Marie Ault (2 September 1870 – 9 May 1951) was a British character actress of stage and film.
Biography
Born as Emily Cragg, in Wigan, Lancashire, the daughter of Jane Ann (née Ault) and Thomas Cragg, a plumber by trade. She made her first stage appearance in Babes in the Wood at Lincoln in 1891, touring the provinces for many years in various different productions. She made her debut on the London stage in 1906. Her later theatre work included the original production of Love on the Dole in 1935, as well as the 1941 film version. She married James Alexander Paterson in Dudley, Staffordshire in 1893.
Ault was a star in many British films of the silent era but is most remembered for her role as Daisy Bunting's mother in The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Other notable film work includes the role of Rummy Mitchens in the film of Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara (1941).
She also had bit parts in films such as Jamaica Inn (1939) and Caesar and Cleopatra (1945).
She died in a nursing home in Chelsea on 9 May 1951.
Selected filmography
Class and No Class (1921) - Liza Ann
Wee MacGregor's Sweetheart (1922) - Miss Todd
A Prince of Lovers (1922) - Nannie
If Four Walls Told (1922) - Minor Role
The Grass Orphan (1922) - Landlady
Paddy the Next Best Thing (1923) - Mrs. Adair
The Monkey's Paw (1923) - Mrs. White
The Starlit Garden (1923) - Old Prue
Woman to Woman (1923) - Henrietta
The Colleen Bawn (1924) - Sheelah
The Rat (1925) - Mere Colline
The Prude's Fall (1925) - Mrs. Masters
The Triumph of the Rat (1926) - Mère Colline / The Landlady
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) - The Landlady
A Daughter in Revolt (1927) - Mrs. Dale
Mademoiselle from Armentieres (1927) - Aunt
Roses of Picardy (1927) - Baroness d'Archeville
Madame Pompadour (1927) - Belotte
Hindle Wakes (1927) - Mrs. Hawthorn
The Rolling Road (1927) - Grannie
The Silver Lining (1927) - Mrs. Hurst
Dawn (1928) - Mme. Rappard
Victory (1928) - Mother
Virginia's Husband (1928) - Aunt Janet
God's Clay (1928) - Hannah
Yellow Stockings (1928) - Countess
Life (1928) - Isidora
Troublesome Wives (1928) Little Miss London (1929) The Alley Cat (1929) - Ma The Return of the Rat (1929) - Mère Colline Kitty (1929) - Sarah Greenwood Downstream (1929) - Martha Jaikes Third Time Lucky (1931) - Mrs. Midge The Speckled Band (1931) - Mrs. Hudson (uncredited) Contraband Love (1931) - Sarah Sterling Hobson's Choice (1931) Money for Speed (1933) - Ma Daughters of Today (1933) - Mrs. Tring Maid Happy (1933) - Miss Woods Their Night Out (1933) - Cook (uncredited) Little Fella (1933) - Mrs. Turner Song at Eventide (1934) Swinging the Lead (1934) - Mrs. Swid Windfall (1935) - Maggie Spooner Lend Me Your Wife (1935) - Aunt Jane Tropical Trouble (1936) - Nonnie Owd Bob (1938) - Mrs. Sanderson (uncredited) Jamaica Inn (1939) - Coach Passenger (uncredited) Freedom Radio (1941) - Woman Customer You Will Remember (1941) - Minor Role (uncredited) Major Barbara (1941) - Rummy Mitchens Love on the Dole (1941) - Mrs. Jike The Missing Million (1942) - Mrs. Tweedle We Dive at Dawn (1943) - Mrs. Metcalfe (uncredited) The Demi-Paradise (1943) - Mrs. Jones (uncredited) It Happened One Sunday (1944) - Madame Twilight Hour (1945) - Liz (uncredited) Blithe Spirit (1945) - Cook (uncredited) The Man from Morocco (1945) - Hotelière Waltz Time (1945) - Cenci's Maid Caesar and Cleopatra (1945) - Egyptian Lady (uncredited) They Knew Mr. Knight (1946) - Grandma Blake Wanted for Murder (1946) - Flower Seller (uncredited) I See a Dark Stranger (1946) - Mrs. O'Mara Carnival (1946) - Mrs. Dale Blanche Fury (1948) - Old Gypsy The Three Weird Sisters (1948) - Beattie No Room at the Inn (1948) - Vicar's Maid (uncredited) Madness of the Heart (1949) - Nun Cheer the Brave (1951) - Mother-in-Law (final film role)
References
Citations
General
The Stage, "Marriages", 2 September 1900, Page 18. Aberdeen Evening Express, "Actress, 80, Dies", 9 May 1951, Page 7. Edinburgh Evening News, "Marie Ault Dead", 9 May 1951, Page 5. Daily News (London), "Fame Came To Her At Fifty", 10 May 1951, Page 3.