Sarah Edwards
Actor1881–1965· Glyn Ceiriog, Denbighshire, Wales

Sarah Edwards

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Sarah Edwards (October 11, 1881 – January 7, 1965) was a Welsh-born American film and stage actress. She often played dowagers or spinsters in numerous Hollywood movies of the 1930s and 1940s, mostly in minor roles. Edwards started her acting career as a stage actress, she was described in 1916 by a newspaper article as a leading actress "very popular with West End theatre-goers".[1] She eventually settled in the United States and appeared in six Broadway plays between 1919 and 1931, primarily in comedies like The Merry Malones by George M. Cohan. Among her first movies was the New York-filmed 1929 musical Glorifying the American Girl (1929), where she portrayed the mercenary mother of leading actress Mary Eaton. She came to Hollywood in the mid-1930s where she appeared in about 190 films until her retirement 1951, mostly in uncredited, small character roles. Sarah Edwards died in Hollywood in 1965, aged 83. Edwards seemed older than she was and often portrayed a "kindly grandmother, imperious dowager, hardy pioneer wife, ill-tempered teacher and strict governess". She remains perhaps best-known to modern audiences as the imperious mother of Mary Hatch (Donna Reed) in Frank Capra's film classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946) who tries to keep her daughter away from George Bailey. Edwards also played a customer in Ernst Lubitsch's The Shop Around the Corner (1940) with James Stewart. She also appeared in another Christmas classic, The Bishop's Wife (1947) with Cary Grant, and as the wife of a doctor on the train in Hitchcock's thriller Shadow of a Doubt (1943). Edwards sometimes also portrayed more substantial roles, for instance in the Charlie Chan movie Charlie Chan in the Secret Service (1944).

111 acting credits

Acting · 111

It's a Wonderful Life
8.3
Film

It's a Wonderful Life

1946

The Shop Around the Corner
8.1
Film

The Shop Around the Corner

1940

Shadow of a Doubt
7.5
Film

Shadow of a Doubt

1943

The Invisible Woman
5.7
Film

The Invisible Woman

1940

The Awful Truth
7.2
Film

The Awful Truth

1937

The Bishop's Wife
7.1
Film

The Bishop's Wife

1947

Undercurrent
5.9
Film

Undercurrent

1946

Early to Bed
8.0
Film

Early to Bed

1936

Carson City
6.2
Film

Carson City

1952

The Cowboy and the Lady
6.3
Film

The Cowboy and the Lady

1938

Public Wedding
6.0
Film

Public Wedding

1937

American Madness
6.9
Film

American Madness

1932

Espionage Agent
6.3
Film

Espionage Agent

1939

Ruggles of Red Gap
7.1
Film

Ruggles of Red Gap

1935

Bathing Beauty
5.9
Film

Bathing Beauty

1944

The General Died at Dawn
6.5
Film

The General Died at Dawn

1936

The Fuller Brush Girl
6.1
Film

The Fuller Brush Girl

1950

The Howards of Virginia
6.8
Film

The Howards of Virginia

1940

Strike Up the Band
6.6
Film

Strike Up the Band

1940

Two O'Clock Courage
6.3
Film

Two O'Clock Courage

1945

Boy Trouble
6.0
Film

Boy Trouble

1939

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
6.7
Film

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

1939

Lady on a Train
6.7
Film

Lady on a Train

1945

It's Love I'm After
7.0
Film

It's Love I'm After

1937

Young People
5.3
Film

Young People

1940

Remember?
6.0
Film

Remember?

