Anna Lee

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title: "Anna Lee" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1913-births", "2004-deaths", "alumni-of-the-royal-central-school-of-speech-and-drama", "british-emigrants-to-the-united-states", "british-film-actresses", "british-soap-opera-actresses", "british-television-actresses", "deaths-from-pneumonia-in-california", "daytime-emmy-award-winners", "members-of-the-order-of-the-british-empire", "people-from-ightham", "naturalized-citizens-of-the-united-states", "20th-century-american-actresses", "21st-century-american-women", "20th-century-english-actresses", "20th-century-british-businesspeople"] description: "British and American actress (1913–2004)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Lee" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British and American actress (1913–2004) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Anna Lee
honorific_suffix	MBE
image	Anna Lee pg241036.jpg
alt
caption	Anna Lee on the cover of Picturegoer in 1936
birth_name	Joan Boniface Winnifrith
birth_date
birth_place	Ightham, Kent, England
death_date
death_place	Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
resting_place	Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
other_names	Joanna Boniface Stafford
citizenship
occupation	Actress
alma_mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
years_active	1932–2003
spouse	{{plainlist
* {{marriage	Robert Stevenson
* {{marriage	George Stafford
* {{marriage	Robert Nathan
children	5, including Venetia and Jeffrey
awards	1983 Soapy Awards for Favorite Woman in a Mature Role in General Hospital
1998 Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in General Hospital
::

| name = Anna Lee | honorific_suffix = MBE | image = Anna Lee pg241036.jpg | alt = | caption = Anna Lee on the cover of Picturegoer in 1936 | birth_name = Joan Boniface Winnifrith | birth_date = | birth_place = Ightham, Kent, England | death_date = | death_place = Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | resting_place = Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery | other_names = Joanna Boniface Stafford | citizenship = | occupation = Actress | alma_mater = Royal Central School of Speech and Drama | years_active = 1932–2003 | spouse = {{plainlist|

| children = 5, including Venetia and Jeffrey | awards = 1983 Soapy Awards for Favorite Woman in a Mature Role in General Hospital 1998 Soap Opera Digest Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role in General Hospital Anna Lee, MBE (born Joan Boniface Winnifrith; 2 January 1913 – 14 May 2004) was an English and American actress, labelled by studios "The British Bombshell".

Early life

Anna Lee was born Joan Boniface Winnifrith in Ightham (pronounced 'Item'), Kent, the daughter of Bertram Thomas Winnifrith, a headmaster and Anglican rector, and his second wife, Edith Maude Digby-Roper. Her father supported his daughter in her desire to become an actress. Lee's grandfather, Reverend Alfred Winnifrith, was Rector of Mariansleigh. During WWI, he provided for Belgian refugees and was awarded the Medaille du Roi Albert. Lee's brother, Sir John Winnifrith, was a senior British civil servant who became permanent secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture. She was the goddaughter of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and lifelong friend of his daughter, Dame Jean Conan Doyle.

Career

Britain

Lee trained at the Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art at the Royal Albert Hall, and made her debut with a bit part in His Lordship (1932), when she was 19. She was known for her roles in films set amongst the wealthy, particularly in Chelsea Life (1933), in which she starred with Louis Hayward.

In 1934, Lee signed a contract with Gainsborough Pictures, the biggest British production company of the era. She played leading lady roles in a variety of different genres at Gainsborough, including the comedy-thriller The Camels Are Coming, the drama The Passing of the Third Floor Back, the horror film The Man Who Changed His Mind and the war film OHMS. She appeared in the 1935 Jessie Matthews musical First a Girl as the aristocratic playgirl and other woman, Princess Miranoff. In 1937, she starred in one of the studio's large-budget productions, King Solomon's Mines.

