What Was Jessica Tandy's Net Worth?
Jessica Tandy was a British actress who had a net worth of $5 million at the time of her death in 1994. That's equal to $10 million today after adjusting for inflation.
During her career, Jessica Tandy appeared in more than 100 stage productions in addition to more than 60 acting credits in film and television.
Tandy started acting on stage in London at 18 years of age and won a Tony Award in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1948. She starred in several films, including "The Valley of Decision," "A Woman's Vengeance," "September Affair," "Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man," "The Birds," "The World According to Garp," "Still of the Night," "The Bostonians," "Cocoon," "*batteries not included," "Cocoon: The Return," "Driving Miss Daisy," "Fried Green Tomatoes," and more. Tandy won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for "Driving Miss Daisy" in 1990. She also won a Golden Globe Award, Primetime Emmy Award, and BAFTA Award, and she received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6284 Hollywood Blvd. Jessica Tandy passed away on September 11, 1994, at 85 years old from ovarian cancer.
Early Life
Jessica Tandy was born Jessie Alice Tandy on June 7, 1909, in Stoke Newington, London, England. Her mother was from a large family in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, and worked as the head of a school for mentally handicapped children. Her father was a traveling salesman for a rope manufacturer. Jessica grew up with two older siblings and attended Dame Alice Owen's School in Islington. When she was 12 years old, her father died, and her mother subsequently taught evening courses in order to support the family.
Career
Tandy was 18 years old when she made her professional debut on the London stage in 1927. She quickly began booking other roles, and in the 1930s, she acted in many plays in London's West End, playing Ophelia in "Hamlet" and Katherine in "Henry V." She also landed a number of early film roles in England but did not make a big splash in cinema until moving to the United States following the failure of her marriage to Jack Hawkins. While onstage in London, Jessica primarily competed with her two acting rivals, Peggy Ashcroft and Celia John, for roles. She also worked in radio during this time. She was a regular on the program "Mandrake the Magician" as Princess Narda and also on the program "The Marriage," which ran on radio from 1953 to 1954.
By this time, Tandy had already made her film debut in the United States in "The Seventh Cross" in 1944. She then had supporting roles in "The Valley of Decision" in 1945, "The Green Years" and "Dragonwyck" in 1946, and "Forever Amber" in 1947. In 1948, she appeared as the insomniac murderess in "A Woman's Vengeance," a film noir adapted by Aldous Huxley from his short story "The Gioconda Smile."
Tandy's film career beginning in the 1950s and onward was more sporadic as she primarily focused on stage roles. She did appear in the films "The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel" in 1951, "The Light in the Forest" in 1958, and "The Birds" in 1963.
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In terms of her stage career, Jessica flourished during this time. She won a Tony Award for her performance as Blanche Dubois in the original Broadway production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1948. She then primarily concentrated her career on the stage throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s and 1970s. In 1976, Tandy and Cronyn joined the acting company of the Stratford Festival and returned in 1980 to debut Cronyn's play "Foxfire." In 1977, she earned her second Tony Award for her performance in "The Gin Game." In 1982, she won her third Tony for her performance in "Foxfire."
In the 1980s, Jessica saw a resurgence in her film career. She had roles in "The World According to Garp," "Best Friends," "Still of the Night," and "The Bostonians." She was also working regularly with Cronyn on both stage and television. With him, she appeared in the film "Cocoon" in 1985, "*batteries not included" in 1987, "Cocoon: The Return" in 1988, and the Emmy-winning television film "Foxfire" in 1987.
In 1989, Jessica was featured in one of her most prominent and critically-acclaimed roles when she landed the role of the Southern Jewish matron in the film "Driving Miss Daisy." It was this performance that earned her an Oscar. She continued receiving recognition in the years that followed. In 1991, Tandy received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her work in the grassroots hit "Fried Green Tomatoes." She also co-starred in "The Story Lady" the same year. In 1992, she appeared in the film "Used People," followed by "To Dance with the White Dog" in 1993. In 1994, she appeared in "Camilla" with Cronyn. Her final performance was in the film "Nobody's Fool" at the age of 84.
Personal Life and Death
In 1932, Tandy married English actor Jack Hawkins. Together they had a daughter, Susan Hawkins. Susan later became an actor as well. In 1940, Tandy and Hawkins divorced. She then married Canadian actor Hume Cronyn in 1942. They had two children together – a daughter named Tandy Cronyn and a son named Christopher Cronyn. The couple lived for many years in Pound Ridge, New York, before moving to Connecticut. Tandy became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1952.
In 1990, Jessica was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She also suffered from angina and glaucoma. She continued working despite her illnesses and advanced age. On September 11, 1994, she died at her home in Easton, Connecticut, at the age of 85. She remained married to Cronyn until her death.
Two years after her death, the Tandy home in Easton, Connecticut, was sold for $747,500.
