Flora Robson

Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 1902 – 7 July 1984) was a distinguished English actress whose career spanned more than six decades, encompassing the glitter of the West End, the glamour of Hollywood, and the intimacy of early television. Born in South Shields, County Durham, to Scottish‑heritage parents David and Eliza Robson, she grew up in a large family of seven children and was educated at Palmers Green High School before winning a bronze medal at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1921. Her early talent for recitation was nurtured by her father, who entered her in competitions from the age of five, a habit that forged her commanding stage presence.

Robson made her professional debut the same year she left RADA, and despite early setbacks—including being told she lacked conventional beauty—she persevered, joining Ben Greet’s Shakespeare company and later the Festival Theatre in Cambridge under Tyrone Guthrie. Her breakthrough came with a powerful turn as Abbie in Eugene O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms (1931) and a shocking performance in James Bridie’s The Anatomist. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s she became famed for regal and formidable roles, famously portraying Queen Elizabeth I in Fire Over England (1937) and The Sea Hawk (1940), as well as the Empress Elizabeth in The Rise of Catherine the Great (1934).

An Oscar nominee for Best Supporting Actress for her turn as Angelique Buiton in Saratoga Trunk (1945), she also dazzled in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) and later in Black Narcissus (1947). In post‑war Britain she displayed remarkable range, appearing in comedies such as Holiday Camp (1947), historical epics like 55 Days at Peking (1963), and whimsical fairy‑tale adaptations including Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1972). Her television work continued into the 1980s, culminating with a brief appearance as a Stygian witch in Clash of the Titans (1981).

Honoured as a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1960, Robson remained a beloved cultural figure, celebrated by the BBC and ITV on her 80th birthday and commemorated in her hometown with a road bearing her name. She never married, had no children, and spent her final years sharing a Brighton home with her sisters, passing away peacefully in 1984 at the age of 82.