Estelle Winwood

Estelle Winfield — born Estelle Ruth Goodwin on 24 January 1883 in Lee, Kent, England — was an English‑born actress whose career spanned nine decades, making her one of the longest‑working performers in the history of stage and screen. From a precocious age she announced her ambition to act, and with her mother’s encouragement she entered the Lyric Stage Academy in London, even as her father objected. By twenty she was already touring, making her professional debut in Johannesburg, and during World War I she honed her craft with the Liverpool Repertory Company before breaking into London’s West End. In 1916 she crossed the Atlantic, debuting on Broadway and soon dividing her time between New York and London, where she appeared in productions such as A Successful Calamity (1917), A Little Journey (1918) and Spring Cleaning (1923). Her love of theatre never waned; she later directed The Importance of Being Earnest (1939) and performed in classics like Lady Windermere’s Fan (1947) and The Madwoman of Chaillot (1948).

Although initially skeptical of cinema, Winwood eventually embraced the medium, making a truncated debut in Night Angel (1931) before achieving her first substantive screen credit in The House of Trent (1933) and a noted role in Quality Street (1937). The 1950s and 60s saw her become a familiar face on television, guest‑starring on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Bewitched and The Man from U.N.C.L.E., while her film work included The Misfits (1961), Camelot (1967) and a famously self‑deprecating appearance in The Producers (1967). At age 92 she played an ancient nursemaid in Murder by Death (1976), and at 96 she became the oldest active actor in the United States when she appeared on Quincy (1979). Winwood continued to act until she was 100, and she died peacefully in Woodland Hills, California, on 20 June 1984 at the age of 101, leaving behind a legacy of wit, resilience, and unparalleled longevity in the performing arts.