Ashcroft, Dame PeggyAsh‧croft, Dame Peg‧gy /ˈæʃkrɒft $ -ɔːft, ˈpeɡi/(1907–91) a popular British actress who appeared in the theatre in many Shakespeare plays, and in films such as The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) and A Passage to India (1984). She also appeared in the television programme The Jewel in the Crown (1984).