Adrienne Brune at the time she was appearing in The Three Musketeers at Drury Lane in 1930. Photo credited to Frank Davis. [1]Theatre World, June 1930, p5. Author’s collection
The Five second version
Delightful, charming and tuneful! She was a dashing Australian beauty and a popular and successful West End star in the 1920s and 1930s. Yet Adrienne Brune’s identity was always something of a mystery. Was she Phyllis Caroline Brune?[2]John Parker (1947) p344 or was it Adrienne Sordini?[3]The Football Post (Nottingham), Dec 1, 1917, p10 In fact, in Australia she had used a much simpler stage name – Phyllis Warner – which made sense as it was a contraction of her real name. Reviews of her performances were typically thus: “This charming actress, besides possessing a voice of unusually good quality, has a most attractive personality. She acts and sings gracefully whenever she is on the stage.”[4]The Era, 29 August 1925 p1 In the late 1940s she took to teaching singing and elocution. She died in London in 1973.
Actor Gabrielle Brune (1912-2005) was her daughter.
At left, Adrienne Brune at the height of her popularity, playing Resi, with George Vollarie (c1894-1971) in a long run of Waltzes from Vienna at the Alhambra theatre in 1932. Vollarie played Johan Strauss Jnr.[5]Daily Mirror (London) Feb 29, 1932 p7
Carrie Phyllis Warner was born in Herbert St, South Melbourne on 27 October 1891. The spelling of her first name Carrie – not Caroline – is quite clear on the birth document.[6]An initial misspelling of “Carry” was corrected and initialled Her father was John William Guy Warner, a chief engineer for the Australian shipping company Huddart Parker, while her mother was the popular Melbourne soprano Ada Clements.[7]See Victoria Births Deaths & Marriages documents – 1] Carrie Phyllis Warner birth certificate 29129/1891 and 2] John William Guy Warner & Ada Isabel Clements marriage certificate … Continue reading Sadly, Guy Warner was drowned at sea in July 1904. His ship Nemesis founded in a storm off the New South Wales coast – and all hands were lost.[8]The Advertiser (Adel) 13 Jul 1904, p5 It was all the more tragic because Guy Warner was only temporarily filling in for another engineer who had been too ill to travel.[9]The Argus (Melb)14 Jul 1904, p5
Even today we can imagine how traumatic the sudden loss of a parent and the family’s main breadwinner would be. At the time there was no formal system of compensation – instead Ada Warner joined others in putting on a benefit concert, and shared in the very modest sums of money raised. Ada Warner supported her daughter and a young son by taking boarders into their house in East Melbourne. It is hardly surprising in these circumstances, that Phyllis was encouraged to pursue a career on stage, with all the exciting possibilities for travel and financial freedom that might result. However, what training she had we do not know, although well known Australian dance teacher and producer Minnie Everett (1874-1956) must be considered a possibility.[10]Years later she claimed to have studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music
Eric Porter suggests that after a convent education, Phyllis Warner played “Mustard Seed” in the 1903 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.[12]Porter (1965) p172 Perhaps this is so. Phyllis Warner first appears in newspaper advertising as part of the New All-Star Company, a variety troupe performing at Adelaide’s Tivoli in 1907, when she was still aged 16.[13]The Gadfly (Adel) 18 Sep 1907, p9 A few years later, she is found in the Melbourne cast of Mrs Lee’s Lodgers, a French musical farce directed by and starring English actor Florence Baines.
