Editing Flora Robson

{{Short description|English actress (1902–1984)}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| honorific_prefix = [[Dame]]
| name            = Flora Robson
| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DBE}}
| image           = File:Studio publicity Flora Robson.jpg
| caption         = Robson in a 1940s studio publicity shot
| birth_name      = Flora McKenzie Robson
| birth_date      = {{Birth date|df=yes|1902|03|28}}
| birth_place     = [[South Shields]], [[County Durham]], England
| death_date      = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1984|07|07|1902|03|28}}
| death_place     = [[Brighton]], [[East Sussex]], England
| alma_mater = [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]]
| occupation      = Actress
| years_active    = 1921–1984
}}

'''Dame Flora McKenzie Robson''' (28 March 1902{{spaced ndash}}7 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/flora-robson-58100|title=Flora Robson – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB|first=The Broadway|last=League|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref> Her range extended from queens to murderesses.<ref name=screenonline/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2PuvCwAAQBAJ&q=Flora+robson+played+queens+and+murderesses&pg=PA148|title=Rise of the English Actress|first=Sandra|last=Richards|date=18 June 1993|publisher=Springer|isbn=9781349099306|via=Google Books}}</ref>

==Early life==
Flora McKenzie Robson was born on 28 March 1902 in [[South Shields]], County Durham,<ref>GRO Register of Births: JUN 1902 10a 829 S. SHIELDS – Flora McKenzie Robson</ref> daughter of David Robson (1864-1947) and Eliza Robson (nee McKenzie; 1870-1953) both of Scottish descent. She had six siblings.<ref name="plaque"/> Many of her forebears were engineers, mostly in shipping.<ref name=chroniclelive/> Her father was a ship's engineer who moved from [[Wallsend]] near [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] to [[Palmers Green]] in 1907 and [[Southgate, London|Southgate]] in 1910, both in north London, and later to [[Welwyn Garden City]].<ref name=timesobit/>

She was educated at the [[Palmers Green High School]] and the [[Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]],<ref name="plaque">{{cite news|title=Blue plaque unveiled at former home of Hollywood star|url=http://www.enfieldindependent.co.uk/news/localnews/8121839.Blue_plaque_unveiled_at_former_home_of_Hollywood_star/|work=[[Enfield Independent]]|date=27 April 2010}}</ref> where she won a bronze medal in 1921.<ref name="hdbw">{{cite book|last1=Hartley|first1=Cathy|title=A Historical Dictionary of British Women|date=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9781135355333|pages=374–375|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pFGR2OvCAS4C&q=%22Flora+McKenzie+Robson%22&pg=PA374|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Her father discovered that Flora had a talent for recitation and, from the age of five, she was taken around by horse and carriage to recite, and to compete in recitations. This established a pattern that remained with her.<ref name=chroniclelive>{{cite web|url=https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/chronicles-100-greatest-geordies-nos-1368804|title=Chronicle's 100 Greatest Geordies: No's 95 to 91|first=Evening|last=Chronicle|date=2 August 2012}}</ref>

Robson made her stage debut in 1921.<ref name=nytimes/> By the 1930s she was appearing in several prominent films both in the UK and in Hollywood, alongside such stars as [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Paul Muni]] and [[George Raft]]. Her most notable role was that of [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]] in both ''[[Fire Over England]]'' (1937) and ''[[The Sea Hawk (1940 film)|The Sea Hawk]]'' (1940).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/flora-robson-p60865|title=Flora Robson - Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref> In 1934, Robson played the [[Elizabeth of Russia|Empress Elizabeth]] in [[Alexander Korda]]'s ''[[Catherine the Great (1934 film)|The Rise of Catherine the Great]]'' (1934).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6fd91e4d|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815153951/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6fd91e4d|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 August 2016|title=Catherine the Great (1934)}}</ref> She was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for her role as Angelique Buiton, a servant, in ''[[Saratoga Trunk]]'' (1945).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/saratoga-trunk-v108874/awards|title=Saratoga Trunk (1945) - Sam Wood - Awards - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref> The same year, audiences in the U.K. and the U.S. watched her performance as Ftatateeta, the nursemaid and royal confidante and murderess-upon-command to [[Vivien Leigh]]'s Queen Cleopatra in the screen adaptation of [[George Bernard Shaw]]'s ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'' (1945).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9802EFD91439E731A25755C0A96F9C946793D6CF|title=THE SCREEN IN REVIEW; Shaw's 'Caesar and Cleopatra' as Film Opens at the Astor-- Rains and Leigh Co-Stars --New Bill at Loew's State At Loew's State - NYTimes.com|newspaper=The New York Times|date=28 July 2022 }}</ref>

