Fay Compton

Acting

Fay Compton

Born — Died

1894-09-18 — 1978-12-12

Place of birth

Fulham, London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

53 titles

From Wikipedia Fay Compton CBE (18 September 1894 – 12 December 1978) was an English actress from a notable acting lineage; her father was actor/manager Edward Compton; her mother, Virginia Bateman, was a distinguished member of the profession, as were her elder sister, the actress Viola Compton, and her uncles and aunts. Her grandfather was the 19th-century theatrical luminary Henry Compton. Author Compton Mackenzie was her elder brother. Compton's film work is not as well known as her stage appearances. She appeared in more than forty films between 1914 and 1970. Her most popular performances in films are Odd Man Out (1947), Laughter in Paradise (1951), Orson Welles' Othello (1952), The …

Known for

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

The Forsyte Saga poster
8.4

The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper middle class Forsyte family, and stars Eric Porter as Soames, Kenneth More as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene. It was adapted for television and produced by Donald Wilson and was originally shown in twenty-six episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2, at a time when only a small proportion of the population had television sets able to receive this channel. It was therefore the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969. It was shown in the United States on public television and broadcast all over the world, and became the first BBC television series to be sold to the Soviet Union.

The Forsyte Saga

1967

Maigret poster
7.1

BBC series based on the novels by Georges Simenon which starred Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret, a French police detective who preferred to watch and listen in order to solve crimes. The series ran from 1960-63 on British television.

Maigret

1960

No artwork available
8.0

Story Parade specialized in adaptations of modern novels. It was broadcast on June 5, 1964 and repeated on August 28, 1964. The teleplay was by Terry Nation (who invented "Blake's 7" and the Daleks in Dr. Who), and Elijah Baley was played by the late Peter Cushing. It also starred John Carson John Carson as R. Daneel Olivaw and Kenneth J. Warren. The master tapes of the program were erased, however a few clips from the production have turned up in various documentaries about Isaac Asimov's work.

Story Parade

1964

Journey to the Unknown poster
7.0

A British television anthology series with a fantasy, science fiction and supernatural theme, similar to the American television series The Twilight Zone, and deals with normal people whose everyday situations somehow become extraordinary.

Journey to the Unknown

1968

The Haunting poster
7.1

Dr. John Markway recruits three strangers for a sleep-disorder study at the eerie and isolated Hill House. It soon becomes clear his real interest lies in the mansion itself and its sinister history, as they are forced to confront the nature of its horror…

The Haunting

1963

Film credits

1950s · 9 titles

Othello poster
7.4

Manipulated by his jealous ensign Iago, the Moorish general Othello is driven to believe that his new wife Desdemona is unfaithful, setting in motion a chain of deception, jealousy, and violence that leads to tragedy.

Othello

1951

Laughter in Paradise poster
6.5

When an eccentric practical joker dies, he divides his fortune among four heirs. But before they can collect the cash they must each do something which goes completely against their nature. NB: This is the film which introduced Audrey Hepburn.

Laughter in Paradise

1951

Town on Trial poster
6.5

When an attractive young girl is murdered, suspicion falls on several members of the local tennis club. It falls to Police Inspector Halloran to sort out all the red herrings, and finally after a confrontation at the top of the local church spire, arrest the culprit. Another fascinating look at what life was like in Britain during the 50's.

Town on Trial

1957

The Story of Esther Costello poster
7.0

Eighteen-year-old Esther has been deaf and blind since the accident that killed her mother. Wealthy Margaret Landi, a native of Esther's village in Ireland, is persuaded to help educate and possibly heal Esther. Margaret grows to love Esther as a daughter, but finds Esther's innocence threatened by sleazy promoters and her own sleazy ex-husband.

The Story of Esther Costello

1957

Lady Possessed poster
5.5

A pianist takes his ailing wife out of a London hospital at the same time that another female patient there has suffered a miscarriage. Afterwards, the second woman feels empty and withdrawn, and, thinking that getting her away from London will help, her husband takes her to live at a country estate, which turns out to be the former residence of the pianist who left after his wife died. The woman begins to get visions of the wife and her final days; is she becoming possessed by the dead wife of the pianist?

