Zeffie Tilbury
Birthday: 1863-11-20
Place of Birth: Paddington, London, England, UK
Synopsis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury (November 20, 1863 – July 24, 1950) was an English actress.
Tilbury was known first on the London stage and on Broadway in New York City. In 1881, she debuted on stage in Nine Points of the Law at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, England.
She is today best known for playing wise or evil older characters in films, such as the distinguished lady gambler at dinner with Garbo in The Single Standard, as the pitiful Grandma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath and Grandma Lester in Tobacco Road.
She appeared in over 70 films. Her earliest surviving silent film is the Valentino / Nazimova 1921 production of Camille. Tilbury is probably best remembered as the old lady who is befriended by Spanky and his friends on her birthday and, as a result, is transformed from a lonely, disagreeable recluse to a happy and loving carefree soul in the 1936 Hal Roach Our Gang comedy Second Childhood. In the same year she also portrayed the Gypsy Queen in the Laurel and Hardy film The Bohemian Girl.
Tilbury was married twice. First to Arthur Frederick Lewis in June, 1887, and later to L. E. Woodthorpe, who died on April 8, 1915. She died in Los Angeles, California in 1950 at the age of 86.
Acting
Tobacco Road
as Grandma Lester
Shiftless Jeeter Lester and his family of sharecroppers live in rural Georgia where their ancestors were once wealthy planters. Their slapstick existence is threatened by a bank's plans to take over the land for more profitable farming.
Sheriff of Tombstone
as Granny Carson
The mayor has sent for a gunslinger who, though appearing to clean up the town, is really to be the mayor's means of taking the town over. When Roy and Gabby arrive in Tombstone, Roy is mistaken for the gunslinger. Just as Roy is ready to expose the mayor, the real gunslinger shows up.
The Grapes of Wrath
as Grandma Joad
Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.
Tell No Tales
as Miss Mary
A newspaper editor turns a kidnapping into the banner headlines and exclusive story that could save his publication.
Boy Trouble
as Mrs. Jepson
A fussy shopkeeper's life drastically changes when his wife takes in two homeless boys.
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Arrest Bulldog Drummond
as Aunt Meg
The invention of a machine that can cause remote explosions brings the attention of Scotland Yard and Bulldog Drummond.
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Woman Against Woman
as Grandma
A newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling influence in his life and home.
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The King Without a Crown
as Dying Duchess Marie (uncredited)
This short explores the possibility that Louis XVII, son of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, escaped death during the French Revolution and was raised by Indians in America.
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Federal Bullets
as Mrs. Crippen
Federal Bullets is a leisurely paced Monogram crime melodrama with not a few clever plot twists. The FBI, represented by Milburn Stone and William Harrigan, investigates a seemingly respectable charitable organization. In fact, the enterprise is a front for a crime ring, headed by Ma Barker clone Zeffie Tilbury (Trivia note: Ms. Tilbury was totally blind, and had to learn her "blocking" by rote).
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Rhythm in the Clouds
as The Duchess de Lovely
Judy Walker is a poor songwriter who, through mistaken identity, gets her songs played on the radio.
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Bulldog Drummond Comes Back
as Zeffie
Drummond's girlfriend is kidnapped by his enemies and he along with his friend Nielsen, an inspector from Scotland Yard, follow the trail and try to rescue her from the kidnappers.
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Desire
as Aunt Olga
Madeleine steals a string of pearls in Paris and uses American engineer Tom, who is driving on his vacation to Spain, to get the pearls out of France. But getting the pearls back from him proves to be difficult without falling in love.
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The Mystery of Edwin Drood
as The Opium Woman
A choirmaster addicted to opium and obsessed with a beautiful young woman will stop at nothing to possess her.
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The Ship from Shanghai
as Lady Daley
On a yacht sailing from Shanghai to the United States, the sailors, led by the megalomaniac steward, revolt and take control.
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Camille
as Prudence
Camille is a courtesan in Paris. She falls deeply in love with a young man of promise, Armand Duval. When Armand's father begs her not to ruin his hope of a career and position by marrying Armand, she acquiesces and leaves her lover. However, when poverty and terminal illness overwhelm her, Camille discovers that Armand has not lost his love for her.
