1930s She began her theatrical career on stage in two hit plays,
Death Takes a Holiday and
By Candlelight. Her friend Bob Cummings couldn't find work in pictures because casting directors were looking for English juveniles. Cummings then posed as the Englishman "Blade Stanhope Conway" and, as columnist S. R. Mook reported in 1936, "got more work than he could take care of. It was also Bob who, meeting Margaret Lindsay who had been in his class at the dramatic school, suggested to her (when she told him she couldn't find work) that she follow his example. She did." Margaret Kies became "British actress" Margaret Lindsay. She impressed
Universal Studios enough to sign her for their 1932 version of
The Old Dark House. As James Robert Parish and William T. Leonard wrote in
Hollywood Players: The Thirties (Arlington House, 1976), Lindsay returned to America and arrived in
Hollywood, only to discover that
Gloria Stuart had been cast in her role in the film. After some minor roles in
pre-Code films such as
Christopher Strong and the groundbreaking
Baby Face, which starred
Barbara Stanwyck, Lindsay was cast in the
Fox Film Corporation's award-winning
Cavalcade. Lindsay was selected for a role as Edith Harris, a doomed English bride whose honeymoon takes place on the
Titanic. Lindsay signed a five-year contract with
Warner Bros., playing leads in both major and minor features, including
G Men (1935) opposite
James Cagney and
Garden of the Moon (1938) opposite
Pat O'Brien. Lindsay co-starred with
Bette Davis in four Warners films: as Davis's sister in
Fog Over Frisco (1934); in
Dangerous (1935), for which Davis won her first
Best Actress Academy Award; in
Bordertown with
Paul Muni, and as Davis's rival for
Henry Fonda's affections in
Jezebel (1938). (left) and Lindsay (right) in
The Law in Her Hands (1936) , Margaret Lindsay &
Donald Woods in American adventure film
Isle of Fury (1936) After her tenure at Warners, she went to Universal where her old friend Bob Cummings had the juvenile lead in adolescent singing star
Gloria Jean's first picture,
The Under-Pup (1939). Cummings reunited with Lindsay, who played a supporting role.
1940s Michael Brunas, John Brunas, and Tom Weaver wrote in ''Universal Horrors: The Studio's Classic Films, 1931–46'' that Lindsay, "one of the more talented '30s leading ladies, contributes a mature performance that might be the best, certainly the most striking in
The House of the Seven Gables]." in
British Intelligence (1940) Her 1940s film work in Hollywood included
Columbia Pictures's
first entry in their Crime Doctor series, as well as her continuing role as Nikki Porter in Columbia's
Ellery Queen series (1940–1942). Lindsay appeared in a supporting role in the 1942 film
The Spoilers. After
Universal Pictures released her from her contract, she returned to the stage, appearing on
Broadway in
Another Love Story, which had a three-month run at the end of 1943. Disappointed, she went back to Hollywood, but her film career went into temporary decline, with roles mostly in films at low-budget studios like
Monogram Pictures and
PRC. She returned to bigger film work in 1947, featured in
MGM films like
Cass Timberlane with
Spencer Tracy and
Lana Turner. She again returned to the stage and co-starred with
Franchot Tone in
The Second Man.
1950s and 1960s She made her television debut in 1950 in
The Importance of Being Earnest,{{cite web == Personal life ==