After the [[Second World War]], demonstrating her range, she appeared in ''[[Holiday Camp (film)|Holiday Camp]]'' (1947), the first of a series of films which featured the very ordinary Huggett family; as Sister Philippa in ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947); as a magistrate in ''[[Good-Time Girl]]'' (1948); as a prospective Labour MP in ''[[Frieda (film)|Frieda]]'' (1947); and in the costume melodrama ''[[Saraband for Dead Lovers]]'' (1948).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f66f20a|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170725104858/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f66f20a|url-status=dead|archive-date=25 July 2017|title=Flora Robson}}</ref> Her other film roles included the [[Empress Dowager Cixi]] in ''[[55 Days at Peking]]'' (1963), Miss Milchrest in ''[[Murder at the Gallop]]'' (1963), the [[Queen of Hearts (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)|Queen of Hearts]] in ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film)|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' (1972), and Livia in the aborted ''[[I, Claudius (film)|I, Claudius]]'' in 1937.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/163436%7C51514/flora-robson#filmography|title=Filmography for Flora Robson|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref>

She struggled to find a footing in the theatre after she graduated from [[RADA]] with a bronze medal since she lacked the conventional good looks which were then an absolute requisite for actresses in dramatic roles.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}} After touring in minor parts with [[Ben Greet]]'s Shakespeare company she may have played small parts for two seasons in the new repertory company at [[Oxford]], but her contract was not renewed.<ref name=nytimes/> She was told that they required a prettier actress.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1984/07/08/dame-flora-robson-dies-at-82/89087d49-0297-4bb2-9220-67c7fce20650/|title=Dame Flora Robson Dies At 82|date=8 July 1984|via=www.washingtonpost.com}}</ref> Unable to secure any acting engagements, she gave up the stage at the age of 23, and she took up work as a welfare officer in the [[Nabisco Shredded Wheat Factory|Nabisco shredded wheat factory]] in Welwyn Garden City.<ref name=nytimes/> [[Tyrone Guthrie]], due to direct a season at the new Festival Theatre, Cambridge, asked her to join his company.<ref name=timesobit>{{cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!msg/alt.obituaries/3DWt2RghtQs/JaDOvwxZCsAJ|title=Google Groups|website=groups.google.com}}</ref> Her performance as the stepdaughter in [[Luigi Pirandello|Pirandello]]'s ''[[Six Characters in Search of an Author]]'' made her the theatrical talk of Cambridge.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhK-AwAAQBAJ&q=Six+Characters+in+Search+of+an+Author+flora+robson&pg=PA50|title=Training through drama for work|first=Brian|last=Groves|date=6 June 2014|publisher=EDUCatt - Ente per il diritto allo studio universitario dell'Università Cattolica|isbn=9788867803781|via=Google Books}}</ref> She followed with Isabella in ''[[Measure for Measure]]'' with [[Robert Donat]], Pirandello's ''Naked'', the title role in ''[[Iphigenia in Tauris]]'', Varya in ''[[The Cherry Orchard]]'', and Rebecca West in [[Henrik Ibsen]]'s ''[[Rosmersholm]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/jhj/flora-robson/past?page=3|title=Flora Robson - Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kg15CgAAQBAJ&q=flora+robson+Iphigenia+in+Tauris&pg=PA280|title=Brill's Companion to the Reception of Euripides|date=17 September 2015|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789004299818|via=Google Books}}</ref>

In 1931, she was cast as the adulterous Abbie in [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s ''[[Desire Under the Elms]]''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oXMsAQAAQBAJ&q=flora+robson+desire+under+the+elms&pg=PT431|title=The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre|first=Jonathan|last=Law|date=28 October 2013|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9781408145913|via=Google Books}}</ref> Her brief, shocking appearance as the doomed prostitute in [[James Bridie]]'s play ''The Anatomist'' put her firmly on the road to success.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/17th-october-1931/12/the-theatre|title=The Theatre » 17 Oct 1931 » The Spectator Archive}}</ref> "If you are not moved by this girl's performance, then you are immovable" the ''Observer'' critic wrote. This success would lead to her famous 1933 season as leading lady at the [[Old Vic]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EsOvAwAAQBAJ&q=flora+robson+1933+old+vic+season&pg=PA652|title=The Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre|first=Colin|last=Chambers|date=14 May 2006|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=9781847146120|via=Google Books}}</ref>

