Which actress played Mrs. Danvers in Hitchcock's Rebecca?

Which actress played Mrs. Danvers in Hitchcock's Rebecca? Judith Anderson. In Alfred Hitchcock's 1940 adaptation, Anderson plays the severe housekeeper who remains devoted to the memory of the unseen Rebecca de Winter.

Mrs. Danvers dominates Manderley, the estate belonging to Maxim de Winter, played by Laurence Olivier. She treats Maxim's unnamed second wife, played by Joan Fontaine, as an intruder who can never replace Rebecca. Her quiet hostility, obsessive loyalty, and psychological manipulation make her one of classic cinema's most memorable antagonists.

Anderson's performance is notably restrained: rather than relying on overt melodrama, she uses stillness, icy speech, and controlled gestures to suggest Danvers's fixation. The film includes the notorious scene in which she urges the new Mrs. de Winter toward suicide from Rebecca's room.

The film was adapted from Daphne du Maurier's 1938 novel. Anderson received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, while Rebecca won Best Picture—the only Hitchcock-directed film to win that Oscar.