This well-loved Hollywood supporting actress of the Thirties and Forties was Una O'Connor.

Her real name was Agnes McGlade and she was born in Ireland or Scotland - take your pick, there are conflicting views. She always sounded very English to me.

Starting in British films after a career with the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, she moved to Hollywood in 1933. Do you remember her as Olivia de Havilland's maid in Errol Flynn's The Adventures Of Robin Hood, flirting with Herbert Mundin?

She was excellent being grilled in the dock by Charles Laughton in Witness For The Prosecution, too, starring Marlene Dietrich and Tyrone Power. She shone even playing a cameo role in Random Harvest, as a shopkeeper selling Ronald Colman cigarettes.

The magic was clearly evident. Not a raving beauty - but beauty of performance was always prevalent.

-Gordon Dean, Lancing