-
01
Paralyzed from the waist down in an automobile accident, she acted in a wheelchair for more than two decades.
-
02
Dame Sybil Thorndike and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were her godparents.
-
03
During World War II, she performed with Jack Benny in USO tours entertaining troops in North Africa and Europe, and General George S. Patton awarded her a special medal.
-
04
She died just a week before receiving a Daytime Emmy Award for lifetime achievement; her son Jeffrey Byron accepted on her behalf.
-
05
She counted Maureen O’Hara and Roddy McDowall among her close friends.
-
06
In the film Bedlam 1946, she darkened her hair to be taken more seriously; one of her costumes was worn by Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind 1939.
-
07
Amber Tamblyn originally portrayed the adopted granddaughter of her character on General Hospital; Tamblyn’s father Russ Tamblyn was married to her daughter Venetia Stevenson.
-
08
Far-right supporters of Senator McCarthy blacklisted her from 1949 to 1958; she credited John Ford with breaking the blacklist, and she appeared in eight of Ford’s films.
-
09
A tribute to her character on General Hospital aired shortly after her death in 2004.
-
10
Comedian Jack Hulbert served as best man at her first wedding, and Alfred Hitchcock gave her away at her second.
-
11
She was one of three children born to an Anglican clergyman at St. Peters Church in Ightham, Kent; her godmother was Sybil Thorndike.
-
12
Had two daughters with first husband Robert Stevenson; after divorce, she was estranged from daughter Venetia for 15 years until they reunited while filming Jet Over the Atlantic and The Big Night.
-
13
Her granddaughter Erin Everly, daughter of Venetia Stevenson and Don Everly, was married to Axl Rose and inspired the Guns N’ Roses song Sweet Child O’ Mine.
-
14
She appeared in two Oscar Best Picture winners: How Green Was My Valley 1941 and The Sound of Music 1965, and one other nominee, Mutiny on the Bounty 1962.
-
15
During World War II, she volunteered for overseas duty with the USO entertaining Allied troops in North Africa, Iran, and Sicily.
-
16
She played opposite a character named Allan Quartermain in King Solomon’s Mines 1937, then 46 years later played Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital.
-
17
Mother of actress Venetia Stevenson, Jeffrey Byron, and Steve Stafford.
-
18
The blue-eyed blonde occasionally played a brunette; in Seven Sinners 1940, she darkened her hair because Marlene Dietrich demanded no competing blondes.
-
19
She is remembered for her role as Lila Quartermaine on General Hospital.
-
20
Friends with Jeanne Cooper, Ruth Warrick, Maureen O’Hara, George Gaynes, John Loder, John Ingle, John Beradino, John Ford, John Wayne, Rachel Ames, Stuart Damon, Ken Curtis, Constance Towers, Loretta Young, Claude Rains, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., Robert Nathan, Robert Conrad, Boris Karloff, Roddy McDowall, Walter Brennan, Richard Haydn, Donald Crisp, and Patric Knowles.
-
21
Appeared in two films selected for the National Film Registry: How Green Was My Valley 1941 and The Sound of Music 1965.
-
22
Initially studied with Elsie Fogarty at the Royal Albert Central School Hall in London; later toured with the London Repertory Theatre earning the title The British Bombshell.
-
23
Had three sons from her second marriage: John Stafford, Steven Stafford, and Timothy Stafford; John died in 1986.
-
24
Awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard on January 7, 1993.
-
25
Awarded the MBE Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 1982 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to drama.
-
26
Dubbed the voice of Patricia Morison in Song Without End 1960 because director George Cukor wanted harsher vocal tones.
-
27
Acting mentor and friends with Leslie Charleson, Anthony Geary, and Jacklyn Zeman.
-
28
Close friends with Jeanne Cooper, who received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star seven months after her.
-
29
The progressive metal band Dream Theater named a song character after her.
-
30
A political conservative.
-
31
After her death, she was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.
-
32
Her brother Sir John Winnifrith served as undersecretary of state for Agriculture and Fisheries and was director general of the National Trust; he died in 1993.
-
33
Won Outstanding Supporting Role at the 4th Annual Soap Opera Digest Awards on January 18, 1988.
-
34
Her posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award at the 31st Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on May 21, 2004 was accepted by her son Jeffrey Byron; former co-star Vanessa Marcil hosted and paid tribute.
-
35
Grandmother of Erin Everly and Evan Stafford.
-
36
Her former General Hospital co-star Jacklyn Zeman lived near Jeanne Cooper, her close friend.
-
37
Posthumous memoir Anna Lee: Memoir of a Career on General Hospital and in Film was released in 2007.
