A beloved, twinkly blue-eyed doyenne of stage and screen, actress Jessica Tandy's career spanned nearly six and a half decades. In that course of time, she enjoyed an amazing film renaissance at age 80, something unheard of in a town that worships youth and nubile beauty. She was born Jessie Alice Tandy in London in 1909, the daughter of Jessie Helen , were released posthumously.
Mother of Susan Hawkins with Jack Hawkins and Tandy Cronyn and Christopher Cronyn with Hume Cronyn. Grandmother of actress Katherine Cronyn.
1990: Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world.
1990: Diagnosed with cancer.
She won a Tony Award in 1978 for "The Gin Game".
She won a Tony Award in 1948 for "A Streetcar Named Desire".
Starred (with husband Hume Cronyn ) as Liz Marriott on NBC Radios "The Marriage" (1953-1954).
1989: She became the 12th performer to win the Triple Crown of acting. Oscar: Best Actress, Driving Miss Daisy ; Tonys: Best Actress-Play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" and Best Actress-Play, "The Gin Game" and Best Actress-Play, "Foxfire" ; Emmy: Best Actress-Miniseries/Special, Foxfire .
Has won four Tony Awards: in 1948, as Best Actress for "A Streetcar Named Desire," an award shared with Judith Anderson for "Medea" and Katharine Cornell for "Antony and Cleopatra;" as Best Actress (Play), in 1978, for "The Gin Game," and in 1983, for "Foxfire;" and in 1994, a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement shared with her husband, Hume Cronyn. She also received Tony Award nominations in 1971, as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for "Rose," and in 1986, as Best Actress (Play) for "The Petition."
Broadway producer Lee Shubert convinced her to change her name from Jessie to Jessica during her early stage years.
1974: She earned a law degree.
1990: She and husband Hume Cronyn were both awarded the American National Medal of the Arts by the National Endowment of the Arts in Washington D.C.
At age 80, she was the oldest winner of a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy .
Won a 1993 Special Tony Award (New York City) lifetime achievement award.
Was originally cast as Aunt Trina in I Remember Mama but later dropped out in order to pursue A Womans Vengeance . As a result Ellen Corby , who went on to receive a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance, was cast instead.
Is one of 16 actresses to have won the Triple Crown of Acting (an Oscar, Emmy and Tony); the others in chronological order are Helen Hayes , Ingrid Bergman , Shirley Booth , Liza Minnelli , Rita Moreno , Maureen Stapleton , Audrey Hepburn , Anne Bancroft , Vanessa Redgrave , Maggie Smith , Ellen Burstyn , Helen Mirren , Frances McDormand , Jessica Lange and Viola Davis.
Having won Best Actress at age 80, she was the oldest winner of an Academy Award until Christopher Plummer , won for Beginners at age 82.
Co-starred with Tippi Hedren in The Birds , and then with Hedrens daughter Melanie Griffith in Nobodys Fool .
Has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6284 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
Became pregnant by her husband Hume Cronyn in May 1954 but she suffered a miscarriage in June 1954, just a week prior to the premiere of their TV series "The Marriage" .
Shares some similarities with actress Eva Le Gallienne. Both were born in England but made their career in U.S. and their first Oscar nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category came at the age 82.
She and husband Hume Cronyn partnered on screen in 13 movies between 1944 and 1994, usually playing a couple: The Seventh Cross , Blonde Fever , The Green Years , The Moon and Sixpence , Honky Tonk Freeway , The World According to Garp , Cocoon ,
Batteries not included , Foxfire , Cocoon: The Return , The Story Lady , To Dance with the White Dog and Camilla .
Was the 100th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy at The 62nd Annual Academy Awards on March 26, 1990.
She met Hume Cronyn in 1940, and they married in 1942.
Is one of 26 actresses to have won an Academy Award for their performance in a comedy; hers being for Driving Miss Daisy . The others, in chronological order, are: Claudette Colbert ( It Happened One Night ), Loretta Young ( The Farmers Daughter ), Josephine Hull ( Harvey ), Judy Holliday ( Born Yesterday ), Audrey Hepburn ( Roman Holiday ), Goldie Hawn ( Cactus Flower ), Glenda Jackson ( A Touch of Class ), Lee Grant ( Shampoo ), Diane Keaton ( Annie Hall ), Maggie Smith ( California Suite ), Mary Steenburgen ( Melvin and Howard ), Jessica Lange ( Tootsie ), Anjelica Huston ( Prizzis Honor ), Olympia Dukakis ( Moonstruck ), Cher ( Moonstruck ), Mercedes Ruehl ( The Fisher King ), Dianne Wiest ( Bullets Over Broadway ), Mira Sorvino ( Mighty Aphrodite ), Frances McDormand ( Fargo ), Helen Hunt ( As Good as It Gets ), Judi Dench ( Shakespeare in Love ), Gwyneth Paltrow ( Shakespeare in Love ), Penlope Cruz ( Vicky Cristina Barcelona ), and Jennifer Lawrence ( Silver Linings Playbook ).
Is one of 15 actresses to have won both the Best Actress Academy Award and the Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical Golden Globe for the same performance; hers being for Driving Miss Daisy . The others, in chronological order, are: Judy Holliday for Born Yesterday , Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins , Barbra Streisand for Funny Girl , Liza Minnelli for Cabaret , Glenda Jackson for A Touch of Class , Diane Keaton for Annie Hall , Sissy Spacek for Coal Miners Daughter , Cher for Moonstruck , Helen Hunt for As Good as It Gets , Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love , Reese Witherspoon for Walk the Line , Marion Cotillard for La mme , Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook , and Emma Stone for La La Land .
Is one of 11 actresses who won the Best Actress Oscar for a move that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for Driving Miss Daisy ). The others are Claudette Colbert for It Happened One Night , Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld , Vivien Leigh for Gone with the Wind , Greer Garson for Mrs. Miniver , Louise Fletcher for One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest , Diane Keaton for Annie Hall , Shirley MacLaine for Terms of Endearment , Jodie Foster for The Silence of the Lambs , Gwyneth Paltrow for Shakespeare in Love and Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby .
Grandmother of Heather (b. June 12, 1957), Holly (b. March 12, 1959), John (b. April 11, 1961) and Wendy (b. May 10, 1967) via daughter Susan Hawkins and her husband John Tettemer.
She was awarded the 1985 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Distinguished Performance in Leading Role for the play, "Foxfire" at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California.
She was awarded the 1978 Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award for Best Actress in a Play for "The Gin Game" on Broadway in New York City.
Daughter of Harry (1867-1922), born in Stepney, London, and Jessie (ne Horspool) Tandy (1878-1961), born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
Younger sister of Arthur Harry (1903-1964) and Edward James Tandy (1908-1974).
Her mother Jessie was raised by her grandparents John (1829-1895) and Martha (ne Colborn) Horspool (1830-1892) in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
