Wendy Hiller Biography

Fast Facts

• Awarded O․B․E․ qualifications in 1971 and later D․B․E․ in 1975
• Honored by the London Film Critics Circle with the Dilys Powell Award in 1996
• Married to screenwriter Ronald Gow for more than 50 years
• Died of natural causes at age 90 and was later interred at St․ Mary's in Radnage, Buckinghamshire, the same church seen in 1987's "A Month in the Century"
• Quote: "I think a little posterity must always be nice․ After I'm dead I'll probably be a cult and they'll have entire seasons of me at the National Film Theatre․ Thank God I won't have to watch them all․"
• Despite living a private lifestyle away from the cameras, she would often support various arts organizations, once serving as the president of the Chiltern Shakespeare Company in her later years
• Originally a stage actress, she would gain widespread recognition for her portrayal of Eliza Doolittle in the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion before bringing the same role to film in 1938, a role that would earn her her first Oscar nomination