# Ellen Pollock > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ellen_Pollock > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Ellen_Pollock.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Pollock > Source revision: 1350736414 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|British actress (1902–1997)}} {{Use British English|date=January 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2019}} {{Infobox person | name = Ellen Pollock | image = "Ellen_Pollock".jpg | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Ellen Clara Meyer | birth_date = 29 June 1902University Library Heidelberg, Heidelberger historische Bestände – digital, Heidelberger Zeitung (44), 8 July 1902 - https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.23861#0056 | birth_place = [Heidelberg](/source/Heidelberg), [Germany](/source/German_Empire) | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|1997|3|29|1903|4|26}} | death_place = London, [England](/source/England), UK | spouse = [Leslie Hancock](/source/Leslie_Hancock_(cricketer)) (1929–1944; his death)
[James Proudfoot](/source/James_Proudfoot) (1945–1971; his death) | children = 1 | occupation = Actress, director }} '''Ellen Pollock''' (29 June 1902 – 29 March 1997) was a British character actress who mainly appeared on stage in London's [West End](/source/West_End_theatre). She also appeared in several films and TV productions. The second child of Hanover merchant Adolph Meyer (1890-?) and Hedwig née Kahn (1876-1965), sister of [Otto Hermann Kahn](/source/Otto_Hermann_Kahn) (wealthy investment banker, collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts) and composer [Robert Kahn](/source/Robert_Kahn_(composer)), she became the stepdaughter of Raymond Anselmo Pollak (c. 1872-c. 1930) when her divorced mother remarried in April 1904 to the Austrian businessman, who himself had two sons from a first marriage to Elsa Julia Harris, a New Zealander.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} A devotee of [Bernard Shaw](/source/Bernard_Shaw), she was president of the Shaw Society from 1949. In its obituary, ''[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)'' wrote "Pollock is believed to have played, in a career spanning 72 years, more Shavian heroines than anyone else. She directed London seasons of his plays; and it was during the London premiere of one of his lesser-known works – ''[Farfetched Fables](/source/Farfetched_Fables)'' ([Watergate](/source/Watergate_Theatre%2C_London), 1950) – that she announced Shaw's death from the stage."{{cite web |last=Benedick |first=Adam |title=Obituary: Ellen Pollock |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-ellen-pollock-1266684.html |work=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent) |date=12 April 1997 |access-date=6 March 2014}} Pollock's dedication to acting began as a seven-year-old, when she saw [Sarah Bernhardt](/source/Sarah_Bernhardt) on stage; she knew then that she wanted to be an actress herself. Pollock was also a theatre director and a teacher of drama at [RADA](/source/RADA) and [Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art](/source/Webber_Douglas_Academy_of_Dramatic_Art); and her varied television work included several appearances in ''[The Forsyte Saga](/source/The_Forsyte_Saga_(1967_TV_series))'' for the BBC. She outlived both of her husbands, Captain [Leslie Hancock](/source/Leslie_Hancock_(cricketer)) and the artist [James Proudfoot](/source/James_Proudfoot). She had one child with Hancock. Pollock was the subject of TV's ''[This Is Your Life](/source/This_Is_Your_Life_(British_TV_series))'' in 1992.