Australian couple Ethel Phillips (centre) and Stanley Walpole (right) in their last film together – Eclair studio’s For the Defense,(1914) Within a year they had separated.^[1]The photo has been edited using the WordPress photo AI function. Source Moving Picture World, 2 Jan 1915, p92. The original very grainy photo can be seen here.

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The 5 second version
With a combined total of 90 films to their credit, one could reasonably expect the legacy of Ethel Phillips (1891-1949) and Stanley Walpole (1882-1967) to at least be comparable to other Australian-born expatriates of the same era – such as Dorothy Cumming, J.P. McGowan, Paul Scardon or Marc McDermott. But as we will see, they remained relatively unknown even in their own lifetimes – personal and professional circumstances playing a large part in their stories.

Ethel and Stanley were not unusual in pursuing an acting career beyond Australia. In the first few decades of the twentieth century, many of their professional colleagues sought to try their luck in the US or Britain. By the time they departed Australia in 1913, the couple had established themselves on stage and had even appeared in a handful of Australian films. However, it all proved to be short-lived. Ethel re-partnered – to actor-director Norbert Myles, and died in California in 1949. Her last film credit was in 1916. Stanley’s career had come to an end by 1925. He returned to Melbourne Australia in 1929, where he died in 1967.

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In Australia

Ethel Phillips was born in the inner Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst in 1891. Her unmarried mother Ada Farmer (or Fama) gave her the name Blanche Ethel Farmer,^[3]NSW Birth certificate 2970/1891 but as she matured she adopted the surname of her biological father, William Edgar Harold Phillips. Unfortunately, it seems likely that deep unhappiness marred Ethel’s childhood. In 1892, her father was listed in New South Wales Police notices for failing to support baby Ethel ^[4]The Australian Star (Sydney) 2 Nov 1892 p6 and in a separate matter, he was later charged and imprisoned for fraud.^[5]National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW) 12 November 1892, p2 She was very young at the time, but an awareness of this as she grew older might explain her repeated claims that she was born in Paris, France. There was also an added complication and embarrassment – in that her father already had a family.

Ethel is first mentioned publicly as a “brilliant juvenile” performer in Phillip Lytton’s dramatic school in 1904.^[6]The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 Jan 1904, p2 She progressed well, and in mid 1905 Ethel took the lead in a production of Little Lord Fauntleroy ^[7]The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 1905, p8 and by the end of that year she was a pupil of the well connected and highly regarded dance teacher, Minnie Hooper. ^[8]The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 December 1905, p8

In 1907, her mother Ada died. Ethel was 16 and on her own, but was already spoken of as a juvenile prodigy thanks to her leading role in Blue Bell in Fairy Land.^[9]Footlights (Aust) 7 December 1907, p9 Around this time she met fellow actor Stanley Walpole, whom she would later marry.^[10]Another Ethel, one of the Sisters Phillips, performed in Australian variety between 1901 and about 1907. That Ethel and her sister Hilda appear to be unrelated to the subject of this account. See … Continue reading

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Stanley Orford Walpole was born in Yarraville, an inner Western suburb of Melbourne, to Horace Walpole, a senior Customs officer, and Anna nee Mills, in 1882.^[12]He sometimes gave his year of birth as 1881, however see Victoria Birth Certificate, 9412 / 1882 The Walpole home encouraged education, music and the arts and Stanley excelled at school. By 1900 Stanley had joined J.C. Williamsons. Melbourne Punch announced their new acquisition this way: “after directing his attention for some time to other pursuits, [Stanley Walpole] decided to adopt the profession of an actor in preference to all others. He is a young man, of medium height, with a good stage appearance, who, with diligence, may yet make a name for himself. Mr. Williamson evidently believes there is some good in him.” ^[13]Melbourne Punch 26 Apr 1900 p22

