Georgina Cookson Explained

Georgina Cookson
Birth Date:1918 12, df=y
Birth Place:Mevagissey, Cornwall, England
Death Place:Sydney, Australia
Othername:Antoinette Georgina Cookson
Yearsactive:1945–1983

Antoinette Georgina Cookson (19 December 1918 – 1 October 2011) was a British film, stage and television actress.[1] She died in Sydney, aged 92, on 1 October 2011.[2]

Family

Cookson was the daughter of racing driver Roger Cookson and Sybil Taylor. Her mother, using the pseudonym Sydney Tremayne, was a novelist and contributed to The Tatler. Cookson left Benenden School at the age of 15 to train at RADA.[3] She was the great-granddaughter of the psychiatrist Sir James Crichton-Browne.

She was married four times; she was twice divorced and twice widowed. She had two children, a son and a daughter.[3]

Theatre

After graduating from RADA, she found constant work in both the regions and the West End theatre, appearing alongside Hermione Gingold in the wartime revue Rise Above It at the ‘Q’ (1940) and at the Comedy Theatre (1941). In the same decade, she was in Love Goes to Press, with Irene Worth, at the Embassy Theatre (in Swiss Cottage) and Duchess Theatre (1946) and briefly on Broadway the following year; School for Spinsters (Criterion Theatre, 1947), Portrait of Hickory (Embassy, 1948) and opposite Jack Buchanan in Don't Listen, Ladies! at the St James's Theatre in 1949.

She was no less busy in the 1950s, with appearances in Lionel Shapiro's The Bridge for Bristol Old Vic (1952); 13 for Dinner (Duke of York's Theatre, 1953); the world premier of I Capture the Castle, with Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers and Roger Moore, which opened at Grand Theatre, Blackpool before transferring to the Aldwych Theatre in 1954; and Robert Morley’s Six Months’ Grace (Phoenix Theatre, 1957). Her last stage roles included a national tour of My Fair Lady in 1988 and, alongside Peggy Mount and Jack Douglas, A Breath of Spring in 1990.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1945I Didn't Do ItWillow Thane
1948Woman HaterJulia
1954Solution by PhoneFrances Hanborough
1957Lady Lucy MayleyAKA, Your Past Is Showing
1958Mrs. Duncan
1959Billie
1959Miss Firbank
1960Your Money or Your WifeThelma Cressingdon
1962Live Now, Pay LaterLucyRediscovered and released on dvd in June, 2020.
1965CatacombsEllen GarthAKA, The Woman Who Wouldn't Die
1965DarlingCarlotta Hale
1969Walk a Crooked PathImogen Dreeper

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1947FortunatoConstanza HidalgoTV short
1948EustasiaTV film
1948Prudence NaishTV film
1949Sarah SimpleSarahTV film
1949By CandlelightLulu KeckTV film
1952Lovers' LeapSarah TrailleTV film
1953It's You I WantConstance GilbertTV film
1954Saber of LondonMuriel"The Secret Place"
1955Fay MeadowsTV film
1957Getting MarriedLesbia GranthamTV film
1957Theatre NightLorna Loveday"Six Months' Grace"
1957Educated EvansLady Brenda Herbans"High Society"
1958Sunday Night TheatreMme. Pouchelet"The Three Daughters of M. Dupont"
1958Dr. Christine Helder"The Case of the Offensive General"
1958ITV Play of the WeekLily"The Curious Savage"
1959ITV Play of the WeekGwen Cedar"For Services Rendered"
1959All AboardLady Gilbert"30.May.1959"
1960Ursula Brooking"Flying Fur"
1960EmmaMrs. Augusta EltonTV miniseries
1960On TrialMrs. Wilson"The Baccarat Scandal"
1960Lady GildingTV film
1960ITV Play of the WeekConnie Mercer"Ladies of the Corridor"
1960Saturday PlayhouseDorothy Ritchie"The Difficult Age"
1961Saturday PlayhouseMarjory Leland"A Sense of Guilt"
1961Danger ManMiss Bishop"The Trap"
1961Dixon of Dock GreenIris Lenton"The Case of the Silent Thief"
1961No Hiding PlaceEdith Sudbury"The Widower"
1962ITV Television PlayhouseMrs. Bindy"A Free Weekend"
1962MaigretMrs. Wilton"The Amateurs"
1962ITV Play of the WeekRuth Stilton"A Letter from the General"
1963ITV Play of the WeekEdwina"The Finambulists"
1963No Hiding PlaceEllis Andrews"Death on the Doorstep"
1963Comedy PlayhouseMrs. Ferris"Impasse"
1963Jezebel ex UKCelia Brooks"Love and Let Love"
1964Laura"Sauce for the Goose"
1964EspionageEve McAvoy"A Tiny Drop of Poison"
1964Mrs. MalloweTV series
1965Summer Comedy HourMrs. Brent"Almost a Honeymoon"
1965ITV Play of the WeekMelanie"Finesse in Diamonds"
1966ITV Play of the WeekMabel Crosswaite"The Reluctant Debutante"
1966Eugenie GrandetMarquise d'Aubrion"Inheritance"
1967Sorry I'm SingleMiss Kaye"The Polka Dot Matching Set"
1967SanctuaryMrs. Courtney"Has Everyone Heard of Juliet?"
1967Blonde Lady"A. B. and C."
1967Mrs. Butterworth"Many Happy Returns"
1968Ooh La La!Madame de Pontmele"The Hasty Hand"
1968Harry WorthLady Pressley"Last in Line"
1969Harry WorthVera Filbert"Anyone for Golf?"
1969Her Majesty's PleasureLady Droylesden"The Woman's Touch"
1970W. Somerset MaughamMarion Towers"Jane"
1971UFOJane Grant"Court Martial"
1972Steptoe and SonMrs. Kennington-Stroud"Loathe Story"
1972Clouds of WitnessHelen, Duchess of DenverTV miniseries
1975Affairs of the HeartMaud Lowder"Milly"
1978Do You Remember?Mrs. Harlow"The File on Harry Jordan"
1983Number 10Baroness Rothschild"Dizzy"

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Georgina Cookson. https://web.archive.org/web/20090117065438/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/133463. dead. 2009-01-17. BFI.
  2. Web site: Georgina Cookson. aveleyman.com. 26 October 2011. 1 December 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20231201195812/https://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=41268. dead.
  3. Web site: Georgina Cookson 1918–2011 RIP. britmovie.co.uk. 26 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20111101230617/http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/obituaries/110356-georgina-cookson-1918-2011-rip.html. 1 November 2011. dead.