Actress. She is best remembered for receiving the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "Driving Miss Daisy' (1989), for which she also won a Golden Globe and British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards. The youngest of three children, her father was a traveling salesman for a rope manufacturer and her mother a headmistress at a school for mentally handicapped children. At the age of 12, her father died and her mother taught evening courses to earn additional income. She received her education at Dame Alice Owen's School in Hertfordshire, England and in 1927 she made her professional debut on the London stage, establishing herself with performances opposite such actors as Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. In 1932 she married British actor Jack Hawkins. She did some film work in England, but after her marriage failed in 1940, she moved to New York where she met actor Hume Cronyn and they were married two years later. She made her American film debut in "The Seventh Cross" (1944) and also appeared in the films "The Valley of Decision" (1945), "The Green Years" (1946), "Dragonwyck" (1946, with Gene Tierney and Vincent Price), and "Forever Amber" (1947). In 1948 she won a Tony Award for her performance as Blanche Dubois in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." She then focused her efforts on the stage, and in 1952 she became a naturalized citizen of the US. Over the next three decades, her film career continued sporadically, but included "The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel" (1951), "The Light in the Forest" (1958), and the role of a domineering mother in Alfred Hitchcock's film, "The Birds" (1963). She received a Tony Award for her performance in Broadway's "The Gin Game" (1977). The beginning of the 1980s saw a resurgence in her film career, with character roles in "Honky Tonk Freeway" (1981), "The World According to Garp" (1982), "Best Friends" (1982), "Still of the Night" (1982), and "The Bostonians" (1984). She and Cronyn began working together more regularly on stage and television, including the films "Cocoon" (1985), "Batteries not Included" (1987), and "Cocoon: The Return" (1988), and the Emmy Award winning television film "Foxfire" (1987). However, it was her colorful performance in the film "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), as the aging, stubborn Southern-Jewish matron, that earned her an Oscar. She gained a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in the grassroots movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991) and co-starred in the 1991 television film "The Story Lady", "Used People" (1992), the television film "To Dance with the White Dog" (1993), "Nobody's Fool" (1994), and "Camilla" (1994), which would be her last performance film appearance. During her 67-year career she appeared in 35 movies and 11 Broadway productions.

Actress. She is best remembered for receiving the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in "Driving Miss Daisy' (1989), for which she also won a Golden Globe and British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards. The youngest of three children, her father was a traveling salesman for a rope manufacturer and her mother a headmistress at a school for mentally handicapped children. At the age of 12, her father died and her mother taught evening courses to earn additional income. She received her education at Dame Alice Owen's School in Hertfordshire, England and in 1927 she made her professional debut on the London stage, establishing herself with performances opposite such actors as Laurence Olivier and John Gielgud. In 1932 she married British actor Jack Hawkins. She did some film work in England, but after her marriage failed in 1940, she moved to New York where she met actor Hume Cronyn and they were married two years later. She made her American film debut in "The Seventh Cross" (1944) and also appeared in the films "The Valley of Decision" (1945), "The Green Years" (1946), "Dragonwyck" (1946, with Gene Tierney and Vincent Price), and "Forever Amber" (1947). In 1948 she won a Tony Award for her performance as Blanche Dubois in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire." She then focused her efforts on the stage, and in 1952 she became a naturalized citizen of the US. Over the next three decades, her film career continued sporadically, but included "The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel" (1951), "The Light in the Forest" (1958), and the role of a domineering mother in Alfred Hitchcock's film, "The Birds" (1963). She received a Tony Award for her performance in Broadway's "The Gin Game" (1977). The beginning of the 1980s saw a resurgence in her film career, with character roles in "Honky Tonk Freeway" (1981), "The World According to Garp" (1982), "Best Friends" (1982), "Still of the Night" (1982), and "The Bostonians" (1984). She and Cronyn began working together more regularly on stage and television, including the films "Cocoon" (1985), "Batteries not Included" (1987), and "Cocoon: The Return" (1988), and the Emmy Award winning television film "Foxfire" (1987). However, it was her colorful performance in the film "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989), as the aging, stubborn Southern-Jewish matron, that earned her an Oscar. She gained a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in the grassroots movie "Fried Green Tomatoes" (1991) and co-starred in the 1991 television film "The Story Lady", "Used People" (1992), the television film "To Dance with the White Dog" (1993), "Nobody's Fool" (1994), and "Camilla" (1994), which would be her last performance film appearance. During her 67-year career she appeared in 35 movies and 11 Broadway productions.

Bio by: William Bjornstad