talulah jane riley - milburn played cora's mother on downton abbey.
who plays cora's mother on downton abbey?
talulah jane riley - milburn
martha levinson (played by shirley maclaine) is cora's brash, outspoken american mother, a wealthy widow with homes in new york city and newport, rhode island. she visits downton with great fanfare in series 3 for mary and matthew's wedding and then returns to the united states. unlike violet, martha wears up-to-date clothing. martha has a slightly strained relationship with her daughter cora, making her rarely visit the house. she is mentioned once in series one when cora was pregnant as being very anxious but violet wrote to her to come admire the baby. martha arrives in downton for mary's wedding to matthew, and remains there for a short time afterwards. violet and mary scheme to have her give the crawleys more money to save downton from ruin by putting on a lavish banquet, but the evening nearly ends in disaster when the oven fails. it is martha who saves the feast, instead arranging an indoor picnic for the guests. martha reveals to violet and mary that even if she wanted to sink more money into downton, her late husband's will ties up the levinson fortune up too tightly. martha leaves downton shortly afterwards, telling robert she is "homesick for america".
list of downton abbey characters
to ensure the survival of the estate, robert's father knew that his son needed to marry a wealthy heiress who would bring a large dowry to the estate. robert married cora levinson, the only daughter of isidore and martha levinson. isidore was an american millionaire, and when cora married robert, robert's father insisted that she sign an entailment which legally combined the estate with cora's fortune. robert was forced into the marriage by his father and cora by hers. robert's father wanted robert to marry a rich girl; isidore wanted cora to marry into the british aristocracy. he later said that he was ashamed of his motives for pursuing cora. after about a year of marriage, however, robert truly fell in love with cora and they eventually had three daughters: mary, edith, and sybil. because of the entail, as they had no sons, robert's heir was the closest male relative, his cousin james. however, when james and his only son patrick died in the sinking of the "titanic", robert's heir became his third cousin once removed, matthew crawley, a young middle-class solicitor from manchester, setting the stage for him to inherit not only the abbey and its estate, but also cora's fortune. while violet, cora and mary wish to contest the entail so that cora's money, at least, will remain in the immediate family, robert refuses even to countenance this possibility. he sees it as his responsibility to preserve his heritage and ensure that downton abbey and the estate remain intact, even if the property and title will go into the hands of a stranger. he knows that it would be impossible to maintain downton abbey if cora's fortune were separated from the estate.
list of downton abbey characters