938) as Miss Froy Mary Rose (1939, TV movie) as Mrs. Morland The Royal Family of Broadway (1939, TV movie) as Fanny Cavendis