Anna Lee

In 1934, she married film director, Robert Stevenson. They were blessed with two daughters, Venetia and Caroline. In March 1944, the couple got divorced and both the daughters stayed with their father.

During World War II she met George Stafford, a pilot. On June 8, 1944, they got married and had three sons, John, Stephen and Tim Stafford. They also got divorced in 1964.

On April 5, 1970, she married Robert Nathan, a novelist. It was her third and last marriage and they remained together until Robert died in 1985.

She was born as Joan Boniface Winnifrith, on January 2, 1913, in Ightham, Kent, England. She was one of three children born to an Anglican clergyman at St. Peters Church.

At the age of 17, she enrolled to study dramatics at the London’s prestigious Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art at the London’s Royal Albert Hall.

Soon she joined the London Repertory Theatre and earned the nickname ‘The British bombshell’ for her work in the plays ‘The Constant Nymph’ and 'Jane Eyre’.

In early 1930s, she was signed by Gaumont British and appeared in over a dozen films during the next few years including ‘The Camels Are Coming’ (1934), ‘Passing of the Third Floor Back’ (1935), ‘The Man Who Changed His Mind’ (1936), and ‘King Solomon's Mines’ (1937).

During World War II, she appeared in movies such as ‘Seven Sinners’ (1940), ‘How Green Was My Valley’ (1941), ‘Flying Tigers’ (1942), and ‘Hangmen Also Die’ (1943). Alongside, she volunteered for overseas duty with the U.S.O. and entertained Allied troops. She also spent several months visiting field hospitals throughout the Mediterranean area.

In the years after the war, she starred in movies such as ‘Bedlam’ (1946), ‘The Ghost and Mrs. Muir’ (1947), and ‘Fort Apache’ (1948).

During the 1940s and 1950s, she made frequent appearances on television anthology series including ‘Robert Montgomery Presents’, ‘The Ford Theatre Hour’, ‘Kraft Television Theatre’ and ‘Wagon Train’. She also guest-starred in TV series such as ‘Maverick’, ‘Dr. Kildare’, ‘The F.B.I.’, ‘Mr. Novak’, ‘Mission: Impossible’, ‘Perry Mason’, ‘Mannix’, ‘Family Affair’ and ‘Glitter’.

She is best remembered for the role of the matriarch ‘Lila Quartermaine’ on the TV soap opera ‘General Hospital’. She joined the show in 1978 and even after she was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident, she continued to play the matriarch of the show from her wheelchair until 2003.