Estelle Winwood, on appearing in the Mel Brooks classic "The Producers" (1967): "Oh, that dreadful picture. I can't bear to watch it, even on a small television. I must have needed the money; living in Hollywood weakens one's motives. It reminds me of the saying that nobody ever went broke underestimating the American public's taste."
Like many stage actors of her era, Winwood expressed a distaste for films and resisted the offers she received during the 1920s. Finally, she relented and made her film début in "Night Angel" (1931), but her scenes were cut before the film's release. Her official film début came in "The House of Trent" (1933), and "Quality Street" (1937) was her first role of note. She made no cinematic films during the 1940s, but expressed a willingness to participate in the new medium of television, starring in a television production of "Blithe Spirit" in 1946. During the 1950s, she appeared more frequently in television than she did in film in such series as "Robert Montgomery Presents," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," and "The Donna Reed Show."
Winwood's final film appearance, at age 92 in "Murder by Death" (1976), was as Elsa Lanchester's character's ancient nursemaid. When she took on her final major television role in a 1979 episode of "Quincy", she officially became, at age 96, the oldest actor working in the U.S., narrowly beating fellow British actress Ethel Griffies. She continued making appearances until she was 100 years old. When she died at age 101, she was the oldest member in the history of the Screen Actors Guild.
When Winwood was asked, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, how she felt to have lived so long, she replied, "How rude of you to remind me!"
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