Editing Anna Neagle (section)

==Biography==

=== Early life ===

Florence Marjorie Robertson was born in [[Forest Gate]], [[Essex]], the daughter of [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] captain Herbert William Robertson and Florence, née Neagle.<ref>{{cite ODNB | url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-39943 | doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/39943 | title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography | date=2004 }}</ref><ref>Springer, John, and Jack Hamilton. ''They Had Faces Then''. Castle Books. p. 319.</ref> Her elder brother was the bass-baritone and actor Stuart Robertson (1901–1958).<ref>Pearl Records, ''The Mikado'', sleeve notes.</ref> She made her stage debut as a dancer in 1917, and later appeared in the chorus of C.B. Cochran's [[revue]]s and also André Charlot's revue ''Bubbly''. While with Cochran, she understudied [[Jessie Matthews]].<ref>Vermilye, Jerry. ''The Great British Films''. Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel Press, 1978. p. 21.</ref>

In 1931, she starred in the West End musical ''Stand Up and Sing'' with actor [[Jack Buchanan]], who encouraged her to take a featured role. For this play, she began using the professional name Anna Neagle (the surname being her mother's maiden name).<ref name="fandango">{{cite web |url=http://www.fandango.com/annaneagle/biographies/p52015 |title=''Fandango'' Biography. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130102164107/http://www.fandango.com/annaneagle/biographies/p52015 |archive-date=2 January 2013}}</ref> The play was a success with a total run of 604 performances.<ref name="fandango" /> ''Stand Up and Sing'' provided her big break when film producer and director [[Herbert Wilcox]] caught the show to consider Buchanan for an upcoming film, but also took note of her cinematic potential.<ref name="britishpictures">[http://www.britishpictures.com/stars/Neagle.htm ''British Pictures'' Profile and Reviews.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071216175734/http://www.britishpictures.com/stars/Neagle.htm |date=16 December 2007 }}</ref>

=== Cinematic beginnings ===

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Forming a professional alliance with Wilcox, Neagle played her first starring film role in the musical ''[[Goodnight, Vienna]]'' (1932), again with Jack Buchanan. With this film, Neagle became an overnight favourite. Although the film cost a mere £23,000 to produce, it was a hit at the box office, with profits from its Australian release alone being £150,000.<ref name="bfireleases">[https://secure.bfi.org.uk/about/media/releases/2004/2004-08-12-neagle.pdf]{{dead link|date=October 2023|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}: ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file).</ref>

After her starring role in ''[[The Flag Lieutenant (1932 film)|The Flag Lieutenant]]'' (also 1932), directed by and co-starring [[Henry Edwards (actor)|Henry Edwards]], she worked exclusively under Wilcox's direction for all but one of her subsequent films,<ref name="fandango"/> becoming one of Britain's biggest stars.

She continued in the musical genre, co-starring with Fernand Gravey (later known as Fernand Gravet) in ''[[Bitter Sweet (1933 film)|Bitter Sweet]]'' (1933). This first version of [[Noël Coward]]'s tale of ill-fated lovers was later obscured by the better-known [[Jeanette MacDonald]]–[[Nelson Eddy]] remake in 1940.<ref name="fandango"/>

Neagle had her first major success with ''[[Nell Gwyn (1934 film)|Nell Gwyn]]'' (1934), which Wilcox had previously shot as a [[silent film|silent]] starring [[Dorothy Gish]] in 1926. Neagle's performance as [[Nell Gwyn|Gwyn]], who became the mistress of [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] (played by [[Cedric Hardwicke]]) prompted some [[censorship in the United States]]. The [[Hays Office]] had Wilcox add an (historically false) scene featuring the two leads getting married and also a "framing" story resulting in an entirely different ending.<ref>Vermilye, p. 23</ref> [[Graham Greene]], then a film critic, said of ''Nell Gwyn'': "I have seen few things more attractive than Miss Neagle in breeches".<ref name="bfireleases"/>

Two years after ''Nell Gwyn'', she followed up with another real-life figure, portraying Irish actress [[Margaret Woffington|Peg Woffington]] in ''[[Peg of Old Drury]]'' (1936). That same year, she appeared in ''[[Limelight (1936 film)|Limelight]]'', a backstage film musical in which she played a chorus girl. Her co-star was [[Arthur Tracy]], who had gained fame in the United States as a radio performer known as the Street Singer. The film also featured Jack Buchanan in an uncredited cameo.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027888/fullcredits IMDb listing for ''Limelight'']</ref> performing "Goodnight Vienna".<ref name="britishpictures" />