Lady Possessed

1952

Aunt Clara poster
5.0

A wealthy old man dies and leaves his holdings--including a brothel and a gambling den, racing greyhounds and a sleazy bar--to his eccentric Aunt Clara. Clara vows to "clean up" her new establishments, but complications ensue when she visits the crooked gambling den--just as it's being raided by the police.

Aunt Clara

1954

The Vanquished poster
6.3

Three tales of privileged youth entangled in murder: French students kill for money, an Italian student smuggles cigarettes, and an English poet exploits a grim discovery.

The Vanquished

1953

Doublecross poster
7.7

A Cornish fisherman becomes involved with Iron Curtain spies.

Doublecross

1956

Blackmailed poster
4.2

A blackmailer is murdered, and those who witnessed the scene agree to keep quiet; the complication is that the scene is also witnessed by a young artist, a victim of blackmail as well. (BFI Website)

Blackmailed

1951

1940s · 6 titles

Odd Man Out poster
7.3

Belfast police conduct a door-to-door manhunt for an IRA gunman wounded in a daring robbery.

Odd Man Out

1947

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby poster
6.7

A fatherless boy tries to make his fortune despite interference from his rich uncle.

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

1947

London Belongs to Me poster
7.0

Classic British drama about the residents of a large terrace house in London between Christmas 1938 and September 1939. Percy Boon lives with his mother in a shared rented house with an assortment of characters in central London. Although well intentioned, he becomes mixed up with gangsters and murder. The story focuses on the effects this has on Percy and the other residents.

London Belongs to Me

1948

The Forbidden Street poster
6.9

In Victorian London, young Adelaide is born into luxury, but marries starving artist Henry. His alcoholism and their lack of money lead to many quarrels. During one such fight, Henry slips down a flight of stairs and dies. A neighbor, Mrs. Mounsey, is the only witness, and she blackmails the young widow by threatening to tell the cops that Adelaide killed her husband. Luckily, lawyer Gilbert swoops in to help Adelaide.

The Forbidden Street

1949

The Prime Minister poster
6.5

A biopic of the legendary Benjamin Disraeli, his rise from a foppish young novelist to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and confidante of Queen Victoria.

The Prime Minister

1941

Esther Waters poster
6.4

Esther goes into service in Victorian England, only to be seduced by the sweet talking groom William, who then takes off with his employer's daughter. Left alone to bring up the child, Esther manages and after 7 years has a chance at happiness. Then William turns up again...

Esther Waters

1948

1930s · 7 titles

1920s · 14 titles

No artwork available
NR

A rich man's chauffeur kills his mistress and frames his daughter's fiancé.

London Love

1927

No artwork available
8.0

A sensuous woman trapped in a loveless relationship has an affair with a leading politician which threatens to bring down the government.

Diana of the Crossways

1922

No artwork available
NR

A husband's attempts to escape from a loveless marriage ends in tragedy.

Settled Out of Court

1925

Robinson Crusoe poster
6.8

Daniel Defoe's classic tale of survival is handsomely brought to the movies for the first time in this rarely seen 1927 film, produced by Rex Pictures, a division of Universal. M. A. Wetherell, who stars as Robinson Crusoe, produced, directed and adapted the story for the screen, admirably condensing a lengthy slow-moving novel into a taut, exciting screen adventure. The costumes and production values match the fine performances and all of the island sequences appear to have been shot outdoors, convincingly on location. Crusoe's improvised island apparel and makeshift architectural constructions are creatively and faithfully rendered.

Robinson Crusoe

1927

No artwork available
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

The House of Peril

1922

No artwork available
9.0

A woman leaves her husband to run a Paris boarding house, and reunites with her sister after the war.

The Old Wives' Tale

1921

Fashions in Love poster
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Fashions in Love

1929

A Woman of No Importance poster
7.0

A widow's son refuses to be adopted by a Lord when he learns the Lord is her father.

A Woman of No Importance

1921

No artwork available
7.0

A wastrel returns to blackmail his wife who has told her children that he died a hero.

The Happy Ending

1925

Somehow Good poster
10.0

No synopsis available yet.