She continued her acting career late into life, though not on the West End stage, from which she retired at the age of 67, often for American television films, including a lavish production of ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'' (in which she played Miss Pross).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/a-tale-of-two-cities-v48482|title=A Tale of Two Cities (1980) - Jim Goddard - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}</ref> She also performed for British television, including ''The Shrimp and the Anemone''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/59478d0a87d144da849bc547d83fbc21|title=Eustace and Hilda: The Shrimp and the Anemone|date=24 November 1977|issue=2820|pages=51|via=BBC Genome}}</ref> In the 1960s, she continued to act in the [[West End theatre|West End]], in ''[[Ring Round the Moon]]'', ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' and ''[[Three Sisters (play)|Three Sisters]]'', among others.

She continued to act on film and television. She was last briefly seen as a Stygian Witch in the fantasy adventure ''[[Clash of the Titans (1981 film)|Clash of the Titans]]'' in 1981.<ref name=screenonline>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/458854/index.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Robson, Flora (1902-1984) Biography|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> Both the [[BBC]] and [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] made special programmes to celebrate her 80th birthday in 1982, and the BBC ran a short season of her best films.

==Awards and honours==
She was nominated for an [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] as Angelique Buiton, a [[Haitians|Haitian]] maid, in ''[[Saratoga Trunk]]'' (1945).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.filmsite.org/aa46.html|title=1946 Academy Awards® Winners and History|website=www.filmsite.org}}</ref>

She was created a Commander of the [[Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[1952 New Year Honours]], and raised to Dame Commander (DBE) in the [[1960 Birthday Honours]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/276322|title=Flora Robson|website=Turner Classic Movies}}</ref> She was also the first famous name to become president of the [[Brighton]] Little Theatre.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Stage and screen actress |url=https://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/tours/where-they-lived/flora-robson |access-date=2024-07-14 |website=My Brighton and Hove |language=en}}</ref> She has a road named after her in her birthplace of South Shields.

On 4 July 1958, she received an honorary DLitt from [[Durham University]] at a congregation in [[Durham Castle]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://dre.durham.gov.uk/pgDre.aspx?SEARCH=By+Keyword&TERM=Durham+University&ID=DRE2500|title=The Durham Record|date=2 October 2014|via=dre.durham.gov.uk}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
[[File:Flora Robson tablet.jpg|thumb|Memorial tablet to Flora Robson in the porch of her final parish church, [[St Nicholas Church, Brighton|St Nicholas, Brighton]]]]
Her private life was largely focused on her large family of sisters Margaret and Shela, and her nephews and nieces{{Citation needed |date=October 2023}}.

She shared a home in [[Wykeham Terrace, Brighton]] with her sisters for 8 years before she died<ref name="Daily Express newspaper 2009 i023">{{cite web | author=Daily Express newspaper | title=Where Dame Flora trod the floorboards | website=Express.co.uk | date=July 26, 2009 | url=https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/property/116576/Where-Dame-Flora-trod-the-floorboards | access-date=February 6, 2024}}</ref> in [[Brighton]], aged 82, in her sleep, of cancer.<ref name=nytimes/><ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Legend in Her Lifetime |url=https://www.shieldsgazette.com/news/legend-in-her-lifetime-1-1253496 |work=The Shields Gazette |location=South Shields |date=28 March 2002 |access-date=24 March 2019 }}</ref> She was never married and had no children.<ref name=nytimes>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/07/08/obituaries/dame-flora-robson-is-dead-a-leading-actress-in-britain.html | title=Dame Flora Robson is Dead; A Leading Actress in Britain | first=Marvine | last=Howe | date=8 July 1984 | newspaper=The New York Times | access-date=24 May 2016 }}</ref> The sisters died around the same time: Shela shortly before Flora, in 1984, and Margaret on 1 February 1985.{{Citation needed |date=October 2023}}

==Legacies==
Dame Flora Robson Avenue, built in 1962, in Simonside, [[South Shields]], is named after her.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.streetcheck.co.uk/postcode/ne349rb|title=Interesting Information for Dame Flora Robson Avenue, South Shields, NE34 9RB Postcode|last=StreetCheck|website=StreetCheck}}</ref>
There is a plaque on the house in Wykeham Terrace, Dyke Road, Brighton, and also one in the doorway of [[Church of St. Nicholas, Brighton|St Nicholas's Church]], of which Flora Robson was a great supporter.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/991|title=Flora Robson grey plaque|website=openplaques.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://openplaques.org/plaques/31535|title=Flora Robson white plaque|website=openplaques.org}}</ref>