Neagle and Wilcox followed with a [[circus]] [[trapeze]] fable ''[[Three Maxims]]'' (1937), which was released in the United States as ''The Show Goes On''. The film, with a script featuring a contribution from [[Herman J. Mankiewicz]] (later to co-write ''[[Citizen Kane]]'' with [[Orson Welles]]), had Neagle performing her own high-wire acrobatics.<ref name="bfireleases" /> Although now highly successful in films, Neagle continued acting on the stage. In 1934, while working under director Robert Atkins, she performed as Rosalind in ''[[As You Like It]]'' and Olivia in ''[[Twelfth Night]]''. Both productions earned her critical accolades, despite the fact that she had never performed [[William Shakespeare|Shakespearean]] roles before.<ref name="fandango" />

In 1937, Neagle gave her most prestigious performance so far – as [[Queen Victoria]] in the historical drama ''[[Victoria the Great]]'' (1937), co-starring [[Anton Walbrook]] as [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]]. The script by [[Robert Vansittart, 1st Baron Vansittart|Robert Vansittart]] and [[Miles Malleson]] (from [[Laurence Housman]]'s play ''Victoria Regina'') alternated between the political and the personal lives of the royal couple.<ref name="bfireleases" /> The [[Diamond Jubilee#Diamond Jubilee for Queen Victoria|Diamond Jubilee]] sequence that climaxed the film was shot in [[Technicolor]]. ''Victoria the Great'' was such an international success that it resulted in Neagle and Walbrook playing their roles again in an all-Technicolor sequel entitled ''[[Sixty Glorious Years]]'' (1938), co-starring [[C. Aubrey Smith]] as the [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Duke of Wellington]]. While the first of these films was in release, Neagle returned to the London stage and entertained audiences with her portrayal of the title role in ''[[Peter Pan]]''.<ref name="fandango"/>

=== An American Excursion ===

[[File:News. Anna Neagle BAnQ P48S1P01531.jpg|thumb|Neagle giving a radio interview in Montreal in 1937]]

The success of ''Victoria the Great'' and ''Sixty Glorious Years'' caused [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] studios to take notice. Neagle and Wilcox began an association with [[RKO Pictures|RKO Radio Pictures]]. Their first American film was ''[[Nurse Edith Cavell]]'' (1939), a remake of ''[[Dawn (1928 film)|Dawn]]'', a Wilcox [[silent film|silent]] that starred [[Sybil Thorndike]]. In this, another Neagle role based on an actual British heroine, she played the role of [[Edith Cavell|the nurse]] who was shot by the [[Germany|Germans]] in World War I, for allegedly aiding Allied PoWs to escape and for spying. The resulting effort had a significant impact for audiences on the eve of the [[World War II|WWII]].<ref name="bfireleases" />

In a turnabout from this serious drama, the couple followed with three musical comedies, all based on once-popular stage plays. The first of these was ''[[Irene (1940 film)|Irene]]'' (1940), co-starring [[Ray Milland]]. It included a Technicolor sequence, which featured Neagle singing the play's most famous song, "[[Alice Blue Gown]]". She followed this film with ''[[No, No, Nanette (1940 film)|No, No, Nanette]]'' (1940) with [[Victor Mature]], in which she sang "[[Tea for Two (song)|Tea For Two]]", and ''[[Sunny (1941 film)|Sunny]]'' (1941), with [[Ray Bolger]].

Neagle and Wilcox's final American film was ''[[Forever and a Day (1943 film)|Forever and a Day]]'' (1943), a tale of a London family house from 1804 to the 1940 [[London blitz|blitz]]. This film boasts 80 performers (mostly expatriate British), including [[Ray Milland]], [[C. Aubrey Smith]], [[Claude Rains]], [[Charles Laughton]], and – among the few North Americans – [[Buster Keaton]]. Wilcox directed the sequence featuring Neagle, Milland, Smith, and Rains, while other directors who worked on the film included [[René Clair]], [[Edmund Goulding]], [[Frank Lloyd]], [[Victor Saville]], and [[Robert Stevenson (director)|Robert Stevenson]]. During the war, the profits and salaries were given to war relief. After the war, prints were intended to be destroyed, so that no one could profit from them, but this never occurred.<ref name="bfireleases" />

