Education
Born Elizabeth Evans in London, England, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in 1918 with high honours.
Born Elizabeth Evans in London, England, she graduated from the Royal Academy of Arts in 1918 with high honours.
She appeared in over 140 films between 1913 and 1952. A beauty in her youth, she usually played in society parts. In later years in films she switched to playing character parts.
She attracted the attention of George Bernard Shaw and was cast as the lead in his biggest plays.
Besides her performances for Shaw, she was leading lady for actors like George Arliss, Otis Skinner, and William Faversham. She was also under contract to the Theatre Guild for many years.
In later years, she taught drama to patients at a veterans administration hospital near her Brentwood home. Risdon died in December 1958 in Street Johns Hospital in Santa Monica, California from a cerebral haemorrhage.
Her body was donated to medical science.
