Biography
Athene Seyler (31 May 1889 – 12 September 1990) was an English actress. She made her stage debut in 1909 and her film debut in 1921. She became known for playing slightly dotty old ladies in British films from the 1930s to the 1960s.
Her stage credits included Mrs Malaprop in The Rivals, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest, and a double act with Sybil Thorndike as the murderous spinster sisters in Arsenic and Old Lace. Film and television roles included appearances in The Citadel (1938), Night of the Demon (1957), The Inn of the Sixth Happiness (1958), The Queen of Spades (1949), Scrooge (1935), Yield to the Night (1956) and The Avengers (1961 series). She was a regular cast member in screen adaptations of Charles Dickens novels.
Seyler was President of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art from 1950 and was appointed CBE in 1959. She wrote The Craft of Comedy (with Stephen Haggard).
