Elisabeth Risdon, born Elizabeth Evans in London, England, graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in 1918 with high honours. She attracted the attention of George Bernard Shaw and was cast as the lead in his biggest plays. Besides her performances for Shaw, she was leading lady for actors like George Arliss, Otis Skinner, and William Faversham. She was also under contract to the Theatre Guild for many years. In later years, she taught drama to patients at a veterans administration hospital near her Brentwood home. She was married to the prolific silent film director George Loane Tucker who left her a widow in 1921. She later married actor Brandon Evans, who died in April, 1958. The mature Risdon played strong-willed matriarchs in some 100 films, ranging from the earnest O’Neill adaptation “Mourning Becomes Electra” (1947) to her regular role as Aunt Della in the “Mexican Spitfire” comedies, in which her innate dignity was assailed by the slapstick antics of star Lupe Velez. Her other credits include “The Idol of Paris” (1914), “Florence Nightingale” (title role, 1915), “The Manxman” (1916), “The Mother of Dartmoor” (1917), “Crime and Punishment” (1935), “Theodora Goes Wild” (1936), “Dead End” (1937), “The Roaring Twenties” (1939), “Random Harvest” (1942), “Tall in the Saddle” (1944), “The Egg and I” (1947), “Life with Father” (1947), and “Scaramouche” (1952). Elisabeth Risdon died in December 1958 in St Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California from a cerebral haemorrhage. Her body was donated to medical science.