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Elizabeth A.Sackler Center for Feminist Art

Edith Evans

b. 1888, London; d. 1976, Cranbrook, Kent, England

Edith Evans was one of the most accomplished and talented English actresses of the twentieth century. In 1912, she made her debut in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida, and in 1925 began performing extensively with the Old Vic theater company. Evans preferred complex character portrayals and is best known for her role as Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. She was in numerous films throughout the 1950s and 1960s, including The Nun’s Story (1959) and The Whisperers (1967). In 1946, Evans was honored with the title Dame of the British Empire.