Margaret Rutherford

Dame Margaret Taylor Rutherford, OBE was an English character actress, who first came to prominence following World War II in the film adaptations of Nol Cowards Blithe Spirit, and Oscar Wildes The Importance of Being Earnest. In 1963 she won the best supporting actress Oscar and a Golden Globe for her role as The Duchess of Brighton in The VIPs. Rutherford was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1961 and a Dame Commander in 1967.

Margaret Taylor Rutherford, the only child of William and Florence Rutherford, was born in 1892 in Balham, South London. Margarets fathers brother Sir John Benn, 1st Baronet was a British politician, and her first cousin once removed was British Labour politician Tony Benn. Hoping to start a new life far from the scene of their recent troubles, the Rutherfords emigrated to Madras, India. But Margaret was returned to Britain when she was three years old to live with her aunt Bessie Nicholson in Wimbledon, London, after her pregnant mother committed suicide by hanging herself from a tree. Young Margaret was told that her father died of a broken heart soon after, so when she wasyears old she was shocked to learn that her father had actually been readmitted to Broadmoor Hospital in 1903, where he remained under care until his death in 1921. Her parents mental afflictions along with a fear that she might succumb to similar maladies haunted Margaret Rutherford for the rest of her life an

Source: Wikipedia