--- name: "Jessica Tandy" canonical: "https://film.one/person/jessica-tandy" fi1m_id: "jessica-tandy" imdb_id: "nm0001788" tmdb_id: 5698 wikidata_id: "Q182104" roles: ["Actor"] born: "7 June 1909" died: "11 September 1994" reviewed_on_fi1m: 5 average_fi1m_score: 73 average_as: "actor" average_over: 5 updated: "2026-10-04T20:06:10.752735+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." --- # Jessica Tandy ## Identity Jessica Tandy - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jessica-tandy - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** jessica-tandy - **IMDb ID:** nm0001788 - **TMDB ID:** 5698 - **Wikidata ID:** Q182104 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Tandy, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q182104, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001788/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5698 Actor. Born 7 June 1909 in London, England. Died 11 September 1994. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 7 June 1909, London, England - **Died:** 11 September 1994 - **Active:** 1963–1991 - **Also known as:** Jessica Alice Tandy, جسیکا تندی - **Frequently works with:** [Lili Fini Zanuck](https://film.one/person/lili-fini-zanuck.md), [Richard D. Zanuck](https://film.one/person/richard-d-zanuck.md) - **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar (1 won · 1 nominated) - **Average Fi1m score:** 73, as actor, over 5 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 86 (1), 1980s 69 (3), 1990s 75 (1) - **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 71 across 3 titles - **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60 - **Lead roles:** 3 of 5 acting credits billed first or second - **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 3, Science Fiction 2, Family 1, Fantasy 1, Horror 1 - **Screen time:** 10 hours of reviewed films - **Box office:** $427m across 5 films with figures - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Tandy, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q182104, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001788/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/5698 ## Streaming the US now - **Peacock:** [*The Birds*](https://film.one/film/the-birds.md) (86) - **Tubi:** [*Driving Miss Daisy*](https://film.one/film/driving-miss-daisy.md) (68) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Jessica Tandy > Jessica Tandy makes listening to an older woman tell a story a pleasure in itself. We rate her warmth and precision, particularly when a film's determination to improve us might otherwise make for a rather tiring evening. In *Fried Green Tomatoes* (1991), Jessica Tandy makes Ninny Threadgoode's storytelling worth stopping for. The film needs us to care about listening, and her warmth makes that seem a reasonable demand. We enjoyed Ninny's company more than the plot; Tandy made us want to keep listening. She is particularly valuable when earnest writing threatens to become oppressive. Here, she gives us a person to enjoy spending time with, which makes the instruction in self-belief considerably easier to accept. Her film career was slow to make room for her. She originated Blanche DuBois in the Broadway production of *A Streetcar Named Desire* (1947), but her screen work was largely in supporting parts for decades. Lydia Brenner in *The Birds* (1963) belongs to that stretch. The later prominence of *Cocoon* (1985), with frequent acting partner Hume Cronyn, and her lead as Daisy Werthan in *Driving Miss Daisy* (1989) brought older women nearer the centre of her screen work. Warmth and intelligence were qualities she could give these characters without treating age as their only interesting feature. In Jon Avnet's *Fried Green Tomatoes*, that usefulness is especially clear beside Kathy Bates. Bates makes Evelyn's transformation worth following, while Tandy keeps the earnestness from weighing the film down. Mary Stuart Masterson's Idgie and Mary-Louise Parker's Ruth give the earlier strand its emotional pull; Tandy makes the storytelling matter as well. Her precision is easy to overlook because the result feels so companionable. We never feel obliged to admire Ninny simply for being there: Tandy gives us a reason to take an interest in what she has to say. Tandy's persuasiveness is also a reason to be careful about the films around her. *Fried Green Tomatoes* remains predictably plotted and cautious about sexuality, however much pleasure its cast gives us. Her performance makes the sentiment worth accepting, but it cannot settle those reservations. Choose it for an evening of sympathetic company; do not expect Ninny to cure the screenplay. ## Biography Jessica Tandy was an English-American stage and film actress. Born Jessie Alice Tandy in London on 7 June 1909, she began her career on the London stage in the 1920s and appeared in British films before moving to New York. She was married first to actor Jack Hawkins and later to Canadian actor Hume Cronyn, with whom she frequently performed on stage and screen. Tandy is known for her Tony Award-winning performance as Blanche DuBois in the original Broadway production of *A Streetcar Named Desire* (1948) and for film roles including Lydia Brenner in *The Birds* (1963), Alma Finley in *Cocoon* (1985), Daisy Werthan in *Driving Miss Daisy* (1989), and Ninny Threadgoode in *Fried Green Tomatoes* (1991). She received the Academy Award for Best Actress for *Driving Miss Daisy* and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for *Fried Green Tomatoes*. She died in Easton, Connecticut, on 11 September 1994. *Sources: themoviedb.org, britannica.com, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (5) - *Fried Green Tomatoes* (1991), Fi1m 75, as Ninny Threadgoode — [page](https://film.one/film/fried-green-tomatoes.md) - *Driving Miss Daisy* (1989), Fi1m 68, as Daisy Werthan — [page](https://film.one/film/driving-miss-daisy.md) - **batteries not included* (1987), Fi1m 63, as Faye Riley — [page](https://film.one/film/batteries-not-included.md) - *Cocoon* (1985), Fi1m 75, as Alma Finley — [page](https://film.one/film/cocoon.md) - *The Birds* (1963), Fi1m 86, as Lydia Brenner — [page](https://film.one/film/the-birds.md) ## Complete filmography (54) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Miss Daisy's Journey: From Stage to Screen* (2003), as Daisy Werthan (archive footage) (uncredited) - *Nobody's Fool* (1994), as Beryl Peoples - *Camilla* (1994), as Camilla Cara - *To Dance with the White Dog* (1993), as Cora Peek - *Used People* (1992), as Freida - *Fried Green Tomatoes* (1991), as Ninny Threadgoode — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/fried-green-tomatoes.md) - *The Story Lady* (1991), as Grace McQueen - *Dream On* (1990), series, as (archive footage) - *Driving Miss Daisy* (1989), as Daisy Werthan — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/film/driving-miss-daisy.md) - *Cocoon: The Return* (1988), as Alma Finley - *The House on Carroll Street* (1988), as Miss Venable - **batteries not included* (1987), as Faye Riley — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/film/batteries-not-included.md) - *Foxfire* (1987), as Annie Nations - *Cocoon* (1985), as Alma Finley — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/film/cocoon.md) - *The Bostonians* (1984), as Miss Birdseye - *Best Friends* (1982), as Eleanor McCullen - *Still of the Night* (1982), as Grace Rice - *The World According to Garp* (1982), as Mrs. Fields - *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as Fonsia Dorsey - *Honky Tonk Freeway* (1981), as Carol - *The Gin Game* (1981), as Fonsia Dorsey - *Butley* (1974), as Edna Shaft - *Tennessee Williams' South* (1973), Actor - *Judd, for the Defense* (1967), series, as Helen Wister - *The F.B.I.* (1965), series, as Ardyth Nolan - *The Birds* (1963), as Lydia Brenner — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-birds.md) - *Hemingway’s Adventures of a Young Man* (1962), as Mrs. Helen Adams - *The Moon and Sixpence* (1959), as Blanche Stroeve - *The Christmas Tree* (1958), as Mrs. Martin - *The Light in the Forest* (1958), as Myra Butler - *Suspicion* (1957), series, Actor - *Telephone Time* (1956), series, Actor - *Alfred Hitchcock Presents* (1955), series, as Edwina Freel, Julia Lester, Laura Bowlby - *The Fourposter* (1955), Actor - *Producers' Showcase* (1954), series, as Agnes - *The Marriage* (1954), series, as Liz Marriott - *General Electric Theater* (1953), series, as Laura Whitemore - *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Mrs. Martin, Annie Nations - *The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel* (1951), as Frau Lucie Marie Rommel - *Goodyear Television Playhouse* (1951), series, as Leticia Blacklock - *Schlitz Playhouse of Stars* (1951), series, as Cora Torrence, Bertha Jacks - *September Affair* (1950), as Catherine Lawrence - *Prudential Family Playhouse* (1950), series, Actor - *Studio One* (1948), series, as Connaught O'Brien, Mrs. Moore - *The Philco Television Playhouse* (1948), series, as Liz Marriott - *A Woman's Vengeance* (1948), as Janet Spence - *Forever Amber* (1947), as Nan Britton - *The Green Years* (1946), as Kate Leckie - *Dragonwyck* (1946), as Peggy O'Malley - *The Valley of Decision* (1945), as Louise Kane - *Blonde Fever* (1944), as Restaurant Patron (uncredited) - *The Seventh Cross* (1944), as Liesel Roeder - *Murder in the Family* (1938), as Ann Osborne - *Indiscretions of Eve* (1932), as Penelope, the Maid ## Gallery - ![Jessica Tandy](https://film.one/media/person/79719/gallery-15b7aed02619.jpg) Jessica Tandy — Unknown photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Jessica_Tandy_1959.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![58 Geldeston Road, Cazenove, London E5 8SB - birthplace of Jessica Tandy (2021)](https://film.one/media/person/79719/gallery-8ad490a08db1.jpg) 58 Geldeston Road, Cazenove, London E5 8SB - birthplace of Jessica Tandy (2021) — Spudgun67, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d3/58_Geldeston_Road%2C_Cazenove%2C_London_E5_8SB.jpg/1280px-58_Geldeston_Road%2C_Cazenove%2C_London_E5_8SB.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Alexander Knox and Jessica Tandy in the A. J. Cronin's 1940 play Jupiter Laughs](https://film.one/media/person/79719/gallery-83b0545ea0c8.jpg) Alexander Knox and Jessica Tandy in the A. J. Cronin's 1940 play Jupiter Laughs — Playbill, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/Alexander_Knox%2C_Jessica_Tandy_Jupiter_Laughs_Playbill_1940.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![1990 Academy Awards NOTE: Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post any of my photos, but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can. Thanks. S](https://film.one/media/person/79719/gallery-af0f8ad97696.jpg) 1990 Academy Awards NOTE: Permission granted to copy, publish, broadcast or post any of my photos, but please credit "photo by Alan Light" if you can. Thanks. S — Alan Light, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Hune_Cronyn_and_Jessica_Tandy_%282105852229%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Jessica Tandy](https://film.one/media/person/79719/gallery-c811958dea87.jpg) Jessica Tandy — Image via TMDB - ![Jessica Tandy](https://film.one/media/person/79719/gallery-867a1e805e48.jpg) Jessica Tandy — Image via TMDB - ![Jessica Tandy](https://film.one/media/person/79719/gallery-5d98445f86f4.jpg) Jessica Tandy — Image via TMDB ## Awards ### Academy Awards — 1 won, 1 nominated - 1992: Best Supporting Actress (nominated), for *Fried Green Tomatoes* - 1990: Best Actress (won), for *Driving Miss Daisy* ### BAFTA Film Awards — 1 won - 1991: Best Actress in a Leading Role (won), for *Driving Miss Daisy* ### Primetime Emmy Awards — 1 won - 1988: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (won), for *Foxfire* ### Other awards — 4 won, 2 nominated - Crystal Award 1991: Crystal Award (won) - Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play 1986: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (nominated) - Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play 1983: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (won), for *Foxfire* - Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play 1981: Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (nominated) - Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play 1978: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (won), for *The Gin Game* - Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play 1948: Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play (won), for *A Streetcar Named Desire* *From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.* --- © 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/jessica-tandy