=== Return to the UK ===

Returning to the UK, Neagle and Wilcox commenced with ''[[They Flew Alone]]'' (1942; shot after but released before ''Forever and a Day''). Neagle this time played [[aviator]] [[Amy Johnson]], who had recently died in a flying accident. [[Robert Newton]] co-starred as Johnson's husband, [[Jim Mollison]]. The film intercut the action with newsreel footage.<ref name="bfireleases" />

Neagle and Wilcox married in August 1943 at London's [[Caxton Hall]].<ref name="westminster.gov.uk">City of Westminster green plaques {{cite web|url=http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |title=Westminster City Council – Green Plaques Scheme |access-date=2011-07-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120716210428/http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/ |archive-date=16 July 2012 }}</ref>

They continued with ''[[Yellow Canary (film)|Yellow Canary]]'' (1943), co-starring [[Richard Greene]] and [[Margaret Rutherford]]. In this spy story, Neagle plays a German-sympathiser (or at least that is what she seems to be at first), who is forced to go to Canada for her own safety. In reality, of course, she is working as an [[spy|undercover agent]] out to expose a plot to blow up [[Halifax Regional Municipality|Halifax Harbour]] in [[Nova Scotia]]. ''Yellow Canary'' received positive comments for its atmospheric recreation of wartime conditions.<ref name="britishpictures" />

In 1945, Neagle appeared on stage in ''Emma'', a dramatisation of [[Jane Austen]]'s [[Emma (novel)|novel]]. That same year, she was seen in the film ''[[I Live in Grosvenor Square]]'', co-starring [[Rex Harrison]]. She wanted Harrison for the lead in her next film, ''[[Piccadilly Incident]]'' (1946). However, he (as well as [[John Mills]]) proved to be unavailable at the time, so Wilcox cast [[Michael Wilding]] in the lead. Thus was born what film critic [[Godfrey Winn]] called "the greatest team in British films".<ref name="bfireleases" /> The story – of a wife, presumed dead, returning to her (remarried) husband – bears a resemblance to the [[Irene Dunne]]–[[Cary Grant]] comedy ''[[My Favorite Wife]]''. ''Piccadilly Incident'' was chosen as ''[[Picturegoer]]'s'' Best Film of 1947. Despite the fact that Neagle was some eight years older than Wilding, they proved to be an extremely bankable romantic pairing at the British box office. By now in her mid-40s, Neagle continued to have success in youthful and romantic lead roles.

Neagle and Wilding were reunited in ''[[The Courtneys of Curzon Street]]'' (1947), a period drama that became the year's top box-office attraction. The film featured Wilding as an upper-class dandy and Neagle as the maid he marries, only to have the two of them driven apart by [[Victorian morality|Victorian]] society.<ref name="britishpictures" />

The third pairing of Neagle and Wilding in the "London Films", as the series of films came to be called, was in ''[[Spring in Park Lane]]'' (1948). A comedy, this depicted the romance between a millionaire's niece and a footman (actually a nobleman who has seen better days). The script was written by [[Nicholas Phipps]], who also played Wilding's brother. Although not a musical, it contains a dream sequence featuring the song "The Moment I Saw You". ''Spring in Park Lane'' was the 1949 ''Picturegoer'' winner for Best Film, Actor, and Actress.<ref name="bfireleases" /> Neagle and Wilding were together for a fourth time in the Technicolor romance ''[[Maytime in Mayfair]]'' (1949). The plot is reminiscent of ''[[Roberta (musical)|Roberta]]'', as it had Wilding inheriting a dress shop owned by Neagle.<ref name="britishpictures" />

By now, Neagle was at her peak as Britain's top box-office actress, and she made what reputedly became her own favourite film, ''[[Odette (1950 film)|Odette]]'' (1950), co-starring [[Trevor Howard]], [[Peter Ustinov]], and [[Marius Goring]]. As [[Odette Sansom]], she was the [[UK|Anglo]]-French [[resistance fighter]] who was pushed to the edge of betrayal by the Nazis.<ref name="bfireleases" /> In 1950, Neagle and Wilcox moved to the top-floor flat in Aldford House overlooking [[Park Lane]], which was their home until 1964.<ref name="westminster.gov.uk"/> She played [[Florence Nightingale]] in ''[[The Lady with a Lamp]]'' (1951), based on the 1929 play by [[Reginald Berkeley]].

