1907 - 1981
Actor and dancer Jessie Matthews made her stage debut at the age of 12 and began appearing in films a few years later.
She was a huge star on both sides of the Atlantic, with four decades of experience behind her by the time she took over the title role of Mrs Dale in the long-running BBC radio soap opera Mrs Dale's Diary. A year after the final episode was broadcast, Matthews was awarded an OBE.
Actor and dancer Jessie Matthews made her stage debut at the age of 12 and began appearing in films a few years later.
She was a huge star on both sides of the Atlantic, with four decades of experience behind her by the time she took over the title role of Mrs Dale in the long-running BBC radio soap opera Mrs Dale's Diary. A year after the final episode was broadcast, Matthews was awarded an OBE.
