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Phyllis Calvert (18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002) was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s. Born Phyllis Hannah Bickle in Chelsea, she trained at the Margaret Morris School of Dancing and performed from the age of ten, gaining her first film role at the age of 12, in The Arcadians (1927), also known as The Land of Heart's Desire. Calvert performed in repertory theatre and in several films, before making her London stage debut in A Woman's Privilege in 1939. In 1942, she had the lead role as Patricia... MORE

Phyllis Calvert (18 February 1915 – 8 October 2002) was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s. Born Phyllis Hannah Bickle in Chelsea, she trained at the Margaret Morris School of Dancing and performed from the age of ten, gaining her first film role at the age of 12, in The Arcadians (1927), also known as The Land of Heart's Desire. Calvert performed in repertory theatre and in several films, before making her London stage debut in A Woman's Privilege in 1939. In 1942, she had the lead role as Patricia Graham in Terence Rattigan's Flare Path. During the following decade, she starred in many romances, including Fanny by Gaslight, with James Mason and Stewart Granger, and My Own True Love, becoming one of Britain's highest paid stars. However, three Hollywood studios failed to pay her what she asked. She first found success in the film adaptation of H. G. Wells' Kipps (1941), but it was in the Gainsborough melodrama The Man in Grey (1943) that confirmed her status. She acted in over 40 films, her later films include Oh! What a Lovely War and The Walking Stick. Calvert had already appeared on LESS