There is also a plaque to commemorate the opening of the [[Prince Charles Cinema]] (Leicester Square, London) by Flora Robson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/dame-flora-robson|title=Dame Flora Robson|website=London Remembers}}</ref>

In 1996, the [[British Film Institute]] erected a plaque at number 14 Marine Gardens, location of Flora Robson's other home in [[Brighton]], where she lived from 1961 to 1976.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blueplaqueplaces.co.uk/flora-robson-film-cell-plaque-in-brighton-1055|title=Flora Robson film cell plaque in Brighton|first=Good|last=Stuff|website=www.blueplaqueplaces.co.uk}}</ref>

A plaque at 40 Handside Lane in Welwyn Garden City records Flora Robson living there from 1923 to 1925.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lemsfordonline.co.uk/Blueplaques.html#blueplaques|title=History - Web Designer in Welwyn Garden City - 01727 825934 - Value for Money|website=www.lemsfordonline.co.uk}}</ref>

A [[blue plaque]] sponsored by Southgate District Civic Trust and Robson's former school [[Palmers Green High School]] was unveiled at her family home from 1910 to 1921, The Lawe, 65, The Mall, Southgate, on 25 April 2010.<ref name="plaque" />

Robson attended the opening of the Flora Robson Playhouse in [[Jesmond]], Newcastle upon Tyne, in 1962, which was named in her honour.<ref>{{cite news |title=Dame Flora will Open Theatre Named After Her |newspaper=The Stage |date=2 August 1962}}</ref> The building was demolished in 1971 and the theatre company it housed relocated to the new [[Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne|University Theatre]].{{Citation needed |date=October 2023}}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Note
|-
|1931 ||''[[A Gentleman of Paris (1931 film)|A Gentleman of Paris]]'' || || Uncredited
|-
|1932 ||''[[Dance Pretty Lady]]'' || Mrs. Raeburn ||
|-
|1933 ||''[[One Precious Year]]'' || Julia Skene ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1934 ||''[[The Rise of Catherine the Great]]'' || Empress Elisabeth ||
|-
|''[[The Private Life of Don Juan]]'' || Undetermined Role || (scenes deleted)
|-
|rowspan=3|1937 ||''[[Fire Over England]]'' || Queen Elizabeth I of England ||
|-
|''[[Farewell Again]]'' || Lucy Blair ||
|-
|''[[I, Claudius (film)|I, Claudius]]'' || Livia || Also in ''[[I,_Claudius_(film)#The_Epic_That_Never_Was | The Epic that Never Was]]'' 
|-
|rowspan=5|1939 ||''[[Wuthering Heights (1939 film)|Wuthering Heights]]'' || Ellen Dean ||
|-
|''[[Smith (1939 film)|Smith]]'' || Mary Smith || Short
|-
|''[[Poison Pen (1939 film)|Poison Pen]]'' || Mary Rider ||
|-
|''[[We Are Not Alone (1939 film)|We Are Not Alone]]'' || Jessica Newcome ||
|-
|''[[Invisible Stripes]]'' || Mrs. Taylor ||
|-
|1940 ||''[[The Sea Hawk (1940 film)|The Sea Hawk]]'' || Queen Elizabeth I||
|-
|1941 ||''[[Bahama Passage]]'' || Mrs. Ainsworth ||
|-