Returning to the stage in 1953, she scored a success with ''[[The Glorious Days]]'', which had a run of 476 performances. Neagle and Wilcox brought the play to the screen under the title ''[[Lilacs in the Spring]]'' (1954), co-starring [[Errol Flynn]]. In the film, she plays an actress knocked out by a bomb, who dreams she is Queen Victoria and Nell Gwyn, as well as her own mother. As she begins dreaming, the film switches from black-and-white to colour. In Britain, where Neagle had top billing, the film was reasonably successful. In the United States, however, where Flynn had top billing, the title was changed to ''Let's Make Up'', and it flopped, with limited bookings.<ref name="bfireleases" /><ref>Thomas, Tony, [[Rudy Behlmer]], and Clifford McCarthy. ''The Films of Errol Flynn.'' Secaucus, New Jersey: Citadel, 1969. p. 201.</ref>

=== On the wane ===

Neagle and Flynn reteamed for a second film, ''[[King's Rhapsody (film)|King's Rhapsody]]'' (1955), based on an [[Ivor Novello]] [[King's Rhapsody|musical]] and also starring [[Patrice Wymore]] (Flynn's wife at the time). Although Neagle performed several musical numbers for the film, most of them were cut from the final release, leaving her with essentially a supporting role. Shot in [[Eastmancolor]] and [[CinemaScope]] with location work near [[Barcelona]], Spain, ''King's Rhapsody'' was a major flop everywhere. Neagle's (and Flynn's) box-office appeal, it seemed, was fading.<ref>Thomas, Behlmer, and McCarthy. p. 206</ref>

Neagle's last box-office hit was ''[[My Teenage Daughter]]'' (1956), which featured her as a mother trying to prevent her daughter ([[Sylvia Syms]]) from lapsing into juvenile delinquency.<ref name="britishpictures" />

Neagle and Syms worked together again on ''[[No Time for Tears (film)|No Time for Tears]]'' (1957), also starring [[Anthony Quayle]] and [[Flora Robson]]. As directed by [[Cyril Frankel]], this was the first film for over 20 years where Neagle was directed by someone other than Herbert Wilcox. Set in a children's hospital, the film features Neagle as a matron dealing with the problems of the patients and the staff, notably a nurse (Syms) infatuated with one of the doctors ([[George Baker (British actor)|George Baker]]).<ref name="britishpictures" />

With her husband, Neagle began producing films starring [[Frankie Vaughan]], but these were out of touch with changing tastes, and lost money, resulting in Wilcox going heavily into debt. Neagle herself made her final film appearance in ''[[The Lady Is a Square]]'' (1959), also Wilcox's last film as director.

Neagle was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' on two occasions, in February 1958 when she was surprised by [[Eamonn Andrews]] at the BBC Television Theatre,{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} and in March 1983, when Andrews surprised her at London's Royal National Hotel.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

=== Final years ===

Herbert Wilcox was bankrupt by 1964, but his wife soon revived his fortunes. She returned to the stage the following year and made a comeback in the [[West End theatre|West End]] musical ''[[Charlie Girl]]''. In it, she played the role of a former "Cochran Young Lady" who marries a peer of the realm. ''Charlie Girl'' was not a critical success, but it ran for six years and 2,047 performances. It earned Neagle an entry in the ''[[Guinness Book of World Records]]'' for her enduring popularity.<ref name="fandango" />

Two years after ''Charlie Girl'' – which she also performed in Australia and New Zealand – Neagle was asked to appear in a revival of ''[[No, No, Nanette]]'', at the [[Theatre Royal Drury Lane]], having appeared in the screen version three decades earlier. Later, in 1975, she replaced [[Celia Johnson]] in ''The Dame of Sark'' and, in 1978 (the year after her husband's death), she was acting in ''Most Gracious Lady'', which was written for the Silver Jubilee of [[Queen Elizabeth II]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leninimports.com/anna_neagle.html|title=anna neagle – biography – gallery|website=Leninimports.com}}</ref>

