---
name: "Joan Greenwood"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/joan-greenwood"
fi1m_id: "joan-greenwood"
imdb_id: "nm0339343"
tmdb_id: 45466
wikidata_id: "Q446064"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "4 March 1921"
died: "27 February 1987"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-07T11:06:28.005042+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."
---

# Joan Greenwood

## Identity

Joan Greenwood

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/joan-greenwood
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** joan-greenwood
- **IMDb ID:** nm0339343
- **TMDB ID:** 45466
- **Wikidata ID:** Q446064
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Greenwood, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q446064, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339343/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/45466

Actor. Born 4 March 1921 in Chelsea, London, England, UK. Died 27 February 1987.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 4 March 1921, Chelsea, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 27 February 1987
- **Active:** 1949–1986
- **Also known as:** Джоан Гринвуд, Joan Mary Waller Greenwood, جوآن گرینوود
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1940s 91 (1), 1960s 74 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Greenwood, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q446064, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0339343/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/45466

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Kind Hearts and Coronets*](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets.md) (91)
- **HBO Max:** [*Tom Jones*](https://film.one/film/tom-jones.md) (74)

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

## Fi1m on Joan Greenwood

> Joan Greenwood’s slow, husky delivery makes politeness sound calculated. We rate the intelligence behind that voice: in *Kind Hearts and Coronets*, she makes us hear Sibella weighing up the person speaking before deciding what to believe.

In *Kind Hearts and Coronets* (1949), Joan Greenwood’s Sibella sounds as though she has assessed the reply before the other person has finished giving it. Her delivery is slow and husky, but the thinking seems quick. We laughed at the doubt she makes audible beneath the politeness: she need not challenge a statement outright to make it seem suspect. Robert Hamer’s comedy gives Dennis Price’s Louis plenty of room to explain himself. Greenwood makes that male certainty rather less comfortable, and we rate her contribution highly.

There is a temptation to treat such a distinctive voice as sufficient explanation for the performance. Listen to how precisely she decides how much belief Sibella will grant the person speaking; the pleasure comes from judgement as much as sound. Valerie Hobson’s cooler Edith D’Ascoyne provides a useful contrast, though neither woman gets Louis’s opportunity to account for herself. We would have welcomed more of Greenwood, particularly when the film is so interested in the excuses people make. She complicates the comedy without being given equal space within it.

Her early film work included *The Gentle Sex* (1943), before the Ealing comedies brought her breakthrough in 1949. In *The Man in the White Suit* (1951), her Daphne Birnley is a cool, intelligent realist opposite Alec Guinness. That part makes good use of her ability to suggest desire without abandoning propriety. Gwendolen Fairfax in *The Importance of Being Earnest* (1952) offered another setting for her precise speech. These parts help explain why the witty, teasing woman became such a familiar assignment.

Her voice also encouraged typecasting, while Hollywood made too little of her individuality in *Moonfleet* (1955). Her later roles included Lady Bellaston in *Tom Jones* (1963). We would not pretend that an unmistakable voice guarantees an interesting character. The writing has to give her something to judge, and time for us to hear the judgement. Start with *Kind Hearts and Coronets*, then try *The Man in the White Suit* for another use of that cool intelligence.

## Biography

Joan Greenwood (4 March 1921 – February 1987) was an English actress. Born in Chelsea, London, she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began her stage career in 1938.

She appeared in several Ealing comedies, including as Peggy Macroon in *Whisky Galore!* (1949) and as Sibella in *Kind Hearts and Coronets* (1949). Other screen roles include Daphne Birnley in *The Man in the White Suit* (1951) and Gwendolen Fairfax in *The Importance of Being Earnest* (1952). She also worked extensively in the theatre, including with Donald Wolfit's company after the Second World War.

Greenwood was married to actor André Morell from 1960 until his death in 1978.

