Someone thought this photo of Australian actress Carrie Moore, standing in a muddy English field surrounded by cows, would make a good post card!
Born in Geelong in 1882, Carrie first appeared on stage for J.C. Williamson’s in 1895 and quickly became a very popular actress in England and Australia. She gained great fame in Australia for taking a role in the opera “The Merry Widow” in 1908. Her tumultuous matrimonial affairs also attracted enormous public interest . You can read more at the Australian Dictionary of Biography entry . Leann Richards has also written a biography of her life. Moore died in Sydney in 1956, remembered as “the darling of the Australian stage” and “the idol of the theatre.” The photo above is almost certainly connected to her performance in the musical “The Dairy-Maids,” at the London Apollo in 1906.
She appeared in just one feature film – a small role in Charles Chauvel’s “Sons of Matthew”, made in 1949.
Below Left: Percy Bigwood, Carrie’s husband at the outbreak of war. He was the object of much derision in the Australian press. As the photo notes, he died before he saw action with the New Zealand forces in 1915. Source: currently unidentified New Zealand paper.
Below Right: A British postcard to celebrate “The Merry Widow” – and showing her as her fans liked to think of her, in the arms of an eligible and handsome man. Source – postcard in the Author’s collection
Below – More of Carrie Morrie standing in the mud. Source, postcard in the author’s collection.
Nick Murphy, April 2018
