Cat. #005392: NORMA VARDEN

TOUGH to acquire 10x8-inch black and white still, shown with Basil Rathbone in an unknown film, boldly signed in black felt-tip pen in her later years. In good condition, with a few minor handling dings and some edgewear. Wonderful English-born character actress Norma Varden began her career as a child prodigy pianist, but, due to financial difficulties, turned to stage acting in her late teens.  Shirting to films after 1922, she played haughty British aristocrats, dizzy wives, nosy servants, and dragon-like mothers in films like The Major and the Minor (1942), Casablanca (1942), Strangers on a Train (1951), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953), Jupiter's Darling (1955), and Witness for the Prosecution (1957). She also appeared as Mrs. Monteagle on several episodes of T.V.'s "Batman" in 1966. Varden's best-known role is probably that of Frau Schmidt, the Von Trapps' housekeeper, in The Sound of Music (1965), but it is a little known fact that she was originally slated to play the Mother Superior role, which ultimately went to Peggy Wood.