orig. Beatrice Stella Tanner
born Feb. 9, 1865, London, Eng.
died April 9, 1940, Pau, France
British actress.
She married at age 19 and made her stage debut in 1888, winning fame as Paula in The Second Mrs. Tanqueray in 1893. She originated the role of Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw 's Pygmalion (1914), and she and Shaw conducted a famous correspondence for many years. She also achieved great success in Maurice Maeterlinck 's Pelléas and Mélisande , Henrik Ibsen 's Ghosts , and Sophocles' Electra . She made her film debut in Riptide (1933) at age 68 and later appeared in several more films.