Above: Minnie Steele and her sister Aggie at the time of their return to Australia in 1915.[1]The Theatre Magazine (Sydney) 1 March 1915, p39
The five second version
Australian-born Agnes Steele (1881-1949) and her older sister Minnie (1878-1949) performed as the Steele Sisters for more than twenty-five years – between 1895 and 1922. They were born into humble family circumstances in the poorest and most chaotic part of inner Melbourne, known as “Little Lon.” Their dancing, singing and quick-change act was eventually taken through India, China, Japan, South Africa, the UK and the US, punctuated with repeated trips back home to perform around Australia and New Zealand. After 1911 their act was performed in partnership with Minnie’s second husband Ernest Brinkman (1871-1938). Sydney’s Theatre magazine acknowledged their international success this way; “For consistent vaudeville work abroad there are few from the Southern Hemisphere who have, to their credit, the equal of the Brinkman-Steele record.”
After 1922 the sisters made their home permanently in California, where they took some cinema roles – although only in the minor and often eccentric character parts given to older women. Minnie appeared in the early Baby Peggy film The Darling of New York (1923) while Agnes appeared in the first of many roles as landladies and servants – starting with Minnie the housekeeper in Rose of the World (1925) and as Mrs Ludd in My Old Dutch (1926). Many of their film roles appear to have been undocumented.
Minnie died suddenly at home, following a stroke in January 1949. Tragically, Agnes died only a few weeks later.
The Steele Sisters Act
In April 1919, London’s The Stage gave this account of the Brinkman & Steele Sisters turn at London’s Metropolitan Theatre. It was entitled All in the same Boat, but was based on the successful act they had already toured through North America, Three of a Kind. It was about to be taken to South Africa and then on to Australia and New Zealand.
| The piece has been constructed upon original lines, and affords an admirable example of what can be done by the musically and humorously inclined. The title is realised by the introduction of three characters – a widow, who learns that her recently deceased husband has left her a fortune of 10,000 dollars; a divorced woman in receipt of alimony. and a grass widower, who has married three times. The dialogue is intersected with several tuneful musical numbers, and concludes with a capitally tendered trio, called Three of a Kind, in which the characters emphasise their reasons for remaining in the unmarried state.[2]The Stage (London) 17 April 1919, p11 |
Growing up in Melbourne
Born in inner Melbourne in 1879 and 1881 respectively, Minnie and Agnes Steele were the first and second children of Richard Mayhew Steele and Cecilia, nee Furlong. Richard was described as a tailor, and later a presser,[3]He worked at Bourke Street’s Beehive Clothing store and the family homes – as shown on the marriage and children’s birth certificates – were all in the nearby Little Lonsdale Street area – in Bennett’s Lane and Jones Lane. This part of the city was notoriously crowded and the section only a few yards east of their homes had a reputation for vice and petty crime. This was “Little Lon.”