In 1933, Lee met the director Robert Stevenson, who became her first husband, In 1937, she starred in his picture, Non-Stop New York, for Gaumont British. During 1938, she took time off from acting to give birth to her first child. In 1939, Lee and her husband switched to Ealing Studios run by Michael Balcon, the former head of Gainsborough. She played a 19th-century Irish music hall performer who falls in love with an aristocrat in the comedy Young Man's Fancy (1939) and a journalist who helps heroes thwart a foreign enemy's plot against Britain in The Four Just Men (1939).

Her final film in Britain was Return to Yesterday, a film about a young repertory theatre actress who falls in love with a Hollywood star she meets while touring in a small seaside town. Lee and Stevenson emigrated to the United States,

United States

After her move to Hollywood, she became associated with John Ford, appearing in several of his films, including How Green Was My Valley (1941), Fort Apache (1948), and Two Rode Together (1961). She co-starred with John Wayne and John Carroll in Flying Tigers (1942).

She had a lead role opposite Brian Donlevy and Walter Brennan in Fritz Lang's Hangmen Also Die! (1943), a wartime thriller relating to the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich. She worked for producer Val Lewton in the horror/thriller Bedlam (1946).

Lee made frequent appearances on television anthology series in the 1940s and 1950s, including Robert Montgomery Presents, The Ford Theatre Hour, Kraft Television Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre and Wagon Train. She made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as Crystal Durham in "The Case of the Unsuitable Uncle" (1962). She guest starred on Alfred Hitchcock Presents in the 1963 episode “Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans” (S1E28).

In 1958, she returned to Britain to appear in John Ford's Gideon's Day (US Title: Gideon of Scotland Yard), in which she played the detective's wife. She had a small role as Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music, one of the two nuns who thwarted the Nazis by removing car engine parts, allowing the Von Trapps to escape. Lee appeared in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) in a main supporting role as Mrs. Bates, a neighbour of the sisters played by Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. In 1994, Lee took the leading role in the feature film What Can I Do?, directed by Wheeler Winston Dixon.

In later years, she became known as matriarch Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital and Port Charles. Lila was a contract role until 2003, when Lee was taken off contract and dropped to recurring status by Jill Farren Phelps, a move widely protested in the soap world. According to fellow General Hospital actress Leslie Charleson, Lee had been promised a job for life by former General Hospital executive producer Wendy Riche. When interviewed in 2007, Charleson said, "The woman was in her 90s. And then when the new powers-that-be took over they fired her, and it broke her heart. It was not necessary."

Personal life

Lee married director Robert Stevenson, in 1933

Tim Stafford is an actor under the stage name of Jeffrey Byron. Lee and Stafford divorced in 1964. Her final marriage was to novelist Robert Nathan (The Bishop's Wife, Portrait of Jennie), on 5 April 1970, and ended at his death in 1985.

Lee became a naturalised US citizen under the name Joanna Boniface Stafford (#123624) on 6 April 1945; certificate issued 8 June 1945 (#6183889, Los Angeles, California).

In the 1930s, Lee occupied a house at 49 Bankside in London; she was later interviewed by writer Gillian Tindall for a book written about the address, The House by the Thames, released in 2006. Built in 1710, the house has served as a home for coal merchants, an office, a boarding house, a hangout for derelicts, and a private residence in the 1900s. The house is listed in tour guides as a famous residence and has been variously claimed as possibly being home to Christopher Wren during the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral.

In 1981, a car accident left her paralysed from the waist down.

Lee was a staunch Conservative and stated that her views coincided with those of Sir Winston Churchill.