[[File:Anna Neagle Plaque Covent Garden.jpg|thumb|right|Memorial plaque to Neagle in [[St Paul's, Covent Garden]]]]

Although affected by [[Parkinson's disease]] in her last years, Neagle continued to be active. She appeared in [[Cameron Mackintosh]]'s revival of ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' and in 1985 she appeared as the Fairy Godmother in a pantomime of ''[[Cinderella]]'' at the [[London Palladium]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.its-behind-you.com/gallery240.html|title=The Gallery – Playbills – Palladium Cinderella 1985|website=Its-behind-you.com}}</ref>

Neagle's grand-nephew is actor [[Nicholas Hoult]],<ref name="cite1">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3662564/Teen-player.html|title=Teen player|last=Shoard|first=Catherine|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=13 May 2018|date=14 January 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110303154849/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3662564/Teen-player.html|archive-date=3 March 2011}}</ref> through Hoult's father's side.<ref name="irishtimes">{{cite news|last=Clarke|first=Donald|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/from-skins-to-mad-max-nicholas-hoult-knows-how-to-pick-a-role-1.2410353|title=From Skins to Mad Max, Nicholas Hoult knows how to pick a role|location=London|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|date=30 October 2015|access-date=20 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151031123918/http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/from-skins-to-mad-max-nicholas-hoult-knows-how-to-pick-a-role-1.2410353|archive-date=31 October 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

<!---1971–1972. Charlie Girl in Australia & New Zealand, where it broke both theatres all time records.
1973 Theatre Royal Drury Lane, No No Nannette, with Tony Britton
1974/5 Duke of Yorks Theatre, London, The Dame Of Sark, with Tony Britton. Also national UK tour and Canada.
1976. Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Guildford and national UK tour. The First Mrs Fraser, with Sir John Clements and then Michael Dennison.
1977  Shaftesbury Theatre, London, Maggie, with Barry Sinclair, preceded by national UK tour.
1978 Theatre Royal Windsor and national UK tour, Most Gracious Lady. An entertainment about the queens of England from Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II. 1978 Three months at the English Theatre in Vienna in Noël Coward's, Relative Values.
1979 Adelphi Theatre London, My Fair Lady, directed by its lyricist, Alan Jay Lerner, with Tony Britton, Liz Robertson, Peter Bayliss, Betty Paul and Richard Caldicot with choreography and staging by Gillian Lynne, designs by Tim Goodchild. With the pre and post London tours, this made a total of some four years in the UK, followed by a season in Toronto, Canada.
1983 Connaught Theatre Worthing, a season in Noël Coward's Relative Values.
1983 Cinderella at The Richmond Theatre, London.
1984 Cinderella at The Hippodrome Theatre, Bristol.
1985 Cinderella at Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham.
1985 London Palladium, guest on The Royal Variety Show.
1986 Cinderella at The London Palladium
1986 11 May The Week's Good Cause, BBC Radio 4.--->
Neagle died aged 81 from breast cancer on 3 June 1986.<ref name="ODNB">{{Cite ODNB|id=39943|title=Neagle, Dame Anna [real name Florence Marjorie Robertson] (1904–1986)}}</ref> A  memorial service at [[Westminster Abbey]] followed on 20 October 1986. She was interred alongside her husband in the [[City of London Cemetery]].<ref name="imdbbio">{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0623554/bio|title=Anna Neagle|website=IMDb}}</ref> Their grave was recommemorated by Princess Anne, the Princess Royal on 6 March 2014.

A memorial plaque on her former home at Aldford House, [[Park Lane (road)|Park Lane]] was unveiled on 30 May 1996, by [[Princess Anne]] and [[Lana Morris]].<ref name="westminster.gov.uk"/> She also has a memorial plaque in [[St Paul's, Covent Garden|St Paul's Church]], the Actors' Church in [[Covent Garden]].

A street named in her honour, Anna Neagle Close,<ref>Anna Neagle Close London, Greater London E7 0HH, UK. Source: [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Anna+Neagle+Close,+London&aq=0&oq=anna+neagle+close&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=7.491149,14.128418&vpsrc=6&t=h&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Anna+Neagle+Close,+London+E7+0HH,+United+Kingdom&ll=51.554368,0.023861&spn=0.015396,0.027595&z=15&iwloc=A Google Maps]</ref> is situated in [[Forest Gate]], east London.