While the birth certificates for Minnie and two younger siblings can be found, Agnes’s cannot. Such oversights were rare in the Australian colonies, but not unheard of.[4]Both her younger brothers’ certificates make reference to Agnes as a living older sister, and Cecilia Steele’s death certificate lists all her four adult children Adding to the confusion was the family’s practice of changing or adopting new first names. For example Minnie was named Elizabeth Mary on her birth certificate but she appears to have rarely used that name. Younger brother John sometimes called himself Frederick, Richard (Junior) sometimes called himself Joseph and the surname Steele was spelled with and without the third “e.”[5]See for example the death notice for Cecilia, which lists her children as “Minnie, Agnes, Fred and Joe.” The Age (Melb) 14 May 1935, p1
Few clues exist to inform us of Minnie or Agnes’s upbringing. Newspaper reports indicate Richard Steele had abandoned his family by mid-1883 [6]The Herald (Melb) 12 July 1883, p3 and although he was apprehended and charged with desertion, it seems this was the end of his connection with them.[7]The Age (Melb) 22 May 1884, p7 Also See Note 1 below. This absence of a parent figure is common in the stories of working class children of the era, yet a number still made spectacular successes of their lives – including Florrie Forde (1875-1940) and Saharet (1878-1964) – the latter also living in the Little Lon area as a child. In the absence of a father, to support the family, by 1900 Cecilia Steele had turned to running a grocery store in Swanston Street, Carlton (then called Madeline Street).[8]Sands Directory, 1900, p1412 By then the family home was at nearby 168 Queensberry Street.[9]Electoral roll, Division of Melbourne, 1909, p40 Both Minnie and Agnes attended State School No 2030, the closest school to their home in Little Lon, which in 1882 managed to squeeze over 300 children onto its tiny site at 275-285 Exhibition Street.[10]1883 Education Report, pps15 & 62. For memories of growing up in Little Lon at this time see The Age (Melb) 19 March, 1938, p30
Mr Allen was the school’s singing teacher, but it was also Cecilia who would have encouraged her daughters to pursue a stage career, and there were numerous elocution, dancing and music teachers working nearby, keen for business. For working class children who showed talent as singers or dancers, a career on stage was an exciting alternative to the drudgery of factory work or an apprenticeship.[12]It is notable that in April 1875, Richard Steele was listed in a Police Gazette for deserting his apprenticeship with a Fitzroy tailor
Some years later, Minnie and Agnes named a “Madame Du Valli” as their dancing teacher.[13]The Times (Louisiana) 26 June 1913, p3 One could dismiss this as a typical creative story told while on tour, however it is quite likely to be true. There really was a Duvalli academy in Melbourne. Before settling down in Melbourne in 1880, the Duvalli sisters had once performed a vaudeville program on a world-wide tour.[14]Annear(2021) p10-11. They were also known as Coutts-Duvalli “Sister acts” were always plentiful in vaudeville, as Cullen notes.[15]Cullen (2007) p1032-3. There appear to be a number of reasons for this, not just the shortage of male acts during the war
The Steele Sisters onstage 1895
The Steele Sisters, billed as “charming young song and dance artists,” made their first professional appearance in November 1895 at Harry Rickard’s Opera House in Bourke Street, Melbourne.[16]The Herald (Melb) 30 Nov 1895, p2 A few days later, the Argus newspaper reported that “Miss Florrie Forde, the sisters Steel, and the other members of the company, all met with a most encouraging reception.”[17]The Argus (Melb) 2 Dec 1895, p6
Personal circumstances meant their act was slow to develop. In June 1900 in South Australia, Minnie [19]now sometimes using the name Mimi married Leonard Yeend, a waiter. A child was born of the union in 1902, but following the birth Minnie was in such poor health she could barely get out of bed. The marriage soon failed, and within a few years her child had died. The sisters returned to the stage again, and by late 1903 they were earning a name for themselves in vaudeville, as song and dance specialists in clever short acts. Table Talk reviewed their act at Melbourne’s Opera House in this modest and restrained report:
Built on somewhat liberal lines, and possessed of pleasing voices, with a fair share of good looks, these two young ladies contribute two acceptable items of song and dance.[20]Table Talk (Melb)15 Sep 1904, p15
On stage with Ernest Brinkman after 1905
