Greenwood worked for two years in repertory. Her fluency in French saw her cast in London in a production of
The Imaginary Invalid when she was 18. Greenwood appeared in
Little Ladyship (1939) on TV and in the short
John Smith Wakes Up (1941). Her first feature was ''
My Wife's Family followed by He Found a Star'' (both 1941). She joined the
Oxford Playhouse Repertory Company, and whilst there played leading parts in a number of well-known plays, such as
School for Scandal,
Caesar and Cleopatra,
Hamlet and ''A Doll's House
. She went back to the London stage and appeared in productions of Little Ladyship
, Peter Pan
, Heartbreak House
, and The Women''. Greenwood had a supporting part in
Frenzy (1945) and
They Knew Mr. Knight (1946). She appeared in the role of Wendy in
Peter Pan and as Elie Dunn in
Heartbreak House. She played Ophelia in
Hamlet with the Donald Wolfit company, Nora in ''A Doll's House
, Celia in Volpone
and Sabina in The Young Wives' Tale. She did The Importance of Being Earnest (1949) for TV; then played Lady Caroline Lamb in The Bad Lord Byron'' (1949), a notorious flop. More successful was
Whisky Galore! (1949), which kicked off the Ealing comedy cycle. It was directed by
Alexander Mackendrick, and Greenwood was top-billed along with Basil Radford. She did another for Ealing,
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), with
Dennis Price and
Alec Guinness, directed by
Robert Hamer. Both films became regarded as comedy classics. Greenwood was Richard Todd's leading lady in
Flesh and Blood (1951), at British Lion. She went to France to co-star with
Bourvil in
Mr. Peek-a-Boo (1951). She did another for Ealing with Mackendrick and Guinness,
The Man in the White Suit, then ''
Young Wives' Tale (both 1951) and did The Importance of Being Earnest (1952) again, this time as a feature film. She appeared on TV shows such as BBC Sunday-Night Theatre''. Greenwood then appeared in
Lovers, Happy Lovers! (1954), a French film shot at the Elstree Studios of Associated British and on location across London, with
Gérard Philipe. She did
The King and Mrs. Candle for American TV, and made her third film with Guinness and second with Hamer,
Father Brown (both 1954). She did ''A Doll's House
in Copenhagen, then was in The Confidential Clerk'' by T.S. Eliot which had a short run on Broadway in 1954. In Hollywood, she was the female lead in
Moonfleet (1955) at MGM, replacing original choice
Merle Oberon.
Later career In 1956, Greenwood starred in
The Grass is Greener in the West End. In the late 1950s she worked increasingly on TV, in versions of
Man and Superman,
Ann Veronica,
Hedda Gabler and
The Grass is Greener. She had a support role in
Stage Struck (1958),
Mysterious Island (1961) and the female lead in
The Amorous Mr. Prawn (1962). She married Andre Morell in 1960. Greenwood had a flashy support role in
Tom Jones (1963), and
The Moon-Spinners (1964). She appeared as Olga, alongside
Spike Milligan in
Frank Dunlop's production of the play
Oblomov, based on
the novel by Russian writer
Ivan Goncharov. The play opened at London's
Lyric Theatre on 6 October 1964. Greenwood was described as "a model of generosity and tolerance...the only person in the cast who could not be 'corpsed' by Milligan; although he tried very hard. She looked beautiful, and played the part of Oblomov's unfortunate lady with total integrity. 'She never left the script', says Milligan with a guilty smile of something between irritation and admiration. 'I just couldn't make her crack up. All the rest of us did. She never lost her dignity for a moment.'" She was in the play
Those That Play the Clowns (1966) which had a short run on Broadway. Greenwood dubbed the voice of The Black Queen in
Barbarella (1968) when the voice of actress Anita Pallenberg was judged unsuitable for the role. She was in
The Great Inimitable Mr. Dickens (1970) and
Girl Stroke Boy (1971). Later roles included
The Uncanny (1977),
The Water Babies (1978),
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978),
Bognor (1981),
Triangle (1982), and
Ellis Island (1985). She took over from Dame
Celia Johnson on stage in
The Understanding (1982) after Johnson's death. She played Lady Carlton, a quirky romance novelist and the landlady to the main characters, in the British sitcom
Girls on Top (1985–86). She was in ''
Miss Marple: At Bertram's Hotel (1987). Her last film was Little Dorrit (1988), released posthumously. Her last TV series was Melba'' (1988). She appeared on stage in a sketch with
Robert Morley two weeks before her death. == Personal life and death==