Actress. She is most remembered for her numerous roles played in the American silent-film era continuing through the 1930s. She usually played the role of a plump, aristocratic English dame with a dry sense of humor. As a young woman, she became the beautiful, curvy, auburn-haired model of English artist Frank Markham Skipworth. After marrying this starving artist as "Alice Groome" on September 3, 1888, she had to find an income. Acting was her answer; in her own words, she was "driven to the stage by poverty and remained for the love of it."

Born Alison Mary Elliott Margaret Groom to Dr. Richard Groom and Elizabeth Rodgers, she was well-educated with tutors from Oxford University. After her marriage, she was called "Skippy." Debuting in "A Gaiety Girl" at London's Daly Theater in 1894, she relocated within months to New York City joining the Daniel Frohaman's Lyceum Stock Company. Her first Broadway role was 1895 in "The Artist's Model;" she returned to England for a short time returning with her husband. Eventually, she divorced Skipworth and he died in 1929. She toured with Forhman starting with Shakespearean roles then changing to mainly comedy. She appeared in a string of 21 failures in five years. At this point, she left the stage for Hollywood with a two-year contract with Paramount Studios. Not counting her silent films, her first film role was in 1930 as Lady Catherine Champion-Cheney in "Strictly Unconventional;" she was 67 years old. She is remembered for her role with W.C. Fields in "If I had a Million" in 1932; playing the main character in "Madame Racketeer" in 1932; "Tillie and Gus" in 1933; "Alice in Wonderland" and playing opposite Marlene Dietrich in "The Song of Songs" in 1933; "Six of a Kind" in 1934; "Two Wise Maids in 1937; and "Ladies in Distress" in 1938, which was her last. Her 1932 role as Mabel Jellyman, an etiquette teacher, played opposite the rough, ill-mannered characters played by George Raft and Mae West in "Night After Night." Another one of her roles was Madame Barabas in "Satan Met A Lady" in 1936; her character's role was later loosely based on Sydney Greenstreet's role in the classic 1941 movie "The Maltese Falcon." She appeared in 54 films.

When she was not acting, she lived a very quiet lifestyle, enjoying her home and having tea in the afternoon. Although she retired from films in 1938, she retired from the Broadway stage with "Lily of the Valley" in 1942. She was interred in the "Actor's Fund" section of the cemetery, which was established in 1882 to provide a funeral service for performing artists who had no family to pay for their burial. She is buried with actress and theatrical agent, Francie Hidden, who died 26 years after her. There is no relationship mentioned on the cemetery record nor was Hidden mentioned in Skipworth's will.