237:, Margaret, Eva and Barbara, all followed Winifred into the acting profession. Their only brother, Victor, became a television executive. Her father worked as a tie cutter and later as the manager of a leather factory. Before Winifred there was no stage tradition in her family, but from her days as a schoolgirl at Maidenhead High School she was determined to perform. She made her London debut, at the age of 14, in a
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recalled her as "an enchanting 'flapper' who had to be hidden for fear of discovery by prim visiting relatives, and she sent the house into screams of warning appreciative laughter as she raced downstairs from the bedroom and across the stage clad only in exquisitely revealing pink crepe-de-Chine
538:
After her divorce from her first husband in 1951, Shotter remarried the following year. Her second husband was the actor
Gilbert Davis (1899–1983), whom she had first met in Hollywood. After this she wound her career down. She made her last film in 1955, playing Mrs Swayne in
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456:. The film did good business, but Shotter did not greatly care for America, and she returned to England as soon as she could. In addition to adaptations of the Aldwych plays she appeared in more than a dozen other British films through the 1930s, including
444:, Shotter was essentially a stage performer, but "like any actress of her generation, she could not afford to ignore Hollywood." She visited America in the mid-1930s and made one film for MGM,
213:(ENSA), performing for troops in Europe and Asia. An example is French Leave, a play by Reginald Berkeley, sub-titled: A Normandy Story, where she appeared with Lawrence O'Madden.
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as an announcer on the relaunched television service. During the 1950s she gradually withdrew from performing and retired to
Switzerland with her second husband.
327:, "This was 1926, and it was considered delightfully shocking that an actress should make her first appearance in a play in a pair of pyjamas." Her colleague
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Shotter was born in London, the eldest of the six children (five of them girls) of
Frederick Ernest and Harriet Payne Shotter. The four younger daughters,
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404:(1932), directed by Walls and featuring the principals of the Aldwych company. She was the only member of the stage cast to feature in the 1934 film of
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493:(1935) was a departure for her: it was not a comedy but a thriller. The role was poorly written, and she returned to comedy in plays including
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Shotter remained a member of the
Aldwych company for the next six years, playing roles written expressly for her in six farces by
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shows, worked briefly in
Hollywood, and continued to appear in British films. During the Second World War she joined the
383:). During this time she married Brigadier Michael Green; the marriage lasted from 1931 until 1951, when they divorced.
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observed that
Shotter "gives the final touch of pre-war mood to the comedy". Her last stage play was a farce,
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television transmissions resumed in 1946 she was appointed as one of three announcers, together with
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in the 1920s and early 1930s. The heroines in the first two had been played by the hugely popular
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NAFFI presents ENSA Entertainment For H M Forces – Souvenir
Programme (undated)
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In the West End, Shotter starred in a series of plays, including
Wodehouse's
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Most of the farces were adapted for the cinema. Shotter appeared in films of
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When she returned to
England, Henson recommended Shotter to his co-producer
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with Walls, Hare, Brough and her
Aldwych predecessor, Yvonne Arnaud, and
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Shotter and her husband settled in Switzerland in a house at
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Over the next five years she was a member of the ensemble in
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After the Aldwych series ended, Shotter appeared in numerous
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369:(1930 – by George Arthurs and Arthur Miller), Rose Adair in
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in Surrey. She had no children from either marriage.
518:, entertaining the troops in India and Europe. When
983:, British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 February 2013
971:, British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 February 2013
959:, British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 February 2013
947:, British Film Institute. Retrieved 28 February 2013
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178:Initially a singer and dancer in the ensembles of
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339:and two by others. She played Kitty Stratton in
1035:, 3 May 1946, p. 6; and "Mr. McDonald Hobley",
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1031:"Actress as Television Announcer",
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260:, with small roles in the hit show
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194:in his series of farces at the
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272:(1923), both of which starred
175:of the 1920s and early 1930s.