By 1909 she was under contract to JC Williamsons, being cast in the Sydney runs of the new musicals King of Cadonia and Our Miss Gibbs. In the latter, she was on stage with other talented and aspirational Australian actors, singers and dancers – including Ivy Schilling, Vera Pearce, Nellie Wilson and Fred Leslie, all of whom would try their luck overseas.[15]The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 24 Sep 1910, p2
It was an impressive achievement for an 18 year old. And then, in February 1910 she became engaged to Thomas Habgood Hudson, variously described as an actor and an automobile engineer. He was the son of very well known actor-manager “Tommy” Thomas Pedder Hudson (1852-1909).[16]T.P. Hudson lived for some time in Adelaide and had managed Nellie Melba’s successful Australasian tour of 1902-3. He died in Bournemouth, England in 1909 The couple married in Sydney in August 1910, and a few months later, they departed for England.[17]This was Phyllis Warner’s second voyage to England. Her father had been able to arrange a trip for the family – presumably to see relatives – in 1902
Adrienne Sordini becomes Billie Browne
In 1915, an Adrienne Sordini appeared as a player in several London revues, including Follow the Frill at the Poplar Hippodrome in August.[18]The Stage, 26 Aug 1915, p18 As it transpires, this was our heroine’s first attempt at a British stage name. It is safe to assume this was inspired by the names of other popular actors of the time. Her husband’s World War One military record confirms that she was working in variety at the time he enlisted in the British Army in 1915.[19]Thomas Habgood Hudson’s British military records are available on Ancestry
However, it was under a new stage name – “Billie Browne” – that she first earned a reputation. Newspapers record her appearing in pantomime in 1916, when she was reported as principal girl in a Dick Whittington pantomime,[20]See Cardiff’s Western Mail, 12 Dec 1916, p2 but her real breakthrough appears to have been touring the English provinces in the popular musical comedy Betty for the George Edwardes Company. When Alfred Butt (1878-1962) toured the new musical Irene in late 1920, it was Billie Browne who again took the leading role – to some acclaim.[21]Birmingham Daily Gazette, 23 December 1920, p8
In late 1917, in a convoluted account for a Nottingham newspaper, “Billie Browne” provided a fanciful explanation regarding her choices of name. She said her name really was Adrienne Sordini, and although born in Melbourne Australia, she was of Italian parentage.[23]She continued the fantasy of an Italian mother for much of her life. See for example Daily Mirror Dec 20, 1929, p11 She said an English agent had suggested the plainer name “Billie Browne.” She again explained that she had started out as the fairy Mustard Seed in an Australian production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and she had subsequently travelled all over Australasia.[24]The Football Post (Nottingham), Dec 1, 1917, p10
It seems likely that much of the subterfuge relating to her name was connected to an increasingly unhappy marriage. Although a daughter – Gabrielle May Hudson – was born of the union in early 1912, in August Hudson had started to display some strange behaviour – which would become a feature of his later life. He went missing after a swim at Southbourne’s River Stour and it was assumed he had drowned – he had left his car and clothes behind on the river bank. However, several days later he rang Phyllis from London and the search for his body was dropped.[25]See for example Evening Express(London) 13 Aug, 1912, p4 and Huddersfield Daily Examiner(Yorkshire), 14 Aug 1912, p4 Although he later served through World War One, in July 1918 he received a conviction for petty theft – stealing a wallet. Then in June 1921 he was declared bankrupt, and he was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for fraud.[26]See accounts of Hudson’s troubles in The Daily Telegraph(London), June 13, 1921, p1 and The Citizen (London) 20 Jan 1932, p1 By this time Phyllis Carrie Hudson had had enough, and she successfully divorced him on the grounds of adultery.[27]National Archives [UK]. Divorce Court File: 6799. Appellant: Phyllis Carrie Hudson. Respondent: Thomas Habgood Hudson. Type: Wife’s petition for divorce
Adrienne Brune appears on the London stage
Theatre historians Parker [28]John Parker (1947) p344 and Wearing [29]J P Wearing (2014)The London Stage 1920-1929 p206 date the first appearance of Adrienne Brune on the London stage to the opera Polly, in December 1922, when she took the leading role of Jenny Diver. Except to note that she had previously called herself Billie Browne, her latest stage name was adopted without much public comment. In fact, the name remained with her for the rest of her career, to the extent many thought it was her real name. Polly, a sequel to The Beggar’s Opera, ran for 325 performances over ten months, first at London’s Kingsway Theatre and then at the Savoy.
