About

Known credits:
25
Birthday:
1909-09-09
Place of birth:
Bremen, Germany
Website:
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Jane Baxter

Overview

A distinguished stage and film actress Jane Baxter was one of the most glamorous performers on the London stage. Winston Churchill, an ardent fan, once described her as, "that charming lady who grace personifies all that is best in British womanhood". Her stage career spanned half a century and she is best remembered for her role in "Dial M For Murder", in which she co-starred with Michael Redgrave. Redgrave said that she was "every undergraduate's ideal of an English rose".

Born Fedora Kathleen Alice Forde in Germany, she came to London as a child and studied acting at the Italia Conti Stage School. She made her West End debut at the age of 13 in the musical comedy "Love's Prisoner". On the advice of the playwright J.M. Barrie, she changed her name to Jane Baxter and, in 1938, played the lead in the hit comedy "A Damsel in Distress".

Several other West End shows followed as well as films such as We Live Again (1934), with Fredric March and The Clairvoyant (1935), with Claude Rains and, in 1935, she joined the repertory company at the Liverpool Playhouse where the leading actor was Michael Redgrave. He viewed her arrival "with some alarm", expecting "a spoilt and temperamental film star". Instead, he found "a delightful actress". Baxter eventually became godmother to Redgrave's daughter, the future actress Vanessa Redgrave.

She had success again in London in 1937 with "George and Margaret", which ran for two years and, on Broadway, she co-starred with John Gielgud and Margaret Rutherford in "The Importance of Being Earnest", in which she played "Cicely Cardew".

She continued to make films and appear on stage throughout the 1960s and her final London stage role was in John Mortimer's "A Voyage Round My Father", in which she starred opposite Michael Redgrave. Her last stage role was at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley in 1978 in the thriller "Assault", in which she appeared with Richard Todd. In 1992, she made a guest appearance - to a standing ovation - at the London Palladium in "A Tribute to Evelyn Laye". In her will, she requested that there be no memorial service for her but just a gathering of friends at her local church in Wimbledon, South London. Film director Bryan Forbes gave the address

Known for

Acting
1953 All Hallowe'en Actor Lady DeVille N/A
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1952 Death of an Angel Actor Mary Welling N/A
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1943 The Flemish Farm Actor Tresha 58
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1941 Ships with Wings Actor Celia Wetherby 58
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1940 The Briggs Family Actor Sylvia Briggs N/A
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1940 The Chinese Bungalow Actor Charlotte Merivale 58
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1939 Confidential Lady Actor Jill Trevor 58
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1939 Murder Will Out Actor Pamela Raymond N/A
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1938 The Ware Case Actor Lady Margaret 'Meg' Ware 58
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1938 Second Best Bed Actor Patricia Lynton 59
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1936 Dusty Ermine Actor Linda Kent 58
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1936 The Man Behind the Mask Actor Lady June Slade 58
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1935 The Clairvoyant Actor Christine 59
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1935 Drake of England Actor Elizabeth Sydenham 59
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1935 Enchanted April Actor Lady Caroline Dester 59
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1934 The Little Minister Actor Maid Helping with Wedding Dress 58
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1934 We Live Again Actor Missy Kortchagin 59
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1934 The Night of the Party Actor Peggy Studholme Kennion 58
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1934 Blossom Time Actor Vicki Wimpassinger 58
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1933 The Constant Nymph Actor Antonia Sanger N/A
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1932 Flat No. 9 Actor Eileen Merridew N/A
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1932 Two White Arms Actor Alison Drury N/A
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1931 Down River Actor Hilary Gordon N/A
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1930 Bed and Breakfast Actor Audrey Corteline N/A
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1930 Bed Rock Actor Rosie N/A
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