Brenda Forbes; Character Actress on Broadway, TV, Film

Brenda Forbes, 87, Broadway character actress who often portrayed a maid or nurse. She was an expert at accents and was well-known for playing eccentric characters, backing such luminaries as Katharine Cornell, Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne and Katharine Hepburn. She made her Broadway debut in “The Barretts of Wimpole Street” as Wilson the loyal maid. Among her films were “Mrs. Miniver” and “This Above All” in 1942, “White Cliffs of Dover” in 1944 and “The Jerky Boys” in 1995. She was in three television movies with Hepburn: “The Man Upstairs,” “Laura Lansing Slept Here” and “Mrs. Delafield Wants to Marry.” Forbes divided her time between New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, where she acted at the Goodman Theater. On Wednesday in New York City.