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Nova Pilbeam

Nova Pilbeam

Actor, Writer

Born November 15, 1919 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK

Died July 17, 2015

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Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Nova Margery Pilbeam (15 November 1919 – 17 July 2015) was an English film and stage actress. Pilbeam gained attention as a child stage actress. This led to much work in her teen years. She appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's film The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934), in which she plays a girl who is abducted, following this with her lead performance as Lady Jane Grey in Tudor Rose (1936). She had a starring role in Hitchcock's Young and Innocent (1937), which she regarded as "the sunniest film I was involved with", and formed a constructive professional relationship with Hitchcock.

She appeared in an early British television drama in 1939. That year David O. Selznick wanted Pilbeam for the lead in Hitchcock's Rebecca (1940), and thought she could be an international film star. However, her agent was worried about the length of a five-year contract; meanwhile, Hitchcock, whose outlook on the film was not the same as Selznick's, auditioned hundreds of others over many months, at last giving the role to Joan Fontaine.

Unlike some of her peers, Pilbeam never made a film in Hollywood. She continued acting, with appearances in at least nine British films along with many stage roles, throughout the 1940s. One of her last films was The Three Weird Sisters (1948). She remained working on stage for a short while longer, appearing at the Duchess Theatre in Toni Block's play Flowers for the Living in February 1950.

Pilbeam married Pen Tennyson, a great-grandson of the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson and an assistant director to Hitchcock, in 1939. Tennyson became a film director the year they were married, but died in a plane crash in 1941 while working as part of the Admiralty's instructional films unit. She was married to BBC Radio journalist Alexander Whyte from 1950 until his death in 1972. Their child Sarah Jane was born in 1952.

In her last years, Pilbeam lived in Dartmouth Park, north London. She died on 17 July 2015 in London, aged 95.

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Nova Pilbeam Photos

Nova Pilbeam Videos

Young and Innocent - 1937 Trailer

Filmography

Actor

20

Type

Year

Young and Innocent: Audio Interview with Star Nova Pilbeam Poster

Young and Innocent: Audio Interview with Star Nova Pilbeam Video1990Self - Star of 'Young and Innocent'

The Shining Hour TV Movie1951Judy Linden

Counterblast Poster

Counterblast Feature Film1948Tracy Hart

Dressing Up TV Movie1948Self

The Three Weird Sisters Poster

The Three Weird Sisters Feature Film1948Claire Prentiss

Green Fingers Poster

Green Fingers Feature Film1947Alexandra Baxter

This Man Is Mine Poster

This Man Is Mine Feature Film1946Phoebe Ferguson

Out of Chaos Poster

Out of Chaos Short Film1944Narrator

Yellow Canary Poster

Yellow Canary Feature Film1943Betty Maitland

Banana Ridge Poster

Banana Ridge Feature Film1942Cora Pound

The Next of Kin Poster

The Next of Kin Feature Film1942Beppie Leemans

Three Wise Brides Poster

Three Wise Brides Feature Film1941Baby Furze

Pastor Hall Poster

Pastor Hall Feature Film1940Christine Hall

Cheer Boys Cheer Poster

Cheer Boys Cheer Feature Film1939Margaret Greenleaf

Prison Without Bars TV Movie1939Suzanne, Reformatory Inmate

Round the Film Studios TV Series1937Self - Actress

Young and Innocent Poster

Young and Innocent Feature Film1937Erica Burgoyne

Nine Days a Queen Poster

Nine Days a Queen Feature Film1936Lady Jane Grey

Little Friend Poster

Little Friend Feature Film1934Felicity Hughes

The Man Who Knew Too Much Poster

The Man Who Knew Too Much Feature Film1934Betty Lawrence

Writer

1

Round the Film Studios TV Series1937

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