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Dame Virginia Anne McKenna [1] DBE (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author, animal rights activist, and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films A Town Like Alice (1956), Carve Her Name with Pride (1958), Born Free (1966), and Ring of Bright Water (1969), as well as her work with the Born Free Foundation .
Jan 9, 2002 · SUMMARY: This interview was recorded on 9 January, 2002, when McKenna was 70 years old. In the first section, Tape One Side One, McKenna discusses her theatrical and musical upbringing and her experiences growing up both in England and South Africa.
Dame Virginia Anne McKenna DBE (born 7 June 1931) is a British stage and screen actress, author, animal rights activist, and wildlife campaigner. She is best known for the films A Town Like Alice (1956), Carve Her Name with Pride (1958), Born Free (1966), and Ring of Bright Water (1969), as well as her work with the Born Free Foundation.
Born in London, England on June 7, 1931, her family possessed a sturdy theatrical background. Mother Anne was a jazz pianist, composer and cabaret performer while father Terry, an auctioneer, had relatives in the arts including actress Fay Compton and author Compton MacKenzie.
- June 7, 1931
- Early Life
- Career
- Honours
- Personal Life
- Non-Fiction Films
- Bibliography
- Discography
- External Links
McKenna was born in Marylebone to a theatrical family and was educated at Heron's Ghyll School, a former independent boarding school near the market town of Horsham in Sussex. She spent six years in South Africa before returning to the school at the age of fourteen, after which she attended the Central School of Speech and Drama, at that time based...
Aged 19, McKenna spent six months at Dundee Repertory Theatre. She worked on stage in London's West End theatre, making her debut in Penny for a Song. She attracted attention on TV appearing in Winter's Tale with Sir John Gielgud and Shout Aloud Salvation. McKenna's first film was The Second Mrs Tanqueray (1952), followed by a comedy, Father's Doin...
McKenna was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2004 New Year Honours for services to wildlife and the arts and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to wildlife conservation and wild animal welfare.
McKenna and Travers had four children together, one of whom is Will Travers. She is the grandmother of actress Lily Travers. In 1975, she released an album of twelve songs called Two Faces of Love, which included two of her own compositions and a sung version of the poem "The Life That I Have" from the film Carve Her Name with Pride. The record was...
The Lions are Free is the real life continuation of Born Free. This film tells about what happened to the lions that were in the film Born Free. Bill Travers, who had starred with McKenna, wrote, p...Christian: The Lion at World's Endis a do*entary (with a re-enaction sequence at the beginning) about the now-famous lion's journey from a London store to George Adamson's reserve in Kenya. Virgini...On Playing With Lions, (with Bill Travers) Collins, (1966) ISBN:0-00-241607-7Some of My Friends Have Tails, Collins (1971) ISBN:0-00-262752-3Into the Blue, Aquarian Press, (1992) ISBN:1-85538-254-7Journey to Freedom, (with help from Will Travers; illustrated by Nick Mountain) Templar (1997) ISBN:1-898784-73-6.Two Faces of LoveLP, Gold Star 15-030, 1975. Reissued as Rim RIM 5001, 1979.The Love That I Have (Violette)/Homage to Renoir45 rpm single, Sovereign SOV 125, 1974.The Love That I Have/Send in the Clowns45 rpm single, RIM 002, 1979.Virginia McKenna at IMDbBorn Free FoundationPhotos from Virginia Mckenna and the Lions from the film Born Freehttp://www.eileanban.org/ home to the Gavin Maxwell museum, author of Ring of Bright Water. Retrieved 30 December 2022.Virginia McKenna. Actress: Born Free. Talented flaxen-blonde British star combined her deep loves for acting and for wildlife throughout most her adult life. Born in London, England on June 7, 1931, her family possessed a sturdy theatrical background.
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Born in London in 1931, she went to South Africa with her mother in 1940 for the duration of WWII. On returning to England, she trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. Her film career took off after The Cruel Sea (d.