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Exactly how the couple met we no longer know, but by 1909 they were building successful careers and were often touring together – including in Wilson Barrett’s The Sign of the Cross in 1909 and in the drama Pete in 1910.^[16]Evening Journal (Adelaide) 3 Oct 1910, p2 Notably, Stanley had also sometimes performed with actors who would resurface later in his career in the US, including Paul Scardon and the Majeroni brothers, who had departed Australia for the US as members of the Nance O’Neil company in late 1905.^[17]Punch (Melbourne) 14 Dec 1905, p38 Scardon’s subsequent “letters home” for the press sometimes revealed how hard he had to work to establish himself – but they would still have inspired young Australians to try their luck overseas.^[18]See for example, Punch (Melbourne), 20 December 1906, p.38

In December 1911, Ethel and Stanley married at the Walpole family home – “Airlie”, a large residence on Sommerville Road, Yarraville.^[19]Victoria Marriage Certificate 10072/1911 The building still stands, just.^[20]See Victorian Heritage Council Report On the marriage certificate Ethel listed her father and deceased mother by name, but gave her birthplace as Paris. A dutiful clerk wrote “no other direction than Paris” in the margin of the births registry, suggesting her claim already raised attention.

With the Australian Photo Play Company 1911

In early 1911, Stanley appeared in several Australian films directed by Alfred Rolfe (1862-1943). At least two of these were the inevitable bushranger films – the type that borrowed heavily from already established and popular plays.^[21]See Vagg & Reynaud (2016) By mid 1911, both Ethel and Stanley had become involved with a new film company venture – the Australian Photo Play Company. Established by Stanley Crick (1888-1955), it was an ambitious undertaking, employing a stock company of actors and technicians and developing plans to construct studios.^[22]Pike & Cooper (1980) p29-30 The company churned out at least 19 titles in 1911-12, perhaps more, most of these directed by Alfred Rolfe.^[23]See Vagg & Reynaud (2016) for Rolfe’s filmography

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Unfortunately, none of these films survive today. Advertising confirms that Ethel appeared in at least four and Stanley in five films for the company, but because cast lists were often not published, or incomplete, they may have appeared in others.^[25]For example, a 1919 US Studio directory lists Caloola, or The Adventures of a Jackeroo 1911, as one of his films. The film – now lost – is not listed as a credit in the IMDB The first film for the company was Moora Neeya, or The Message of the Spear, which featured Ethel and Stanley alongside Australian “heavy” Charles Villiers (1884-1940). Pike & Cooper note that the film was 1500 feet, or about 25 minutes in showing time. Other commentary from the time, including from September 1911 for What Women Suffer, indicates some of the company’s films sometimes ran up to 60 minutes.^[26]Evening News (Sydney) 26 September 1911, p4

Hopes for success were high – because for a short time, Australian film production was booming. However, the Australian Photo-Play Company lasted barely 14 months. Several years later, Rolfe told a journalist that distribution challenges and securing a foreign market were the major obstacles for Australian producers.^[27]Motion Picture News, 1916, V13, No 17, p2528 Sadly, successive Australian governments remained indifferent to providing even rudimentary support for the industry for another half century.

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US film careers 1913+

With the end of another performance tour for Ethel in December 1912,^[31]Shepparton Advertiser (Victoria) 5 Dec 1912, p2 the couple decided the time was right to try their luck overseas. Ethel and Stanley arrived in Vancouver on the Union line’s SS Zealandia in March 1913. The detailed ship’s manifest indicates their contact in the US was old Australian friend Paul Scardon, and their destination New York. At the same time, for US entry, Ethel continued the pretence she was born in Paris. After all, it said so on her marriage certificate.

The couple were fortunate in getting work quite quickly – thanks to the connections they had.

