Biography
Cheerful-looking actress Dinah Sheridan was considered the quintessential English rose of late 30's and 40's British films. With an alertness, elegance and quiet beauty second to none, she won the hearts of war-torn England during WWII.
She was born Dinah Nadyejda Ginsburg in London on September 17, 1920. Her Russian father and German mother were photographers to the Royal Family, by appointment to both the Queen and Queen Mother. Dinah's first professional role was an understudy part of Rsoamund in "Where the Rainbow End." She subsequently went on tour as Wendy in "Peter Pan" starring Charles Laughton as Captain Hook and wife Elsa Lanchester in the title role, and appeared in repertory during the war years.
Dinah broke into films at the tender age of 16 with a starring role in a meek, lowbudget piece Landslide (1937). Her co-star was young Jimmy Hanley, in his first adult role, and the two would later marry in 1942, having three children (one died in childbirth). Dinah continued in both drama and light comedy as the youthful ingenue in such films as Behind Your Back (1937), Father Steps Out (1937), Merely Mr. Hawkins (1938) and Irish and Proud of It (1938). Jimmy and Dinah became a popular WWII-era film couple, appearing quite winningly together in Salute John Citizen (1942), The Facts of Love (1945) and The Huggetts Abroad (1949). One of their children, Jenny Hanley, followed in her parents' footsteps as an actress and TV presenter.
Dinah remained a lovely presence in a variety of post-war films, gracing such productions as the stark melodrama The Hills of Donegal (1947); in the whodunnit Calling Paul Temple (1948) opposite John Bentley as part of a husband/wife detective team; in the crime drama The Story of Shirley Yorke (1948) as the title nurse; the adventure drama Ivory Hunter (1951); and the romantic war piece The Sound Barrier (1952).
Divorced from Hanley in 1952, Dinah, following a secondary role in the biopic Gilbert and Sullivan (1953) and after starring role in one of Britain's most delightful 50's comedies, Genevieve (1953), co-starring John Gregson, Kenneth More and the sublime Kay Kendall, abruptly retired on a high note after marrying Sir John Davis, the President of the Rank Organization, in 1954. Following her second divorce, and after 11 years of obscurity, Dinah made a return to the stage in 1967 with the play "Let's All Go Down the Strand." She continued with prominent 70's roles in "A Boston Story," "A Touch of Purple, "Move Over Mrs. Markham" (title role), "The Card," "The Gentle Hook," "The Please of His Company," "A Murder Is Announced" and toured in the play "Half Life."
After impressing as the hard-luck mother who is forced to raise three children alone after her husband abandons the family in the drama The Railway Children (1970), Dinah chose to focus squarely on TV with roles in such programs as "Seasons of the Year," "Zodiac," "Crown Court," "Village Hall," "Whodunnit?," "Doctor Who," and her final TV appearance in a 1999 episode of "Jonathan Creek." She also appeared in the mini-series The Winning Streak (1985) and co-starred in two British comedy series Don't Wait Up (1983) and All Night Long (1994).
Dinah married for a third time to actor John Merivale in 1986, but he died four years later. Her fourth marriage, to American businessman Aubrey Ison, ended with his death in 2007. Dinah died in London at age 92 on November 25, 2012.
