Jean Cadell on AllMovie

Those few film historians who've commented upon Scottish character actress Jean Cadell have invariably emphasized her flaming red hair (in her earlier appearances) and piercing blue eyes. A stage actress from the turn of the century onward, Cadell entered films in 1919, often playing feisty young "lassies." Her first talkie was, appropriately enough, The Loves of Robert Burns (1930). Usually seen as sharp-tongued wives and remonstrating housekeepers, she was prominently cast in such films as David Copperfield (1935, as Mrs. Micawber) and Pygmalion (1937, as Mrs. Pierce). One of her most fondly remembered 1940s characterizations was as the Scots postmistress in the Boulting Brothers' I Know Where I'm Going. After years of secondary roles, Jean Cadell was afforded a star part--and star billing--in her next-to-last film, Like Unto You (1961).