Croydon: Mrs Peggy Ashcroft remembered with blue plaque

Leading actress Dame Peggy Ashcroft has been commemorated with a blue plaque at her childhood home in south Croydon.

Ashcroft’s family said of the plaque: “It is a wonderful tribute to both her amazing theatrical career and her generosity and humanity.”

Dame Judi Dench described Ashcroft as a “wonderful person and actress”.

Ashcroft starred in some of her most iconic productions, including numerous adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays, as well as a diverse screen career.

English Heritage said the blue plaque celebrated not only her birthplace but also her lifelong connection to the London borough.

“Peggy often spoke of her fond memories of growing up in what was then a leafy market town,” a spokesman said.

“While standing outside the local grocer on George Street at the age of 13, she first dreamed of becoming an actress.”

In 1962, she opened a theater in Croydon, which was named after her.

Ashcroft’s son, Nicholas Hutchinson, and granddaughters, Manon and Emily Loizeau, said: “Peggy always received honors with humility and a great sense of humour.

“But all of us who knew her — children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews — know how emotional she would have been to see this blue plaque on her family’s childhood home.”

They added: “Peggy was and always will be in our hearts. She was an amazing mother, a wonderful and loving grandmother and a beautiful human being.

“We will be able to show our own children, who didn’t know her but heard so much about her, that this is the house where she grew up, had her first dreams of going on stage, the place where it all started. .”

In 1935, Ashcroft was hailed as the “Finest Juliet of Our Time” by the Daily Telegraph when she took on Shakespeare’s role at the New Theater in London’s West End.

She also created memorable screen performances, from the young crofter’s wife in The Thirty-Nine Steps to her Oscar-winning portrayal of Mrs Moore in Lean’s A Passage to India.

Asked why she continued to act, Ashcroft said: “Well, I think it’s a kind of compulsion, I’m forced to do it.”

Dame Judi Dench said she met Ashcroft in 1961 when they worked together at the Cherry Orchard theater in Stratford upon Avon.

“She and Sir John Gielgud (a British actor and theater director who died in 2000) encouraged me enormously and we became and remained friends throughout their lives.

“We were neighbors with Peggy in Hampstead. Not only was she wonderful as a person, but also as an actress. She really misses her.”