AS SEEN ON TV: MARGARET THATCHER

Today's ASOTV Showcase is in memory of the actress Anna Massey, who passed away on July 2nd at age 73. I just recently saw her in a murder mystery solved by 'Agatha Christie's Poirot' - "The Clocks".......

 

PRIME MINISTER MARGARET THATCHER

AS SEEN IN:
"Pinochet In Suburbia"

AS PLAYED BY:
Anna Massey

By Jill Lawless, Published: July 4
Washington Post
Anna Massey, who as a young actress was killed off in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Frenzy” (1972) and later became a stalwart of British period dramas, often cast as a waspish spinster or maiden aunt, died July 2 in London. She was 73 and had cancer.

The actress was born in 1937 into a performing family — her father was Canadian actor Raymond Massey [who abandoned the family when she was two], and her mother was British actress Adrianne Allen. Her brother, Daniel Massey, also became an actor, and her godfather was director John Ford.

Ms. Massey worked most frequently in television period dramas. She appeared in TV adaptations of Anthony Trollope’s “The Pallisers,” Thomas Hardy’s “Tess of the D’Urbervilles,” Charles Dickens’ ”Oliver Twist” and many others.

Ms. Massey won Britain’s top acting award for her role in the 1986 TV adaptation of Anita Brookner’s novel “Hotel du Lac.”

In 2006, Ms. Massey played former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the TV drama “Pinochet in Suburbia.”

From Alan Corr of RTE:
Massey was outstanding in a TV adaptation of Anita Brookner's "Hotel de Lac" in 1986, made partially from her own money, and more recently savoured the chance to play Margaret Thatcher in the 2006 TV drama "Pinochet in Suburbia". "I adored doing that," she said earnestly. "One of the reviews said I went over the top but I promise you I was under the top compared to what she was doing. She was mad. She had that waxen mad look. The poor thing now is so ill, she doesn't know where she is or if Denis is around. It's rather tragic. Do you think power does that to people? Reagan was the same wasn't he?"

BCnU......