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In June 1913 they were listed as new players for the Reliance Motion Picture Company.^[33]The Record (California) 14 June 1913, p4 Their first film was London Assurance, with Ethel playing heroine Grace Harkaway and Stanley playing the hero, Charles Courtley.^[34]Based on the play by Dion Boucicault Ethel and Stanley appeared in at least 11 films each in the remaining six months of 1913, most of these being “shorts”^[35]a “short” film being of 10-20 minutes – melodramas and comedies, intended to be shown as part of a mixed cinema program. The news soon reached Australia that the couple were doing very well.

In June 1915, while making a quick return trip to Melbourne, Stanley explained just how well: “The salaries are very good, and for people engaged the work goes on for the full 52 weeks… Leading people are paid anything from £17 to £125 a week… Stars are paid big money… Mary Pickford is on the £380 mark, and Charles Chaplin lifts £350 a week… In the main the money is good, the work steady and the conditions reasonable.”^[36]Mataura Ensign (New Zealand) 6 July 1915, p4 As a point of comparison, the Australian basic wage at the time was £2 and 15 shillings per week for men, and £1 and 7 shillings for women. Australian soldiers serving overseas were paid £2 pounds and 2 shillings per week.

As young Australians working in the booming US film industry, Ethel and Stanley were able to benefit from the usual curiosity about their experiences. In 1914, for Motion Picture Magazine’s regular series of funny stories, Ethel could recount the challenges of working on an Australian film with wild Emus – being used as background atmosphere – who were suddenly spooked and ran amok when artificial lights were turned on.^[37]Motion Picture Magazine, August 1914, p 118 A highlight in the last chapter of Ethel’s career was a supporting role in the 1914 film version of The Sign of the Cross (1914). Despite this achievement, her film output between 1914 and 1916 slowed – the IMDB lists appearances in only ten films made in those years.

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Separate ways 1915 +

Part of the reason for this modest output must relate to Ethel and Stanley’s split – although why this occurred we do not know. Ethel had met Norbert A Myles (1887-1966) in 1913, and had begun a relationship with him by late 1915. A daughter was born of the union in April 1916.^[39]There was no messy divorce reported, indeed this writer has found no evidence of a formal divorce between Ethel and Stanley, nor a marriage certificate for Norbert and Ethel Notably, Ethel’s last few films were co-starring roles in Westerns with Norbert. In the 1920 US census, Ethel was living with Norbert and two children in Los Angeles,^[40]a second child was born in 1919 and she was still, steadfastly French-born, although no longer acting.

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Stanley Walpole’s rushed visit to Melbourne in 1915 may well have been related to the collapse of the marriage, but if that was the reason, he did not say so publicly. He returned to acting in the US – regular genres being ” society dramas” and “action quickies” – set on the frontier – like the Norma Shearer vehicle The Devil’s Partner(1923).^[43]Lambert (1992) p30 He appeared in about thirty films between 1915 and his last in 1924. And then, it all seemed to come to an end quite quickly. In 1914, he had been described as “a finely built and manly looking leading man… whose recent productions… have attracted favourable comment.”^[44]Motography, Vol XII No 2, 1914, p50 In 1921 his reputation was still sound enough that he was listed in Studio directories, amongst other popular stars. But by mid 1924, the New York Star wondered what had happened to him. “What a difference just a few years make in movieland. What a short few years a star lasts – then oblivion… The name of Stanley Walpole is unknown today in screenland…as a star or even as a featured player. The day was when he could pack any theatre, when fans wrote him letters by the mail bag full… but alas he was passed by on the movie highway…“^[45]New York Star, 24 March 1924, p10

His last performances, later in 1924, were in several dramatizations of American history. Yale University had produced The Chronicles of America, a 50 volume history series. At huge cost, 15 films were made, intended to tie in with the volumes and be shown to younger audiences. It was an idea ahead of its time. The films were not a success – there was limited opportunity to screen them outside cinemas.^[46]Lotstein (2020)

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Stanley returns to Australia 1929

