Joan Greenwood

Acting

Joan Greenwood

Born — Died

1921-03-04 — 1987-02-27

Place of birth

Chelsea, London, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

58 titles

Joan Greenwood (4 March 1921 – 27 February 1987) was an English actress. Born in Chelsea, she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Her husky voice, coupled with her slow, precise elocution, was her trademark. Perhaps her most famous role was Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest (1952). Description above from the Wikipedia article Joan Greenwood, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Known for

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

The Philco Television Playhouse poster
6.6

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

Tales of the Unexpected poster
6.8

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

Tales of the Unexpected

1979

The Main Chance poster
8.2

The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds.

The Main Chance

1969

Triangle poster
5.8

Triangle was a BBC Television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed from Felixstowe to Gothenburg and Gothenburg to Amsterdam. A third imaginary leg existed between Amsterdam and Felixstowe to justify the programme title, but this was not operated by the ferry company. The show ran for three series before being cancelled, but is still generally remembered as "some of the most mockable British television ever produced". The scripts involved clichéd relationships and stilted dialogue, making the show the butt of several jokes - particularly on Terry Wogan's morning Radio 2 programme - which caused some embarrassment to the BBC. In 1992, the BBC screened TV Hell, an evening of programming devoted to the worst television had to offer, and the first episode of Triangle was broadcast as part of the line-up. The ferry used in the first series was the Tor Line's MS Tor Scandinavia. In the second and third series this was replaced by the DFDS vessel Dana Anglia probably because she had a less intensive schedule and the longer time she spent in port made on-board filming easier.

Triangle

1981

Film credits

1980s · 4 titles

1970s · 7 titles

The Uncanny poster
5.8

Wilbur Gray, a horror writer, has stumbled upon a terrible secret, that cats are supernatural creatures who really call the shots. In a desperate attempt to get others to believe him, Wilbur spews three tales of feline horror.

The Uncanny

1977

The Hound of the Baskervilles poster
4.4

When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

1978

The Flame Is Love poster
9.0

In this melodrama from Barbara Cartland's 1975 bestseller, a turn-of-the-century American heiress, while en route to her betrothal to an English duke, encounters love and intrigue in the arms of a French journalist.

The Flame Is Love

1979

The Water Babies poster
6.2

Grimes, an amoral chimney sweep, occasionally likes to steal valuables from his clients. One day, on the verge of being caught, he frames his young apprentice, Tom, for the crime. Tom runs away and jumps into a river where, instead of drowning, he finds himself transformed into a mystical aquatic creature. Swimming and breathing effortlessly, he discovers a colorful underwater world replete with creatures both cruel and kind.

The Water Babies

1978

The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens poster
8.0

British television film about the life of Charles Dickens directed by Ned Sherrin and starring Anthony Hopkins, Jenny Agutter and Arthur Lowe. Hopkins performance as Dickens saw him nominated for the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 1971.

The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens

1970

Girl Stroke Boy poster
5.6

When a young man brings an unexpected new partner home for dinner, the underlying prejudices of his straitlaced, middle-class parents are brought to the fore.

Girl Stroke Boy

1971

The Ealing Comedies poster
NR

The story of the men and women who produced a series of film comedies that were so original and funny that they put Ealing on the map.

The Ealing Comedies

1970

1960s · 5 titles

1950s · 10 titles

Mr. Peek-a-Boo poster
6.1

Léon, a humble civil servant, has the unusual ability to walk through walls, however thick they are. One day, he falls madly in love with a charming hotel thief by the name of Suzan.

Mr. Peek-a-Boo

1951

Moonfleet poster
6.5

Set in the eighteenth century, Moonfleet is about John Mohune, a young orphan who is sent to the Dorset village of Moonfleet to stay with an old friend of his mother's, Jeremy Fox. Fox is a morally ambiguous character, an elegant gentleman involved with smugglers and pirates.

Moonfleet

1955

The Man in the White Suit poster
6.9

The unassuming, nebbishy inventor Sidney Stratton creates a miraculous fabric that will never be dirty or worn out. Clearly he can make a fortune selling clothes made of the material, but may cause a crisis in the process. After all, once someone buys one of his suits they won't ever have to fix them or buy another one, and the clothing industry will collapse overnight. Nevertheless, Sidney is determined to put his invention on the market, forcing the clothing factory bigwigs to resort to more desperate measures...

