Josephine M Cohan & Fred Niblo’s 3 years in Australia

Above; Fred Niblo and Josephine M Cohan at the time they left Australia in 1915. Images and Poster for Excuse Me! courtesy Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne. Below left; Fred and Josephine with their son Fred Junior.^[1]The Stage Pictorial (Melb) April 1913, p59. State Library of Victoria

The Five Second Version

US husband & wife team Josephine M Cohan(1876-1916) and Fred Niblo(1874-1948) ran a hugely successful performance tour of Australia and New Zealand between July 1912 and June 1915, introducing George M Cohan’s breezy Broadway style to the Australian audiences. Today it might even be called “Josie and Fred’s excellent adventure” – it brought them great popularity in Australasia and they were feted wherever they went. As their surviving contracts with the JC Williamson organisation also show, they were very well paid while in Australia – their contracts being repeatedly extended. Josephine also made the long sea voyage back to New York to see her family twice during the tour, despite her increasingly frail health. In 1915, shortly before they wrapped up, Fred made two quickly filmed versions of their plays Get-Rich- Quick Wallingford and Officer 666 for JC Williamson. Fred took the leading comic roles he often played on stage, but Enid Bennett (1893-1969) took the parts usually taken by Josephine in the stage version. 22 year old Enid Bennett had regularly been Josephine’s stage understudy over previous three years.

Within a year of their return to New York, Josephine had died of the heart condition that had plagued her for so long. She was only 39. In early 1918 Fred Niblo married Enid Bennett and turned to live and work in California’s booming film industry, although not before JC Williamson’s made another attempt to bring him back to Australia, on an even larger contract. It was unsuccessful.

Josephine and Fred on tour in the US about the time they signed their Australian contract.^[2]*The Cleveland Leader* (Ohio) 19 Mar 1912, p6

Off to Australia

In early March 1912, Hugh J Ward (1871-1941), a manager for the Australian theatrical firm JC Williamson^[3]So large a concern in Australasia it was known as “The Firm” signed a six month contract with Fred Niblo and Josephine M Cohan, to lead an Australian tour of what was being heralded as the “Farce Comedy Company”. Ward, himself an actor and a US native, had a good sense of what would work in Australia, and may even have seen Fred and Josephine in the US while they toured the comedy The Fortune Hunter in 1911. The repertoire for Australia was anticipated to include other popular “American comedies”^[4]Critic (Adelaide) 12 Nov 1913, p21 Officer 666, Excuse Me! and Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford – the latter authored by Josephine’s brother George M Cohan.(1878-1942)

Josephine’s stage credentials (Josie to those who knew her) were impressive and she was rightly promoted to Australians as one of “the best-known Broadway comediennes.” With her parents and brother George, she had come to prominence in a family vaudeville act called The Four Cohans.(You can read more about the Four Cohans here) She had married Fred Niblo in June 1901 and a son, Fred Junior, was born of the union in late January 1903. However, with the “breakdown” in her health ^[5]which included an increasing fatigue caused by the onset of heart disease the singing and dancing of vaudeville had proved too strenuous, and American comedy on the legitimate stage beckoned.^[6]Critic (Adelaide) 12 Nov 1913, p21

Fred on the cover of Sydney’s *The Theatre* Magazine. November 1912 ^[7]State Library of Victoria

Australians were advised by JC Williamson publicity that Fred Niblo was a “New York Star-comedian.”^[8]The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 1912 p18 This he was, although he had initially built his reputation as a monologist – his amusing lectures on world travel were well known.^[9]See for example The Washington Post, 28 March 1909 pgSM3 After his marriage to Josephine he became increasingly associated with George M Cohan, as a performer and producer.

