Joyce Grenfell

Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE (née Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English actress, comedienne and singer-songwriter. Born in London, Joyce was the daughter of architect Paul Phipps (1880–1953), (the grandson of Charles Paul Phipps and a second cousin of Ruth Draper), and an eccentric American mother, Nora Langhorne (1889–1955), the daughter of Chiswell Langhorne, an American railroad millionaire. Nancy Astor, née Nancy Langhorne,... more

Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE (née Phipps; 10 February 1910 – 30 November 1979) was an English actress, comedienne and singer-songwriter. Born in London, Joyce was the daughter of architect Paul Phipps (1880–1953), (the grandson of Charles Paul Phipps and a second cousin of Ruth Draper), and an eccentric American mother, Nora Langhorne (1889–1955), the daughter of Chiswell Langhorne, an American railroad millionaire. Nancy Astor, née Nancy Langhorne, was her mother's sister. Joyce Phipps grew up around money and privilege. She had a London childhood and considered herself a "townie". Joyce attended the Francis Holland School in Central London, and the Christian Science School, Clearview, in South Norwood, and then she was "finished" in Paris where she attended Mlle. Ozanne's finishing school at the age of 17. In 1927, she met Reginald Pascoe Grenfell (1903–1993); they were married two years later at St. Margaret's, Westminster; they remained married for 50 years (until her death). She... less