16 Facts About Margaret Johnston

Margaret Johnston was the second of three daughters born in Australia to English parents.

Margaret Johnston was educated at the North Sydney Girls High School, then at the University of Sydney where she studied law.

Margaret Johnston had shown an interest and aptitude for drama from an early age acting in various school productions before working professionally in Sydney's theatres.

Margaret Johnston was accepted as a student by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she was tutored by Stefan Hock.

Margaret Johnston's first role on the West End stage was a minor part in a 1939 production of Saloon Bar, a comedy-thriller.

Margaret Johnston followed this with a period in repertory theatre, before being cast in a 1942 production of Murder Without Crime at London's Comedy Theatre.

In 1944 Margaret Johnston played opposite Fay Compton in The Last of Summer at the Phoenix Theatre.

In 1946, Margaret Johnston played the lead role of Kitty Duval in The Time of Your Life at the Lyric Hammersmith, followed in 1948 by a stage production of The Barretts of Wimpole Street in which she portrayed Elizabeth Barrett, a performance which earned her further critical appreciation, although the production itself was thought lacklustre.

Margaret Johnston appeared as Alma Winemiller in a 1951 production of Tennessee Williams' Summer and Smoke, initially at the Lyric then transferring to the Duchess Theatre.

From 1956 Margaret Johnston appeared in several productions at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, playing Desdemona in Othello, Portia in The Merchant of Venice and Isabella in Measure for Measure.

Margaret Johnston made her screen debut in the film The Prime Minister, in a supporting role as one of the daughters of Benjamin Disraeli, played by John Gielgud.

One of Margaret Johnston's best known film roles came in the adaptation of Francis Brett Young's novel Portrait of Clare, another box-office success.

Margaret Johnston returned to the screen via the unexpected medium of the horror film Night of the Eagle.

In tandem with her stage and screen appearances, Margaret Johnston played in eight television productions between 1951 and 1964.

From 1965, Margaret Johnston was effectively running the business herself and decided, following her appearance in Sebastian, to give up her acting career in order to manage the agency full-time.

Margaret Johnston died in a nursing home in Kingston upon Thames, London on 19 June 2002, aged 87.