Renée Gladys Mayer (9 December 1900–14 November 1969) was a British child actress, singer and dancer [1] of stage and film.
She was born as Irene Gladys Mayer in Chiswick in London in 1900, [2] the youngest of four children of Mary (1854-) and William Mayer (1854-), a picture dealer. [3] She made her stage début in 1910 as the Pearl Fairy in The Goldfish. She played Hop opposite Barry Lupino as Smilo in Hop O' My Thumb (1911) and Little Peter in Passers By (1911) [4] by C. Haddon Chambers at Wyndham's Theatre opposite Gerald du Maurier. Today she is most remembered for her performances as Puck in three revivals of Sleeping Beauty (1912, 1913 and 1914) at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Mayer appeared in pantomimes throughout her teenage years, [1] including Puss in Puss in Boots (1916),
She appeared in the silent films Masks and Faces (1917) as one of Triplet's children, as Jenny Banks in Victory and Peace (1918) opposite Ellen Terry and Edith Craig, and as Marie Celeste in A Bachelor Husband [1] (1920) opposite Gordon Craig. [2]
She married the actor David Horne (1898-1970) at Kensington in London in 1924. [5] After their divorce she married radio announcer Leslie Allan Rose (1903-1973) in Marylebone in London in 1939. [6] The 1939 Register lists her as a housewife. [7]
Renée Mayer died in Marylebone in London in 1969.
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was George du Maurier, a writer and cartoonist.
Friedrich Robert Donat was an English actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps (1935) and Goodbye, Mr. Chips (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in Punch and a Gothic novel Trilby, featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald du Maurier. The writers Angela du Maurier and Daphne du Maurier and the artist Jeanne du Maurier were all granddaughters of George. He was also father of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and grandfather of the five boys who inspired J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan.
Susannah Yolande Fletcher, known professionally as Susannah York, was an English actress. Her appearances in various films of the 1960s, including Tom Jones (1963) and They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969), formed the basis of her international reputation. An obituary in The Telegraph characterised her as "the blue-eyed English rose with the china-white skin and cupid lips who epitomised the sensuality of the swinging sixties", who later "proved that she was a real actor of extraordinary emotional range".
Irene Handl was a British author and character actress who appeared in more than 100 British films.
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of author George du Maurier and his wife, Emma Wightwick, and the brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1903, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont, with whom he had three daughters: writers Angela du Maurier (1904–2002) and Dame Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989), and painter Jeanne du Maurier (1911–1997). His popularity was due to his subtle and naturalistic acting: a "delicately realistic style of acting that sought to suggest rather than to state the deeper emotions". His Times obituary said of his career: "His parentage assured him of engagements in the best of company to begin with; but it was his own talent that took advantage of them."
Peggy Hyland was an English silent film actress who after a brief period on the stage had a successful career as a silent film actress, appearing in at least 40 films in Great Britain and the United States between 1914 and 1925. In 1925 she returned to Britain after making her last film following which she lived a life of obscurity.
Gladys Emma Peto was an English artist, fashion designer, illustrator and writer of children's books.
Muriel Beaumont, Lady du Maurier was an English stage actress from 1898 until retiring in 1910. She was the wife of the actor and manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and mother of the writers Angela du Maurier and Daphne du Maurier and artist Jeanne du Maurier.
Angela Busson du Maurier was an English actress and novelist who also wrote two volumes of autobiography, It's Only the Sister (1951) and Old Maids Remember (1965). Her sister was the novelist Daphne du Maurier, and her grandfather was George du Maurier, a writer and cartoonist.
David Edgar Alderson Horne was an English film and stage actor.
Viva Birkett was a British stage actress active on both sides of the Atlantic over the early decades of the twentieth century.
Gerald Leslie Lawrence was a British actor and manager.
C. Morton Horne (1885–1916) was an Irish writer and musical comedy performer who lost his life on a battlefield in France during the First World War.
Dorothy Ward was an English actress who specialised in pantomimes, playing the principal boy roles, while her husband Shaun Glenville would play the dame roles. She had a successful 52 year career and played in over 40 pantomimes between 1905 and 1957.
Hetta Bartlett was an English stage and film actress whose career spanned both the West End and Broadway. She is known for Sonia (1921), The Lady of the Lake (1928) and Honour in Pawn (1916).
Frederick Thomas Thorne, stage name Eric Thorne, was an English singer and actor in musical theatre and comic opera.
Ada Dorée was an English singer and actor who performed in operetta, Victorian burlesque, and pantomime from the 1870s to the 1890s. In her early life she was Ada Catherine Elizabeth Earée, and in her later years she used the name Ada Dorée-Thorne, adding that of her husband.
Peter De Greef was a British actor who made a number of film appearances in the 1940s and 50s including Champagne Charlie (1944).