Muriel Pavlow(1921-2019)
- Actress
Lovely, delicate-looking actress Muriel Pavlow belongs firmly to the
British cinema of the 1950s and often provided a nice counterbalance to
the hectic goings-on in many comedies. Born in 1921 in Leigh, Kent,
England, she was a dominant stage actress despite her petite frame and
made her theatrical debut at age 15 with a production of "The Old Maid"
(1936). Other sprightly teen roles on stage followed including "Oedipus
Rex" (1936), "Victoria Regina" (1937), "Dear Octopus" (1938), "Dear
Brutus" (1940) and "Old Acquaintance" before she began to get a strong
foothold in films.
Muriel started out with a bit role in a 1934 Gracie Fields musical comedy film, but wouldn't come into her own for nearly two decades. Perennially radiant and youthful, she often times played ingénue roles much younger than her actual age. She appeared in the film Mariage sans histoires (1941) starring Margaret Lockwood and Derek Farr and was prominently seen in the war-time film Service secret contre bombe atomique (1946). While making a beguiling Ophelia on a live, early TV version of Hamlet Part 1 (1947), for the most part she tried to build up her theatrical credits.
A comely heroine in thrillers, light comedies and war-themed pictures she was usually cast as an altruistic bride, wife or girlfriend. In 1947 she married actor Farr and went on to appear with him in such British-made films as Légitime défense (1947) and Toubib en liberté (1957). Peaking in mid-50s films opposite such established British actors as Dirk Bogarde, Peter Finch, John Gregson, Kenneth More and Donald Sinden, Muriel also continued to perform theater roles, notably in Shakespeare pieces -- "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Othello", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Troilus and Cressida".
Her film career waned in the early 60s and she and her husband worked for the most part on stage and in television. The couple appeared together in such plays as "Wolf's Clothing" (1959) and "Mary, Mary" (1963). Following Farr's death in 1986, she resumed her career and was spotted in the late 80s and 90s in a number of matronly roles. Some of her last roles were in TV movies -- Daisies in December (1995), Heaven on Earth (1998) and Nouveau départ (2004), the last in which she was in the company of such elites as Brenda Blethyn, Rosemary Harris and Anna Massey.
She made a brief appearance in her final movie, Lady Keyes: Celle qui en savait trop (2009). She died in England, at age 97 on January 19, 2019.
Muriel started out with a bit role in a 1934 Gracie Fields musical comedy film, but wouldn't come into her own for nearly two decades. Perennially radiant and youthful, she often times played ingénue roles much younger than her actual age. She appeared in the film Mariage sans histoires (1941) starring Margaret Lockwood and Derek Farr and was prominently seen in the war-time film Service secret contre bombe atomique (1946). While making a beguiling Ophelia on a live, early TV version of Hamlet Part 1 (1947), for the most part she tried to build up her theatrical credits.
A comely heroine in thrillers, light comedies and war-themed pictures she was usually cast as an altruistic bride, wife or girlfriend. In 1947 she married actor Farr and went on to appear with him in such British-made films as Légitime défense (1947) and Toubib en liberté (1957). Peaking in mid-50s films opposite such established British actors as Dirk Bogarde, Peter Finch, John Gregson, Kenneth More and Donald Sinden, Muriel also continued to perform theater roles, notably in Shakespeare pieces -- "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Othello", "The Taming of the Shrew" and "Troilus and Cressida".
Her film career waned in the early 60s and she and her husband worked for the most part on stage and in television. The couple appeared together in such plays as "Wolf's Clothing" (1959) and "Mary, Mary" (1963). Following Farr's death in 1986, she resumed her career and was spotted in the late 80s and 90s in a number of matronly roles. Some of her last roles were in TV movies -- Daisies in December (1995), Heaven on Earth (1998) and Nouveau départ (2004), the last in which she was in the company of such elites as Brenda Blethyn, Rosemary Harris and Anna Massey.
She made a brief appearance in her final movie, Lady Keyes: Celle qui en savait trop (2009). She died in England, at age 97 on January 19, 2019.