And with her “triple qualifications – of being able to act, sing and dance,” she was a brilliant success.[30]Evening News (London) 13 Oct 1923, p6 The Sketch waxed lyrically about Polly: “It is likely to run a thousand and one nights, and it will live when all the musical comedies of the century… will be dead and forgotten… ” And of Adrienne they reported: “Miss Adrienne Brune as Jenny – piquante in French style, a glad eye, a vixen, an irresistible little courtesan, a figure as espiègle [playful] and as dainty as a bit of sevres [fine porcelain].”[31]The Sketch (London)Wednesday 17 January 1923, p32 The career of 32 year old Adrienne Brune was well and truly launched.
Her work in the 1920s included Ethel in Tonight’s the Night at the Winter Garden in 1924, Sonia in The Merry Widow at the Lyceum in late 1924, Pamela in Dear Little Billie at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1925, Marian in The Apache at the Palladium in 1926 and Stella in The Girl from Cook’s in 1927. Revues and musical fantasies also featured – including roles in Noel Coward’s This year of Grace! in 1928.
In 1924 she married fellow actor Arthur Pusey (1896-1965). Pusey was performing on the screen as well as stage by this time, and he had made several films in Germany in the later 1920s.[33]Picturegoer’s Who’s Who, 1933, p216 At various times, Adrienne also claimed to have been in films [34]Daily Mirror, Dec 20, 1929, p11 – infers she was in German films; West Australian 28 June 1935, p10 – said film work did not appeal to her and later described in some detail a test she had taken for a talkie.[35]Football Post (Nottingham), Feb 1, 1930, p12 Unfortunately, there is no surviving evidence of her work in film today, but her voice was being recorded at this time. For example, some of her solos and duets in Polly were made being available by HMV as early as 1925.[36]Opera At Home (1925) The Gramophone Company, London. Via the Hathi Trust
Unfortunately, Pusey abandoned Adrienne in 1929, reportedly only leaving her with a note on the mantlepiece to say he was leaving. A divorce was granted in 1934.[38]The Daily Telegraph(London) Jan 12, 1934 ·p9. Also National Archives [UK] Divorce Court File: 8269. Appellant: Phyllis Carrie Pusey. Respondent: Arthur Watson Pusey. Type: Wife’s petition … Continue reading
Return to Australia in 1935
In his pioneering series of biographies for the theatre, historian John Parker documented Adrienne Brune’s ongoing career through the early years of the depression – which included leading roles in stage versions of Thackeray’s The Rose and the Ring (as Princess Angelica) and Waltzes from Vienna (as Resi).
Above: Adrienne Brune photographed in Western Australia, enroute to Melbourne for “a rest,… after spending practically all her life abroad.”[39]Sunday Times (Perth) 30 June 1935, p1
However in early July 1935 there was another change, when she travelled to Melbourne, Australia via the Orsova. There was no advance publicity heralding her return – in fact it was only when the ship arrived in Western Australia that newspapers picked up she was on board. On the shipping manifest, she gave an intended address that was her younger brother Guy’s business address in High Street, Thornbury, a suburb of Melbourne. But Guy, a motor mechanic, had died a year before, leaving a widow with three very young children. Adrienne also had no contract to perform in Australia, and only vague plans for the future were indicated. In Melbourne, in early July, she settled into the Victoria Hotel in Little Collins St. Six weeks later, on 16 August 1935, she signed a J.C. Williamson’s contract to perform in the operetta Ball at the Savoy, at a rate of £25 per week, when it opened in Brisbane.[40]J.C. Williamson’s Contract Adrienne Brune, courtesy Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne It was a good – but not exceptional salary for an experienced London performer.[41]About $AU2,800 in 2023 values Her contract shows no agent had been involved and there was no indication that the voyage to Australia had been paid for, as was the case when J.C. Williamson’s imported Hungarian actor-singer Oskar Denes (1894-1950) for the cast.[42]Also spelled Oszkár Dénes
