---
name: "Zeffie Tilbury"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/zeffie-tilbury"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "18 November 1863"
died: "24 July 1950"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 72
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-09-20T00:08:34.678537+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."
---

# Zeffie Tilbury

Actor. Born 18 November 1863 in Paddington, London, England, UK. Died 24 July 1950.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 18 November 1863, Paddington, London, England, UK
- **Died:** 24 July 1950
- **Active:** 1936–1940
- **Also known as:** Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury, Zeffie Tilsbury
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 2 acting, 1 other
- **Average Fi1m score:** 72, as actor, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 68 (2), 1940s 86 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeffie_Tilbury, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3575094, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0863193/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/8522

## Biography

Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury was an English actress who appeared on stage and in over 70 films. She made her stage debut in 1881 in *Nine Points of the Law* at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, and performed in London and on Broadway.

She is known for roles as older women in films including *Werewolf of London* (1935), *Alice Adams* (1935) as Mrs. Dresser (uncredited), *After the Thin Man* (1936), *The Bohemian Girl* (1936), *Camille* (1936), *Desire* (1936), *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940) as Grandma Joad and *Tobacco Road* (1941) as Grandma Lester. Her earliest surviving silent film was the 1921 production of *Camille*.

Tilbury was born on 20 November 1863 in Paddington, Middlesex, England, and died on 24 July 1950 in Los Angeles, California. She was married twice.

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

## On Fi1m (3)

### Performed in (2) — the average rests on these

- *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), Fi1m 86, as Grandma Joad — [page](https://film.one/film/the-grapes-of-wrath.md)
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), Fi1m 57, as Old Woman at Chalet — [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Alice Adams* (1935), Fi1m 79, as Mrs. Dresser (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/alice-adams.md)

## Complete filmography (73)

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

- *Flying with Music* (1942), as Fortune Teller
- *Sheriff of Tombstone* (1941), as Granny Carson
- *Tobacco Road* (1941), as Grandma Lester
- *She Couldn't Say No* (1940), as Ma Hawkins
- *Comin' Round the Mountain* (1940), as Granny Stokes
- *The Grapes of Wrath* (1940), as Grandma Joad — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/the-grapes-of-wrath.md)
- *The Earl of Chicago* (1940), as Miss Nana (uncredited)
- *Emergency Squad* (1940), as Mrs. Cobb
- *Balalaika* (1939), as Natalya Petrovna
- *Lady of the Tropics* (1939), as Woman Congratulating Manon
- *Tell No Tales* (1939), as Miss Mary
- *The Story of Alexander Graham Bell* (1939), as Mrs. Sanders
- *Boy Trouble* (1939), as Mrs. Jepson
- *Arrest Bulldog Drummond* (1938), as Aunt Meg
- *Marie Antoinette* (1938), as Dowager at Birth of Dauphin (uncredited)
- *Woman Against Woman* (1938), as Grandma
- *Kidnapped* (1938), as Old Woman
- *Hunted Men* (1938), as Flower Woman
- *Bulldog Drummond's Peril* (1938), as Mrs. Weevens
- *Federal Bullets* (1937), as Mrs. Crippen
- *The King Without a Crown* (1937), as Dying Duchess Marie (uncredited)
- *Bulldog Drummond Comes Back* (1937), as Zeffie
- *It Happened in Hollywood* (1937), as Miss Gordon
- *Hideaway* (1937), as Mrs. Beamish
- *Rhythm in the Clouds* (1937), as The Duchess de Lovely
- *Parnell* (1937), as Old Lady
- *Midnight Taxi* (1937), as Mrs. Lane
- *Maid of Salem* (1937), as Goody Hodgers
- *Bulldog Drummond Escapes* (1937), as Drunk in Jail Cell
- *Under Cover of Night* (1937), as Mrs. Nash
- *Camille* (1936), as Old Duchess Bidding 3750 Francs
- *After the Thin Man* (1936), as Aunt Lucy (uncredited)
- *Grandma's Buoys* (1936), as Grandma
- *Old Hutch* (1936), as Elderly Woman in Bank
- *Give Me Your Heart* (1936), as Esther Warren
- *The Gorgeous Hussy* (1936), as Mrs. Daniel Beall
- *Anthony Adverse* (1936), as Old Woman at Chalet — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/anthony-adverse.md)
- *The White Angel* (1936), as Woman Donating Sheets (uncredited)
- *Parole!* (1936), as Molly Smith
- *Desire* (1936), as Aunt Olga
- *Second Childhood* (1936), as Grandma
- *Vamp Till Ready* (1936), as Woman
- *The Bohemian Girl* (1936), as Gypsy Queen
- *Bad Boy* (1935), as Deaf Woman
- *The Last Days of Pompeii* (1935), as The Wise Woman (uncredited)
- *Navy Wife* (1935), as Bridge Player
- *Alice Adams* (1935), as Mrs. Dresser (uncredited) — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/film/alice-adams.md)
- *The Farmer Takes a Wife* (1935), as Old Townswoman
- *Stranded* (1935), as Old Hag (uncredited)
- *Public Hero Number 1* (1935), as Deaf Woman in Scottsdale Bar (uncredited)
- *Werewolf of London* (1935), as Mrs. Moncaster
- *The Mystery of Edwin Drood* (1935), as The Opium Woman
- *Women Must Dress* (1935), as Peg Martin
- *The Fuller Gush Man* (1934), as Grandma
- *Ocean Swells* (1934), as Auntie
- *Bachelor Bait* (1934), as Miss Turner (uncredited)
- *Mystery Liner* (1934), as Granny Plimpton
- *Two Alone* (1934), as Rogers' Neighbor (uncredited)
- *Blind Adventure* (1933), Actor
- *Made on Broadway* (1933), as Aunt Ada
- *Charlie Chan Carries On* (1931), as Mrs. Luce
- *The Ship from Shanghai* (1930), as Lady Daley
- *The Single Standard* (1929), as Mrs. Handley
- *The Night of Love* (1927), as Lady in Waiting
- *Another Scandal* (1924), as Brownie
- *Camille* (1921), as Prudence
- *Big Game* (1921), as Aunt Sarah Winthrop
- *The Marriage of William Ashe* (1921), as Lady Tranmore
- *Clothes* (1920), as Mrs. Cathcart
- *Mothers of Men* (1920), as Mrs. De La Motte
- *A Society Exile* (1919), as Mrs. Stanley Shelby
- *The Avalanche* (1919), as Mrs. Ruyler
- *Blind Man's Luck* (1917), as Mrs. Guerton

## Gallery

- ![Zeffie Tilbury, stage actress Subjects: actresses (1913)](https://film.one/media/person/1227932/gallery-915a05b0be5d.jpg) Zeffie Tilbury, stage actress Subjects: actresses (1913) — Frank C. Bangs, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Zeffie_Tilbury%2C_stage_actress_%28SAYRE_10767%29_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Miss Zeffie Tilbury, actress (1880)](https://film.one/media/person/1227932/gallery-9916dc867be9.jpg) Miss Zeffie Tilbury, actress (1880) — W. Duke, Sons & Co., CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2e/Miss_Zeffie_Tilbury_MET_DP840320_%28cropped%29.jpg/1280px-Miss_Zeffie_Tilbury_MET_DP840320_%28cropped%29.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Zeffie Tilbury](https://film.one/media/person/1227932/gallery-f94d25caf70f.jpg) Zeffie Tilbury — Image via TMDB
- ![Zeffie Tilbury](https://film.one/media/person/1227932/gallery-7abca122f29a.jpg) Zeffie Tilbury — Image via TMDB

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© 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/zeffie-tilbury