The Australian contracts

In addition to covering the couple’s first class travel, the six month contract with JC Williamson allowed for a joint salary of £120 per week, for a guaranteed minimum of at least 22 weeks. In todays terms, this is the equivalent of a 6 month salary of at least $AU 370,000, thus one can see why Fred and Josephine took the offer. By comparison, Enid Bennett’s August 1913 weekly salary was £5 per week and when her sister Marjorie Bennett was enticed back to Australia in 1920, her salary was £20 per week.^[10]Based on contracts surviving in the Australian Performing Arts Collection. Salary conversions are based on the RBA inflation calculator However, an important distinction was that Niblo was producing (directing) the plays as well as taking leading roles. Ward was undoubtedly also aware that the contract with Josephine and Fred gave Williamson’s easy access to the works of George M Cohan.

Kingsclere apartments built 1912. One of Sydney’s earliest apartment blocks and home to Fred and Josephine in 1914.^[11]Dictionary of Sydney

The degree of success the couple enjoyed in Australia is reflected in the fact that Josephine and Fred’s contract was renewed another three times – in December 1912 for a further 6 months, in May 1913 for 12 months and May 1914 for another 12 months. While it is clear that some provision was now made for Josephine’s regular absences from the stage,^[12]when she did not perform the salary dropped to £100 per week by the time of the final contract of May 1914-May 1915, the salary had been negotiated up to £160 per week. Thus in their final year Josephine and Fred probably made the equivalent of $AU 900,000 in today’s money, assuming they again worked 40 weeks. That it was lucrative work was noted even at the time. In June 1913, on the first of several trips back to New York to see her son and family, Josephine told reporters in Honolulu how well it was going in Australia. The “pickings are good” she told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, which went on to claim that “a harvest of golden sovereigns” awaited “high class performers” in Australia.^[13]Honolulu Star-Bulletin 13 June 1913, p5

Josephine and Fred arrived in Sydney on 6 July 1912. In letters home to her parents, some of which were later published, Josephine commented on the couple’s warm reception on arrival in Sydney. And after a few days in a Sydney hotel (twenty years behind the times, Josephine thought) they moved into a large, comfortable apartment on Macquarie St, with city and sea views, and, much to Josephine’s delight, containing open wood fires. She commented, politely, on all the differences she observed – including the more casual customs and dress of Australians – “they are comical dressers, but they don’t know it… They stare at [Fred’s] evening suit and his gray dinner jacket.” She was impressed by many things, including the sights of winter swimming on Manly beach. “The girls… dress à la Annette Kellerman… [and] are wonderful swimmers.”^[14]The Green Book Magazine (US), Vol 9, No 2, Jan-June 1913, pps 332-338

Josephine M Cohan in 1912^[15]*The Theatre* 1 Sept 1912, p37

Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford was given a very enthusiastic reception when it opened in Sydney in August 1912. Australians embraced the irreverent humour of George M Cohan and managed its slang, despite endless press comments about how unfamiliar and difficult it was.^[16]These were probably planted by The Firm Sydney’s Daily Telegraph told readers:

Mr. Fred. Niblo and his company carried all before them on Saturday night at the Criterion, in Mr. George M. Cohan’s comedy Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford. The performance was one of the smartest seen in Sydney for years…

Although the Williamson contract was primarily written for Fred Niblo, Josephine also created a distinctive and favourable impression. The Daily Telegraph felt her a most convincing actress – “very natural, even quiet in style, and yet very sure.”^[17]The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 5 Aug 1912, p11 The Sun went even further in praise of Josephine ;

The highest praise must be given to Miss Josephine Cohan (who is the sister of the author of the play) for her characterisation of the stenographer Fanny Jasper. It is the most difficult role in the piece. The other characters have straight-ahead parts to play. They are either crooks or “boobs.” But Fanny Jasper has to be, in the first instance, the one sharp-sighted “wise girl” among a town-full of simpletons, and after wards a complete convert to the worship of J. Rufus Wallingford.^[18]The Sun (Sydney) 4 Aug 1912, p4

The following cast list for Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford in Melbourne in November 1912 shows the mix of local Australian actors (Lowden Adams, Beatrice Holloway, Enid Bennett, George Whitehead, H.H. Wallace and Robert Greig) and visiting US players (James H Manning, Edwin Lester, Harry Corson Clarke and Margaret Dale Owens). Henry Matsumoto(1879-1934), a Japanese-born, Sydney based merchant turned actor, played Yosi, Wallingford’s valet.

