WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers

Born: 7th June 1909

Died: 11th September 1994

Jessica Tandy was born the youngest of three siblings in Stoke Newington, London (bet that surprises a lot of you as it did me!). Her father was a rope salesman and her mother was the head of a school for disabled children, when he died Jessica was twelve and her mother taught evening courses to make ends meet.  Jessica made her theatrical debut at the age of 18 and in her early 20s she played Ophelia alongside Sir John Gielgud’s Hamlet and then Katherine to Sir Laurence Olivier’s Henry V. If it hadn’t been for the breakdown of her marriage to actor Jack Hawkins she may never have made her name as a Hollywood actress but I guess his loss was our gain! Obviously as a new actress in Hollywood Jessica started doing bit parts in films – her film debut was in 1944 in the Seventh Cross.

I will not dally too long on the first film of Jessica Tandy’s, Driving Miss Daisy, as it is probably my favourite character that she has ever played – maybe not my favourite film of hers as I cannot name one in that sense (I mean how is *Batteries Not Included not made it into her top five!) but my favourite character has to be the cantankerous Miss Daisy Werthan. The one thing I will say now is that strong women are roles that Jessica Tandy took on and played with a sensitivity that lacks in some actresses. It seems very rare going by the films I have seen of Ms Tandy’s that she plays a lead and her role as Ninny Threadgoode in Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café is no difference; Ninny is the woman that tells Evelyn, and us, the story of Idgie and Ruth, our two lead characters. We first meet her in the nursing home and as she talks about the Whistlestop we see a change in Evelyn like this old woman she just met has inspired her to change her life and the two become friends to the point that Evelyn wants Ninny to move in with her. Jessica Tandy has a voice, like Morgan Freeman, that I could listen to forever so is perfect for narrating such a story. I’ve seen this film so many times so should know what’s coming but some scenes have me reaching for the tissues every time and every time I think the same ‘is Ninny really an older Idgie?’ – we never cross paths with Ninny during her retelling and the scene where Evelyn picks her up from her (demolished) house and Ninny points out the jar of honey on Ruth’s grave Evelyn says that they may see Idgie there is a glint in her eye when she replies “Maybe” – however much I would wish this to be true I doubt it considering that Ninny says she married one of Idgie’s brother and had a crush on another or is that just a ruse?!

When I was younger (and cinema tickets were a lot cheaper) I would go to see most films released by certain actors and that was how I came across Jessica Tandy in Cocoon, I went to see Steve Guttenburg but came away with a fondness for our dear Jessica! Although she is an ancillary character her Alma made an impression on me. It is rare that films have roles for the older actress especially one so strong, but when Alma leaves her cheating husband I just wanted to cheer (which shows the strength of her abilities as Joe, her on screen husband, was played by Hume Cronyn, her real life husband). With the average age of the lead eight actors being 68 – Jessica being one of the oldest at 76 – it is a shame that there isn’t such a vehicle as this for today’s aging stars. I don’t mean this to sound the way it probably does but I love it when an actor’s last film makes their top five – I don’t mean that in any other way than it means that they passed doing what they loved. Having said that Nobody’s Fool is not a Tandy led film she is another name within a stellar cast including Paul Newman and Bruce Willis. Tandy plays Miss Beryl Peoples ‘Sully’s’ (Paul Newman’s character) landlady and she is, as usual for Ms. Tandy, a strong woman. She exudes compassion and softness, yet she is harsh especially with her son and sometimes Sully when he doesn’t do what he promises! Miss Beryl is a wonderful character that represents every part of Jessica Tandy’s repertoire. Finally, we have another ancillary character for Jessica Tandy in Best Friends. Jesica plays Eleanor McCullen, the mother of our lead female, and she is a complete departure from the roles we have seen her play before – not that I’m saying this isn’t a strong female role it’s a brilliant role perfectly played but Eleanor is a bit ‘kookier’ than others we have seen. There are certain actors you’d never expect to say certain things and Ms Tandy is one of them, but I love the fact that she plays this role saying the things she does with pride and without shame, other actors in their 70s may have turned the role down. Although I’m not sure about the film, as a whole, I enjoyed her character, she added a different dynamic to the two leads with her portrayal.

As I’ve already pointed out my favourite role of Ms Tandy’s is that of Miss Daisy Werthan in the 1989 comedy drama Driving Miss Daisy. The film is basically a two hander for Miss Daisy and her chauffer, Hoke Coleburn – the original play has only one other character, that of her son Boolie, but I guess they thought the film needed more to give Miss Daisy more of a ‘back story’. This is not really a film about race even though many will think so as its set in the American South in the 1950s and Miss Daisy is a white Jewish woman and Hoke is a black man but primarily, for me anyway, this is a film about friendship – a friendship that grows over twenty years. Miss Daisy’s monosyllabic interactions turn into proper conversations yet there is still, you could say, a propriety between them, in fact it’s funny how the more she opens up with Hoke the more curt her conversation becomes with her own son – not that they were ever warm exchanges they showed love but I think she feels that Boolie thinks she’s ‘past it’ and she never wants to show weakness!  The connection between Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman (Hoke) almost feels like it grows alongside their characters’. You know when you haven’t seen a film in a long time but you almost remember it scene by scene that is how I feel about Driving Miss Daisy – it’s a film I would love to have on my shelf but would probably watch it every other year if that as the meaningfulness would only dissipate with frequent watching but I’d always remember to have tissues on hand when I watch it.

Jessica Tandy spent 67 years of her life split between stage and screen, starring alongside big names of their time including Marlon Brando, James Mason, Vincent Price as well as those previously mentioned. On stage she won three Tony Awards and on screen she won at least seven awards for her role as Miss Daisy Werthan in Driving Miss Daisy (including an Oscar and a Silver Bear for the Best Joint Performance (with Morgan Freeman)).

She was married twice. First to Jack Hawkings, they were married for eight years and had one daughter, Caroline, who followed both her parents into the business and secondly to Hume Cronyn, with whom she had two children, a boy and a girl. The girl, Tandy, starred alongside her mother a TV film called The Story Lady. Jessica became a naturalised US citizen in 1952. At the age of 80 Jessica Tandy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, four years later she and her husband, Hume, were awarded Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement and even ravaged by her illness she still stepped on the stage with Hume to accept it, she passed away at her home in Easton, Connecticut weeks later. I’m guessing that few people at that ceremony weeks before realised how ill she was until her death was announced as I can image, if her characters were anything to go by, she was composed, elegant and stoic.