Renee Asherson Biography & Gallery (1915–2014)

Biography / Gallery

Renee Asherson signed memorabilia @ eBay UK (direct link)

Renee Asherson — Actress & Stage Icon

Date of Birth: 19 July 1915 — London, England, UK

Birth Name: Dorothy Renee Ascherson

Marriages

Robert Donat (1942–1958, his death)

Date of Death

30 October 2014 — London, England, UK (natural causes)

Career Overview

An actress of astonishing screen presence. I mean, if you see her cameo role in the late 1940s Powell/Pressburger brooding The Small Back Room then you will know exactly what I mean. Anyone who can hold her own on screen with the magnificent David Farrar (almost criminally forgotten these days, up there with the best) has to have star quality. And boy, that angelic face with those eyes of mystery almost push the great man off the screen. A truly wonderful actress...

Best Part

That came in the 1940s during the golden age of British cinema with her role as Laurence Olivier's Princess Katherine in the film Henry V.

Robert Donat

Renée was directed by and starred with her future husband, the incomparable Robert Donat in the 1950 film The Cure for Love. She married Donat in 1953. The couple separated in 1956, but were due to reconcile at the time of his untimely death in London on 9th June 1958, aged 53.

Ealing

Her only Ealing film was in Pool of London in 1951. Worth catching with a solid cast.

Other Parts

Small part in Carol Reed's The Way Ahead (1944) and a bigger part in Anthony Asquith's The Way to the Stars as John Mills's love interest. Also appeared in Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) and had a small part in Powell/Pressburger's The Small Back Room. Took the part because Powell & Pressburger had such a name at the time. Her scenes were shot on a beach in Dorset.

1950s Onwards

After the 1940s, she rarely had another worthwhile film role, though TV offered many better opportunities from 1955 onwards, most notably in Jack Clayton's Memento Mori in 1992, and the stage remained her first allegiance. She was a cut above a great cast in Tenko and was ghostly perfect in the 2001 The Others. If you haven't seen it then I can guarantee you won't be able to take your eyes off her when she appears.

Trivia

Spent a hard working week on location in Malta for the film The Malta Story in 1954. Although Alec Guinness was the star she never actually met him; her part was totally seperate from him.

Passing

It was announced of Renee's passing at the end of October, 2014. Among her surviving relatives are her nephew, the journalist Neal Ascherson. She had spent her last years living quietly in north London.

Renee Asherson