Ash ‧ croft, Dame Peg ‧ gy /ˈæʃkrɒft $ -ɔːft, ˈpeɡi/ BrE AmE
(1907–91) a popular British actress who appeared in the theatre in many Shakespeare plays, and in films such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) and A Passage to India (1984). She also appeared in the television programme The Jewel in the Crown (1984).