Dame Gwen Lucy Ffrangcon-Davies, was a British actress and centenarian.
15 Facts About Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies
2.
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies was born in London of a Welsh family; the name "Ffrangcon" is said to originate from a valley in Snowdonia.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies's parents were opera baritone David Ffrangcon-Davies and Annie Francis Rayner.
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In 1925, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies played Tess in a stage version of Tess of the d'Urbervilles, including a special presentation for its author, Thomas Hardy.
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In 1938, Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies appeared with Ivor Novello in a production of Henry V at Drury Lane.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies played Lady Macbeth for almost an entire year in 1942 opposite John Gielgud's Macbeth.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies won the Evening Standard Award in 1958 for her performance as Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey Into Night.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies retired from the stage in 1970, but has appeared on radio and television; in one such appearance, broadcast on Christmas Day, 1990, a month before her 99th birthday, she featured in the BBC radio show, With Great Pleasure, in which stars chose favourite readings, spoken by others, and by themselves.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies chose "The Kingdom of God", by Francis Thompson, read by Alec McCowen; a passage from The Merchant of Venice, read by herself, and Anna Massey and Alec McCowen; "These I Have Loved", by Rupert Brooke, read by Anna Massey; and, a part of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, by T E Lawrence, whom she once met, read by Alec McCowen; it was included in the 1992 compilation cassette With Great Pleasure.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies made her final acting appearance in a teleplay of the Sherlock Holmes mystery The Master Blackmailer at the age of 100.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies was listed in The Guinness Book of Records under the category 'Oldest performer ' for this role.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies's films included The Witches and The Devil Rides Out, both for Hammer Films.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies was created a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1991, aged 100, and was the oldest-ever appointee to that honour until fellow actress Olivia de Havilland received her damehood in 2017.
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Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies died in 1992, two days after her 101st birthday, and a month after her final acting role was screened.
15.
Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies made two appearances on Desert Island Discs: one broadcast on 8 October 1962, and the other on 19 June 1988.