Constance Collier

Distinguished British actress Constance Collier began her career as a chorus dancer at the turn of the century. She established herself not only as a leading actress, but as a playwright, producer, director and acting coach. Her film career began with D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916); for the next four decades, she would occasionally visit Hollywood's shooting stages, though the theater remained her first choice. Of her talkie appearances, Ms. Collier is perhaps best remembered as the "den mother" of the all-female theatrical boarding house in 1937's Stage Door. All told, Constance Collier devoted over sixty years of her life to the theater and film arts.