In late 1905 and again in late 1906, Minnie and Aggie Steele joined tours of India. Australian performers found the colonial audiences of the British India very receptive to touring musical comedy and variety acts – these being sentimental reminders of home. Travelling with the Steele Sisters was popular baritone Ernest Brinkman (1871-1938).[21]See The Australian Star (Syd) 23 Feb 1906, p2, Truth (Perth) 24 Nov 1906, p8 and Music Hall & Theatre Review (London)19 April 1907, p8. On their return to Australia in March 1907, Minnie and Aggie Steele again appeared on the same bill (but not yet in the same act) as Brinkman, in a variety lineup at Broken Hill’s grand-sounding venue, the Hippodrome. Here, the sisters presented a humorous boxing sketch which “purported to be the settlement of a dispute between East and West London girls.”[22]The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) 9 March 1907, p4
In September 1908, Ernest Brinkman and the Steele Sisters departed for an extended performance tour – that took in Manila, Hong Kong and Shanghai. In the meantime, and after endless litigation, Minnie had finally divorced Leonard Yeend [23]See The Age (Melb)14 June 1905 p4 and The Herald (Melb)14 Aug 1907 p3. Sadly, her child had died in the meantime and a relationship with Ernest Brinkman had developed.[24]On his 1909 US immigration documents Brinkman listed a cousin in Sydney as a contact, not his own wife Ruby. In 1915 Minnie and Ernest listed themselves on shipping manifests as Mr and Mrs Brinkman, … Continue reading
Brinkman left some interesting observations about the challenges of presenting vaudeville in “the east.” The expat and local audiences in Chinese coastal towns the trio found very responsive, but not so in Japan. “Money made in China – is lost in Japan” reported Brinkman.[26]The Mail (Adelaide) 19 Sept 1914, p12
Travelling on to North America in August 1909, it is clear from immigration documents that the trio already had contracts with the Sullivan-Considine Circuit, but it took some time for Brinkman and the Steele Sisters to be established in the US.[27]Brinkman had previously performed with his wife Ruby, one of the Clare Sisters In fact, their act together did not begin until the start of 1911, while they were on the US East Coast. However, there is no doubt they saw their future as being in the US almost as soon as they arrived. In December 1909 Billboard magazine reported that Brinkman had purchased land; “a fine corner block,” at Ocean Beach, San Diego.[28]Billboard, Dec 11 1909, p48 In 1913, Brinkman and the Steeles purchased more land – an orange orchard of 20 acres.[29]The Mail (Adelaide)21 Sept 1914, p3 Although we cannot be certain of their financial affairs, it is likely that in time, real estate purchases such as these proved to be wise investments.
By 1913, their act now well established, Brinkman and the Steele Sisters were enjoying great success, as “undisputedly clever singers, dancers and character change artists.”[32]Morning Tribune (Los Angeles) 14 Sept, 1913, p48 They were usually the headline attraction wherever they appeared. A typically enthusiastic Missouri reviewer reported that the trio demonstrated “a keen appreciation of humor in the delivery of songs and an intelligent and winsome rendition of lines… Miss Agnes Steele can lay claim to be one of the best dancers Australia has sent to America. Her movements are the very poetry of motion, so finished is her training that even in the mad whirl of exquisite pirouetting, her graceful feet are over arched in perfect attitude, showing her consummate skill. She has a sweet voice, a soprano, which blends with her sister’s alto with very pretty effect.”[33]Springfield Leader & Press(Springfield, Missouri) June 12, 1913, p2
Determined to convince their mother Cecilia to leave the family home in Queensberry Street and move to California, in mid 1914, Minnie, Agnes and Ernest returned to Australia. They had no difficulty gaining employment in local vaudeville while they were in Australia. But Cecilia declined to join her daughters in the US.[34]The Sunday Times (Sydney) 9 August 1914, p15
The act toured major Australian and New Zealand vaudeville theatres with the Brennan – Fuller’s circuit. At the time, Australian journalists celebrated the fact the trio were internationally a success – reflecting well “on all colonials.” The Adelaide Mail reported they were “about as good an advertisement as any the Australasian States have ever received in America… They are headlined at the principal [US] vaudeville houses, and their turn deserve[s] the honour, for it is hard to conceive a more brilliant, clean, and healthy performance than their novelty character entertainment.“[36]The Mail (Adelaide) 1 Oct 1914 Page 4
Travelling back to the US in May 1915, the trio spent the next four years as part of vaudeville lineups in North America, with an act that typically went for 15 minutes, alongside comedians, magicians, female impersonators, and Concertina wizards.
