Acting
Sarah Edwards
EN cinema · 113 credits
Born
11 October 1881
Died
7 January 1965 (aged 83)
Birthplace
Glyn Ceiriog, Denbighshire, Wales
Also known as Sara 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).
Known for
Filmography
Carson City
as Spinster on Stagecoach (uncredited)
The Fuller Brush Girl
as Mrs. East (uncredited)
Air Hostess
as Bertha Hallum
California Firebrand
as Granny Hortense Mason
Family Honeymoon
as Mrs. Carp (uncredited)
The Main Street Kid
as Mrs. Clauson
The Bishop's Wife
as Mrs. Duffy
Good News
as Miss Pritchard (uncredited)
The Romance of Rosy Ridge
as Mrs. Dessark (uncredited)
It's a Wonderful Life
as Mrs. Hatch
Song of Arizona
as Dolly Finnuccin
Undercurrent
as Cora (uncredited)
Girl on the Spot
as Mrs. Richards (uncredited)
The Verdict
as Housekeeper (uncredited)
Allotment Wives
as Sadie
Saratoga Trunk
as Miss Diggs (uncredited)
Girls of the Big House
as Dormitory Matron
Two O'Clock Courage
as Mrs. Tuttle (Patty's Landlady) (uncredited)
The Corn Is Green
as Mrs. Watty's Friend (uncredited)
Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
as Mrs. Hargue
Storm Over Lisbon
as Maude Perry-Tonides
Bathing Beauty
as Faculty Member (uncredited)
Henry Aldrich Plays Cupid
as Mrs. Bradley
Henry Aldrich's Little Secret
as Mrs. Bradley
Shadow of a Doubt
as Doctor's Wife on Train (uncredited)
Dixie Dugan
as Mrs. Kelly
All by Myself
as Mrs. Vincent
Nearly Eighteen
as Miss Perkins
Scattergood Survives a Murder
as Selma Quentin
My Favorite Blonde
as Mrs. Weatherwax (uncredited)
Dudes Are Pretty People
as Miss Priddle
The Forest Rangers
as Mrs. Hansen (uncredited)
The Sons of the Pioneers
as Housekeeper
Apache Trail
as Stagecoach Passenger (uncredited)
Calling All Pa's
as Grandma Vanderscnooze (uncredited)
Miss Polly
as Angie Turner
H.M. Pulham, Esq.
as Mrs. Motford - Kay's Mother (uncredited)
Sunset in Wyoming
as Susanna Hawkins Peabody
Three Girls About Town
as Clubwoman
Mr. District Attorney
as Miss Petherby
I Wake Up Screaming
as Customer (uncredited)
Tom, Dick and Harry
as Mrs. Burton (uncredited)
One Foot in Heaven
as Mrs. Spicer (uncredited)
The Face Behind the Mask
as Mrs. Perkins (uncredited)
The Shop Around the Corner
as Woman Customer
Young People
as Mrs. Stinchfield
Lucky Cisco Kid
as Spinster
Opened by Mistake
as Mrs. Karff (uncredited)
The Invisible Woman
as Showroom Buyer (uncredited)
Strike Up the Band
as Miss Hodges
The Howards of Virginia
as Neighbor Girl
Arise, My Love
as Spinster (uncredited)
New Moon
as Marquise della Rosa
Little Men
as Landlady
Free, Blonde and 21
as Undetermined Role
Curtain Call
as Literary Committee Member
Persons in Hiding
as Beauty Shop Proprietor (uncredited)
Boy Trouble
as Mrs. Moots
Meet Dr. Christian
as Mrs. Minnows
The Amazing Mr. Williams
as Citizens Committee Woman (uncredited)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
as Annie Rucker (uncredited)
Blondie Meets the Boss
as Saleswoman (uncredited)
Coast Guard
as Florence (uncredited)
Remember?
as Lady in Revolving Door
Espionage Agent
as Militant American Tourist
Here I Am a Stranger
as Chaperone at Dance
Sabotage
as (uncredited)
Drunk Driving
as Driver (uncredited)
Unmarried
as Mrs. Jones
The Cowboy and the Lady
as Dinner Party Guest (uncredited)
Three Loves Has Nancy
as Autograph Session Chairwoman (uncredited)
Judge Hardy's Children
as Miss Adams (uncredited)
Merrily We Live
as Mrs. Fleming
A Man to Remember
as Clerk (uncredited)
Love Is a Headache
as Mrs. Warden, Fan from New Jersey (uncredited)
Woman Against Woman
as Party Guest
The Beloved Brat
as School Board Member Miss Brundage
Women Are Like That
as Mrs. Snell
The Shining Hour
as Chairwoman of Morals Society (uncredited)
Gold Is Where You Find It
as Party Guest (uncredited)
It's Love I'm After
as Mrs. Hinkle
Public Wedding
as Mrs. Van Drexel
Varsity Show
as Mrs. Biddle
The Awful Truth
as Lucy's Attorney's Wife (uncredited)
Big Business
as Miss Collins - School Principal
We're on the Jury
as Evelyn Bottomley
Theodora Goes Wild
as Mrs. Moffat (uncredited)
Two-Fisted Gentleman
as Mrs. O'Shea
Palm Springs
as Miss Pinchon
Colleen
as First Society Woman (uncredited)
The Golden Arrow
as Mrs. Lizzie Burke-Meyers
Early to Bed
as Miss Barton
The General Died at Dawn
as Companion of American without Matches (uncredited)
Shadow of Doubt
as Dowager in Taxi
Two-Fisted
as Abigail Adams
Stars Over Broadway
as Woman Dancing with Fat Man
It's in the Air
as Old Maid (uncredited)
I Live My Life
as Professor Douglas (Uncredited)
Ruggles of Red Gap
as Mrs. Myron Carey
Sweepstake Annie
1935
Sweepstake Annie
as Friend of Mrs. Foster (uncredited)
People Will Talk
as Martie Beemish
My Grandfather's Clock
as Housekeeper (uncredited)
The World Accuses
as Lucille Weymouth
Wayward
as Nurse (uncredited)
American Madness
as Gossip on Phone (uncredited)
Glorifying the American Girl
as Mrs. Hughes