Trivia

She did not make her first talking picture until she was sixty-one.

Had an affair with Michael Redgrave for several years, starting in 1937.

She was awarded the DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1946 King's New Year Honours List for her services to drama.

After being nominated twice as Best Supporting Actress in the previous four years, she was considered the favorite for the 1967 Best Actress Oscar for The Whisperers (1967), with Faye Dunaway cast by the media as her strongest competition. They both lost to Katharine Hepburn for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner (1967).

Made the decision not to have children - which she regretted in later life - out of fear of losing a child, having seen the devastation it caused her parents after her brother died at age four.

Was a Christian Scientist.

In 1964, she accepted the Oscar for "Best Director" on behalf of Tony Richardson (her Director for Tom Jones (1963)), who wasn't present at the awards ceremony.

Had been involved in a 20-year on-off relationship with George "Guy" Booth before marrying him in 1925.

In her later years, the actress reportedly carried two different sets of false teeth with her: one for when she was acting, and the other for when she was eating.

Sir Alec Guinness reports in one of his autobiographies that he was having lunch with Dame Edith one afternoon in the 1940s during a break in the filming of "Oliver Twist", and was asked by her how much he was getting for the film. When he replied that his fee was £6000, a considerable sum in post-war England, Dame Edith immediately got up from the table and ran to the telephone to call her agent and demand that he find her film work at once. Her star roles in "The Queen of Spades" and "The Last Days of Dolwyn" soon followed.

Her first job upon leaving school at age 15 was as a milliner's assistant.

A memorial service was held for her at St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden on 9th December 1976.

Aged 80, Dame Edith attended the 1968 Academy Awards and she was expected to win best actress for her performance in "The Whisperers". She had won the BAFTA, Golden Globe, National Board of Review, Berlin and New York Film critics awards. It was unusual then for non-Americans to attend the ceremony.. However, due to the untimely death of Spencer Tracey, his co-star in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner", Katharine Hepburn, won instead. This is considered one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history .

According to Bryan Forbes' biography, "Ned's Girl", she made her theatrical debut in 1910 as Viola in "Twelfth Night".

Daughter of Edward (1863-1947) and Caroline (née Foster) Evans (1857-1935).