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

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Tom Jones* (1963), Fi1m 74, as Lady Bellaston — [page](https://film.one/film/tom-jones.md)
- *Kind Hearts and Coronets* (1949), Fi1m 91, as Sibella — [page](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets.md)

## Complete filmography (54)

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

- *Les messages de Fritz Lang* (2003), Actor
- *Little Dorrit* (1987), as Mrs. Clennam
- *Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel* (1987), series, as Selina Hazy
- *Past Caring* (1986), as Stella
- *Made In Ealing: The Story of Ealing Studios* (1986), as Interviewee
- *Girls On Top* (1985), series, as Lady Carlton
- *Ellis Island* (1984), series, as Madame Levitska
- *Country* (1981), as Dollie van der Biek
- *Triangle* (1981), series, as Judith Harper
- *The Flame Is Love* (1979), as Duchess of Grantham
- *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), series, as Emma Adkins
- *The Hound of the Baskervilles* (1978), as Beryl Stapleton
- *The Water Babies* (1978), as Lady Harriet
- *The Uncanny* (1977), as Miss Malkin (segment "London 1912")
- *Shadows* (1975), series, as Rose
- *Girl Stroke Boy* (1971), as Lettice Mason
- *The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens* (1970), as Maria Beadnell
- *The Main Chance* (1969), series, as Mrs. Hilary Wenn
- *Barbarella* (1968), as The Great Tyrant (voice) (uncredited)
- *The Jazz Age* (1968), series, as Mrs. Kent-Cumberland
- *BBC Play of the Month* (1965), series, as Louise, Duchess of Portsmouth
- *The Wednesday Play* (1964), series, as Mrs. Suez
- *The Moon-Spinners* (1964), as Aunt Frances Ferris
- *Tom Jones* (1963), as Lady Bellaston — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/tom-jones.md)
- *The Amorous Prawn* (1962), as Lady Dodo Fitzadam
- *Mysterious Island* (1961), as Lady Mary Fairchild
- *Hest på sommerferie* (1959), as Narrator
- *Stage Struck* (1958), as Rita Vernon
- *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Claire, Antonia, Ann Veronica
- *Moonfleet* (1955), as Lady Clarista Ashwood
- *Father Brown* (1954), as Lady Warren
- *Monsieur Ripois* (1954), as Norah
- *The Importance of Being Earnest* (1952), as Gwendolen Fairfax
- *Hallmark Hall of Fame* (1951), series, as Ann Whitefield
- *Young Wives' Tale* (1951), as Sabina Pennant
- *The Man in the White Suit* (1951), as Daphne Birnley
- *Mr. Peek-a-Boo* (1951), as Susan
- *Flesh and Blood* (1951), as Wilhelmina Cameron
- *Kind Hearts and Coronets* (1949), as Sibella — Fi1m 91, [page](https://film.one/film/kind-hearts-and-coronets.md)
- *Whisky Galore!* (1949), as Peggy Macroon
- *The Bad Lord Byron* (1949), as Lady Caroline Lamb
- *Saraband for Dead Lovers* (1948), as Sophie Dorothea
- *The Philco Television Playhouse* (1948), series, Actor
- *The White Unicorn* (1947), as Lottie Smith
- *The October Man* (1947), as Jenny Carden
- *The Man Within* (1947), as Elizabeth
- *A Girl in a Million* (1946), as Gay Sultzman
- *They Knew Mr. Knight* (1946), as Ruth Blake
- *Frenzy* (1946), as Christine
- *The Gentle Sex* (1943), as Betty Miller
- *Save Your Shillings and Smile* (1943), Actor
- *He Found a Star* (1941), as Babe Cavour
- *My Wife's Family* (1941), as Irma Bagshott
- *John Smith Wakes Up* (1941), Actor

## Gallery

- ![Belair Drive-In theater advertisement for the double-feature sci-fi adventure films Mysterious Island (1961) and Valley of the Dragons (1961). From the 20 Decem](https://film.one/media/person/59013/gallery-97caabdee38b.jpg) Belair Drive-In theater advertisement for the double-feature sci-fi adventure films Mysterious Island (1961) and Valley of the Dragons (1961). From the 20 Decem — Columbia Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f3/Belair_Drive-in_Ad_-_20_December_1961%2C_Fontana%2C_CA.jpg/1280px-Belair_Drive-in_Ad_-_20_December_1961%2C_Fontana%2C_CA.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Joan Greenwood](https://film.one/media/person/59013/gallery-b5136fa918d6.jpg) Joan Greenwood — Image via TMDB
- ![Joan Greenwood](https://film.one/media/person/59013/gallery-5b195e09866c.jpg) Joan Greenwood — Image via TMDB
- ![Joan Greenwood](https://film.one/media/person/59013/gallery-318f8cca412d.jpg) Joan Greenwood — Image via TMDB

---
© 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/joan-greenwood