Jeanne de Casalis

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Jeanne de Casalis (22 May 1891 – 19 August 1966) was a British actress and comedian who worked on stage, radio, TV and in films. She was born in Basutoland (now Lesotho) as Jeanne Casalis de Pury and later educated in France, where her father ran a large corset business called Charneaux. She began her career in music before moving to London to perform on stage.

On stage, she appeared with Vivien Leigh in The Mask of Virtue (1935) and in Agatha Christie’s The Hollow (1951). On radio, she created the popular character Mrs. Feather and wrote Mrs Feather’s Diary (1936). Her best-known films include Cottage to Let (1941) and Jamaica Inn (1939).

Jeanne married English actor Colin Clive in June 1929; they were estranged for several years before his death in 1937 from tuberculosis. Around 1938 she married Wing Commander Cowan Douglas Stephenson; they lived near Ashford, Kent.

There is some confusion about her birth year. Some records list 1897, but evidence indicates she was born in 1891. She died in London on 19 August 1966, aged about 75.