From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Dame Edith Mary Evans DBE 8 February 1888 14 October 1976 was a British actress She was known for her work on the British stage She also appeared in a number of films for which she received three Academy Award nominations plus a BAFTA and a Golden Globe award Evans was particularly effective at portraying haughty aristocratic ladies as in two of her most famous roles Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest both on stage and in the 1952 film and Miss Western in the 1963 film of Tom Jones By contrast she played a povertystricken old woman in one of her most acclaimed film roles in The Whisperers 1967 Description above from the Wikipedia article Edith Evans licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia