Zeffie Tilbury

Zeffie Tilbury

1863-11-18 – 1950-07-24 (age 86) Paddington, London, England, UK
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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury (November 20, 1863 โ€“ July 24, 1950) was an English actress.

Tilbury was known first on the London stage and on Broadway in New York City. In 1881, she debuted on stage in Nine Points of the Law at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, England.

She is today best known for playing wise or evil older characters in films, such as the distinguished lady gambler at dinner with Garbo in The Single Standard, as the pitiful Grandma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath and Grandma Lester in Tobacco Road.

She appeared in over 70 films. Her earliest surviving silent film is the Valentino / Nazimova 1921 production of Camille. Tilbury is probably best remembered as the old lady who is befriended by Spanky and his friends on her birthday and, as a result, is transformed from a lonely, disagreeable recluse to a happy and loving carefree soul in the 1936 Hal Roach Our Gang comedy Second Childhood. In the same year she also portrayed the Gypsy Queen in the Laurel and Hardy film The Bohemian Girl.

Tilbury was married twice. First to Arthur Frederick Lewis in June, 1887, and later to L. E. Woodthorpe, who died on April 8, 1915. She died in Los Angeles, California in 1950 at the age of 86.

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Known For

The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath

1940

as Grandma Joad

After the Thin Man
After the Thin Man

1936

as Aunt Lucy (uncredited)

The Earl of Chicago
The Earl of Chicago

1940

as Miss Nana (uncredited)

Camille
Camille

1936

as Old Duchess Bidding 3750 Francs

Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette

1938

as Dowager at Birth of Dauphin (uncredited)

The Bohemian Girl
The Bohemian Girl

1936

as Gypsy Queen

Alice Adams
Alice Adams

1935

as Mrs. Dresser (uncredited)

Werewolf of London
Werewolf of London

1935

as Mrs. Moncaster

Desire
Desire

1936

as Aunt Olga

The Story of Alexander Graham Bell
Anthony Adverse
Anthony Adverse

1936

as Old Woman at Chalet

Lady of the Tropics
Lady of the Tropics

1939

as Woman Congratulating Manon

The Last Days of Pompeii
The Last Days of Pompeii

1935

as The Wise Woman (uncredited)

Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road

1941

as Grandma Lester

Two Alone
Two Alone

1934

as Rogers' Neighbor (uncredited)

It Happened in Hollywood
It Happened in Hollywood

1937

as Miss Gordon

Camille
Camille

1921

as Prudence

The Farmer Takes a Wife
The Farmer Takes a Wife

1935

as Old Townswoman

The Gorgeous Hussy
The Gorgeous Hussy

1936

as Mrs. Daniel Beall

The Mystery of Edwin Drood
The Mystery of Edwin Drood

1935

as The Opium Woman