Jessica Tandy
Acting
Born: June 7, 1909 · London, England
Died: September 11, 1994 (aged 85)
Highest Rated
Biography
Jessie Alice "Jessica" Tandy (June 7, 1909 – September 11, 1994) was an English-American stage and film actress. She first appeared on the London stage in 1926 at the age of 16, playing, among others, Katherine opposite Laurence Olivier's Henry V, and Cordelia opposite John Gielgud's King Lear. She also worked in British films. Following the end of her marriage to Jack Hawkins, she moved to New York, where she met Canadian actor Hume Cronyn. He became her second husband and frequent partner on stage and screen. She won the Tony Award for her performance as Blanche Dubois in the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire in 1948, sharing the prize with Katherine Cornell (who won for Antony and Cleopatra) and Judith Anderson (for the latter's portrayal of Medea). Over the following three decades, her career continued sporadically and included a substantial role in Alfred Hitchcock's film, The Birds (1963), and a Tony Award-winning performance in The Gin Game (playing in the two-character play opposite her husband, Cronyn) in 1977. She, along with Cronyn was a member of the original acting company of The Guthrie Theater. In the mid 1980s she enjoyed a career revival. She appeared opposite Hume Cronyn in the Broadway production of Foxfire in 1983 and its television adaptation four years later, winning both a Tony Award and an Emmy Award for her portrayal of Annie Nations. During these years, she appeared in films such as Cocoon (1985), also with Cronyn. She became the oldest actress to receive the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Driving Miss Daisy (1989), for which she also won a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Fried Green Tomatoes (1991). At the height of her success, she was named as one of People's "50 Most Beautiful People". She was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1990, and continued working until shortly before her death.
Known for
The Birds
1963
Driving Miss Daisy
1989
Fried Green Tomatoes
1991
Cocoon
1985
Cocoon: The Return
1988
*batteries not included
1987
The World According to Garp
1982
Nobody's Fool
1994
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Still of the Night
1982
Dragonwyck
1946
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
1951
Photos (4)
Movies (36)
Fried Green Tomatoes
Ninny Threadgoode
The Birds
Lydia Brenner
Driving Miss Daisy
Daisy Werthan
Cocoon
Alma Finley
*batteries not included
Faye Riley
Nobody's Fool
Beryl Peoples
The World According to Garp
Mrs. Fields
Cocoon: The Return
Alma Finley
The Valley of Decision
Louise Kane
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
Frau Lucie Marie Rommel
Still of the Night
Grace Rice
The House on Carroll Street
Miss Venable
Dragonwyck
Peggy O'Malley
Forever Amber
Nan Britton
The Seventh Cross
Liesel Roeder
Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man
Mrs. Helen Adams
The Light in the Forest
Myra Butler
Honky Tonk Freeway
Carol
The Bostonians
Miss Birdseye
Best Friends
Eleanor McCullen
The Story Lady
Grace McQueen
A Woman's Vengeance
Janet Spence
To Dance with the White Dog
Cora Peek
September Affair
Catherine Lawrence
Tennessee Williams' South
1973
Used People
Freida
The Moon and Sixpence
Blanche Stroeve
The Green Years
Kate Leckie
Foxfire
Annie Nations
Camilla
Camilla Cara
Miss Daisy's Journey: From Stage to Screen
Daisy Werthan (archive footage) (uncredited)
Butley
Edna Shaft
Blonde Fever
Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
The Fourposter
1955
The Gin Game
Fonsia Dorsey
Indiscretions of Eve
Penelope, the Maid
TV Shows (23)
Studio One
Connaught O'Brien · 1 eps
Studio One
Mrs. Moore · 1 eps
American Playhouse
Fonsia Dorsey · 1 eps
The F.B.I.
Ardyth Nolan · 1 eps
The Philco Television Playhouse
Liz Marriott · 1 eps
Omnibus
3 eps
Omnibus
Louisa Catherine Johnson · 1 eps
Omnibus
Jackie · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Edwina Freel · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Julia Lester · 1 eps
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Laura Bowlby · 1 eps
Dream On
(archive footage) · 1 eps
Judd, for the Defense
1 eps
Judd, for the Defense
Helen Wister · 1 eps
Lights Out
1 eps
Telephone Time
1 eps
Suspicion
1 eps
Goodyear Television Playhouse
Leticia Blacklock · 1 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Mrs. Martin · 1 eps
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Annie Nations · 1 eps
General Electric Theater
Laura Whitemore · 1 eps
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Cora Torrence · 1 eps
Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
Bertha Jacks · 1 eps
Self / Appearances (17)
Golden Globe Awards
Self - Nominee · 1 eps
The Merv Griffin Show
Self · 2 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Award Accepter · 1 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Winner · 3 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee · 1 eps
Tony Awards
Self (archive footage) · 2 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Nominee / Performer · 1 eps
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter · 2 eps
Intimate Portrait
Self · 1 eps
The Ed Sullivan Show
Self · 5 eps
Omnibus
Self - Reader · 1 eps
The Kennedy Center Honors
Self · 1 eps
Night of 100 Stars III
Self
James Dean: Forever Young
Self (archive footage)
Moments of Discovery: The Making of Fried Green Tomatoes
Self
A Streetcar on Broadway
Self (archive footage)
Jessica Tandy: Theatre Legend to Screen Star
Self (archive footage)