The Man in the White Suit

1951

The Importance of Being Earnest poster
7.2

Two young gentlemen living in 1890s England use the same pseudonym ('Ernest') on the sly, which is fine until they both fall in love with women using that name, which leads to a comedy of mistaken identities.

The Importance of Being Earnest

1952

Young Wives' Tale poster
5.3

A post-war housing crisis leaves a shy woman to share a house with two couples. Comic situations arise as the new roomer becomes infatuated with one of the husbands.

Young Wives' Tale

1951

Father Brown poster
6.5

Works of art are disappearing, stolen by a master thief, a master of disguise. Father Brown has two goals: to catch the thief and to save his soul.

Father Brown

1954

Stage Struck poster
6.0

A young woman arrives in New York City determined to become a great theatrical star, but discovers that her goal may not be as easily attainable as she had hoped.

Stage Struck

1958

Flesh and Blood poster
7.0

Based upon the play A Sleeping Clergyman by James Bridie, it tells the story of three generations of the Scottish Cameron family, with its various conflicts and romances.

Flesh and Blood

1951

Monsieur Ripois poster
6.0

While his wife, Catherine, is finalizing their divorce, serial philanderer Andre invites his latest conquest, Catherine’s best friend, Patricia, over for dinner. Over the course of the evening, Andre shares his entire romantic history since first coming to London as a young man, including his liaisons with his former boss, a marriage-minded young girl and a kindhearted Frenchwoman.

Monsieur Ripois

1954

No artwork available
NR

The milk driver Hans loves his horse Snow White so much that he takes it on holiday to the Danish summer country. Along the way, they are joined by a young American girl, and together they experience Danish culture and nature - and a romantic meeting leads to a wedding. Tourist propaganda inspired by a real event.

Hest på sommerferie

1959

1940s · 15 titles

Whisky Galore! poster
6.8

Scottish islanders try to plunder 50,000 cases of whisky from a stranded ship.

Whisky Galore!

1949

Kind Hearts and Coronets poster
7.6

When his mother eloped with an Italian opera singer, Louis Mazzini was cut off from her aristocratic family. After the family refuses to let her be buried in the family mausoleum, Louis avenges his mother's death by attempting to murder every family member who stands between himself and the family fortune. But when he finds himself torn between his longtime love and the widow of one of his victims, his plans go awry.

Kind Hearts and Coronets

1949

Saraband for Dead Lovers poster
6.6

Sophie Dorothea is a young woman forced into a loveless marriage with Prince George Louis of Hanover. George Louis is later crowned King George I of England. Despairing of ever experiencing true love, the depressed queen finds life at court no solace. Sophie then falls for a dashing Swedish soldier of fortune, Count Konigsmark.

Saraband for Dead Lovers

1948

The October Man poster
6.2

Jim Ackland, who suffers from a head injury sustained in a bus crash, is the chief suspect in a murder hunt, when a girl that he has just met is found dead on the local common, and he has no alibi for the time she was killed.

The October Man

1947

The Man Within poster
6.8

A man goes on the run from hardened smugglers.

The Man Within

1947

Save Your Shillings and Smile poster
6.0

Tommy Trinder chooses which of the chorus line to take out. The lucky lady is the one who knows all about war savings.

Save Your Shillings and Smile

1943

No artwork available
6.1

Injured and on his deathbed in Greece, Lord Byron imagines a celestial trial with witnesses to determine the worth of his character.

The Bad Lord Byron

1949

My Wife's Family poster
7.0

A farce concerning the attempts of a naval officer to avoid a visit from his wife's overbearing mother-in-law, and cope with a former girlfriend at the same time.

My Wife's Family

1941

They Knew Mr. Knight poster
6.2

After a chance train encounter with Laurence Knight, Tom Blake's family's fortunes prosper on the beneficence of the great financier. A developing friendship leads to the Knights selling their home to the Blakes when they move back to London. All looks rosy for the Blakes as share prices in Mr Knight's new business venture soar, but is their confidence misplaced?

They Knew Mr. Knight

1946

The Gentle Sex poster
7.0

During the War seven women from very different backgrounds find themselves together in the Auxiliary Territorial Services. They are soon drilling, driving lorries, and manning ack-ack batteries.