Somehow Good

1927

A Bill of Divorcement poster
10.0

Meg Fairfield secures a divorce from her husband Hilary, and is about to marry Gray Meredith when Hilary returns cured. Sydney, daughter of Hilary and Meg, is engaged to Kit Pumphrey, son of the parish rector who refuses to permit his son to marry Sydney when he learns her mother is divorced....

A Bill of Divorcement

1922

The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots poster
10.0

The Dauphin's widow weds a lord and is executed for plotting against the queen.

The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots

1924

Claude Duval poster
NR

A Frenchman turns highwayman after a duchess's cousin frames him for killing a title blackmailer.

Claude Duval

1924

No artwork available
7.0

An actress thwarts a blackmailer by taking the blame for her sister's compromise. Based on the play The Pillory by Brandon Fleming.

The Eleventh Commandment

1924

Series credits

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

The Forsyte Saga poster
8.4

The Forsyte Saga is a 1967 BBC television adaptation of John Galsworthy's series of The Forsyte Saga novels, and its sequel trilogy A Modern Comedy. The series follows the fortunes of the upper middle class Forsyte family, and stars Eric Porter as Soames, Kenneth More as Young Jolyon and Nyree Dawn Porter as Irene. It was adapted for television and produced by Donald Wilson and was originally shown in twenty-six episodes on Saturday evenings between 7 January and 1 July 1967 on BBC2, at a time when only a small proportion of the population had television sets able to receive this channel. It was therefore the repeat on Sunday evenings on BBC1 starting on 8 September 1968 that secured the programme's success with 18 million tuning in for the final episode in 1969. It was shown in the United States on public television and broadcast all over the world, and became the first BBC television series to be sold to the Soviet Union.

The Forsyte Saga

1967

Maigret poster
7.1

BBC series based on the novels by Georges Simenon which starred Rupert Davies as Inspector Maigret, a French police detective who preferred to watch and listen in order to solve crimes. The series ran from 1960-63 on British television.

Maigret

1960

No artwork available
8.0

Story Parade specialized in adaptations of modern novels. It was broadcast on June 5, 1964 and repeated on August 28, 1964. The teleplay was by Terry Nation (who invented "Blake's 7" and the Daleks in Dr. Who), and Elijah Baley was played by the late Peter Cushing. It also starred John Carson John Carson as R. Daneel Olivaw and Kenneth J. Warren. The master tapes of the program were erased, however a few clips from the production have turned up in various documentaries about Isaac Asimov's work.

Story Parade

1964

Journey to the Unknown poster
7.0

A British television anthology series with a fantasy, science fiction and supernatural theme, similar to the American television series The Twilight Zone, and deals with normal people whose everyday situations somehow become extraordinary.

Journey to the Unknown

1968

No artwork available
NR

An anthology series with the premise that there is a story behind every door.

Knock on Any Door

1965

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

No artwork available
6.0

Sanctuary (1967–1968) is a British primetime television drama created by Philip Levene. Set in a convent in London, the series follows the daily lives and character conflicts of a community of nuns, starring Fay Compton, Peggy Thorpe-Bates, and Joanna Dunham. The show aired across two seasons with a total of 26 episodes, running from June 1967 through 1968. It is known for its intimate look at the religious life and the moral dilemmas faced by the sisters as they interacted with individuals seeking their help

Sanctuary

1967

Cold Comfort Farm poster
8.0

Adaptation of Stella Gibbons's comic novel of the same name. Following the death of her parents, 20-year-old Flora Poste (Sarah Badel) finds herself alone with insubstantial means in 1930s London. Fascinated by the little she knows of her distant relatives the Starkadders of Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex, she goes to stay with her aunt Judith Starkadder (Rosalie Crutchley) and a colourful array of cousins. There she finds a variety of earthy, passionate relations, dominated by Great Aunt Ada Doom (Fay Compton) who long ago saw "something nasty in the woodshed" and now holds the rest of the household in thrall. Flora decides to put to rights the lives of all of them.

Cold Comfort Farm

1968

Dombey and Son poster
10.0

Charles Dickens' classic novel is given its first television adaptation in this classic 1969 BBC production. Paul Dombey is a well-to-do shipping firm owner, who lacks a son to take over the family business. After rejecting his daughter's affection, he reconciles with her before his death.

Dombey and Son

1969

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Nicholas Nickleby

1957