Davina Whitehouse

Biography

Davina Whitehouse was an English-born actress, radio and stage producer and director who built a long career on stage and screen in Britain, New Zealand and Australia. Born in 1912, she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and graduated in 1929. Under the stage name Davina Craig, she won critical praise for the 1933 film I Lived with You, then signed with Twickenham Film Studios and appeared in more than 40 films between 1933 and 1939, often as a comic servant. In New Zealand from the 1950s she worked in radio drama and at Downstage Theatre, and her television career began in 1972 with the play An Awful Silence. She appeared in Sleeping Dogs (1977), Braindead (1992) and Peter Jackson's mockumentary Forgotten Silver (1995). Her awards included a Feltex Award for An Awful Silence and a Sammy for The Night Nurse, and in 1985 she was appointed an officer in the Order of the British Empire.

90years old at death

Born December 16, 1912Brentford
Died December 25, 2002Auckland
Star sign: SagittariusThe sign runs November 22 to December 21
Also credited as Eileen Eliza Smith and Davina Craig

Movie Career

Films: 3
Career span: 18 years1977 to 1995

Every film, newest first

1995Forgotten SilverIMDb rating 7.4
1992Dead AliveIMDb rating 7.4
1977Sleeping DogsIMDb rating 6.4

Genres

Did you know?!

Early training
Whitehouse went to a boarding school and then, at 15, gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, finishing her studies there in 1929.
Big break
Ivor Novello spotted Whitehouse in 1932 and offered her a role in the touring play I Lived with You, which became a 1933 film that won her critical praise.
A change of course
After arriving in New Zealand, Whitehouse found work acting in and directing radio drama, and she went on to serve as the NZBC's executive producer for radio drama.