Actress. Born Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury. in London, England the only child of Lydia Thompson, a star of the 19th century British stage, and John Christian Tilbury, a riding-master. Her father died the year after her birth in a riding accident. Her mother brought her troupe of 'British Blondes' to New York in 1868. She married Arthur Lewis in June 1887, and in 1894 appeared on stage in 'The Crust of Society' with her husband and her mother. She emigrated to the US in 1903, and made her film debut in 1917 in 'Blind Man's Luck.' She married for a second time to L.E. Woodthorpe in January 1904, and was widowed a decade later. She made fewer than a dozen films before the advent of sound, but after 'The Single Standard' in 1929, she became a recognizable character player appearing in over sixty more shorts and features such as 'The Ship from Shanghai' (1930); 'Women Must Dress' and Werewolf of London (1935); 'Second Childhood' and 'After the Thin Man' (1936); 'Arrest Bulldog Drummond' (1938); and 'The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939). Her most memorable roles, however came at the end of her career; playing 'Grandma' in both 'The Grapes of Wrath' (1940) and 'Tobacco Road' (1941). Her final role was that of a fortune teller in the 1942 feature, 'Flying With Music,' for which she received no screen credit.
Actress. Born Zeffie Agnes Lydia Tilbury. in London, England the only child of Lydia Thompson, a star of the 19th century British stage, and John Christian Tilbury, a riding-master. Her father died the year after her birth in a riding accident. Her mother brought her troupe of 'British Blondes' to New York in 1868. She married Arthur Lewis in June 1887, and in 1894 appeared on stage in 'The Crust of Society' with her husband and her mother. She emigrated to the US in 1903, and made her film debut in 1917 in 'Blind Man's Luck.' She married for a second time to L.E. Woodthorpe in January 1904, and was widowed a decade later. She made fewer than a dozen films before the advent of sound, but after 'The Single Standard' in 1929, she became a recognizable character player appearing in over sixty more shorts and features such as 'The Ship from Shanghai' (1930); 'Women Must Dress' and Werewolf of London (1935); 'Second Childhood' and 'After the Thin Man' (1936); 'Arrest Bulldog Drummond' (1938); and 'The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939). Her most memorable roles, however came at the end of her career; playing 'Grandma' in both 'The Grapes of Wrath' (1940) and 'Tobacco Road' (1941). Her final role was that of a fortune teller in the 1942 feature, 'Flying With Music,' for which she received no screen credit.
Bio by: Iola
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