Elsa Jacoby

Last updated
Elsa Jacoby
MBE
Elza Stenning.jpg
Jacoby in 1930
Born
Elsa Antoinette Ruth Stenning

(1910-05-02)2 May 1910
Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died25 March 1994(1994-03-25) (aged 83)
Vaucluse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Other namesElza Stenning
Education North Sydney Girls High School
OccupationsActress, soprano opera singer and fundraising patron of the arts
Employer Royal Opera House
Notable work The Devil's Playground (1928)
Spouse(s) Lyndon Dadswell (m. 1930, div. 1939)
Ian Mathieson Jacoby (m. 1943, div. 1970)
Children3

Elsa Antoinette Ruth Jacoby MBE ( née  Stenning, 2 May 1910 – 25 March 1994), also known as Elza Stenning, was an Australian actress, soprano opera singer and fundraising patron of the arts.

Contents

Biography

Jacoby was born on 2 May 1910 in Neutral Bay, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. [1] [2] Her parents were Edwin James Stenning, a builder from England, and his Australian wife Leah Ezna Stenning ( née  Gutterridge). [3] She had four siblings. [1]

Jacoby was educated at North Sydney Girls High School and started her career in the Australian film industry. [1] Her first major role was in The Devil's Playground (1928), playing the romantic lead, Naneena. [4] [5] [6] Her second film role was in F. W. Thring's musical comedy Harmony Row (1933). [7] During this period, Jacoby worked as a model and took singing lessons to become an opera singer. [1] She performed with the Australian Gilbert and Sullivan Company. [8]

Jacoby married Australian sculptor Lyndon Dadswell on 24 May 1930 in Windsor, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They had a son together, who died as an infant after a car accident. [9] The couple moved to London, England, to pursue their careers, but they subsequently divorced. [1] [10] In England, Jacoby sang soprano in grand operas at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, from 1935 to 1939. [1] [11] [12] [13] She also performed in regional British pantomimes. [14]

Jacoby in 1949 Elsa Stenning 1949.png
Jacoby in 1949

Jacoby met Australian financier Ian Mathieson Jacoby, while living and working in London. He was married when they met and divorced his first wife Hilda in order to marry Jacoby. [1] [15] After returning to Australia, they married on 17 December 1943 in Melbourne. [3] [16]

During World War II, Jacoby worked entertaining Allied troops at concerts in Australia, England, and South Africa. [1] [17] [18]

Jacoby and her husband settled in Hermit Bay, Vaucluse, New South Wales, Australia. She became well known as a society hostess and fundraising patron of the arts, voluntarily raising money for organisations including the Arts Council of Australia (New South Wales division), Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust, Friends of the Australian Ballet and Sydney Dance Company. [1] In 1960, she became co-deputy president of the Sydney Opera House Ladies’ Committee. [19] She also continued her acting career and starred as Baroness Bronoski in Frank Brittain's drama film The Set (1970), which was partly filmed in her house. [1] [7] She divorced her second husband in 1970 on grounds of adultery. [1]

Sir William Dobell painted Jacoby's portrait in 1967 (Seated Lady in a Blue Dress). [1] [20] She was appointed as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1972 for services to the community. [3]

Jacoby died on 25 March 1994 in Vaucluse, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, aged 83. [21] [22]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Roberts, Jan, "Elsa Antoinette Jacoby (1910–1994)", Australian Dictionary of Biography , Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 9 December 2025
  2. ↑ Smith, Vivienne (1982). Who's who of Australian Women. Methuen Australia. p. 251. ISBN   978-0-454-00437-3.
  3. 1 2 3 Debrett's Handbook of Australia and New Zealand. Debrett's Peerage. 1984. p. 467. ISBN   978-0-949137-00-5.
  4. ↑ Focus on Reel Australia: A Collection of Early Australian Feature Films. Australian Council of Government Film Libraries. 1990. p. 17. ISBN   978-0-7308-1724-6.
  5. ↑ McFarlane, Brian; Mayer, Geoff; Bertrand, Ina (1999). The Oxford Companion to Australian Film. Oxford University Press. p. 104. ISBN   978-0-19-553797-0.
  6. ↑ Landman, Jane (2006). The Tread of a White Man's Foot: Australian Pacific Colonialism and the Cinema, 1925-62. Pandanus Books, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, the Australian National University. p. 42. ISBN   978-1-74076-206-9.
  7. 1 2 "Curator's notes The Set (1969)". ASO - Australia's audio and visual heritage online. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  8. ↑ BBC Empire Broadcasting. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1938. p. 14.
  9. ↑ "Baby Dies After Smash". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) . Vol. 4, no. 9. New South Wales, Australia. 26 February 1934. p. 6. Retrieved 10 December 2025– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ Edwards, Deborah, "Lyndon Raymond Dadswell (1908–1986)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 10 December 2025
  11. ↑ "Elsa Stenning (1937)". British Pathé . Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  12. ↑ "Elsa Stenning (aka Another Popular Artist)". British Pathé. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  13. ↑ "Elsa Stenning (1939)". British Pathé. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  14. ↑ Wilson, Albert Edward (1956). Prime Minister of Mirth: The Biography of Sir George Robey, C.B.E. Odhams Press. p. 206.
  15. ↑ Statham, Pamela, "Ian Mathieson Jacoby (1901–1973)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 10 December 2025
  16. ↑ "Actress Weds". The Age. 18 December 1943. p. 8. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  17. ↑ Bolt, Andrew (1995). Our Home Front, 1939-45. Wilkinson Books. p. 203. ISBN   978-1-86350-203-0.
  18. ↑ "Melbourne, Vic. 1942-12-14. Miss Elsa Stenning, a Tivoli Girl Performer, Entertaining the Lunch ..." Australian War Memorial . Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  19. ↑ "Timeline". Sydney Opera House Ladies Committee. Retrieved 9 December 2025.
  20. ↑ "Seated Lady in a Blue Dress, 1967". Deutscher and Hackett. Retrieved 10 December 2025.
  21. ↑ Stapleton, John (28 March 1994). "Elsa Jacoby, the last charity queen dies". Sydney Morning Herald . p. 1.
  22. ↑ Prior, Sheila (4 April 1994). "Charity's Faithful Songster". Australian. p. 12.
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