**Wallingford** opens in Melbourne in November 1912, but without Josephine.^[19]National Library of Australia, J. C. Williamson Theatres General Theatre Programs, Prompt Collection[Click to enlarge]

Josephine’s declining health meant that when Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford opened in Melbourne, she was not in the cast. Instead Fanny Jasper was played by 28 year old Beatrice Holloway (1884-1964). A few months later, Josephine spoke enthusiastically about her new understudy, twenty year old Australian Enid Bennett, who she was training up. Enid was “a darling child, and I’ve…set my heart on making her a success.”^[20]Sun (Sydney) 27 April 1913, p15 And she did. When Fred and Josephine left Australia on the Matson liner Ventura in June 1915, Enid packed up and went with them. By that time, Fred and Josephine had introduced eight new comedies to Australian audiences – including two more from the pen of George M Cohan – Seven Keys to Baldpate and Broadway Jones . All of these were directed by Niblo and all were a great success at the box office.

Poster and program for **Excuse Me!** in (left) Melbourne and (right) Sydney. Josephine Cohan is not listed on either program.^[21]Marjorie Newton was her usual role Courtesy Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne.

Josephine as Josie Richards and Fred in the title role of **Broadway Jones.** ^[22]*The Theatre Magazine* (Sydney) 1 Jan 1915

A few weeks before they departed, the always sensible Melbourne Age reported on the Cohan-Niblo tour of Australia:
The remarkably successful visit to Australia of Fred Niblo is nearing the close. During the three years Mr. Niblo has appeared before Australian audiences he has achieved an unbroken series of successes and an amount of popularity that few artists have enjoyed.^[23]The Age (Melb) 24 May 1915 p14 But no mention was made of the films he was hurriedly making for JC Williamson during the day.

Fred Niblo’s first films

Before the couple left Australia in June 1915, Fred quickly directed two films for JC Williamson – Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford^[24]a lost film and Officer 666, apparently using the stage cast and costumes.^[25]W.J. Lincoln started work directing Wallingford, but was replaced by Niblo, possibly because of his chronic alcoholism It is more accurate to describe these as filmed plays – the camera was static – and sat in place of the audience. Pike & Cooper also describe these as “potted versions” of the plays, and without the snappy dialogue the Cohan plays were famous for, there is not much doubt these would only be palatable to those who had already seen the live show.^[26]Pike & Cooper (1980) pps77-78 and 80

Josephine Cohan did not appear in either film – instead Enid Bennett took the leading female roles.

Screengrabs from **Officer 666**, showing left to right – Sydney Stirling & Enid Bennett, Fred Niblo in a rare Melbourne location shot, and Fred dressing as Officer 666.[Click to enlarge] ^[27]Screengrabs from Author’s copy of *Pictures that Moved: Australian Cinema 1896-1920* (1968)

Writing of the short-lived JC Williamson film studio in Melbourne, Ralph Marsden has revealed a compelling reason for The Firm’s foray into filmmaking in 1915. They were concerned about the release of US-made films, based on plays to which Williamson’s already held the Australian stage rights. Writing in 2009, Marsden was obviously able to see all of the 40 minutes of Officer 666 that survives, but only a two minute clip is available to us today [view here]. Marsden wrote “The film’s strengths are in the performances of Fred Niblo, debonair and amusing, and Enid Bennett, a petite, graceful beauty with large expressive eyes who gives a relatively naturalistic interpretation as the ingénue.“^[28]Marsden (2009) p4

The films were not released until 1916, but being pale reflections of very popular stage shows, they were not a success at the Australian box-office. JC Williamson pulled out of film production soon after.

