Renee Asherson
| Renée Asherson | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Dorothy Renée Ascherson 19 May 1915 Kensington, London, England |
| Died | 30 October 2014 (aged 99) Primrose Hill, London, England |
| Years active | 1939–2001 |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Donat (m. 1953; d. 1958) |
Dorothy Renée Ascherson (19 May 1915 – 30 October 2014), known professionally as Renée Asherson, was an English actress. Much of her theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpool Playhouse, and the Westminster Theatre. Her first stage appearance was on 17 October 1935, aged 20, and her first major film appearance was in The Way Ahead (1944). Her last film appearance was in The Others (2001).
Asherson was born in Kensington, London, the daughter of Charles Stephen Ascherson (1877–1945) and Dorothy Lilian Ascherson (née Wiseman; 1881–1975). Her father was of German-Jewish extraction. She was brought up in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, as well as Switzerland and Anjou. She later trained for the stage at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
Asherson made her first stage appearance on 17 October 1935, as a walk-on in John Gielgud's production of Romeo and Juliet, though she was also the second understudy for Juliet Capulet. It was the production in which Gielgud and Laurence Olivier alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio. For eighteen months from 1937 through 1938, Asherson was a member of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre company. She first appeared at the Old Vic theatre in May 1940 as Iris in The Tempest. Asherson toured with the Old Vic company from 1940 through 1941 in the roles of Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, Maria in Twelfth Night, Nerissa in The Merchant of Venice, and Blanche in The Life and Death of King John. Asherson appeared at the New Theatre as Blanche in July 1941 before resuming her tour with the Old Vic company.
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