Mavis Villiers

Mavis Villiers (born Mavis Clare Cooney; 10 December 190923 February 1976) was an Australian-born British actress of stage, film and television. Her parents were John Cooney and Clara Smythe. Her brother, Cecil Cooney, was a camera operator and cinematographer. Her stage name, Villiers, was taken from her maternal grandfather. Life and career Mavis emigrated to the United States with her family in 1921, aged 11. The family settled in Hollywood, where her father became a technician at a film company. Both Mavis and her brother Cecil began their careers in the silent era. Much of her activity as a child actress in Hollywood is lost or uncredited; her first accredited film role was as 'the Girl' in a 1927 short comedy, The Bum's Rush, featuring expat Australian star Snub Pollard. Following her parents' divorce, Mavis and her mother Clara migrated to London in 1933. Her brother Cecil followed at some stage; her father remained in California where he died at Ventura in 1960. Her stage roles included that of Mrs Van Mier in the 1962 London production of Noël Coward's Sail Away at the Savoy Theatre. She was also in the cast of the 1957 West End production of Damn Yankees at the London Coliseum; this production featured Australian actor Bill Kerr as Mr. Applegate. Her sole appearance on the American Broadway stage, was in the role of Aunt Lizzy Sweeney, in the first Broadway production of Brian Friel's Philadelphia Here I Come! at the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1966; she also played the same role in the 1975 film version of that play, her last role before her death. She had appeared in films from 1927 to 1975. Some of her more prominent film roles were in:The Bum's Rush (1927), Saloon Bar (1940), South American George (1941)One Exciting Night (1944), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Victim (1961), and Philadelphia, Here I Come! (1975). Her television appearances between 1938 and 1972, include roles in various productions, series and episodes. They include the BBC's Sunday Night Theatre, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Presents, Educated Evans, The Vise, The Twilight Zone, The Saint (TV series), From a Bird's Eye View and Night Gallery.