--- name: "Phyllis Calvert" canonical: "https://film.one/person/phyllis-calvert" fi1m_id: "phyllis-calvert" imdb_id: "nm0130829" tmdb_id: 89534 wikidata_id: "Q275383" roles: ["Actor"] born: "18 February 1915" died: "8 October 2002" reviewed_on_fi1m: 1 average_as: "actor" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-09-25T03:28:14.930206+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." --- # Phyllis Calvert ## Identity Phyllis Calvert - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/phyllis-calvert - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** phyllis-calvert - **IMDb ID:** nm0130829 - **TMDB ID:** 89534 - **Wikidata ID:** Q275383 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Calvert, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q275383, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130829/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/89534 Actor. Born 18 February 1915 in Chelsea, London, England, UK. Died 8 October 2002. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 18 February 1915, Chelsea, London, England, UK - **Died:** 8 October 2002 - **Also known as:** Филлис Калверт, Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phyllis_Calvert, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q275383, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0130829/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/89534 ## Fi1m on Phyllis Calvert > Phyllis Calvert makes the decent woman worth watching when the melodrama would rather follow someone wicked. Her steadiness is valuable, but even a cast like that of *The Man in Grey* cannot keep a sluggish film moving. A tremor of the lower lip is enough to disturb Phyllis Calvert’s well-bred composure. She can make a gracious woman seem to be feeling more than she is prepared to say. That matters in the Gainsborough melodramas, which repeatedly give her the virtuous heroine while allowing other women to be more flamboyant. *The Man in Grey* (1943), her breakthrough as Clarissa, places her alongside Margaret Lockwood, James Mason and Stewart Granger. Lockwood supplies the urgency, and the film’s strongest reason for watching remains the heat she and Mason bring to it. Calvert and Granger help to keep the ensemble worth attending to during the less rewarding passages. We grew impatient with *The Man in Grey* because it repeatedly lost the interest its actors had just recovered. There is skill in making the decent character hold our attention, but we would not ask anyone to sit through a sluggish film simply to acknowledge how difficult her task was. After earlier work including Carol Reed’s *Kipps* (1941), the Gainsborough films repeatedly asked her to make goodness interesting. *Fanny by Gaslight* (1944) continued the sympathetic heroine, while the dual role in *Madonna of the Seven Moons* (1944) asked for more than gracious endurance. We would not mistake the ladylike manner for a narrow set of abilities, even if it became a convenient way to cast her. The late-1940s Hollywood attempt was unsuccessful, and the subsequent British films generally made little impression. *Mandy* (1952) is the important exception: as Christine Garland, the mother of a deaf child, Calvert has a family drama that benefits from her restraint. Her later mothers, aunts and authority figures continued to draw on that sympathetic presence in film and television. Aunt Helena in *Mrs Dalloway* (1997) belongs to that later stretch. We would start with *Mandy*; the costume dramas do not always reward the patience she helps us find. ## Biography Phyllis Calvert (18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002) was an English actress. Born Phyllis Hannah Bickle in Chelsea, London, she trained at the Margaret Morris School of Dancing and began performing from the age of ten. She made her film debut at twelve in *The Arcadians* (1927) and her London stage debut in 1939. She first found success in the film adaptation of H. G. Wells's *Kipps* (1941). Her status as a leading star was confirmed by her role as Clarissa Richmond Rohan in the Gainsborough melodrama *The Man in Grey* (1943). She starred in further Gainsborough films including *Fanny by Gaslight* (1944), *Madonna of the Seven Moons* (1945) and *They Were Sisters* (1945), becoming one of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1940s. Calvert appeared in more than forty films, with later credits including *Oh! What a Lovely War* (1969) and *Mrs Dalloway* (1997). She also worked extensively in theatre and television, including the series *Kate* (1970–1972). She was married to the actor and antiquarian bookseller Peter Murray-Hill from 1941 until his death in 1957. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, screenonline.org.uk.* ## On Fi1m (1) - *The Man in Grey* (1943), Fi1m 61, as Clarissa Richmond Rohan / Clarissa Rohan — [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-in-grey.md) ## Complete filmography (63) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Mrs. Dalloway* (1997), as Aunt Helena - *Midsomer Murders* (1997), series, as Alice Bly — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/tv/midsomer-murders.md) - *Bed* (1995), as Couple Woman - *The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes* (1994), series, as Agnes Garrideb - *Jute City* (1991), series, as Lady Muircross - *Performance* (1991), series, as Woman - *The House of Eliott* (1991), series, as Mrs Gurney - *Victoria Wood* (1989), series, as Hilary - *Across the Lake* (1988), as Lady Dolly Campbell - *The Woman He Loved* (1988), as Queen Mary - *After Henry* (1988), series, as Auntie Lilian - *The Death of the Heart* (1987), as Mrs. Heccomb - *A Killing on the Exchange* (1987), series, as Alison Tyndall - *All Passion Spent* (1986), as Carrie - *All Passion Spent* (1986), series, as Carrie - *Fifties Features - The Women behind the Pictures* (1986), series, Actor - *Casualty* (1986), series, as Mary - *A Month in the Country* (1985), as Anna - *Cover Her Face* (1985), series, as Eleanor Maxie - *Sherlock Holmes* (1984), series, as Agnes Garrideb - *Lady Killers* (1980), series, as Rosaline Fox - *Tales of the Unexpected* (1979), series, as Mabel Ince - *The Walking Stick* (1970), as Erica Dainton - *Kate* (1970), series, as Kate Graham - *Oh! What a Lovely War* (1969), as Lady Dorothy Haig - *Twisted Nerve* (1968), as Enid Durnley - *ITV Playhouse* (1967), series, as Mrs Radcliffe - *The Battle of the Villa Fiorita* (1965), as Margot - *Oscar Wilde* (1960), as Constance Wilde - *Indiscreet* (1958), as Mrs. Margaret Munson - *The Young and the Guilty* (1958), as Gladys Connor - *A Lady Mislaid* (1958), as Esther Wallace - *Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!* (1957), series, as Tatiana - *Child in the House* (1956), as Evelyn Acheson - *Armchair Theatre* (1956), series, as Esther Ross - *It's Never Too Late* (1956), as Laura Hammond - *The Net* (1953), as Lydia Heathley - *The Postman* (1952), Actor - *Mandy* (1952), as Christine Garland - *Mr. Denning Drives North* (1951), as Kay Denning - *The Woman with No Name* (1950), as Yvonne Winter - *Appointment with Danger* (1950), as Sister Augustine - *The Golden Madonna* (1949), as Patricia Chandler - *My Own True Love* (1948), as Joan Clews - *Broken Journey* (1948), as Mary Johnstone - *Time Out of Mind* (1947), as Kate Fernald - *The Root of All Evil* (1947), as Jeckie Farnish - *The Magic Bow* (1946), as Jeanne - *Men of Two Worlds* (1946), as Dr. Caroline Munro - *They Were Sisters* (1945), as Lucy Moore - *Madonna of the Seven Moons* (1945), as Maddalena Labardi - *Two Thousand Women* (1944), as Freda Thompson - *Fanny by Gaslight* (1944), as Fanny - *The Man in Grey* (1943), as Clarissa Richmond Rohan / Clarissa Rohan — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/the-man-in-grey.md) - *The Young Mr. Pitt* (1942), as Eleanor Eden - *Uncensored* (1942), as Julie Lanvin - *Kipps* (1941), as Ann Pornick (adult) - *Inspector Hornleigh Goes to It* (1941), as Mrs. Wilkinson - *Neutral Port* (1940), as Helen Carter - *Charley's (Big-Hearted) Aunt* (1940), as Betty Forsythe - *Let George Do It!* (1940), as Mary Wilson - *They Came by Night* (1940), as Sally - *Two Days to Live* (1940), as Joyce ## Gallery - ![Phyllis Calvert at home in Barnes England (1974)](https://film.one/media/person/3859435/gallery-a42d36654277.jpg) Phyllis Calvert at home in Barnes England (1974) — Allan Warren, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Phyllis_Calvert_2_Allan_Warren.jpg/1280px-Phyllis_Calvert_2_Allan_Warren.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Phyllis Calvert](https://film.one/media/person/3859435/gallery-3f0e90deb4fc.jpg) Phyllis Calvert — Allan warren, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fe/Phyllis_Calvert.jpg/1280px-Phyllis_Calvert.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Phyllis Calvert](https://film.one/media/person/3859435/gallery-d1b18a31313f.jpg) Phyllis Calvert — Image via TMDB - ![Phyllis Calvert](https://film.one/media/person/3859435/gallery-dc357fc3be4e.jpg) Phyllis Calvert — 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/phyllis-calvert