Ethel Griffies, the daughter of actor-manager Samuel Rupert Woods and actress Lillie Roberts, embarked on her own stage career at the tender age of three.
She waited patiently for 18 years before making her London debut in 1899, and then another 25 years before appearing on Broadway for the first time in "Havoc" (1924).
Notably, she made a brief foray into filmmaking in 1917, but it would be another nine years before she made her official movie debut in 1930, reenacting her stage role in "Old English" (1930).
Throughout her 35-year career, she was frequently cast as a crotchety old lady with a heart of gold, and her roles ranged from small parts to prominent featured roles.
Some of her more notable roles included playing Grace Poole in both the 1934 and 1943 film adaptations of "Jane Eyre", as well as "Mrs. Bundy", an amateur ornithologist in Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" (1963).
Occasionally, she would take a break from film work to focus on the stage, and her last Broadway appearance was in 1967, making her England's oldest working actress at the time.
It was said that she was frequently invited as a guest on TV's "The Merv Griffin Show" (1962),where she would regale audiences with her wickedly witty comments on her 80 years in show business, never failing to bring down the house with her humor and charm.
