Sarah Edwards

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Sarah Edwards October 11 1881 January 7 1965 was a Welshborn American film and stage actress She often played dowagers or spinsters in numerous Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s mostly in minor roles Edwards started her acting career as a stage actress she was described in 1916 by a newspaper article as a leading actress very popular with West End theatregoers1 She eventually settled in the United States and appeared in six Broadway plays between 1919 and 1931 primarily in comedies like The Merry Malones by George M Cohan Among her first movies was the New Yorkfilmed 1929 musical Glorifying the American Girl 1929 where she portrayed the mercenary mother of leading actress Mary Eaton She came to Hollywood in the mid1930s where she appeared in about 190 films until her retirement 1951 mostly in uncredited small character roles Sarah Edwards died in Hollywood in 1965 aged 83 Edwards seemed older than she was and often portrayed a kindly grandmother imperious dowager hardy pioneer wife illtempered teacher and strict governess She remains perhaps bestknown to modern audiences as the imperious mother of Mary Hatch Donna Reed in Frank Capras film classic Its a Wonderful Life 1946 who tries to keep her daughter away from George Bailey Edwards also played a customer in Ernst Lubitschs The Shop Around the Corner 1940 with James Stewart She also appeared in another Christmas classic The Bishops Wife 1947 with Cary Grant and as the wife of a doctor on the train in Hitchcocks thriller Shadow of a Doubt 1943 Edwards sometimes also portrayed more substantial roles for instance in the Charlie Chan movie Charlie Chan in the Secret Service 1944