Hilda Plowright

Hilda Plowright (29 November 1890 – 9 October 1973) was a British actress born in Swaffham, Norfolk, England, whose career spanned stage, film, and television across Britain and the United States. She began her theatrical work in Britain as early as 1908, continuing through 1921. A 1916 review in The Cornishman praised her performance in the title role of Lechmere Worrall's play Ann, noting her command of an American accent and her skillful portrayal of the character's eccentricity and vivacity. That play was later adapted into the film Her Winning Way.

Plowright subsequently relocated to the United States, where she obtained work and a Social Security number in New York. Between 1925 and 1940, she appeared in at least thirteen Broadway productions. Her stage credits included A Tale of the Wolf (1925), Saturday Night (1926), Twelfth Night (1926), When Crummles Played (1928), Michael and Mary (1929), Heat Wave (1931), The Lady with a Lamp (1931), The Good Fairy (1932), The Party's Over (1933), The Distaff Side (1934), For Valor (1935), And Now Good-bye (1937), and Leave Her to Heaven (1940).

Her film career began with a starring role in the 1938 Hopalong Cassidy entry Partners of the Plains, in which Gwen Gaze served as the leading lady. Plowright accumulated over fifty film and television appearances between 1938 and 1965, frequently in small, often uncredited character roles. Among her more noted film appearances was her role as a Quaker librarian in The Philadelphia Story, which has been identified as one of the earliest instances on film of a librarian saying "shush" to patrons, a moment credited with introducing a new dimension to the stern librarian stereotype in cinema. She was also cast as Jeannette Rankin in Wilson. Plowright auditioned for the role of Frau Schmidt in The Sound of Music but was not cast. Her final film appearance came in My Fair Lady in 1964.

On television, Plowright appeared twice in Alfred Hitchcock Presents, playing Mrs. Whybrow in the 1957 episode "The Hands of Mr. Ottermole" and Mae Thorpe in the 1959 episode "Banquo's Chair." Additional television credits included NBC Matinee Theater (1956), The Gale Storm Show (1956), The Joseph Cotten Show (1956), and Schlitz Playhouse (1951). Plowright died on 9 October 1973 in San Diego, California.