As it turned out, Ball at the Savoy [44]also known as Ball at Savoy ran for less than two weeks in Brisbane, closing on 11 September. Oskar Denes had also headlined the cast for its Sydney and Melbourne runs and returned to Melbourne for another season in October. Adrienne also made her way back to Melbourne but for reasons unknown, did not repeat the role – although it was an option written into her contract. Instead, some time in late October 1935, she joined a small group of first class passengers on the passenger-cargo ship Imperial Star and returned to England. She had spent four months in Australia, but had been on stage for barely two weeks. Whatever she did over that time, she somehow managed to avoid all the publicity a returned Australian actor might normally receive. Perhaps she was preoccupied helping her late brother’s family, or possibly her mother Ada Isabel Warner was still alive and needed her support.[45]A woman of the same name was repeatedly arrested for vagrancy after 1916. This woman insisted her daughter in England supported her financially. And on 12 July 1945, a woman of the same name died at … Continue reading
Her later British career
Adrienne Brune’s later career followed a path we might predict. She was no longer young enough to take the same leading West End roles, but still had a beautiful voice and a recognisable “name” that provided her with provincial work. For example, over Christmas 1937, she appeared as Principal boy (Prince Charming) in a Cinderella pantomime tour, with popular singer-comedian Billy Merson (1879-1947). Over the summer seasons she also appeared on tour, in cheerfully titled variety lineups, with titles such as Musical Memories – where her West End musical comedy credentials were celebrated – because these gave her “the ability to effortlessly play a leading role in many of the sketches and comedy interludes.”[46]Bexhill-on-Sea Observer (UK) 30 July 1938, p5
Unfortunately, in April 1940 what might have been a happy return to a major London theatre ended disastrously for Adrienne, with the revue Let’s Mix It. Joan Byford (daughter of actor Roy Byford) and her husband Harold Brewer leased the London Playhouse theatre and financed and wrote this, their own show – dubiously titled a “musical cocktail.” But it closed after just one night – The Times noting that “when the finale was announced from the stage there were cries of relief from the gallery”.[47]The Times 20 April 1940, cited in Wearing p16 One unnamed cast member acknowledged that they were completely unrehearsed. “The finale …was only given to us a few hours before the curtain was due to rise.”[48]Weekly Dispatch (London) 21 April 1940, p7
Radio performances and soon after, membership of a wartime ENSA unit, gave her some more exposure. She was well reviewed by the Stage for a character role as an operatic Viennese cook in the ENSA production of J B Priestley’s comedy How Are they at Home in late 1944.[49]The Stage (London) 21 Sept 1944, p4
By the end of the Second World War, Adrienne had turned to teaching elocution and singing. She died of heart failure in Queen Mary’s Hospital, Roehampton, London in January 1973. Sadly there were no obituaries to mark her passing in England or Australia.
In 1930, Adrienne’s daughter made her first appearances as a singer and dancer, using the stage name Gabrielle Brune.[51]John Parker (1947) p345 She enjoyed a long career on stage and in supporting roles on the screen. She died in England in 2005.
Nick Murphy
March 2025
References
Audios of Adrienne Brune performing
- From the Dennis King Collection 1925-1930 at the Internet Archive:
Adrienne Brune & Dennis King sing “Your Eyes” and “One Kiss” from The Three Musketeers, 1930. Also at the @gallerydreams channel on Youtube
Further reading
- Jean Collin (2025) Webster Booth’s debut in the West End.
- Ross Laird (1996) Moanin’ low : a discography of female popular vocal recordings, 1920-1933. Greenwood Press
- Joan Maslen, ‘Everett, Minnie Rebecca (1874–1956)’, Australian Dictionary of Biography, published first in hardcopy 1996, accessed online 10 March 2025.
