---
name: "Fay Compton"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/fay-compton"
fi1m_id: "fay-compton"
imdb_id: "nm0174029"
tmdb_id: 131449
wikidata_id: "Q449753"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "18 September 1894"
died: "12 December 1978"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-22T01:12:18.799049+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Fay Compton

## Identity

Fay Compton

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/fay-compton
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** fay-compton
- **IMDb ID:** nm0174029
- **TMDB ID:** 131449
- **Wikidata ID:** Q449753
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Compton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q449753, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174029/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/131449

Actor. Born 18 September 1894 in Fulham, London, England, UK. Died 12 December 1978.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 18 September 1894, Fulham, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 12 December 1978
- **Active:** 1951–1967
- **Also known as:** Virginia Lilian Emmeline Mackenzie Compton, Фэй Комптон, Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fay_Compton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q449753, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0174029/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/131449

## Streaming the US now

- **The Criterion Channel:** [*Othello*](https://film.one/film/othello.md) (80)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Fay Compton (born Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie) was an English actress. She was born on 18 September 1894 in Fulham, London, and died on 12 December 1978 in Hove, East Sussex. She came from a theatrical family; her father was actor and manager Edward Compton, her brother was author Compton Mackenzie, and her sister was actress Viola Compton.

Compton was best known for her stage work, appearing in Shakespeare, drawing-room comedy and other genres from 1911 onwards. She made her film debut in 1914 and appeared in more than forty films up to 1970. Among her screen roles were Emilia in Orson Welles’s *Othello* (1951), Rosie in *Odd Man Out* (1947), Mrs Sanderson in *The Haunting* (1963), and Aunt Ann Forsyte in the BBC television series *The Forsyte Saga* (1967). She was appointed CBE in 1975.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Othello* (1951), Fi1m 80, as Emilia — [page](https://film.one/film/othello.md)

## Complete filmography (51)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *I Start Counting* (1970), as Mrs. Bennett
- *The Virgin and the Gypsy* (1970), as Grandma
- *Dombey and Son* (1969), series, as Mrs. Brown
- *Journey to the Unknown* (1968), series, as Queen Victoria
- *Cold Comfort Farm* (1968), series, as Aunt Ada Doom (Starkadder)
- *Sanctuary* (1967), series, as Sister Juliana
- *The Forsyte Saga* (1967), series, as 'Aunt Ann' Forsyte
- *Knock on Any Door* (1965), series, as Hester Warren
- *Story Parade* (1964), series, as Miss Babbage
- *Uncle Vanya* (1963), as Marya, the mother
- *The Haunting* (1963), as Mrs. Sanderson
- *Maigret* (1960), series, Actor
- *No Hiding Place* (1959), series, Actor
- *The Story of Esther Costello* (1957), as Mother Superior
- *Nicholas Nickleby* (1957), series, Actor
- *Town on Trial* (1957), as Mrs. Crowley
- *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Angelica, Victoria
- *Doublecross* (1956), as Alice Pascoe
- *Aunt Clara* (1954), as Gladys Smith
- *The Vanquished* (1953), as Mrs. Pinkerton
- *Lady Possessed* (1952), as Mme. Brune
- *Othello* (1951), as Emilia — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/othello.md)
- *Laughter in Paradise* (1951), as Agnes Russell
- *Blackmailed* (1951), as Mrs. Christopher
- *The Forbidden Street* (1949), as Mrs. Culver
- *London Belongs to Me* (1948), as Mrs. Josser
- *Esther Waters* (1948), as Mrs. Barfield
- *The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby* (1947), as Mme. Mantalini
- *Odd Man Out* (1947), as Rosie
- *The Prime Minister* (1941), as Queen Victoria
- *So This Is London* (1939), as Lady Worthing
- *The Mill on the Floss* (1937), as Mrs. Tulliver
- *Waltzes from Vienna* (1934), as Countess Helga von Stahl
- *Autumn Crocus* (1934), as Jenny Grey
- *Tell England* (1931), as Mrs. Doe
- *Uneasy Virtue* (1931), as Dorothy Rendell
- *Cape Forlorn* (1931), as Eileen Kell
- *Fashions in Love* (1929), as Marie de Remy
- *Somehow Good* (1927), as Rosalind Nightingale
- *Robinson Crusoe* (1927), as Sophie
- *London Love* (1927), as Sally Hope
- *Settled Out of Court* (1925), as The Woman
- *The Happy Ending* (1925), as Mildred Craddock
- *The Eleventh Commandment* (1924), as Ruth Barchester
- *Claude Duval* (1924), as Duchess Frances
- *The Loves of Mary, Queen of Scots* (1924), as Mary Stuart
- *A Bill of Divorcement* (1922), as Margaret Fairfield
- *Diana of the Crossways* (1922), as Diana
- *The House of Peril* (1922), as Sylvia Bailey
- *A Woman of No Importance* (1921), as Rachel Arbuthnot
- *The Old Wives' Tale* (1921), as Sophie Barnes

## Gallery

- ![Fay Compton](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-a241d7ba97e8.jpg) Fay Compton — Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/02/Fay_Compton.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Fay Compton, actor, 1938, State Library of New South Wales, P1/368](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-4df3b8e59fde.jpg) Fay Compton, actor, 1938, State Library of New South Wales, P1/368 — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/Fay_Compton%2C_actor%2C_1938_-_unknown_photographer_%286497584343%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Compton told the Sydney Morning Herald that it had been suggested that she should stay and play the part of Juliet. I said, "Not on your life." Shakespeare woul](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-7361ee3ff9d1.jpg) Compton told the Sydney Morning Herald that it had been suggested that she should stay and play the part of Juliet. I said, "Not on your life." Shakespeare woul — State Library of New South Wales from Australia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8f/Fay_Compton%2C_actor%2C_1938_-_unknown_photographer_-_Flickr_-_State_Library_of_New_South_Wales_collection.jpg/1280px-Fay_Compton%2C_actor%2C_1938_-_unknown_photographer_-_Flickr_-_State_Library_of_New_South_Wales_collection.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Title: Fay Compton Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1915)](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-53bc4042cd83.jpg) Title: Fay Compton Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1915) — Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Fay_Compton_LCCN2014709061.jpg/1280px-Fay_Compton_LCCN2014709061.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Fay Compton](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-fb00b78f8ea1.jpg) Fay Compton — Image via TMDB
- ![Fay Compton](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-ad86633aa290.jpg) Fay Compton — Image via TMDB
- ![Title: Fay Compton Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1900)](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-dc86173faced.jpg) Title: Fay Compton Abstract/medium: 1 negative : glass ; 5 x 7 in. or smaller. (1900) — Bain News Service, publisher, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/Fay_Compton_LCCN2014712654.jpg/1280px-Fay_Compton_LCCN2014712654.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Actress Fay Compton as Peter Pan at the New Theatre, 1918](https://film.one/media/person/159161/gallery-a35238398f24.png) Actress Fay Compton as Peter Pan at the New Theatre, 1918 — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Fay_Compton_as_Peter_Pan%2C_1918.png?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/fay-compton