Fred and Josephine, and being in Australia

Over 1912-1915, the reviews of Fred Niblo and Josephine Cohan’s work in Australia and New Zealand were universally enthusiastic. However, the admiration for the couple was also shared by those who worked with them. Maurice Dudley, the troupe’s stage manager in 1915 spoke warmly of Niblo’s approach to delivering comedy on the stage. He described the methodical rehearsals and characterised Niblo as “the most unselfish comedian I have ever known….Mr Niblo doesn’t care who gets… [the laughs] as long as they’re got.”^[29]Sun (Syd) 10 Jan 1915, p14 Fred Niblo was probably amongst the first actors to publicly explain the concept of stage “team work” in April 1914 – an idea new to many at the time.^[30]The Theatre (Syd) 1 April 1914, p1

When the end of the tour was announced in 1915, Fred went to some effort to explain why the couple were leaving – simply because they could not stay away from their family or professional home indefinitely.^[31]Josephine had collected their son Fred Junior on a trip home in September 1914, thus that source of anxiety had been removed

Bob Greig and Bea Holloway’s wedding in Melbourne in December 1912. Josephine and Fred stand at the rear, centre and right.^[32]*Punch* (Melb) 26 Dec 1912 Fred was a witness on the marriage certificate, and gave Bea away.

It was Josephine who characterised the troupe as one “big family” ^[33]Critic (Adelaide) 12 Nov 1913, p21 and evidence suggests that a strong bond really did exist between some of the players. Young Australians Enid Bennett and Pirie Bush(1889-1965)^[34]Pirie Bush was actually born in Wellington New Zealand, but had been with the Niblo-Cohan troupe in Australia from its inception travelled to New York with Fred and Josephine in June 1915.^[35]The Age (Melb) 3 June 1915, p12 Lowden Adams(1881-1959) arrived in New York in October 1915. Henry Matsumoto, the Japanese born merchant who had taken some roles with Fred and Josephine in Australia, was convinced to try his luck in the US. At Niblo’s suggestion he travelled to the New York in January 1916 and reprised his role as Yosi in Get Rich Quick Wallingford. Robert Greig and Beatrice Holloway were also close friends and ten years later, after much deliberation, they also headed to the US. There, the talented Beatrice abandoned her career, while Bob Greig endured a film career playing butlers – as did Lowden Adams.

Fred and Josephine expressed their feelings on leaving Australia in a souvenir program printed just before their departure. A century later, they are still quite touching sentiments.

We meet, We part, Sometimes we remember. We have played in every English-speaking country in the world. This is our longest absence from Broadway, and it has been all too short. It has been the most delightful engagement of our professional careers… In saying goodbye to our many friends, we do so with the sincerest regret. The one hope that cheers us is that someday we may be able to return and renew an association that has been so thoroughly happy.
Our memories of Australia will be pleasant always. May we hope that we will not be entirely forgotten.
Australia, 1915.

A page from the Niblo-Cohan souvenir program, 1915.^[36]Farewell souvenir program, 1915. National Library of Australia

Josephine M Cohan died of her heart ailment at their apartment in the Hotel Belleclaire in New York on 14 July 1916, only a year after the return to the US. Fred and Fred Junior were by her side. George M Cohan felt the death of his sister so deeply he suffered a collapse on the day of the funeral.^[37]New York Herald, 15 July, 1916, p5 Biographer Ward Morehouse, who interviewed George M Cohan in the early 1940s, noted that by then, he was estranged from Niblo. This writer wonders whether the mercurial George held Fred responsible for Josephine’s death.^[38]Morehouse(1943) p20

*Above: Enid Bennett in **Cock O’ the Walk**, with Janet Dunbar and Rita Otway, 1916. Author’s Collection*

In New York in early 1916, Enid Bennett went on stage in a supporting role in the comedy Cock O’ The Walk, a vehicle for popular comedian Otis Skinner. At about the same time she also appeared in her first film, A Princess of the Dark for Thomas H. Ince and Triangle Studios.

