Dorothy Ann Todd (24 January 1907 – 6 May 1993) was an English film, television and stage actress who achieved international fame when she starred in The Seventh Veil (1945). From 1949 to 1957 she was married to David Lean who directed her in The Passionate Friends (1949), Madeleine (1950), and The Sound Barrier (1952). She was a member of The Old Vic theatre company and in 1957 starred in a Broadway play. In her later years she wrote, produced and directed travel documentaries.
Contents
Early years
Todd was born in Hartford, Cheshire. Although latterly claiming to be born in 1909, the 1911 census records show her born in 1907 and christened in March 1907. Her Scottish-born father Thomas, was a salesman, and her London-born mother Constance a housewife. She had a younger brother, Harold Brooke (who took their mother's maiden name), who became a screenwriter of light comedies.