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| Edna Best | |
|---|---|
| Name | Edna Best |
| Birth name | Edna Best |
| Birth date | 1900-02-02 |
| Birth place | Hove, Sussex |
| Death date | 1974-03-18 |
| Death place | London |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1918–1969 |
| Spouse | Herbert Marshall (m. 1928; div. 1940), Nat Wolff (m. 1941) |
| Children | Sarah Marshall |
Edna Best was an English stage and film actress whose career spanned from the late silent era through early television. Known for her work in British theatre, Hollywood films, and radio drama, she performed alongside leading figures of the interwar and postwar periods. Best's roles ranged from drawing-room dramas to suspense and genre pictures, marking her as a versatile character actress in both United Kingdom and United States entertainment industries.
Born in Hove, Sussex in 1900, she grew up during the reign of Edward VII and the Edwardian era. Her formative years coincided with the aftermath of World War I and the social changes of the 1920s, which influenced theatrical tastes in London and Paris. She received early training that prepared her for repertory work and West End appearances, connecting her to institutions and touring companies prominent in the interwar British dramatic scene such as repertory theatres linked to figures like Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson and producers in the milieu of Noël Coward and Ivor Novello.
Best established herself on the London stage with repertory seasons and West End engagements, appearing in plays alongside contemporaries from the British theatrical tradition such as Ralph Richardson, John Gielgud, Alec Guinness, and actresses of the era including Marie Tempest and Ellen Terry-era successors. Her stage work encompassed drawing-room comedies, melodrama, and modern plays that travelled between venues like the Globe Theatre, London and provincial houses that fed into the West End circuit. She participated in productions connected to producers and directors operating within the Old Vic and commercial West End networks, sharing bills with performers associated with companies led by figures like Basil Dean and engaging with playwrights in the orbit of Terence Rattigan and Noël Coward.
Transitioning to film during the late silent and early sound periods, Best appeared in British productions before moving into American pictures. Her screen roles brought her into collaborations with directors and stars of the studio era, intersecting with personnel from Gaumont British, Ealing Studios, and later Hollywood studios such as Paramount Pictures and RKO Pictures. She is noted for performances that connected her to genre trends of the 1930s and 1940s, including melodrama, thriller, and wartime narratives that resonated with audiences familiar with the cultural output of the Great Depression and World War II film cycles. Best worked opposite actors and filmmakers who also collaborated with names like Alfred Hitchcock, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, and Laurence Olivier in their broader careers, reflecting the transatlantic exchange of talent between British and American screens.
In addition to stage and film, Best contributed to radio drama on networks that played central roles in broadcasting history, appearing in productions alongside performers from the BBC drama repertory and actors who worked with institutions such as Radio Luxembourg and early American radio companies. With the advent of television, she made guest appearances on programs during the medium's expansion in the 1950s and 1960s, intersecting with creators and performers active in ITV and the BBC Television Service. Her broadcasting work linked her to writers and directors who transitioned from stage and radio to television, a cohort that included collaborators connected to Sidney Lumet-era teleplays and anthology series traditions.
Best married fellow actor Herbert Marshall in 1928; they had a daughter, Sarah Marshall, who became an actress appearing in theatre and film. The marriage ended in 1940, and Best later married Nat Wolff in 1941. Her personal associations connected her to social and professional networks that included actors, directors, and producers working across London and Hollywood, and to charitable and professional bodies active in actors' welfare such as organizations with histories linked to figures like Noël Coward and institutions like the Actors' Benevolent Fund.
In later decades Best continued to work in supporting roles on stage, film, and television, contributing to productions that engaged with postwar British cultural life and the evolving Anglo-American entertainment relationship exemplified by festivals and institutions like the Edinburgh Festival and film retrospectives at venues connected to the British Film Institute. Her legacy persists through performances preserved in film archives and through the continuing careers of descendants such as Sarah Marshall, as well as through scholarly interest in interwar and wartime British actresses alongside peers like Vivien Leigh, Merle Oberon, and Greer Garson. Best died in London in 1974; she is remembered within histories of 20th-century theatre and cinema that document transatlantic careers and the role of women performers in the studio and repertory systems.
Category:English stage actors Category:English film actors Category:1900 births Category:1974 deaths