Apr 21, 1916 p10 Right at The Bijou, Benton Harbour, Michigan, 1915. [38]The Herald-Palladium Sept 18, 1915 p2
During a season in Boston, in February 1917, the trio were involved in industrial action taken by the White Rats- the union of vaudeville players. Brinkman and the Steele sisters was one act that obeyed the union call and refused to perform, in protest at exploitation by management. However, no theatres closed or “went dark” – management had such control they just arranged new acts to replace those who had walked out. The White Rats’ strike failed, and as participants Brinkman and the Steele sisters may even have been blacklisted for a time.[39]Seagrove (2008) p128-9 However, by early 1918 they were back on the US circuits, with a refined act – a satire on marriage called Three of a Kind. Reviews were very good – the Steele sisters’ were noted to be good looking and graceful and their dancing excellent. Ernest Brinkman was acknowledged as a popular comedian and singer.[40]See for example Tacoma Daily Ledger (Washington) 4 Aug 1918, p11 They also appear to have had an alternative act that could be performed – The Mailman and pretty girls.
In February 1919, the trio arrived in Liverpool England. The act now toured British cities with a new title – All in the Same Boat, although apparently with the same content. How well the act transplanted is no longer clear, although The Stage review (see above) from April 1919 suggests it was a success. Then, nine months later, the trio embarked for a performance tour for the South African Theatres Trust.[41]The Era (London) 17 Dec 1919, p14 By April 1920, they were back in Australia.
The final tour of Australasia – 1920-22
A new act had been developed by the time they were in Australia – entitled While the Missus is away. But there was another reason the trio were back. Ernest Brinkman began the arduous process of divorcing his long-estranged Australian wife Ruby.[43]Ruby nee Woodgate was from a theatrical family and performed as one of the “Clare Sisters” – another Sister singing and dancing act Almost certainly having heard of the divorce court saga Minnie had endured years before, he was well prepared for the court. Claiming that he lived at 168 Queensberry St, Carlton – really the home of Cecilia Steele – he also enlisted witness statements to the effect it was he who had been abandoned! Agnes was one of the witnesses. Brinkman also told the court he was tired of the theatrical business and its travel, and he thought he might settle down and run a hotel in Melbourne. A divorce was granted.[44]The Ballarat Star 31 May 1921, p1 Extraordinarily, he did then run a hotel – the Royal Derby in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy – although only for five months.[45]See The Argus (Melb) 24 Sept 1921, p26 and The Argus (Melb) 11 Feb 1922, p13 Minnie and Ernest also finally married at this time.
And then, in April 1922 Ernest, Minnie and Agnes were onboard the SS Ventura, on their way back to the US again.
Modest careers in Hollywood
The trio returned to touring the US vaudeville circuits again in 1922, but the end of the year brought an end to the act. Perhaps, as Ernest had indicated in the divorce hearing, they really were tired of touring. Anyway, there were new opportunities available. Sometime in 1923, Minnie landed a supporting role as Mrs Levinsky, in The Darling of New York a Universal film starring Baby Peggy (1918-2020).[47]Known as an adult as Diana Serra Cary, she left a number of memoirs of the silent film era Today’s freely editable websites like Wikipedia and the IMDB credit the person playing Mrs Levinsky as an “Emma Steele”, but as original reports show, it was Minnie playing the part.[48]See below and Screen Opinions, 15 March, 1924, p18
A five minute fragment of this film survives, and a low-res copy can be seen [here]. Unfortunately this writer is unable to confirm whether Minnie Steele appears in the surviving fragment. However, over the next ten years Minnie, Ernest and especially Agnes all appeared in Hollywood films, in bit parts. As these were often uncredited and some of the films are lost it is difficult to be certain how busy they really were. However, as Agnes and Minnie are listed as character women in casting directories of the 1920s, it seems clear this had become their priority, rather than vaudeville.[50]See the 1925 Standard casting directory here Tempe Pigott, another Australian woman who had arrived in the US at about the same time as the Steeles, recalled why actors were attracted to Hollywood as opposed to the stage – even if it was just “character work”: “More money may be made in a day in pictures than in a week on the stage; so, naturally, everyone is attracted to film work.”[51]The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 Aug 1936, P8 The IMDB currently lists Agnes with 15, mostly uncredited film roles, Minnie with 3 and Ernest with just one.
