ObituaryElspeth March
An actress for all seasonsThese days the actress Elspeth March, who has died aged 86, might be described as a "Sloane" because of her perfect diction, yet during a long career she succeeded in a wide variety of theatrical roles - from the heroic to the humorous. She created the part of Epifania in George Bernard Shaw's The Millionairess.
March attended Sherborne School for Girls and Ivy House, Wimbledon. She went on to the Central School for Speech and Drama while it was still under the control of Elsie Fogerty. Like many students of this renowned pioneer, her delivery had admirable clarity. It was said you could always recognise the "Fogie" influence.
Following her first professional appearance, in James Bridie's Jonah And The Whale in 1932, her first chance to show her versatility came during seasons at the Birmingham repertory theatre. She was given a number of challenging parts, including a line of Shavian women - Saint Joan, Mrs Higgins in Pygmalion and Orinthia in The Apple Cart. In summer these productions transferred to the Malvern festivals run by Sir Barry Jackson, who owned the rep. Shaw's presence enlivened the festivals and March could recall many conversations with him.
After Birmingham she worked under the director Basil Dean, and in 1938 she married the actor Stewart Granger, with whom she had previously worked. The couple played leads at the repertory theatre in Aberdeen, where Michael Dennison and Dulcie Gray, also recently married, began their joint careers: all four played together in Noel Coward's Hay Fever.
March's most surprising role, given her image as the epitome of Englishness, was as Widow Quin in Synge's The Playboy Of The Western World, but she made such an impression that she was invited to play it again in 1948, and later with the Irish Players in New York in 1958.
In 1940 she stopped acting to drive an ambulance for the American Red Cross. After the war she returned to the theatre, taking on the role of the governess in Henry James's The Turn Of The Screw. This was the first of a number of powerful parts in plays such as W Chetham-Strode's The Gleam and Noel Coward's tragedy Peace In Our Time. Kenneth More, then a relatively unknown actor, was also in the cast and became a close friend of March. She never appeared in Shakespeare though her voice would have suited the verse perfectly.
In her last years in the theatre March added more Shavian women to her list, and played Ma Larkin in the stage version of The Darling Buds Of May. Her final appearance was in the thriller Underground in 1983.
Although their marriage ended in divorce, March and Granger remained close. She leaves a son and a daughter.
Elspeth March, actress, born March 5, 1913; died April 29, 1999
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