Doris Lloyd | |
|---|---|
 Lloyd in 1921 | |
| Born | Hessy Doris Lloyd 3 July 1891 Toxteth Park, Liverpool, England |
| Died | 21 May 1968 (aged 76) |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1916–1967 |
Hessy Doris Lloyd (3 July 1891[1] – 21 May 1968) was an English–American film and stage actress.[2] She is perhaps best known for her roles in The Time Machine (1960) and The Sound of Music (1965). Lloyd appeared in two Academy Award winners and four other nominees.
Lloyd's parents were Edward Franklin Lloyd and Hessy Jane McCappin. She was born in Liverpool, and she had a grandfather who was an amateur actor. Her father was born in 1855 in Holywell, Flintshire. Her mother was born in 1860.[1]: 114
When Lloyd was 23, she debuted on stage with the Liverpool Repertory Company. She appeared a number of times in the London West End, including in Mr. Todd's Experiment by Walter C. Hackett (Queen's Theatre, 1920), and The Smiths of Surbiton by Keble Howard (New Theatre, 1922).[3] Her film debut was in the 1920 British silent film The Shadow Between.[1]: 114
She went to the United States to visit a sister already living there. What was supposed to be a visit she made permanent.[1]: 114 She spent several years (1916–25) appearing in Broadway theatre plays, notably a number of Ziegfeld Follies editions, and probably spent some time on the road in touring companies.[citation needed] She decided on a film career, making her first US film in 1925.[1]: 114 With the exception of returning to one Broadway play in 1947, her career was devoted to films and television.[4]
Lloyd appeared in more than 150 films in a 42 year career between 1925 and 1967, including the 1933 low-budget Monogram Pictures version of Oliver Twist, in which she played Nancy. Irving Pichel starred as Fagin and Dickie Moore as Oliver. Her roles ranged from the sinister Russian spy Mrs. Travers in the biopic Disraeli (1929) to the meek housekeeper Mrs. Watchett in The Time Machine (1960).
Her most famous film roles were in the Tarzan films starring Johnny Weissmuller. She portrayed a nurse in Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943) with Lon Chaney Jr. as the Wolf Man and Bela Lugosi as Frankenstein's monster. She voiced one of the roses in Disney's Alice in Wonderland (1951), later making small appearances in Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, which both starred Julie Andrews.
Lloyd died on 21 May 1968, aged 76, in Santa Barbara, California. She is interred in Glendale's Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery.[5]