Awards and honours

In the 1983 New Year Honours, Lee was awarded an MBE for services to the British community in Los Angeles, after fundraising for the White Cliffs at Dover and Ightham Mote. Her son, Jeffrey Byron, accepted the award on her behalf. On 16 July 2004, General Hospital aired a tribute to Lee by holding a memorial service for Lila Quartermaine.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1932	Ebb Tide		Uncredited
Say It with Music
His Lordship	Scrub Girl Chorine	Uncredited
1933	The King's Cup	Minor Role	Uncredited
Yes, Mr. Brown		Uncredited
Mayfair Girl	Bit Role	Uncredited
The Bermondsey Kid
Chelsea Life	Muriel Maxton
Mannequin	Babette
1934	Faces	Madeleine Pelham
Rolling in Money	Lady Eggleby
Lucky Loser	Ursula Hamilton
The Camels Are Coming	Anita Rodgers
1935	Heat Wave	Jane Allison
The Passing of the Third Floor Back	Vivian
First a Girl	Princess Miranoff
1936	The Man Who Changed His Mind	Dr Wyatt
1937	OHMS	Sally Briggs
King Solomon's Mines	Kathy O'Brien
Non-Stop New York	Jennie Carr
1939	The Four Just Men	Ann Lodge
Young Man's Fancy	Miss Ada
1940	Return to Yesterday	Carol Sands
Seven Sinners	Dorothy
1941	My Life with Caroline	Caroline
How Green Was My Valley	Bronwyn
1942	Flying Tigers	Brooke Elliott
Commandos Strike at Dawn	Judith Bowen
1943	Forever and a Day	Cornelia Trimble-Pomfret
Flesh and Fantasy	Rowena	(Episode #2)
Hangmen Also Die!	Masha Novotny
1944	Summer Storm	Nadena Kalenin
1946	Bedlam	Nell Bowen
G.I. War Brides	Linda Powell
1947	The Ghost and Mrs. Muir	Mrs Miles Fairley
High Conquest	Marie Correl
1948	Fort Apache	Mrs Emily Collingwood
Best Man Wins	Nancy Smiley
1949	Prison Warden	Elisa Pennington Burnell
1958	Gideon's Day (US Title: Gideon of Scotland Yard)	Mrs Kate Gideon
The Last Hurrah	Gert Minihan
1959	The Horse Soldiers	Mrs Buford
This Earth Is Mine	Charlotte Rambeau
The Crimson Kimono	Mac
Jet Over the Atlantic	Ursula Leverett
1960	The Big Night	Mrs Turner
1961	Two Rode Together	Mrs Malaprop
1962	The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance	Mrs. Prescott	Uncredited
Jack the Giant Killer	Lady Constance
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?	Mrs. Bates
Mutiny on the Bounty		Uncredited
1964	For Those Who Think Young	Laura Pruitt
The Unsinkable Molly Brown	Titanic Passenger in Lifeboat	Uncredited
1965	The Sound of Music	Sister Margaretta
1966	7 Women	Mrs Russell
Picture Mommy Dead	Elsie Kornwald
1967	In Like Flint	Elisabeth
1968	Star!	Hostess	Uncredited
1978	Legend of the Northwest
1979	The Night Rider	Lady Earl
1987	Right Hand Man	Worn Woman
Beyond the Next Mountain	Governor's Wife
1989	Listen to Me	Garson's Grandmother
Beverly Hills Brats	Gertie
1994	What Can I Do	Elderly Woman
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1950	Robert Montgomery Presents	Frances Lawrence	1 episode
1951	Studio One	Anita Derr	1 episode
1952	Robert Montgomery Presents	Ann Hammond	2 episodes
1958	Peter Gunn	Sister Thomas Aquinas	1 episode
Perry Mason	Lucille Alfred	1 episode
1960	The Barbara Stanwyck Show		1 episode
1960	Wagon Train	Allyris a nurse, and wife of Dr. Craven (portrayed by Carleton Young)	S4 E9 "The Colter Craven Story"
1962	Perry Mason	Crystal Durham	1 episode
McHale's Navy	Pamela Parfrey	1 episode (Christmas) 11
1963	The Alfred Hitchcock Hour	Roberta Saunders	Season 1 Episode 28: "Last Seen Wearing Blue Jeans"
1964	The Movie Maker		TV movie
1965	Combat!	Sister Lescaut	(episode: "The Enemy")
1966	My Three Sons	Louise Allen	1 episode
1967	Gunsmoke	Amy Bassett	1 episode
1968	Mannix	Mrs. Harriman	(episode: "Edge of the Knife")
1970	Mission: Impossible	Maria Malik	(episode: "The Martyr")
1973	My Darling Daughters' Anniversary	Judge Barbara Hanline	TV movie
1977	Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years	Laura Delano	TV movie
1978	The Beasts Are on the Streets	Mrs. Jackson	TV movie
1979–2003	General Hospital	Lila Quartermaine	(final appearance)
1980	Scruples	Aunt Wilhelmina	3 episodes
1997	Port Charles	Lila Quartermaine
::