1939

Saratoga Trunk
6.1
Film

Saratoga Trunk

1945

Three Loves Has Nancy
4.2
Film

Three Loves Has Nancy

1938

Merrily We Live
6.9
Film

Merrily We Live

1938

Coast Guard
6.0
Film

Coast Guard

1939

The Shining Hour
6.7
Film

The Shining Hour

1938

Theodora Goes Wild
6.6
Film

Theodora Goes Wild

1936

Family Honeymoon
6.3
Film

Family Honeymoon

1948

Three Girls About Town
6.5
Film

Three Girls About Town

1941

Tom, Dick and Harry
5.9
Film

Tom, Dick and Harry

1941

The Face Behind the Mask
6.5
Film

The Face Behind the Mask

1941

I Live My Life
6.7
Film

I Live My Life

1935

Gold Is Where You Find It
7.0
Film

Gold Is Where You Find It

1938

The Romance of Rosy Ridge
6.7
Film

The Romance of Rosy Ridge

1947

Sabotage
6.6
Film

Sabotage

1939

Arise, My Love
6.3
Film

Arise, My Love

1940

Woman Against Woman
7.0
Film

Woman Against Woman

1938

My Grandfather's Clock
7.0
Film

My Grandfather's Clock

1934

Good News
6.4
Film

Good News

1947

I Wake Up Screaming
6.9
Film

I Wake Up Screaming

1941

The Beloved Brat
6.5
Film

The Beloved Brat

1938

The Devil Thumbs a Ride
6.6
Film

The Devil Thumbs a Ride

1947

Apache Trail
7.0
Film

Apache Trail

1942

Blondie Meets the Boss
5.8
Film

Blondie Meets the Boss

1939

Miss Polly
4.9
Film

Miss Polly

1941

Air Hostess
5.8
Film

Air Hostess

1949

Dixie Dugan
6.5
Film

Dixie Dugan

1943

The Amazing Mr. Williams
6.0
Film

The Amazing Mr. Williams

1939

Colleen
5.8
Film

Colleen

1936

California Firebrand
5.5
Film

California Firebrand

1948

The Forest Rangers
9.0
Film

The Forest Rangers

1942

H.M. Pulham, Esq.
7.1
Film

H.M. Pulham, Esq.

1941

It's in the Air
6.3
Film

It's in the Air

1935

Women Are Like That
6.8
Film

Women Are Like That

1938

Glorifying the American Girl
5.6
Film

Glorifying the American Girl

1929

Girls of the Big House
7.5
Film

Girls of the Big House

1945

New Moon
6.9
Film

New Moon

1940

My Favorite Blonde
6.4
Film

My Favorite Blonde

1942

Nearly Eighteen
6.5
Film

Nearly Eighteen

1943

Shadow of Doubt
6.6
Film

Shadow of Doubt

1935

One Foot in Heaven
6.9
Film

One Foot in Heaven

1941

Meet Dr. Christian
7.0
Film

Meet Dr. Christian

1939

Sunset in Wyoming
7.0
Film

Sunset in Wyoming

1941

Little Men
5.5
Film

Little Men

1940

Here I Am a Stranger
7.3
Film

Here I Am a Stranger

1939

Girl on the Spot
10.0
Film

Girl on the Spot

1946

Palm Springs
8.0
Film

Palm Springs

1936

Allotment Wives
6.7
Film

Allotment Wives

1945

Sweepstake Annie
4.8
Film

Sweepstake Annie

1935

Rings on Her Fingers
6.7
Film

Rings on Her Fingers

1942

Two-Fisted
8.5
Film

Two-Fisted

1935

The Golden Arrow
6.3
Film

The Golden Arrow

1936

Scattergood Survives a Murder
5.9
Film

Scattergood Survives a Murder

1942

Curtain Call
7.3
Film

Curtain Call

1940

Unmarried
4.8
Film

Unmarried

1939

Varsity Show
6.8
Film

Varsity Show

1937

Love Is a Headache
6.5
Film

Love Is a Headache

1938

Lucky Cisco Kid
6.0
Film

Lucky Cisco Kid

1940

Storm Over Lisbon
5.4
Film

Storm Over Lisbon

1944

Free, Blonde and 21
8.5
Film

Free, Blonde and 21

1940

The Corn Is Green
7.3
Film

The Corn Is Green

1945

Song of Arizona
4.6
Film

Song of Arizona

1946

The World Accuses
6.5
Film

The World Accuses

1934

Persons in Hiding
3.8
Film

Persons in Hiding

1939

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
6.1
Film

Charlie Chan in the Secret Service

1944

Opened by Mistake
7.0
Film

Opened by Mistake

1940

We're on the Jury
6.2
Film

We're on the Jury

1937

A Man to Remember
6.7
Film

A Man to Remember

1938

Judge Hardy's Children
6.8
Film

Judge Hardy's Children

1938

All by Myself
8.0
Film

All by Myself

1943

Stars Over Broadway
5.6
Film

Stars Over Broadway

1935

Sons of the Pioneers
9.0
Film

Sons of the Pioneers

1942

Too Busy to Work
10.0
Film

Too Busy to Work

1939

The Main Street Kid
10.0
Film

The Main Street Kid

1948

Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
10.0
Film

Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid

1944

Big Business
7.5
Film

Big Business

1937

Two-Fisted Gentleman
9.0
Film

Two-Fisted Gentleman

1936

Henry Aldrich's Little Secret
7.0
Film

Henry Aldrich's Little Secret

1944

Two Americans
7.0
Film

Two Americans

1929

Dudes Are Pretty People
8.0
Film

Dudes Are Pretty People

1942

Mr. District Attorney
5.8
Film

Mr. District Attorney

1941

Drunk Driving
5.8
Film

Drunk Driving

1939

People Will Talk
4.3
Film

People Will Talk

1935

A Doggone Mixup
7.0
Film

A Doggone Mixup

1938

Wayward
6.3
Film

Wayward

1932

Calling All Pa's
7.0
Film

Calling All Pa's

1942

Sarah Edwards — BragThat