|1944 ||''[[Two Thousand Women]]'' || Miss Manningford ||
|-
|rowspan=4|1945 ||''[[Great Day (1945 film)|Great Day]]'' || Mrs. Liz Ellis ||
|-
|''[[Saratoga Trunk]]''|| Angelique Buiton (in [[blackface]]) || Nominated - [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]]
|-
|''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'' || Ftatateeta ||
|-
|''Dumb Dora Discovers Tobacco'' || || Short
|-
|1946 ||''[[The Years Between (film)|The Years Between]]''|| Nanny ||
|-
|rowspan=3|1947 ||''[[Black Narcissus]]'' || Sister Philippa ||
|-
|''[[Frieda (film)|Frieda]]'' || Nell ||
|-
|''[[Holiday Camp (film)|Holiday Camp]]'' || Esther Harman ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1948 ||''[[Good-Time Girl]]'' || Miss Thorpe ||
|-
|''[[Saraband for Dead Lovers]]'' || Countess Platen ||
|-
|1952 ||''[[The Tall Headlines]]'' || Mary Rackham ||
|-
|1953 ||''[[Malta Story]]'' || Melita Gonzar ||
|-
|1954 ||''[[Romeo and Juliet (1954 film)|Romeo and Juliet]]'' || Nurse ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1957 ||''[[High Tide at Noon]]'' || Donna MacKenzie ||
|-
|''[[No Time for Tears (film)|No Time for Tears]]'' || Sister Birch ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1958 ||''[[The Gypsy and the Gentleman]]'' || Mrs. Haggard ||
|-
|''[[Innocent Sinners]]'' || Olivia Chesney ||
|-
|1959 ||''This Is the BBC'' || ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1963 ||''[[55 Days at Peking]]'' || Dowager Empress Tzu-Hsi ||
|-
|''[[Murder at the Gallop]]'' || Miss Milchrest ||
|-
|1964 ||''[[Guns at Batasi]]'' || Miss Barker-Wise ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1965 ||''[[Young Cassidy]]''|| Mrs. Cassidy ||
|-
|''[[Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines]]'' || Mother Superior ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1966 ||''[[7 Women]]'' || Miss Binns ||
|-
|''[[Eye of the Devil]]'' || Countess Estell ||
|-
|rowspan=2|1967 ||''[[The Shuttered Room]]'' || Aunt Agatha ||
|-
|''Cry in the Wind'' || Anasthasia ||
|-
|1970 ||''[[Fragment of Fear]]'' || Lucy Dawson ||
|-
|rowspan=3|1971 ||''La grande scrofa nera'' || La Nonna ||
|-
|''[[The Beast in the Cellar]]'' || Joyce Ballantyne ||
|-
|''[[The Beloved (1970 film)|The Beloved]]'' || Antigone ||
|-
|1972 ||''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972 film)|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' || Queen of Hearts ||
|-
|1975 ||''[[The Canterville Ghost]]'' || Mrs. Umney || TV movie
|-
|1978 || ''[[Les Misérables (1978 film)|Les Misérables]]'' || The Prioress || TV movie
|-
|rowspan=3| 1980 ||''[[Dominique (1978 film)|Dominique]]'' || Mrs. Davis ||
|-
|''[[Gauguin the Savage]]'' || Sister Allandre || TV movie
|-
|''[[A Tale of Two Cities (1980 film)|A Tale of Two Cities]]'' || Miss Pross || TV movie
|-
|1981 ||''[[Clash of the Titans (1981 film)|Clash of the Titans]]'' || A Stygian Witch || final film role
|}