- Picturegoer (1933) The Picturegoer’s Who’s Who and encyclopedia of screen today. Greycarne Books, Watford.
- Hal Porter (1965) Stars of Australian Stage and Screen. Rigby Ltd
- John Parker (1947) Who’s Who in the Theatre. Tenth Edition. Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons
- J.P.Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1910-1919 : A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. The Scarecrow Press.
- J.P.Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1920-1929 : A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
- J.P.Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1930-1939 : A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. (Second Edition) Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
- J.P.Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1940-1949 : A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Footnotes
| ↑1 | Theatre World, June 1930, p5. Author’s collection |
|---|---|
| ↑2, ↑28 | John Parker (1947) p344 |
| ↑3, ↑24 | The Football Post (Nottingham), Dec 1, 1917, p10 |
| ↑4 | The Era, 29 August 1925 p1 |
| ↑5 | Daily Mirror (London) Feb 29, 1932 p7 |
| ↑6 | An initial misspelling of “Carry” was corrected and initialled |
| ↑7 | See Victoria Births Deaths & Marriages documents – 1] Carrie Phyllis Warner birth certificate 29129/1891 and 2] John William Guy Warner & Ada Isabel Clements marriage certificate 7138/1890 |
| ↑8 | The Advertiser (Adel) 13 Jul 1904, p5 |
| ↑9 | The Argus (Melb)14 Jul 1904, p5 |
| ↑10 | Years later she claimed to have studied at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music |
| ↑11 | Table Talk (Melb) July 7, 1910, p1 |
| ↑12 | Porter (1965) p172 |
| ↑13 | The Gadfly (Adel) 18 Sep 1907, p9 |
| ↑14 | State Library of Victoria |
| ↑15 | The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 24 Sep 1910, p2 |
| ↑16 | T.P. Hudson lived for some time in Adelaide and had managed Nellie Melba’s successful Australasian tour of 1902-3. He died in Bournemouth, England in 1909 |
| ↑17 | This was Phyllis Warner’s second voyage to England. Her father had been able to arrange a trip for the family – presumably to see relatives – in 1902 |
| ↑18 | The Stage, 26 Aug 1915, p18 |
| ↑19 | Thomas Habgood Hudson’s British military records are available on Ancestry |
| ↑20 | See Cardiff’s Western Mail, 12 Dec 1916, p2 |
| ↑21 | Birmingham Daily Gazette, 23 December 1920, p8 |
| ↑22 | The Evening Sentinel (Stoke-on-Trent), Mar 30, 1918, p1 and The Coventry Graphic, 5 April 1918. NB Edwardes himself had died by this time. |
| ↑23 | She continued the fantasy of an Italian mother for much of her life. See for example Daily Mirror Dec 20, 1929, p11 |
| ↑25 | See for example Evening Express(London) 13 Aug, 1912, p4 and Huddersfield Daily Examiner(Yorkshire), 14 Aug 1912, p4 |
| ↑26 | See accounts of Hudson’s troubles in The Daily Telegraph(London), June 13, 1921, p1 and The Citizen (London) 20 Jan 1932, p1 |
| ↑27 | National Archives [UK]. Divorce Court File: 6799. Appellant: Phyllis Carrie Hudson. Respondent: Thomas Habgood Hudson. Type: Wife’s petition for divorce |
| ↑29 | J P Wearing (2014)The London Stage 1920-1929 p206 |
| ↑30 | Evening News (London) 13 Oct 1923, p6 |
| ↑31 | The Sketch (London)Wednesday 17 January 1923, p32 |
| ↑32 | The Sphere, 6 Jan 1923, P8b. Photo – Illustrated London News Group |
| ↑33 | Picturegoer’s Who’s Who, 1933, p216 |
| ↑34 | Daily Mirror, Dec 20, 1929, p11 – infers she was in German films; West Australian 28 June 1935, p10 – said film work did not appeal to her |
| ↑35 | Football Post (Nottingham), Feb 1, 1930, p12 |
| ↑36 | Opera At Home (1925) The Gramophone Company, London. Via the Hathi Trust |
| ↑37 | Daily Mirror (London) Sept 20, 1924, p1 |
