Barbara Jefford Movies and Career Information

Barbara Jefford, OBE (born 26 July 1930) is a British Shakespearean actress best known for her theatrical performances with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Old Vic and the National Theatre, and her role as Molly Bloom in the 1967 film of James Joyce's Ulysses. Jefford was born Mary Barbara Jefford in Plymstock, Devon, the daughter of Elizabeth Mary Ellen (née Laity) and Percival Francis Jefford. She was brought up in the West Country and attended Weirfield School in Taunton, Somerset before training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal. In 1946, whilst still a student, she obtained small parts in the radio production of Westward Ho! and other radio plays, but her stage debut came in 1949, when she played the part of Viola in Twelfth Night at the Dolphin Theatre, Brighton. After spending just one year working in repertory theatre, in 1950 she was given the part of Isabella in Peter Brook's production of Measure for Measure at the Shakespeare Memorial Company, (now the Royal Shakespeare Company) in Stratford upon Avon, playing opposite John Gielgud (Angelo) and Harry Andrews (Vincentio). Over the next four years she went on