Celia Johnson
Dame
Celia Johnson (
1908-
1982) was an English
actress, famous for her role in the
1945 film,
Brief Encounter, opposite
Trevor Howard. She was born in Richmond, Surrey, and trained in acting at
RADA. Her stage début was in
Major Barbara in
1928. By
1931, she was starring as
Ophelia in a
New York production of
Hamlet. She made relatively few films, of which
Brief Encounter is by far the best known. Other films include
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (
1969). She generally played a genteel and/or repressed Englishwoman, though she proved in many stage productions to be a talented comedienne.
She was married to Peter Fleming an explorer and writer and brother of Ian Fleming
She was knighted and became a Dame.