While their credits in film are difficult to verify today, it seems Minnie and Agnes, and Ernest, thought of themselves as “actors” to the end of their days, and their obituaries acknowledged this. There is also independent evidence of financial security in turbulent economic times – they all returned to Australia three times in the 1930s, and they also paid for brother John to travel to visit them. All of this suggests a healthy income stream, perhaps from the property investments mentioned, in spite of the Depression.
Ernest Brinkman died at the family home at 729 Robinson St, Los Angeles, in late December 1938. Eleven years later, Minnie died quite suddenly at the home she then shared with Agnes at 3404 Bellevue Ave.[52]Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, January 5,1949, p2 Less than two weeks later, Agnes was overcome by carbon-monoxide from a faulty gas heater. She lingered for some weeks in hospital before dying in March 1949.[53]Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, March 9, 1949 p18 Their passing was acknowledged in US newspapers – but Australian newspapers overlooked both of their deaths.
The sisters left no immediate family. In Australia in 1920, Agnes Steele had once been asked about marriage. She explained that she was still single because “the only man I ever loved dropped dead!” But who this was, she did not say.[54]The Theatre (Syd) 1 Sept 1920, p9
Note 1: Two sisters hunt 30 years for missing father!
Sometime after they returned to the US in 1922, Minnie and Agnes felt a need to address the matter of their missing father. In a preposterous story for Californian papers, they told how Richard Mayhew Steele had once been “instructor of Military Science” at the University of Melbourne, but he had gone missing in 1892. The sisters had been thrice around the world looking for him and now planned to make “a thorough canvas of the bay district.”[55]See The Oakland Post Enquirer (Oakland CA) May 30 1922, p13 and The San Francisco Examiner May 30, 1922, p6 The story was entirely nonsense of course, he had long since abandoned his family and had almost certainly changed his name.[56]See Weekly Times (Melb) 24 May 1884 p11 and The Age (Melb) 23 Mar 1886, p5 It is however, a reminder of the efforts performers went to, to maintain public interest. Perhaps, also, we see something of a cheeky sense of humour at play here too.
Nick Murphy
August 2025
Thanks
David Lord Heath’s very thorough Another Nice Mess website alerted me to Agnes Steele.
References
- Robyn Annear (2021) Adrift in Melbourne. Text Publishing
- Frank Cullen (2007) Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers. Routledge
- Education Report (1882-1883) Report of the Minister of Public Instruction, Victoria, Government Printer 1883.
- Jenny Seagrove (2008) Actors Organise: A history of Union formation efforts in America 1880-1919. McFarland & Co
- Anthony Slide (1994) The Encyclopedia of Vaudeville. Greenwood Press.
- Victorian Heritage Database Report: 275-285 Exhibition St, Melbourne. Former Mickveh Yisrael Synagogue and later State School.
Footnotes
| ↑1, ↑35 | The Theatre Magazine (Sydney) 1 March 1915, p39 |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | The Stage (London) 17 April 1919, p11 |
| ↑3 | He worked at Bourke Street’s Beehive Clothing store |
| ↑4 | Both her younger brothers’ certificates make reference to Agnes as a living older sister, and Cecilia Steele’s death certificate lists all her four adult children |
| ↑5 | See for example the death notice for Cecilia, which lists her children as “Minnie, Agnes, Fred and Joe.” The Age (Melb) 14 May 1935, p1 |
