Edith Evans

Born Feb. 8, 1888, in London; died Oct. 14, 1976, in Cranbrook, Kent. British actress. Evans made her stage debut in 1912. She played in London, including the Old Vic Theatre (from 1925 with interruptions), as well as in Stratford-upon-Avon and in New York City. Among her roles were Mrs. Millamant and Lady Wishfort in Congreve’s The Way of the World, Lady Utterwood in Shaw’s Heartbreak House, Mrs. Malaprop in Sheridan’s The Rivals, the Nurse in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Ranevskaia in Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Arkadina in Chekhov’s The Seagull, and Katerina Ivanovna in Crime and Punishment (based on Dostoevsky). Evans also acted in motion pictures. In 1958 she visited the USSR.