Overview
The mother died under the executioner's axe; the daughter rose to become England's greatest monarch -- the brilliant and cunning Queen Elizabeth I. Jean Simmons portrays young Bess in this rich tapestry of a film that traces the tumultuous, danger-fraught years from Elizabeth's birth to her unexpected ascension to the throne at a mere 25. Charles Laughton reprises his Academy Award®-winning* role as her formidable father Henry VIII. Deborah Kerr plays her last stepmother (and Henry's last of six wives), gentle Catherine Parr. And Simmons' then real-life husband, Stewart Granger, adds heroics as Lord Admiral Thomas Seymour. In a resplendent world of adventure, romance and court intrigue, Young Bess reigns.
Cast
- Jean Simmons as Young Bess (Queen Elizabeth I)
- Stewart Granger as Thomas Seymour
- Deborah Kerr as Catherine Parr
- Charles Laughton as King Henry VIII
- Kay Walsh as Mrs. Ashley
- Guy Rolfe as Ned Seymour
- Kathleen Byron as Ann Seymour
- Cecil Kellaway as Mr. Parry
- Rex Thompson as Prince Edward / King Edward VI
- Robert Arthur as Barnaby