Dame Flora McKenzie Robson was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from queens to murderesses.
The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels.
Una O'Connor was an Irish-American actress who worked extensively in theatre before becoming a character actress in film and in television. She often portrayed comical wives, housekeepers and servants. In 2020, she was listed at number 19 on The Irish Times list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Sir Ronald Harwood, is a South African-born British author, playwright and screenwriter. He is most noted for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for The Dresser and The Pianist, for which he won the 2003 Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007).
Germaine Yvonne Arnaud was a French-born pianist, singer and actress, who was well known for her career in Britain, as well as her native land. After beginning a career as a concert pianist as a child, Arnaud acted in musical comedies. She switched to non-musical comedy and drama around 1920 and was one of the players in the second of the Aldwych farces, A Cuckoo in the Nest, a hit in 1925. She also had dramatic roles and made films in the 1930s and 1940s, and continued to act into the 1950s. She occasionally performed as a pianist later in her career. The Yvonne Arnaud Theatre was named in her memory in Guildford, Surrey.
Hugh Wakefield was an English film actor, who played supporting roles. He was often seen wearing a monocle.
Margaret Rawlings, Lady Barlow was an English stage actress, born in Osaka, Japan, daughter of the Rev. George William Rawlings and his wife Lilian Rawlings.
Frank Cellier was an English actor. Early in his career, from 1903 to 1920, he toured in Britain, Germany, the West Indies, America and South Africa. In the 1920s, he became known in the West End for Shakespearean character roles, among others, and also directed some plays in which he acted. He continued to act on stage until 1946. During the 1930s and 1940s, he also appeared in more than three dozen films.
The Improper Duchess is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Harry Hughes and starring Yvonne Arnaud, Hugh Wakefield and Wilfrid Caithness. The film is based on the 1931 play of the same name by J. B. Fagan in which Arnaud had starred.
Winifred Florence Shotter was an English actress best known for her appearances in the Aldwych farces of the 1920s and early 1930s.
James Bernard Fagan was an Irish-born actor, theatre manager, producer and playwright in England. After turning from the law to the stage, Fagan began an acting career, including four years from 1895 to 1899 with Herbert Beerbohm Tree's company at Her Majesty's Theatre. He then began writing plays, returning eventually to acting during World War I. In 1920 he took over London's Court Theatre as a Shakespearean playhouse and soon began to produce plays at other West End theatres. His adaptation of Treasure Island in 1922 was a hit and became an annual Christmas event.
Hubert Willis was a British actor best known for his recurring role as Doctor Watson in a series of silent Sherlock Holmes films co-starring with Eille Norwood.
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.
George Laurier Lister, OBE was an English theatre writer, actor, director and producer, best known for a series of revues in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Peter Ibbetson is a play based on George du Maurier's 1891 novel of the same name. It debuted in the United States in 1917.
Jane is a play by the American writer S. N. Behrman, based on a 1923 story by Somerset Maugham. It was first staged in Britain December 1946 at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool. It's West End run at the Aldwych Theatre lasted for 274 performances from 29 January to 27 September 1947. The original cast included Yvonne Arnaud in the title role, as well as Irene Browne, Ursula Howells, Ronald Squire, Charles Victor. Arnaud was praised for her comic acting.
On the Spot is a 1930 Chicago-set play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. Wallace was inspired by a visit to the United States and, in particular, the Saint Valentine's Day Massacre. Known as a prolific author, he reportedly dictated the manuscript for the play in just four days. It was his greatest theatrical success.
The Calendar is a 1929 play by the British writer Edgar Wallace. It is a crime thriller set in the world of horse racing world, the sport being among Wallace's interests. The protagonist is a financially struggling racehorse owner with a shady reputation. It premiered at the Palace Theatre in Manchester before transferring to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End.
The Outsider is a play by the British writer Dorothy Brandon. It portrays the struggle of an unorthodox medical practitioner to gain acceptance by the medical establishment. It was subsequently revised to show the unconventional triumphing over the conventional, whereas the play had originally had the opposite ending.
The Good Companions is a 1931 play by J.B. Priestley and Edward Knoblock, based on Priestley's 1929 novel of the same title about a touring concert party. The music was composed by Richard Addinsell.