| ↑38 | The Daily Telegraph(London) Jan 12, 1934 ·p9. Also National Archives [UK] Divorce Court File: 8269. Appellant: Phyllis Carrie Pusey. Respondent: Arthur Watson Pusey. Type: Wife’s petition for divorce |
| ↑39 | Sunday Times (Perth) 30 June 1935, p1 |
| ↑40 | J.C. Williamson’s Contract Adrienne Brune, courtesy Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne |
| ↑41 | About $AU2,800 in 2023 values |
| ↑42 | Also spelled Oszkár Dénes |
| ↑43 | Brisbane Telegraph, Sept 11,1935, p22 |
| ↑44 | also known as Ball at Savoy |
| ↑45 | A woman of the same name was repeatedly arrested for vagrancy after 1916. This woman insisted her daughter in England supported her financially. And on 12 July 1945, a woman of the same name died at Beechworth’s mental hospital. However so few details appear on her death certificate there is no certainty the person is Adrienne’s mother |
| ↑46 | Bexhill-on-Sea Observer (UK) 30 July 1938, p5 |
| ↑47 | The Times 20 April 1940, cited in Wearing p16 |
| ↑48 | Weekly Dispatch (London) 21 April 1940, p7 |
| ↑49 | The Stage (London) 21 Sept 1944, p4 |
| ↑50 | The Kensington News & West London Times, Jan 28, 1949 |
| ↑51 | John Parker (1947) p345 |
A most interesting article about Adrienne Brune. She appeared in ‘The Three Musketeers’ at Drury Lane in 1930. I have a photograph of her with my dear friend, Webster Booth, who made his West End debut in the show.
Thanks Jean. Well if you wish to share, or post a link to the photo on your website, please let me know. Regards Nick
I think this is the photo of Webster with Adrienne Brune and Lilian Davies in ‘The Three Musketeers’. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157637957650736&set=p.10157637957650736&type=3
Thanks Jean – but Im having trouble getting that link to work! will ferret around.
I’ll be happy to send the photo to you, Nick if you can give me an email address. Regards, Jean.
Done!
Hi –
I am connected to a granddaughter of Adrienne Brune (the stage name of Carrie Phyllis Warner) and am researching her and her daughter Gabrielle Brune (Stage name). I see you have a colour photo of Adrienne in The Three Musketeers. I would to have a copy if that’s OK … I have some black and white photos and audios of her singing with Dennis King a couple of songs from the 1930s. A colour photo would be a real treat. I am UK based and have watched several performances at West End Theatres, upon stages that Adrienne would have graced. A few weeks ago, her great granddaughter watched a musical at the Adelphi, and I was pleased to tell her that Gabrielle appeared there in Big Ben, in 1946.
Hello Iain, I hope I’ll be able to send you a copy of the photo from ‘The Three Musketeers’. I don’t seem to be able to send it here. Perhaps you could send a note to my email address and I’ll send it to you from there. Regards, Jean Collen. duettists@gmail.com
Hello Nick, I’m glad you were able to use the colour photo of Adrienne Brune, Lilian Davies and Webster in ‘The Three Musketeers’. I shared my article (with a link to yours) with the Webster Booth, Anne Ziegler group I run on Facebook and it created a lot more interest than usual. Regards, Jean Collen.
I have also linked your article as well.
Regards
Nick
Thank you, Nick. I look forward to reading more of your articles. Regards, Jean.
Phyllis Warner / Adrienne Brune is my paternal grandfather’s sister. My father was the youngest of the “three young children” that Adrienne’s younger brother, left behind when he died (from pneumonia). My father’s name was also Guy Warner. He died in 2018. I have some other photos of Adrienne / Phyllis.
Thank you Marita. Very sad – life must have been hard. I will write to you directly.