Biography
Jill Esmond made her London stage bow at 14, several years before she attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1931, she came to Hollywood with her then-husband
Laurence Olivier. RKO Radio optioned the services of both Esmond and Olivier -- then kept only Esmond, after deciding that the future Sir Laurence wasn't suitable for films. Of her RKO films, only
Ladies of the Jury (1932) and
Thirteen Women (1932) are truly memorable. She returned to England with Olivier in the 1930s, where she concentrated on the stage. When she came back to Hollywood in 1942, it was as a husbandless character actress (Olivier had married
Vivien Leigh in the interim); she remained in films until her retirement in 1955. Jill Esmond was the daughter of Eva Moore, a character actress best remembered for her performance as
Ernst Thesiger's prudish sister in
The Old Dark House (1932). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide