- Born
- Died
- Birth nameFlorence Marjorie Robertson
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- Dame Anna Neagle, the endearingly popular British star during WWII, was born Florence Marjorie Robertson and began dancing as a professional in chorus lines at age 14. She starred with actor Jack Buchanan in the musical "Stand Up and Sing" in the West End and earned her big break when producer/director Herbert Wilcox, who had caught the show purposely to consider Buchanan for an upcoming film, was also taken (and smitten) by Anna, casting her as well in the process. Thus began one of the most exclusive and successful partnerships in the British cinema.
Under Wilcox's guidance (they married in 1943), Anna became one of the biggest and brightest celebrities of her time. Always considered an actress of limited abilities, the lovely Anna nevertheless would prove to be a sensational box-office commodity for nearly two decades. She added glamour and sophistication for war-torn London audiences and her lightweight musicals, comedies and even costumed historical dramas provided a nicely balanced escape route. The tasteful, ladylike heroines she portrayed included nurses Edith Cavell and Florence Nightingale, flyer Amy Johnson and undercover spy Odette; Nell Gwyn and Queen Victoria also fell within her grasp. She appeared in a number of frothy post-war retreads co-starring Michael Wilding that the critics turned their noses on but the audiences ate up - including They Met at Midnight (1946), Katy's Love Affair (1947), Spring in Park Lane (1948) and The Lady with a Lamp (1951). She tried to extend her fame to Hollywood and briefly appeared there in three musicals in the early 40s, but failed to make a dent. Anna's appeal faded somewhat in the late 50s and, after producing a few film efforts, retired altogether from the screen.
She returned to her theatre roots, which culminated in the long-running "Charlie Girl", a 1965 production that ran with Anna for nearly six years. She was bestowed with the honor of Dame of the British Empire in 1969 for her contributions to the theatre. Anna continued to perform after her husband's death in 1977, later developing Parkinson's disease in her final years. She died in 1986 of complications.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net - She started as a chorus girl about 1930 and about 10 years later she was in Goodnight Vienna with Jack Buchanan. Films which solidified her career included Spring in Park Lane, Maytime in Mayfair and Odette, She was on stage in London's West End musical The Glorious Years in 1953 then about ten years later she went through a very bad time losing about £50,000 when her chain of dancing schools were forced to close and her husband film director Herbert Wilcox was made bankrupt over night, Their world collapsed and everything had to go - their penthouse flat in Park Lane, art treasures, her 13 Oscars, the Gold Cup of All Nations awarded to her for her screen portrayal of Queen Victoria, Things changed around in 1965 when she had a big stage hit with Charlie Girl in which she had 2 big dance sequences and sang 3 songs and they moved to a flat in Brighton,- IMDb Mini Biography By: Tonyman 5
- SpouseHerbert Wilcox(August 9, 1943 - May 15, 1977) (his death)
- She was recorded in the "Guinness Book of World Records" for her 2,062 consecutive performances in the stage play "Charlie Girl" which ran from 1965 to 1971.
- Although she played Errol Flynn's daughter in Let's Make Up (1954), she was almost five years his senior in real life.
- 'Neagle' was her mother's maiden name.
- Neagle played many historical characters including Nell Gwynn, Queen Victoria, 18th Century British actress Peg Woffington, aviatrix Amy Johnson, nurse Edith Cavell, French Resistance heroine Odette Celine, and Florence Nightengale.
- She played Nell Gwyn in both Nell Gwyn (1934) and Let's Make Up (1954).
- [Asked in a 1985 interview if her films had a feminist point of view] "Instinctively, yes, not consciously. I feel very strongly for women's emancipation. Now it's accepted, of course, but at the time some of the characters I played lived, it wasn't accepted.
- Bitter Sweet (1933) - £400
- The Little Damozel (1934) - £300
- The Flag Lieutenant (1933) - £200
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