==Partial television credits==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Series or miniseries
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Note
|-
|1956 || ''[[BBC Sunday-Night Theatre]]'' ||Lilly Mofat/Sister Agatha || 2 episodes
|-
|1959 || ''[[World Theatre]]'' || Anna Fierling || 1 episode
|-
|1964 || ''[[The Human Jungle (TV series)|The Human Jungle]]'' || Headmistress || 1 episode 
|-
|1966 ||''[[David Copperfield (1966 TV serial)|David Copperfield]]''|| Betsey Trotwood || 8 episodes
|-
|1968 || ''[[BBC Play of the Month]]'' || May Beringer || 1 episode
|-
|1974 || ''Heidi'' || Grandmother || Miniseries, 4 episodes
|-
|1975 ||''[[A Legacy]]'' || Narrator || 5 episodes
|-
|1979 || ''[[A Man Called Intrepid]]'' ||Sister Luke || 3 episodes
|}

==Theatre performances==
* Queen Margaret in ''[[Will Shakespeare]]'' at the [[Shaftesbury Theatre (1888)|Shaftesbury Theatre]], London, 1921
* Shakespearean repertory with [[Ben Greet]]'s company, 1922
* JB Fagan's company at the [[Oxford Playhouse]], 1923
* Two seasons at the Festival Theatre, [[Cambridge]], 1929–30
* Abbey Putnam in ''[[Desire Under the Elms]]'' at the [[Gate Theatre Studio|Gate Theatre]], London, 1931
* Herodias in ''[[Salome (play)|Salome]]'' at the Gate Theatre, London, 1931
* Mary Paterson in ''The Anatomist'' at the [[Westminster Theatre]], London, 1931
* Stepdaughter in ''[[Six Characters in Search of an Author]]'' at the Westminster Theatre, London, 1932
* Bianca in ''[[Othello]]'' at the [[St. James' Theatre]], London, 1932
* Olwen Peel in ''[[Dangerous Corner]]'' at the [[Lyric Theatre, London|Lyric Theatre]], London, 1932
* Eva in ''[[For Services Rendered]]'' at the [[Gielgud Theatre|Globe Theatre]], London, 1932
* Ella Downey in ''[[All God's Chillun Got Wings (play)|All God's Chillun Got Wings]]'' at the [[Embassy Theatre (London)|Embassy Theatre]], Swiss Cottage, 1933
* A season at the [[Old Vic]], London, 1933–34
* Mary Read in ''[[Mary Read (play)|Mary Read]]'' at [[Her Majesty's Theatre|His Majesty's Theatre]], London 1934
* Lady Catherine Brooke in ''[[Autumn (play)|Autumn]]'' at the [[St. Martin's Theatre]], London, 1937
* Ellen Creed in ''[[Ladies in Retirement]]'' at the [[Henry Miller's Theatre]], New York, 1940
* Sarah, Duchess of Malborough in ''[[Anne of England (play)|Anne of England]]'' at the [[St. James Theatre]], New York, 1941
* Rhoda Meldrum in ''[[The Damask Cheek]]'' at the Playhouse Theatre, New York, 1942–43
* Thérèse Raquin in ''Guilty'' at the [[Lyric, Hammersmith]], 1944
* Agnes Isit in ''[[A Man About the House (play)|A Man About the House]]'' at the [[Piccadilly Theatre]], 1946
* Lady Macbeth in ''[[Macbeth]]'' at the National Theatre, New York, 1948
* Lady Cicely Waynflete in ''[[Captain Brassbound's Conversion]]'' at the Lyric, Hammersmith, 1948
* Christine in ''[[Black Chiffon]]'', at the Westminster Theatre, 1949 and the 48th Street Theatre, New York, 1950
* Lady Catherine Brooke in ''Autumn'' at the [[Q Theatre]], London, 1951
* Paulina in ''[[The Winter's Tale]]'' at the [[Phoenix Theatre (London)|Phoenix Theatre]], London, 1951
* ''The Return'' at the [[Duchess Theatre]], London, 1953–54
* Janet in ''[[The House by the Lake]]'' at the [[Duke of York's Theatre]], London, 1956
* Mrs Alving in ''[[Ghosts (play)|Ghosts]]'' at the Old Vic, 1958–59 and the [[Shaftesbury Theatre|Prince's Theatre]], London, 1959
* Miss Tina in ''[[The Aspern Papers]]'' at the [[Sondheim Theatre|Queen's Theatre]], London, 1959 and on tour to South Africa, 1960
* Grace Rovarte in ''Time and Yellow Roses'' at the St. Martin's Theatre, London, 1961
* Miss Moffatt in ''[[The Corn is Green]]'' at the Connaught Theatre, Worthing, the Flora Robson Playhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne and on tour to South Africa, 1962
* Gunhild in ''[[John Gabriel Borkman]]'' at the Duchess Theatre, London, 1963
* Lady Bracknell in ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' at the Flora Robson Playhouse, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1964
* Hecuba in ''[[The Trojan Women]]'' at the [[Edinburgh Festival]], 1966
* Miss Prism in ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' at the [[Theatre Royal Haymarket]], London, 1968
* Mother in ''[[Ring Round the Moon]]'' at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, London, 1968
* Agatha Payne in ''The Old Ladies'' at the Duchess Theatre, London, 1969
* Elizabeth I in ''Elizabeth Tudor, Queen of England'' at the Edinburgh Festival, 1970

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
{{Portal|Biography}}
* {{IMDb name|733460}}
* {{IBDB name}}
* {{screenonline name | 458854}}
* [http://www.bris.ac.uk/theatrecollection/search/people_sub_plays_all?forename=Flora&amp;surname=ROBSON&amp;job=Actor&amp;pid=345&image_view=Yesamp;x=19amp;y=17 Flora Robson performances in the Theatre Archive, University of Bristol]

{{Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actress}} 
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Flora}}
[[Category:1902 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:English people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]]
[[Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Actresses awarded damehoods]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:English film actresses]]
[[Category:English stage actresses]]
[[Category:English radio actresses]]
[[Category:English television actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Brighton]]
[[Category:Actresses from South Shields]]
[[Category:People educated at Palmers Green High School]]
[[Category:20th-century English actresses]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]