Maxine Audley (29 April 1923 – 23 July 1992) was an English theatre and film actress. She made her professional stage debut in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre. Audley performed with the Old Vic company and the Royal Shakespeare Company many times. She appeared in more than 20 films, the first of which was the 1948 adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina.

Maxine Audley
Born
Maxine Hecht

(1923-04-29)29 April 1923
London, England
Died23 July 1992(1992-07-23) (aged 69)
Fulham, London, England
Other namesViolet M. Hecht
OccupationActress
Years active1947–1992
Spouses
Leonard Cassini
(m. 1944)
  • Andrew Broughton (dates unknown)
Frederick Granville
(m. 1954⁠–⁠1965)
Leo Maguire
(m. 1978)
Children1

Biography

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Maxine Audley was born in London on 29 April 1923. Her parents were Henry Julius Hecht and Katherine Arkandy, a coloratura soprano. Audley attended the Westonbirt School in Gloucestershire. She trained for the stage at the Tamara Daykharhanova School in New York City and the London Mask Theatre School.[1]

Audley was married four times, to the pianist Leonard Cassini, to company manager Andrew Broughton, to Frederick Granville the impresario, with whom she had a daughter, Deborah Jane, and to Glasgow born actor Leo Maguire 1938-1992 (not to be confused with Irish songwriter of the same name).[1][2] Audley died in London on 23 July 1992.[2]

Stage work

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Audley made her first professional stage appearance in July 1940 at the Open Air Theatre in a walk-on role in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. From 1940 to 1942, Audley performed with repertory companies in Tonbridge, Maidenhead and Birmingham. She again performed at the Open Air Theatre in 1942 and 1943, appearing in such roles as Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice and Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream.[1] After the Second World War, Audley toured with the Old Vic company in Arms and the Man and made her West End theatre debut in the 1948 musical Carissima.[2]

From 1948 to 1949, Audley performed in repertory theatre at the Nottingham Playhouse. The following year, she joined the company of what was then known as the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, touring Germany in the roles of Goneril in King Lear, Mariana in Measure for Measure and Ursula in Much Ado About Nothing. Audley continued to work with this company throughout her career, appearing with them again for their 1955 and 1957 seasons.[3] In the 1955 season, Audley appeared as Lady Macduff in Macbeth, a performance that was praised by Kenneth Tynan as having "exceptional power".[2] Audley portrayed Tamora in the 1957 production of Titus Andronicus, a role that she would later list as one of her favourites, along with Amanda in Private Lives and Blanche du Bois in A Streetcar Named Desire.[2][1] In 1960 she appeared at the Strand Theatre in Settled Out of Court.

In 1961, Audley joined the Old Vic company, appearing as Constance in King John at the Royal Lyceum Theatre and the Old Vic. The following year, she performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Edinburgh Festival. Audley played the role of Marina, an aristocrat's concubine, in Iris Murdoch's play The Servants and the Snow (1970).[4] She worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company again in 1977, playing Volumnia in Coriolanus in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre. Other venues at which Audley appeared included the Haymarket Theatre in 1963, the Palace Theatre, Watford in 1968 and the Warehouse Theatre in 1978.[1]

Film and TV work

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Maxine Audley appeared in more than 20 films, her first appearance being in the 1948 adaptation of Anna Karenina.[2] She then appeared in The Prince and the Showgirl, A King in New York (both 1957), The Vikings, Dunkirk (both 1958), Our Man in Havana (1959) and Peeping Tom (1960). Her other films include The Trials of Oscar Wilde (also 1960) as Ada Leverson, The Battle of the Villa Fiorita (1965), Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush (1968), House of Cards (1968), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, Sinful Davey, The Looking Glass War (1970) and Running Scared (1972). Her television appearances included International Detective and Danger Man (1960), "The Edgar Wallace Mysteries" and "Man at the Carlton Tower" (1961), Great Expectations (1967), Mr. Rose (1967), The Adventures of Black Beauty (1972), Space: 1999 (1976) and the television miniseries adaptations of Zastrozzi, A Romance (1986) and A Ghost in Monte Carlo (1990).

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes
1948 Anna Karenina Minor Role Uncredited
1953 The Pleasure Garden Lady Ennui
1954 The Sleeping Tiger Carol
1957 The Barretts of Wimpole Street Arabel Barrett
1957 The Prince and the Showgirl Lady Sunningdale
1957 A King in New York Queen Irene
1958 Dunkirk Diana Foreman
1958 The Vikings Enid
1959 Our Man in Havana Teresa
1960 Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons Cynthia
1960 Peeping Tom Mrs. Stephens
1960 Hell Is a City Julia Martineau
1960 The Trials of Oscar Wilde Ada Leverson
1961 Petticoat Pirates Mary - Superintendent
1961 Man at the Carlton Tower Lydia Daney
1962 The Brain Marion Fane
1963 Ricochet Yvonne Phipps
1964 A Jolly Bad Fellow Clarinda Bowles-Ottery
1964 Never Mention Murder Liz Teasdale Edgar Wallace Mysteries
1965 The Battle of the Villa Fiorita Charmian
1968 Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush Mrs. Beauchamp
1968 House of Cards Mathilde Rosier
1969 Sinful Davey Duchess of Argyll
1969 Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed Ella Brandt
1970 The Looking Glass War Mrs. Leclerc
1972 Running Scared Mrs. Betancourt

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Ian Herbert, ed. (1981). "AUDLEY, Maxine". Who's Who in the Theatre. Vol. 1. Gale Research Company. pp. 30–31. ISSN 0083-9833.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Vallance, Tom (25 July 1992). "Obituary: Maxine Audley". The Independent.
  3. ^ McFarlane, Brian (2008). "Audley, Maxine (1923–1992)". BFI Screenonline. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  4. ^ Bryden, Ronald Bryden (4 October 1970). "Back to Old Symbolia: Ronald Bryden Discusses the New Iris Murdoch". The Observer. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
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