# Bathsheba Garnett
**Bathsheba Garnett** (born 17 September 1925 in Manhattan, New York) is an American actress, stage director, and drama teacher whose screen work spans from a 1984 television debut to the title witch in [Robert Eggers](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-eggers)' horror film *[The Witch](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-witch-2015-film)* (2015).[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett) Much of her career was spent in Canada, where she taught acting and directing at the [University of Windsor](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-windsor) for more than a decade before returning to film and television work late in life.[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 September 1925, Manhattan, New York, United States[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett) |
| Broadway appearance | Original cast of Paddy Chayefsky's *Gideon* (1961), as Woman of Manasseh and Succoth, directed by Tyrone Guthrie[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/Gideon-323056/cast) |
| Academic career | University of Windsor School of Dramatic Art from 1971; full professor 1985; OCUFA Teaching Award 1984[3](https://www.uwindsor.ca/ctl/sites/uwindsor.ca.ctl/files/cte_1973-2006.pdf) |
| Training | Studied acting with Lee Strasberg, Uta Hagen, and Richard Schechner[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett) |
| Best-known screen role | The aged witch in *The Witch* (2015), Robert Eggers' debut feature, cast at age 90[4](https://chrisreedfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/the-witch-final-press-notes.pdf) |
| Other screen credits | German Teacher in *Mean Girls* (2004); Homeless Woman in *P2* (2007); Woman of Ward Two in *Blindness* (2008)[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Bathsheba-Garnett/) |
## Training and Broadway
Garnett trained as an actor with [Lee Strasberg](https://www.edgepedia.org/lee-strasberg) and [Uta Hagen](https://www.edgepedia.org/uta-hagen), and also worked with the director and theorist Richard Schechner; this training later informed her own teaching of performance, voice, and movement.[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett)
In 1961 she joined the original cast of *Gideon*, [Paddy Chayefsky](https://www.edgepedia.org/paddy-chayefsky)'s biblical play staged by [Tyrone Guthrie](https://www.edgepedia.org/tyrone-guthrie) at the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway. She played one of the Women of Manasseh and Succoth in a company that included [Fredric March](https://www.edgepedia.org/fredric-march) as the Angel and Douglas Campbell in the title role.[2](https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/Gideon-323056/cast) The production opened on 9 November 1961 and ran until 2 June 1962, for 236 performances, and received several 1962 Tony Award nominations, including best play and best direction.[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett)
## Teaching at the University of Windsor
From 1971 Garnett taught at the School of Dramatic Art of the University of Windsor in Ontario, beginning as a sessional instructor and rising to full professor in 1985.[3](https://www.uwindsor.ca/ctl/sites/uwindsor.ca.ctl/files/cte_1973-2006.pdf) Her teaching covered acting and directing, along with voice, speech, mime, and movement, and she brought her Strasberg, Hagen, and Schechner training to hundreds of students.[3](https://www.uwindsor.ca/ctl/sites/uwindsor.ca.ctl/files/cte_1973-2006.pdf) In 1984 she received an OCUFA Teaching Award, given by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations for excellence in university teaching in the province.[3](https://www.uwindsor.ca/ctl/sites/uwindsor.ca.ctl/files/cte_1973-2006.pdf)
After retiring from the university she remained active as a teacher and director, running workshops in London, England, and in Israel, where she staged the musical *1776*, and directing stage productions in Canada.[3](https://www.uwindsor.ca/ctl/sites/uwindsor.ca.ctl/files/cte_1973-2006.pdf)
## Screen career
Garnett's screen debut came in 1984 as Mrs. Jacobs in the television film *The Guardian*, directed by David Greene and starring [Martin Sheen](https://www.edgepedia.org/martin-sheen) and [Louis Gossett Jr.](https://www.edgepedia.org/louis-gossett-jr)[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett) Character parts followed across film and television, often in small but distinctive roles: a German teacher in the comedy *Mean Girls* (2004), a homeless woman in the thriller *P2* (2007), a Holocaust survivor in *Adoration* (2008), an Old Russian Woman in *The Echo* (2008), and Woman of Ward Two in *Blindness* (2008).[5](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Bathsheba-Garnett/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/de/name/nm0307796/)
**The Witch.** Her most widely seen role came more than half a century after *Gideon*. In *The Witch* (2015), the debut feature of director Robert Eggers, she played the aged witch of the wood, while Sarah Stephens played the witch's young incarnation.[1](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett) The production notes state that Eggers cast the 90-year-old Garnett because she had "the physiognomy to pass as an archetypal witch," with makeup limited to shadow and grime rather than prosthetics.[4](https://chrisreedfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/the-witch-final-press-notes.pdf) In the film, her nameless crone steals the infant Samuel, kills him, and renders his body into a [flying ointment](https://www.edgepedia.org/flying-ointment), and later appears in a youthful guise to seduce the teenage Caleb.[7](https://www.darkertimes.com/witches-worldview-power/) Reviewers noted her few appearances as disturbingly convincing; the film holds a 91 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, her highest-rated credit.[8](https://bureau42.com/view/19486/weekend-review-the-witch) • [9](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bathsheba_garnett)
## References
1. [Bathsheba Garnett, biographie et carrière, n2w.me](https://n2w.me/personnalites/bathsheba-garnett)
2. [Gideon Broadway Original Cast 1961, BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/shows/Gideon-323056/cast)
3. [Celebrating Teaching Excellence 1973–2006, University of Windsor Centre for Teaching and Learning](https://www.uwindsor.ca/ctl/sites/uwindsor.ca.ctl/files/cte_1973-2006.pdf)
4. [About the Production, The Witch final press notes](https://chrisreedfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/the-witch-final-press-notes.pdf)
5. [Bathsheba Garnett, BroadwayWorld people page](https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Bathsheba-Garnett/)
6. [Bathsheba Garnett, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/de/name/nm0307796/)
7. [We Are the Daughters of the Witches You Couldn't Film, Darker Times](https://www.darkertimes.com/witches-worldview-power/)
8. [Weekend Review: The Witch, Bureau 42](https://bureau42.com/view/19486/weekend-review-the-witch)
9. [Bathsheba Garnett, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/bathsheba_garnett)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames G to Gl*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license