b. 3 September 1896, London, England, d. 15 February 1987, Hiddington, England. An accomplished actress, Thatcher began appearing in silent films in 1915 and was seen during the next decade in Altar Chains (1916), The Green Terror (1919), A Little Bet (1920), and an Anglo-German co-production, The Little Hour Of Peter Wells (1921), among many. From the late 20s she appeared often in talkies, where her commanding presence and vocal authority brought her numerous roles as titled ladies mostly in the UK but occasionally in Hollywood. Included among her films of the 30s are A Warm Corner and Comets (both 1930), ... But The Flesh Is Weak (1932), Loyalties and It’s A Boy (both 1933), The Private Life Of Don Juan (1934), The Dictator (1935), another Anglo-German film, Mama Steps Out (1937), Fools For Scandal, Girls’ School, and If I Were King (all 1938), and Beau Geste (1939).
Meanwhile, Thatcher appeared on the London stage in the very popular The Boy (1917), by Fred Thompson with music by Lionel Monckton and Howard Talbot, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank. Her 20s stage appearances included Sally (1921, music by Jerome Kern), The Cabaret Girl (1922), and The Beauty Prize (1923), all starring Dorothy Dickson. The latter pair also featured George Grossmith and both had book and lyrics by Grossmith and P.G. Wodehouse and music by Kern.
Thatcher’s film career continued, and in the 40s she played similar upper-crust roles in Man Hunt (1941), Anna Karenina (1948) and Trottie True aka The Gay Lady (1949). Thatcher continued making films into the mid-50s, although her roles were now often bit parts and she was sometimes uncredited.