{{cite web | url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0721611/ | title=Ellen Pollock | website=[IMDb](/source/IMDb) }} ==Selected filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''[Moulin Rouge](/source/Moulin_Rouge_(1928_film))'' (1928) – Girl * ''[Piccadilly](/source/Piccadilly_(film))'' (1929) – Vamp (uncredited) * ''[The Informer](/source/The_Informer_(1929_film))'' (1929) – Prostitute * ''[Too Many Crooks](/source/Too_Many_Crooks_(1930_film))'' (1930, short) – Rose * ''[Night Birds](/source/Night_Birds_(film))'' (1930) – Flossie * ''[Let's Love and Laugh](/source/Let's_Love_and_Laugh)'' (1931) * ''[The Wife's Family](/source/The_Wife's_Family)'' (1931) – Dolly White * ''[77 Park Lane](/source/77_Park_Lane_(film))'' (1931; uncredited) * ''[A Gentleman of Paris](/source/A_Gentleman_of_Paris_(1931_film))'' (1931; uncredited) * ''[Midnight](/source/Midnight_(1931_film))'' (1931) * ''[The First Mrs. Fraser](/source/The_First_Mrs._Fraser_(1932_film))'' (1932) – Maid * ''[The Last Coupon](/source/The_Last_Coupon)'' (1932) – Eliza (uncredited) * ''[Heads We Go](/source/Heads_We_Go)'' (1933) – Madame * ''[Channel Crossing](/source/Channel_Crossing)'' (1933) – Minor Role * ''[Royal Cavalcade](/source/Royal_Cavalcade)'' (1935) * ''[It's a Bet](/source/It's_a_Bet)'' (1935) – Mrs. Joe * ''[The Happy Family](/source/The_Happy_Family_(1936_film))'' (1936) – Leo Hutt * ''[Aren't Men Beasts!](/source/Aren't_Men_Beasts!)'' (1937) – The Vamp * ''[The Street Singer](/source/The_Street_Singer_(1937_film))'' (1937) – Gloria Weston * ''[Non-Stop New York](/source/Non-Stop_New_York)'' (1937) – Miss Harvey * ''[Splinters in the Air](/source/Splinters_in_the_Air)'' (1937) – Charles' Wife * ''[Millions](/source/Millions_(1937_film))'' (1937) – Janet Mason (uncredited) * ''[Sons of the Sea](/source/Sons_of_the_Sea_(1939_film))'' (1939) – Margaret Hulls * ''[Spare a Copper](/source/Spare_a_Copper)'' (1940) – Lady Hardstaff * ''[Kiss the Bride Goodbye](/source/Kiss_the_Bride_Goodbye)'' (1945) – Gladys Dodd * ''[Don Chicago](/source/Don_Chicago)'' (1945) – Lady Vanessa * ''[Bedelia](/source/Bedelia_(film))'' (1946) – McKelvey's Housekeeper * ''[Warning to Wantons](/source/Warning_to_Wantons)'' (1949) – Baroness de Jammes * ''[Something in the City](/source/Something_in_the_City)'' (1950) – Mrs. Holley * ''[To Have and to Hold](/source/To_Have_and_to_Hold_(1951_film))'' (1951) – Roberta * ''[The Galloping Major](/source/The_Galloping_Major_(film))'' (1951) – Horsey Lady * ''[The Fake](/source/The_Fake_(1953_film))'' (1953) – Miss Fossett * ''[The Golden Link](/source/The_Golden_Link)'' (1954) – Madame Sonia * ''[The Time of His Life](/source/The_Time_of_His_Life)'' (1955) – Lady Florence Carter-Wilson née Pastry * ''[Not So Dusty](/source/Not_So_Dusty_(1956_film))'' (1956) — Agatha * ''[The Hypnotist](/source/The_Hypnotist_(1957_film))'' (1957) – Barbara Barton * ''[The Gypsy and the Gentleman](/source/The_Gypsy_and_the_Gentleman)'' (1958) – Haggard's Maid * ''[The Long Knife](/source/The_Long_Knife)'' (1958) – Mrs. Cheam * ''[So Evil, So Young](/source/So_Evil%2C_So_Young)'' (1961) – Miss Smith * ''[Master Spy](/source/Master_Spy)'' (1964) – Dr. Morrell * ''[Rapture](/source/Rapture_(1965_film))'' (1965) – Landlady * ''[Who Killed the Cat?](/source/Who_Killed_the_Cat%3F)'' (1966) – Ruth Prendergast * ''[Finders Keepers](/source/Finders_Keepers_(1966_film))'' (1966) – Grandma * ''[Horror Hospital](/source/Horror_Hospital)'' (1973) – Aunt Harris * ''[The Wicked Lady](/source/The_Wicked_Lady_(1983_film))'' (1983) – Mrs. Munce {{div col end}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== * {{IMDb name|0689655}} {{authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollock, Ellen}} Category:1902 births Category:1997 deaths Category:Actresses from Heidelberg Category:British theatre directors Category:British women theatre directors Category:British stage actresses Category:British film actresses Category:Actresses from London Category:20th-century British actresses Category:German emigrants to the United Kingdom --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ellen Pollock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Pollock) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Pollock?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.