In March 1929 Stanley returned to Melbourne, Australia. What he had done for the past four years remains unclear. But when he boarded the MV Mirrabooka, he told the Los Angeles Examiner he was “en-route to Australia on vacation after completion of a talkie contract with a local movie company,” which suggests he was still in the industry.^[48] Los Angeles Examiner, 21 January 1929, p8 However on arrival in Australia, the story was that he had been “commissioned to look into the possibilities of establishing a studio here… ” The Sydney Sun explained “When looking round for fresh ground on which to start operations, his company had decided upon Australia.”^[49]The Sun (Sydney) 16 February 1929, p7

Stanley gave talks on his arrival in Australia – with amusing US industry anecdotes. But surprisingly, for someone so experienced, only one Australian film came his way. This was a silent made by Kooringarama Films, an amateur group based in Eltham, whose resources apparently survived the initial shock of the Depression. Stanley was asked to direct it.^[50]Australasian Photo Review, 15 November, 1930 As Ye Sow was about an hour in length, and finally completed in late 1930.^[51]Jones (2014) Ominously, Stanley was “indisposed” when it was finally shown ^[52]Advertiser (Hurstbridge) 31 October 1930, p4 and the film does not survive today. There were other plans however. Briefly, in early 1930, a specialist sound production company was announced by Stanley and Albert Brandon Cremer (1871–1959).^[53]Everyone’s,(Aust) 22 January 1930, p32 However, nothing came of this.

Stanley Walpole disappeared completely from the historical record until late in his life.^[54]Presumably he changed his name by deed poll He reappeared on voter lists and the census in the 1960s, by which time he was retired and living in Elwood, a southern suburb of Melbourne. What he had done for the last 25 years we do not know, and his Will gives us no clues. He died in December 1967. The death certificate mentioned his marriage to Ethel, but stated he was divorced.^[55]Victoria, Death Certificate, 28104/1967

Ethel and Norbert

An actor in the 1910s, Norbert Myles is now best remembered as the director of The Daughter of Dawn (1920), a rare feature film made entirely with an American Indian cast – that was re-discovered in 2005 and has since been restored. According to the American Film Institute’s report on the film, Norbert had already developed a reputation as an “outspoken and temperamental actor with a penchant for alienating himself from studio moguls.”^[56]AFI “The Daughter of Dawn” (2024) And in a court case that dragged on for much of 1918, he had also been accused of gun running during the Mexican revolution, with Ethel sometimes called in his defence.^[57]See for example Los Angeles Herald, 13 February 1918, p1 and The Los Angeles Times 22 Aug, 1918 p11 But whatever his reputation, Norbert had settled down with Ethel and raised two children, later building an extremely successful career as a Hollywood makeup artist.

Ethel died in 1949. Her Californian death certificate accurately names her parents, but still listed her birthplace as France.

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Nick Murphy
September 2026

References

Text

• Ray Edmondson and Andrew Pike (1982) Australia’s Lost Films. National Library of Australia.
• Gavin Lambert (1992) Norma Shearer : a life. Knopf, Random House.
• Andrew Pike & Ross Cooper (1980) Australian Film 1900-1977. Oxford University Press.
• Eric Reade (1975) The Australian Screen. Lansdowne Press.
• John Tulloch (1981) Legends of the Screen. Currency Press.

Web

• American Film Institute (2024) The Daughter of Dawn. AFI Spotlight
• Maureen Jones (2014) At the Movies @ Eltham District Historical Society
• Michael Lotstein (2020) 1924 Silent Films from the Yale University Press. @ Manuscripts and Archives Blog, Yale University Library
• The Kalem Kalender (1913) contains images and preces of all that studio’s film releases. @ Lantern Media Digital Library
• Adam Piron (2022) The Daughter of Dawn’s Vanished World.@ The Criterion Collection.
• Stephen Vagg, Daniel Reynaud (2016) Alfred Rolfe: Forgotten Pioneer Australian Film Director @ Avondale University.

Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University

• A. F. Pike (1981) Stanley Sadler Crick (1888–1955)’, accessed online 10 September 2026.