The Gentle Sex

1943

He Found a Star poster
9.0

A talent agent makes the mistake of becoming too involved with one of his clients.

He Found a Star

1941

The White Unicorn poster
8.8

In a home for delinquent girls, the worst offender exchanges reminiscences with the warden.

The White Unicorn

1947

No artwork available
NR

Fantasy in which Eliot Makeham wakes up to find Britain occupied by the Nazis.

John Smith Wakes Up

1941

Frenzy poster
4.5

A spooky seance is held to discover the whereabouts, and the killer, of a sculptor's wife.

Frenzy

1946

A Girl in a Million poster
6.3

A young scientist freed by divorce from a nagging wife, isolates himself from women. His peace is broken by a lovely young girl to whom he is forced to give shelter. He marries her and finds that his dumb wife is not so dumb.

A Girl in a Million

1946

Series credits

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

The Philco Television Playhouse poster
6.6

The Philco Television Playhouse is an American anthology series that was broadcast live on NBC from 1948 to 1955. Produced by Fred Coe, the series was sponsored by Philco. It was one of the most respected dramatic shows of the Golden Age of Television, winning a 1954 Peabody Award and receiving eight Emmy nominations between 1951 and 1956.

The Philco Television Playhouse

1948

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

Tales of the Unexpected poster
6.8

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

Tales of the Unexpected

1979

The Main Chance poster
8.2

The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds.

The Main Chance

1969

Triangle poster
5.8

Triangle was a BBC Television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed from Felixstowe to Gothenburg and Gothenburg to Amsterdam. A third imaginary leg existed between Amsterdam and Felixstowe to justify the programme title, but this was not operated by the ferry company. The show ran for three series before being cancelled, but is still generally remembered as "some of the most mockable British television ever produced". The scripts involved clichéd relationships and stilted dialogue, making the show the butt of several jokes - particularly on Terry Wogan's morning Radio 2 programme - which caused some embarrassment to the BBC. In 1992, the BBC screened TV Hell, an evening of programming devoted to the worst television had to offer, and the first episode of Triangle was broadcast as part of the line-up. The ferry used in the first series was the Tor Line's MS Tor Scandinavia. In the second and third series this was replaced by the DFDS vessel Dana Anglia probably because she had a less intensive schedule and the longer time she spent in port made on-board filming easier.

Triangle

1981

Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel poster
7.4

There's a murder at the elegant hotel where Miss Marple is staying and international adventurer Bess Sedgwick is the prime suspect.

Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel

1987

Hallmark Hall of Fame poster
8.8

Long-running anthology program sponsored by Hallmark Cards. Beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2019, the series received 80 Emmy Awards, 24 Christopher Awards, 11 Peabody Awards, 9 Golden Globes, and 4 Humanitas Prizes. Early seasons were a weekly live drama, eventually transitioning to videotaped and then filmed productions broadcast as occasional specials.

Hallmark Hall of Fame

1951

No artwork available
NR

An anthology of 1920s set plays and musicals, transmissioned from 10 September to 10 December 1968 on BBC One.

The Jazz Age

1968

Shadows poster
6.8

Shadows is a British Supernatural television anthology series produced by Thames Television for ITV between 1975 and 1978. Extending over three seasons, it featured ghost and horror dramas for children. Guest actors included John Nettleton, Gareth Thomas, Jenny Agutter, Pauline Quirke, Brian Glover, June Brown, Rachel Herbert, Jacqueline Pearce and Gwyneth Strong. The series was also notable for reviving the character of Mr. Stabs. Notable writers for the series included J. B. Priestley, Fay Weldon and PJ Hammond.

Shadows

1975

Girls On Top poster
5.4

Four girls share a flat together in London. Having nothing in common aside from their gender, they barely manage to co-exist.

Girls On Top

1985

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

Ellis Island poster
5.1

Ellis Island is a television miniseries broadcast in three parts in 1984 on the CBS television network. The screenplay was co-written by Fred Mustard Stewart, adapted from his 1983 novel of the same title. The series tells the story of several immigrants from the late 1800s until the early 1910s, trying to achieve the American Dream and arriving on Ellis Island, hoping for a better life. Ellis Island highlighted numerous important events which occurred up to and during World War I, and many of the characters are based on real persons, such as Irving Berlin.

Ellis Island

1984