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- A respected stage actress, brunette Edith Atwater was another of those performers who never quite managed to break into films. She was trained at the American Laboratory Theatre and began her acting career at the age of eighteen. She was on Broadway from 1931, her carefully coiffed patrician looks and mature manner rather suited to playing well-bred socialites. Her first lead was in a forgotten comedy, "Springtime for Henry" (which has the singular distinction of having its title co-opted by Mel Brooks for The Producers (1967) as "Springtime for Hitler"). However, better parts were in store: leads in hit plays like "The Country Wife" (1936), "Susan and God" (1937), "State of the Union" (1945), and, her best role yet, as Maggie Cutler opposite Monty Woolley in "The Man Who Came to Dinner" (1939). Bette Davis eventually got to star in the classic film version, whereas Edith had a just few inconsequential movie bits to show for in the 30's.
She didn't make an impact on screen until her role as Henry Daniell's housekeeper Meg Cameron in Val Lewton's brilliant horror thriller The Body Snatcher (1945). Nothing of substance followed until much later, when she popped up as an indomitable, over-protective socialite mother in William Castle's lurid psycho-thriller Strait-Jacket (1964). For the most part, however, Edith was typecast in maternal roles, or as nurses or secretaries which she always played believably. More often than not, we'd see her on the small screen, often in recurring roles as in the "Barefoot in the Park" lookalike Love on a Rooftop (1966), Grace Morton in Peyton Place (1964), or as Aunt Gertrude in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (1977).
Edith was married to actors Hugh Marlowe and Kent Smith who both predeceased her. - Actor
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Georgie Harris was born on 19 June 1898 in Liverpool, England, UK. He was an actor and writer, known for Strictly Illegal (1935), One Good Turn (1936) and The Stoker (1937). He died on 14 March 1986 in Westminster, London, England, UK.- Producer
- Director
- Editor
Huw Wheldon was born in Prestatyn in North Wales in May 1916. After attending Friar's School, Bangor, he studied at the London School of Economics. In 1939, at the outbreak of war, he volunteered, eventually joining the Royal Ulster Rifles. He landed in Normandy by glider on D-Day and won the Military Cross on D Day + 1. He finished the war as a Major. After the war he taught philosophy and politics to soldiers at Mount Carmel in what was still Palestine. In 1947 he became Director of the Arts Council in Wales and in 1951 was awarded the O.B.E. for his work as the Arts Council officer for the Festival of Britain. He then joined the BBC. He moved rapidly from publicity into production, making programs with General Brian Horrocks, Professor Robert Mackenzie and Orson Welles, among others. He was personally thanked by Prime Minister Harold Macmillan for the guidance and advice offered to the Premier in his live addresses to the nation. In 1958 Wheldon became Editor (a designation chosen by himself) of the first arts magazine program on British television, 'Monitor'. Wheldon gathered about him an astonishing ray of talents, including John Schlesinger and Ken Russell. John Boorman, too, has remarked on Wheldon's influence. In a TV interview after Wheldon's death Russell described 'Monitor' as "the British Film School". In 1964 Wheldon left the program, having "interviewed everyone I wanted to" and began his distinguished career as a television administrator. As Controller and then Managing Director of BBC television he oversaw what has come to be recognized as the 'golden age' of BBC television, during which were produced such series as 'Civilization', 'America' and 'The Ascent of Man', much original drama, such as Ken Loach's 'Cathy Come Home' and situation comedy of lasting merit, such as 'Steptoe and Son' (turned into 'Sanford & Son' in the USA) and 'Till Death Us Do Part' (which in America became 'All in the Family'). Compulsory retirement in 1976 was followed by a return to program making, with the 13 hour 'Royal Heritage', a major documentary about the Library of Congress and 'Destination D-Day' about the brilliant deceptions visited upon German intelligence by the British secret service prior to the Normandy invasions. Wheldon was knighted in 1976, for services to television. A BAFTA Award bears his name and a Huw Wheldon lecture is given each year under the auspices of the Royal Television Society. Wheldon was a colossus of the industry and his influence continues. He claimed to be the inventor of the term "narrowcasting". He died in 1986. His memorial service was held in Westminster Abbey.- Arne Westermann was born on 22 March 1912 in Copenhagen, Denmark. He was an actor, known for Genboerne (1939), Balletten danser (1938) and Penge som græs (1948). He died on 14 March 1986.
- Janina Weglan was born on 9 March 1924 in Lwów, Lwowskie, Poland [now Lviv, Ukraine]. She was an actress, known for The Hours of Hope (1955) and Pierwsze dni (1952). She died on 14 March 1986 in Warsaw, Mazowieckie, Poland.