References

Sources

• Chibnall, Steve. Quota Quickies: The Birth of the British 'B' Film. British Film Institute, 2007.
• Richards, Jeffrey (ed.). The Unknown 1930s: An Alternative History of the British Cinema, 1929–1939. I.B. Tauris & Co, 1998.

References

1. Bergan, Ronald. (18 May 2004). "Anna Lee". [[The Guardian]].
2. Leslie Halliwell. (November 1988). "Halliwell's filmgoer's companion: incorporating The filmgoer's book of quotes and Halliwell's movie quiz". Grafton.
3. "Anna Lee".
4. "Anna Lee – Biography, Movie Highlights and Photos – AllMovie".
5. Lee, Anna. (2007). "Anna Lee: Memoir of a Career on General Hospital and in Film". McFarland & Company (Jefferson, North Carolina/London).
6. (18 May 2004). "Anna Lee".
7. She played a number of minor, often uncredited, roles in films during the early 1930s. Lee began to get more prominent roles in films to satisfy the [[Cinematograph Films Act 1927]] ([[17 & 18 Geo. 5]]. c. 29), which was an [[Acts of Parliament (UK). act]] of the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom. United Kingdom Parliament]] designed to stimulate the declining [[Cinema of the United Kingdom. British film industry]].Chibnall, pp.40–41
8. Chibnall, pp. 117–18
9. "King Solomon's Mines (1937) – Robert Stevenson – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related – AllMovie".
10. while shooting ''The Camels Are Coming'' on location in [[Egypt]].The Unknown 1930s p. 163
11. The Unknown 1930s, p. 173
12. The Unknown 1930s p.174-76
13. "Forever and a Day (1943) – René Clair, Edmund Goulding, Cedric Hardwicke, Frank Lloyd, Victor Saville, Kent Smith, Robert Stevenson, Herbert Wilcox – Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related – AllMovie".
14. "Forever and a Day (1943) – René Clair, Edmund Goulding, Cedric Hardwicke, Frank Lloyd, Victor Saville, Kent Smith, Robert Stevenson, Herbert Wilcox – Cast and Crew – AllMovie".
15. "Anna Lee – Movies and Filmography – AllMovie".
16. "Flying Tigers (1942)".
17. "Bedlam (1946)".
18. "Hangmen Also Die! (1943) – Fritz Lang – Cast and Crew – AllMovie".
19. "Perry Mason: The Case of the Unsuitable Uncle (1962) – Francis D. Lyon – Cast and Crew – AllMovie".
20. "Gideon's Day (1958)".
21. "The Sound of Music (1965) – Robert Wise – Cast and Crew – AllMovie".
22. "What Can I Do? (1994)".
23. "Wheeler Winston Dixon – MoMA".
24. ''Soap Opera Weekly'', 13 February 2007, p. 2
25. (23 March 2006). "The city's other shore". [[The Economist]].
26. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-may-18-me-lee18-story.html Obituary], ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
27. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150108042014/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/anna-lee-6169624.html Obituary], ''The Independent''. Retrieved 22 September 2015.
28. [http://www.westernclippings.com/interview/annalee_interview.shtml Interview], westernclippings.com. Retrieved 22 September 2015.

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