Anna Massey

About:

Anna Massey was born in Sussex, England, the daughter of two actors, Raymond Massey and Adrianne Allen and the niece of Vincent Massey who would become Governor General of Canada. Her godfather was the legendary film director John Ford in whose 1958 film Gideon’s Day she appeared. As such she, and indeed her brother Daniel, were fairly destined to attempt a career in the Theatre.

She won great acclaim, and a Tony nomination, for her first major theatrical role at the age of 18 in The Reluctant Debutante in 1955, and her first major film role, the lead in Michael Powell’s controversial film Peeping Tom (1960) ensured her wider fame.

Alongside her extraordinary theatrical career with many highlights including her award winning role in the Royal National Theatre’s 1981 production of Pinter’s A Kind of Alaska and her similarly lauded Miss Prism in the 1982 production of The Importance of Being Earnest, she has appeared in a phenomenal catalogue of films and television productions. These include, Hitchcock’s Frenzy (1972), Another Country (1984), Hotel du Lac (1986, TV), The Darling Buds of May (1991-1992), The Slab Boys (1997), The Importance of Being Earnest (2002), He Knew He Was Right (2004) and in the realm of the spoken word she narrated the highly successful BBC Radio series This Sceptered Isle.

She was married to the actor Jeremy Brett, with whom she starred in the 1979 television version of Rebecca and with whom she had one son, the writer David Huggins. They divorced in 1962 and she is now married to Uri Andres.

She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2005 for her services to drama.

Selected Filmography:

The Robinsons (TV Series)
Agatha Christie (TV)
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
The Darling Buds of May (TV Series)