A beautiful and durable actress of screen, stage and television, Asherson was born Renée Ascherson in London (dropping the "c" early in her acting career), the younger daughter of Charles Ascherson, a businessman and bibliophile of German-Jewish extraction, and his second wife, Dorothy Wiseman, who wed on 14 December 1910. (Her older sister was Janet Elizabeth Ascherson, born 22 May 1914).
Asherson's parents narrowly avoided being passengers on the fateful maiden voyage of the Titanic in 1912, after Charles Ascherson reportedly canceled the passage due to suffering from appendicitis.
She played the bride of
Laurence Olivier's title character in Henry V (1944) (
Henry V (1944)). She later appeared in
Maniacs on Wheels (1949), a speedway drama with
Dirk Bogarde. A frequent co-star of the actor
Robert Donat, whom she married in 1953. The couple separated in 1956, but were due to reconcile at the time of his untimely death in London on 9th June 1958, aged 53.
The Others(2001)as Old Lady
Grey Owl(1999)as Carrie Belaney
Midsomer Murders(1997)as Emily Simpson
Performance(1991)as Marjorie
Brighton Belles(1993)as Diana
The British Greats(1980)as Self - Interviewee
Midsomer Murders: 25 Years of Mayhem(2022)as Emily Simpson
Turner Classic Movies Remembers 2014(2014)as Self - Actress
