Where the Woodbine Twineth actress Margaret Leighton continued acting after MS diagnosis

Where the Woodbine Twineth

The beautiful and talented Margaret Leighton was clearly a class act in her day. I first caught a glimpse of her in the 1965 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode “Where the Woodbine Twineth.” In this program, Leighton portrayed stern Aunt Nell, who attempted to raise her brother’s daughter after he died.

She did not believe her niece Eva had invisible playmates or that her doll Numa was real. One evening, Leighton's character found Eva had been turned into a doll, and Numa was running through the bushes. Aunt Nell was stunned and called for Numa to return, but it was to no avail.

Margaret Leighton's career

Leighton began her career on stage in 1938, before making her Broadway debut in 1946 when she joined the Old Vic Performing Arts Theater. Her first credited role was in Anatole de Grunwald's The Winslow Boy in 1948.

She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for The Go-Between in 1971 and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

She was a four-time Tony Award nominee and won twice for Best Actress in a Play: for the original Broadway productions of Separate Tables in 1957 and The Night of the Iguana in 1962. She also won an Emmy Award for a 1970 televised version of Hamlet.

She also appeared in a 1958 episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled “ Tea Time.” This time, Leighton was a socialite wife who murdered her husband’s lover. I realized that her mannerisms were more distinct and troublesome in the 1965 Alfred Hitchcock show.

When she performed in “ Where the Woodbine Twineth” her movements were jerky, and she seemed to have trouble holding her head still during scenes.

I suspected she had some type of nervous tic or Tourette's Syndrome, but it was obviously the MS kicking in. Leighton was not diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis until six years later, in 1971.

MS did not stop her

Margaret Leighton was born on February 26, 1922 in Barnt Green, England, United Kingdom. She did not display a distinct British accent while working with Alfred Hitchcock.

Leighton's roles after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis were X, Y and Zee (1972), The Nelson Affair (1973), and the television movie Frankenstein: The True Story (1973).

In 1975, although she was no longer capable of walking, she performed from a wheelchair. Leighton gave an over-the-top comic performance in A Dirty Knight's Work, which was released in 1976.

She received one Oscar nomination during her career for her supporting role as a class-conscious aunt in The Go-Between 1971. Margaret Leighton's earlier roles often portrayed her as a neurotic.

Leighton performed with several leading men who went on to become famous actors. She co-starred with David Niven in Court Martial in 1954, and with Yul Brynner in 1959's The Sound and the Fury. In 1962 she starred opposite Peter Sellers in the Waltz of the Toreadors and with Henry Fonda in The Best Man in 1964.

Margaret Leighton's personal life

She was married to publisher Max Reinhardt from 1947–55. Her second spouse was actor Laurence Harvey from 1957–61 and her third and final husband was actor Michael Wilding (Elizabeth Taylor's second husband) from 1964 until she died in 1976. She had no children.

Kudos to Margaret Leighton for being a trooper and to the entertainment business for allowing her to continue her craft. The actress died on January 13, 1976, in Chichester, England, United Kingdom, at the age of 53 from complications related to her MS diagnosis