Margot Grahame

Margot Grahame, born Margaret Clark on 20 February 1911 in Canterbury, Kent, England, spent her early childhood in South Africa after her family emigrated when she was three. Educated there, she left school at fourteen and quickly entered the local theatrical scene, joining a touring company led by Dennis Neilson‑Terry. By 1927 she had returned to England, making her London stage debut as an understudy to Mary Glynne in The Terror. Her film career began the following year with the 1930 comedy Rookery Nook, launching a prolific period in which she appeared in more than forty British productions within three years, earning a reputation as a versatile and captivating actress. Grahame’s striking looks and talent attracted Hollywood attention, and in 1935 she signed a long‑term contract with RKO, moving to the United States where she would remain a notable presence on both screen and television for the next two decades. In Hollywood she delivered one of her most acclaimed performances as the tragic prostitute Katie Madden in John Ford’s The Informer (1935), a role that showcased her ability to blend vulnerability with fierce intensity. That same year she captivated audiences as the villainous Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers, cementing her status as a leading lady of the era. Throughout the late 1930s and 1940s she starred alongside stars such as Fredric March in The Buccaneer (1938) and appeared in genre classics including The Crimson Pirate (1952) with Burt Lancaster. Her later work comprised television appearances, notably an episode of The New Adventures of Charlie Chan (1958). Behind the scenes, Grahame’s personal life was marked by high‑profile marriages to actor Francis Lister (1934‑1936) and Canadian millionaire Allan McMartin (1938‑1946), followed by a long‑term partnership with literary agent A. D. Peters until his death in 1973. In her final years she lived in London, where she died of chronic bronchitis on 1 January 1982 at age seventy, leaving no surviving children or spouse.