Katie Johnson (English actress)
Katie Johnson | |
|---|---|
 Publicity still for The Ladykillers (1955) | |
| Born | Bessie Kate Johnson 18 November 1878 |
| Died | 4 May 1957 (aged 78) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1894−1957 |
| Spouse(s) | Frank Goodenough Bayly
(m. 1908; died 1923) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Best British Actress 1955 The Ladykillers |
Bessie Kate Johnson (18 November 1878 – 4 May 1957) was an English actress who appeared on stage from 1894 and on screen from the 1930s to the 1950s.[1][2]
Biography[edit]
In 1908 she married the actor Frank Goodenough Bayly (1873 – 28 November 1923, Newcastle upon Tyne).[3] The couple had two children, William Frank Goodenough Bayly (1910-1973) and Johnson Goodenough Bayly (1915-1980).
She first appeared in a film at age 53, in 1932, but never received critical acclaim for her performances until 1955, when she starred, aged 76, in the Ealing Studios comedy The Ladykillers as Mrs Louisa Wilberforce.[2] The role earned her a British Film Academy award for best British actress.[4] She died less than two years afterwards having only appeared in a single further film.[3]
She also appeared in the BBC science fiction serial The Quatermass Experiment (1953) and played a spy in I See a Dark Stranger (1946).[5][6]
Selected filmography[edit]
- After Office Hours (1932) – Miss Wilesden
- A Glimpse of Paradise (1934) – Mrs. Fielding
- Laburnum Grove (1936) – Mrs. Radfern
- Dusty Ermine (1936) – Emily Kent
- Farewell Again (1937) – Mother of soldier in hospital (uncredited)
- The Last Adventures (1937) – (uncredited)
- Sunset in Vienna (1937) – Woman in Café (uncredited)
- The Dark Stairway (1938) – (uncredited)
- Marigold (1938) – Santa Dunlop
- Gaslight (1940) – Alice Barlow's Maid (uncredited)
- Two for Danger (1940) – (uncredited)
- Freedom Radio (1941) – Granny Schmidt
- Jeannie (1941) – Mathilda
- The Black Sheep of Whitehall (1942) – Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Talk About Jacqueline (1942) – Ethel
- Tawny Pipit (1944) – Miss Pyman
- He Snoops to Conquer (1944) – Ma – George's Landlady (uncredited)
- Love Letters (1945) – Nurse (uncredited)
- The Years Between (1946) – Old Man's Wife
- I See a Dark Stranger (1946) – Old Lady on Train
- Meet Me at Dawn (1947) – Henriette – Mme. Vermomel's Housekeeper
- Code of Scotland Yard (1947) – Music Box Seller. (uncredited)
- Death of an Angel (1952) – Sarah Oddy
- I Believe in You (1952) – Miss Mackiln
- Lady in the Fog (1952) – 'Mary Stuart' – Old Inmate at Murder Scene
- The Large Rope (1953) – Grandmother
- Three Steps in the Dark (1953) – Mrs. Riddle
- The Rainbow Jacket (1954) – (uncredited)
- Delavine Affair (1954) – Mrs. Bissett
- Out of the Clouds (1955) – Passenger (uncredited)
- John and Julie (1955) – Old Lady
- The Ladykillers (1955) – Mrs. Wilberforce (The Old Lady)
- How to Murder a Rich Uncle (1957) – Alice (final film role) – (released posthumously, in June, '57)
Additional sources[edit]
- Film academy awards, The Times, February 13, 1956, pg. 5
- Obituary, The Times, May 9, 1957, pg. 12
- Will, The Times, July 29, 1957, pg. 10
References[edit]
- ^ "Katie Johnson – Movies and Filmography – AllMovie". AllMovie.
- ^ a b http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/557746/index.html</>Johnson on the British Film Institute website
- ^ a b "Frank G. Bayly". Archived from the original on 2014-01-14. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org.
- ^ "The Quatermass Experiment Episode One Contact Has Been Established (1953)".
- ^ "I See a Dark Stranger (1946)".