| ↑6 | The Herald (Melb) 12 July 1883, p3 |
| ↑7 | The Age (Melb) 22 May 1884, p7 |
| ↑8 | Sands Directory, 1900, p1412 |
| ↑9 | Electoral roll, Division of Melbourne, 1909, p40 |
| ↑10 | 1883 Education Report, pps15 & 62. For memories of growing up in Little Lon at this time see The Age (Melb) 19 March, 1938, p30 |
| ↑11 | The Age (Melb)18 Apr 1890 p8 |
| ↑12 | It is notable that in April 1875, Richard Steele was listed in a Police Gazette for deserting his apprenticeship with a Fitzroy tailor |
| ↑13 | The Times (Louisiana) 26 June 1913, p3 |
| ↑14 | Annear(2021) p10-11. They were also known as Coutts-Duvalli |
| ↑15 | Cullen (2007) p1032-3. There appear to be a number of reasons for this, not just the shortage of male acts during the war |
| ↑16 | The Herald (Melb) 30 Nov 1895, p2 |
| ↑17 | The Argus (Melb) 2 Dec 1895, p6 |
| ↑18 | Saturday Observer (Bris) 14 Jan 1905, p.13 |
| ↑19 | now sometimes using the name Mimi |
| ↑20 | Table Talk (Melb)15 Sep 1904, p15 |
| ↑21 | See The Australian Star (Syd) 23 Feb 1906, p2, Truth (Perth) 24 Nov 1906, p8 and Music Hall & Theatre Review (London)19 April 1907, p8 |
| ↑22 | The Barrier Miner (Broken Hill) 9 March 1907, p4 |
| ↑23 | See The Age (Melb)14 June 1905 p4 and The Herald (Melb)14 Aug 1907 p3. Sadly, her child had died in the meantime |
| ↑24 | On his 1909 US immigration documents Brinkman listed a cousin in Sydney as a contact, not his own wife Ruby. In 1915 Minnie and Ernest listed themselves on shipping manifests as Mr and Mrs Brinkman, although Ernest was still married to someone else. |
| ↑25 | Punch (Melbourne) 22 July 1909, p20 |
| ↑26 | The Mail (Adelaide) 19 Sept 1914, p12 |
| ↑27 | Brinkman had previously performed with his wife Ruby, one of the Clare Sisters |
| ↑28 | Billboard, Dec 11 1909, p48 |
| ↑29 | The Mail (Adelaide)21 Sept 1914, p3 |
| ↑30 | Evening Vanguard (Venice, California) Sept 23, 1913, p8 |
| ↑31 | Sun (Sydney) 16 August 1914, p14 |
| ↑32 | Morning Tribune (Los Angeles) 14 Sept, 1913, p48 |
| ↑33 | Springfield Leader & Press(Springfield, Missouri) June 12, 1913, p2 |
| ↑34 | The Sunday Times (Sydney) 9 August 1914, p15 |
| ↑36 | The Mail (Adelaide) 1 Oct 1914 Page 4 |
| ↑37 | Burlington Daily News Apr 21, 1916 p10 |
| ↑38 | The Herald-Palladium Sept 18, 1915 p2 |
| ↑39 | Seagrove (2008) p128-9 |
| ↑40 | See for example Tacoma Daily Ledger (Washington) 4 Aug 1918, p11 |
| ↑41 | The Era (London) 17 Dec 1919, p14 |
| ↑42 | The Sun (Syd) 15 Aug, 1920 |
| ↑43 | Ruby nee Woodgate was from a theatrical family and performed as one of the “Clare Sisters” – another Sister singing and dancing act |
| ↑44 | The Ballarat Star 31 May 1921, p1 |
| ↑45 | See The Argus (Melb) 24 Sept 1921, p26 and The Argus (Melb) 11 Feb 1922, p13 |
| ↑46 | Left – The Independent (Richmond, CA) May 20, 1922, p2. Right – Visalia Daily Times (Visalia, CA) June 3, 1922, p5 |
| ↑47 | Known as an adult as Diana Serra Cary, she left a number of memoirs of the silent film era |
| ↑48 | See below and Screen Opinions, 15 March, 1924, p18 |
| ↑49 | Moving Picture World, 24 Nov, 1923, p351 |
| ↑50 | See the 1925 Standard casting directory here |
| ↑51 | The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 Aug 1936, P8 |
| ↑52 | Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, January 5,1949, p2 |
| ↑53 | Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, March 9, 1949 p18 |
| ↑54 | The Theatre (Syd) 1 Sept 1920, p9 |
| ↑55 | See The Oakland Post Enquirer (Oakland CA) May 30 1922, p13 and The San Francisco Examiner May 30, 1922, p6 |
| ↑56 | See Weekly Times (Melb) 24 May 1884 p11 and The Age (Melb) 23 Mar 1886, p5 |
