Nan Braunton
Minnie Malinda "Nan" Braunton (4 April 1895 – 1978) was a British actress who had a prolific stage career during the 1930s and 1940s but who is best known today for playing Cissy Godfrey in the BBC comedy Dad's Army.[1]
Braunton was born in Cardiff in 1895, the daughter of Sarah and James Braunton, a carriage builder. In her youth she was the nanny to the brothers Jack, Barry and Roger Livesey who called her 'Nan' and who as adults persuaded her to try acting;.[2]
By 1922 she was appearing in the stage play John Glayde's Honour and in 1929 she toured the United States in a theatrical company as an actress.[3] She made her film début in 1953 in Will Any Gentleman...?. She also appeared as Miss Jones in the film It's a Great Day (1955).[2]
Braunton's television appearances included Miss Jones in The Grove Family (1955–57), Miss Dobson in Quatermass and the Pit (1958), Fräulein Rottenmeier in Heidi (1959), in the 'Figure of Fun' episode of the BBC's Sunday Night Theatre (1959), and Second Lady in Hotel Imperial (1960), Miss Sedgebeer in Yorky (1960), Miss Osborne in Harpers West One (1962), Mrs. Mortimer in Emergency – Ward 10 (1962), Second Matron in Armchair Theatre (1963), Mrs. Prebble in The Wednesday Thriller (1965), Bridge player in The Wednesday Play (1968), Mrs. Parteridge and Florence Gill in Detective (1964 and 1968), Mrs. Love Sr. in Comedy Playhouse (1969), Miss Blake in Strange Report (1969), Cissy Godfrey in Dad's Army (1969-1971), various roles in Dixon of Dock Green (1955–69), and Old Lady in Six Dates with Barker (1971).[2]
During her prolific stage career her appearances included Lady Lerode in John Glayde's Honour at the Grand Theatre in Derby (1922),[4] Dracula at the Theatre Royal, Lincoln (1926),[5] Mrs Smith in Suspect and the 101-year-old Adelaide Whiteoak in Whiteoaks at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham (1939),[6] No Orchids for Miss Blandish (1943), firstly in the West End and then on tour,[7] Jessica in Michael and Roland Pertwee's The Paragon at the Fortune Theatre (1948) and The Boy David (1953) with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre.[8]
Braunton died in 1978 at her home in Hillingdon, London.
References
- ↑ Braunton as Cissy Godfrey on the British Film Institute's Screenonline 'Dad's Army (1968–77)' webpage
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Braunton on the Internet Movie Database
- ↑ Minnie Malinda Braunton on UK, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 - Ancestry.com - pay to view
- ↑ - Review of John Glayde's Honour - Derby Daily Telegraph 16 June 1922
- ↑ Cast of Dracula - Lincolnshire Echo 13 November 1926
- ↑ 'Nan Braunton to Play A Centenarian' - Nottingham Evening Post 15 July 1939
- ↑ No Orchids for Miss Blandish on the History of Bristol Hippodrome website
- ↑ The Boy David on the Theatricalia website
