Brenda Forbes
Acting
Biography
Born as Dorothy Brenda Taylor, Brenda adopted the last name Forbes as did her two notable acting relatives: mother Mary (born Ethel Louise) and brother Ralph. Like her relatives, she moved to the United States to further pursue her acting career. While her film roles were limited, she worked on stage for decades. Shortly before her death, she published her memoirs, "Five Minutes, Miss Forbes."
Born: January 14, 1909
Place of Birth: Wandsworth, London, England, UK
Known For
Blithe Spirit
Television adaptation of Noël Coward's famous play about an unhappily married man plagued by the spirit of his dead previous wife.
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
A continuation of the anthology series “Alfred Hitchcock Presents”, hosted by the master of suspense and featuring thrillers and mysteries.
Mrs. Miniver
Middle-class housewife Kay Miniver deals with petty problems. She and her husband Clem watch her Oxford-educated son Vin court Carol Beldon, the charming granddaughter of the local nobility as represented by Lady Beldon. Then the war comes and Vin joins the RAF.
This Above All
In 1940 England, aristocratic Prudence Cathaway alarms her snobbish parents by joining the WAF service branch. She soon meets and falls in love with the brooding Clive Briggs, despite his prejudice against the upper classes, and agrees to spend a week with him at a Dover hotel. When Clive's soldier friend, Monty, arrives to retrieve him, Prudence learns that Clive went AWOL after Dunkirk, and urges him to recall why England must fight the war.
The White Cliffs of Dover
American Susan travels with her father to England for a vacation. Invited to a society ball, Susan meets Sir John Ashwood and marries him after a whirlwind romance. However, she never quite adjusts to life as a new member of the British gentry. At the outbreak of World War I, John is sent to the trenches and never returns. When her son goes off to fight in World War II, Susan fears the same tragic fate may befall him too.
Laura Lansing Slept Here
With a glittering cast that includes Katharine Hepburn and Karen Austin in lead roles, Laura Lansing Slept Here is a humorous family movie. Hepburn plays Laura Lansing, a novelist who undergoes an identity crisis as, despite her fame and fortune, she feels something is missing from her life. Entering into a quest to return a degree of normalcy to her life, Lansing's attempts provide many comedic moments, as well as a salient lesson for the famous author.
Vigil in the Night
A good nurse ruins her career by covering up for her sister's careless mistake.
Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry
A rich widow shocks her snobbish WASP family when she decides to marry her Jewish, divorced, doctor. His family is equally shocked.
The Man Upstairs
Hepburn plays an elderly woman whose house becomes a hideaway for an escaped convict (O'Neal), and the pair strike up an unlikely friendship.
Miss Polly
A small-town spinster, who's a born romantic, takes on the strict members of the local "Purity League" by spilling a few of their well-kept secrets. Comedy.
Filmography
as Rich Woman with Necklace at Tut's
as Cloris
as Doris
as Gladys Parker
as Verna Clarvoe
as Mrs. Bradman
as Gwennie
as Gladys
as Mae
as Patsy
as Nora Dunn
as Penelope the Maid