148:Harriet Payne Shotter (mother)
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216:After the war she joined the
1018:Brown, Ivor. "At the Play",
926:"Obituary: Winifred Shotter"
351:(1929), Betty Ramsbotham in
16:British actress (1904–1996)
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1048:"The Old School Problem",
733:(1935) – Christine Wyndham
630:The Chance of a Night Time
375:(1931) and Peggy Croft in
363:(1930), Doris Chataway in
673:(1933) – Millicent Keable
501:, in which, according to
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169:Winifred Florence Shotter
145:Frederick Ernest (father)
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899:, 4 September 1923, p. 8
741:(1935) – Doris Chattaway
681:(1933) – Molly Pentreath
357:(1930), Cora Mellish in
345:(1927), Joan Hewlett in
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1050:The Manchester Guardian
1033:The Manchester Guardian
717:(1934) – Betty Beverley
562:The Manchester Guardian
93:Brigadier Michael Green
1104:English film actresses
996:, 21 March 1934, p. 12
790:British Film Institute
641:(1931) – Diana Birkett
499:Duke of York's Theatre
55:4 April 1996 (aged 91)
1099:Actresses from London
912:, 15 July 1926, p. 14
773:(1950) – TV Announcer
757:(1938) – Mary / Mabel
749:(1936) – Clara Wilson
725:(1935) – Lucy Merrall
701:(1933) – Gwen Darling
649:(1932) – Cora Mellish
625:(1930) – Joan Hewlett
609:(1930) – Rhoda Marley
487:, in a 1934 revival.
258:Winter Garden Theatre
1022:, 28 July 1940, p. 3
1009:, 21 May 1935, p. 14
781:(1955) – Mrs. Swayne
754:His Lordship Regrets
709:(1933) – Peggy Croft
689:(1933) – April Dawne
633:(1931) – Pauline Gay
617:(1930) – Helen Hayle
448:, a farce featuring
106: 1931;
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854:The Daily Telegraph
836:Gaye, pp. 1182–1183
730:The Rocks of Valpre
722:D'Ye Ken John Peel?
714:Lilies of the Field
698:Night of the Garter
665:(1932) – Antoinette
468:, an adaptation of
266:(1921) and then in
1005:"Daly's Theatre",
992:"Daly's Theatre",
981:"Summer Lightning"
945:"Winifred Shotter"
878:"Winifred Shotter"
573:Piccadilly Theatre
485:Lawrence Grossmith
481:Good Morning, Bill
849:"Barbara Shotter"
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770:The Body Said No!
662:The Love Contract
646:A Night Like This
450:Robert Montgomery
401:A Night Like This
360:A Night Like This
354:A Cup of Kindness
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332:camiknickers."
315:Aldwych Theatre
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1089:1996 deaths
1084:1904 births
614:On Approval
594:Filmography
584:Lake Geneva
552:Housemaster
534:Later years
459:On Approval
418:Sonnie Hale
398:(1931) and
379:(1932 – by
377:Fifty Fifty
372:Turkey Time
337:Ben Travers
243:Soldier Boy
229:Early years
1078:Categories
807:References
503:Ivor Brown
426:Ralph Lynn
329:Molly Weir
285:By-the-Way
200:Ralph Lynn
67:Occupation
1037:The Times
1007:The Times
994:The Times
910:The Times
897:The Times
883:The Times
575:in 1959.
571:, at the
472:'s novel
454:Myrna Loy
442:The Times
324:The Times
297:Tom Walls
235:Constance
188:Tom Walls
156:Relatives
78:1918–1959
788:Source:
638:Mischief
580:Montreux
392:(1930),
299:for the
241:role in
239:travesti
207:West End
162:(sister)
622:Plunder
588:Redhill
555:, with
547:Ian Hay
497:at the
483:, with
412:, with
395:Plunder
348:Plunder
301:ingenue
280:in the
256:at the
245:at the
139:Parents
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83:Spouses
70:Actress
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278:Gaiety
342:Thark
282:revue
263:Sally
126:(
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1069:IMDb
526:and
516:ENSA
452:and
428:and
420:and
108:div.
52:Died
40:Born
1067:at
520:BBC
505:in
218:BBC
1080::
937:^
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104:m.
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