In 1918, Fred Niblo and Enid Bennett married.^[39]Some Australians were unkind about the marriage. As late as 22 December 1947, journalist Jim Donald of the Sydney Daily Mirror publicly and incorrectly stated Josephine and Fred had divorced before … Continue reading Only a few months later, JC Williamson’s made a sterling effort to get Fred and Enid back to Australia. This time, the salary on offer was an extraordinary £200 per week for two years – an eyewatering sum for the time. The surviving files in the Performing Arts Collection suggest they seriously considered it.

However, in the end Fred and Enid turned this down. Hollywood beckoned, and both went on to long careers there. In addition to their contributions to cinema, they also raised three children and built a landmark home in the Hollywood hills. They never returned to Australia, but they maintained some of their old friends from Australia – and welcomed new ones.

Nick Murphy
November 2025

References

Collections

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne. Thank you, as always, to Claudia Funder, Collection Access Manager.

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

Martha Rutledge, ‘Ward, Hugh Joseph (1871–1941)‘, Published first in hardcopy 1990.

Other Online Sources

Gerard H. Heroux (2013) “The Rhody Colossus.” Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame Historical Archive
Ralph Marsden (2009) “Melbourne’s Forgotten Movie Studio” in On Stage, Vol 10, No 2, Theatre Heritage Australia. (Part 1)
Ralph Marsden (2009) “Melbourne’s Forgotten Movie Studio” in On Stage, Vol 10, No 3, Theatre Heritage Australia. (Part 2)
State Library of NSW – Dictionary of Sydney
Travalanche (2009) “The Four Cohans: George M Cohan’s Incredible Performing Family”(July 4, 2009)

Text

Frank Cullen (Ed) Florence Hackman & Donald McNeilly (2007) Vaudeville Old & New. An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, Vol 2. Routledge Taylor & Francis
Ward Morehouse (1943) George M Cohan, prince of the American Theater. J. B. Lippincott Co
Andrew Pike & Ross Cooper (1980) Australian Film 1900-1977. Oxford University Press/AFI
Hal Porter (1965) Stars of Australian Stage and Screen. Rigby
Michael & Joan Tallis(1999) The Silent Showman. Sir George Tallis, the man behind the world’s largest entertainment organisation of the 1920s. Wakefield Press.
Clive Unger-Hamilton(Ed) (1980) The Entertainers. Harrow House Editions

This site has been selected for preservation in the National Library of Australia’s Pandora archive

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes
↑1	The Stage Pictorial (Melb) April 1913, p59. State Library of Victoria
↑2	The Cleveland Leader (Ohio) 19 Mar 1912, p6
↑3	So large a concern in Australasia it was known as “The Firm”
↑4, ↑6	Critic (Adelaide) 12 Nov 1913, p21
↑5	which included an increasing fatigue caused by the onset of heart disease
↑7	State Library of Victoria
↑8	The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 1912 p18
↑9	See for example The Washington Post, 28 March 1909 pgSM3
↑10	Based on contracts surviving in the Australian Performing Arts Collection. Salary conversions are based on the RBA inflation calculator
↑11	Dictionary of Sydney
↑12	when she did not perform the salary dropped to £100 per week
↑13	Honolulu Star-Bulletin 13 June 1913, p5
↑14	The Green Book Magazine (US), Vol 9, No 2, Jan-June 1913, pps 332-338
↑15	The Theatre 1 Sept 1912, p37
↑16	These were probably planted by The Firm
↑17	The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 5 Aug 1912, p11
↑18	The Sun (Sydney) 4 Aug 1912, p4
↑19	National Library of Australia, J. C. Williamson Theatres General Theatre Programs, Prompt Collection
↑20	Sun (Sydney) 27 April 1913, p15
↑21	Marjorie Newton was her usual role
↑22	The Theatre Magazine (Sydney) 1 Jan 1915
↑23	The Age (Melb) 24 May 1915 p14
↑24	a lost film
↑25	W.J. Lincoln started work directing *Wallingford*, but was replaced by Niblo, possibly because of his chronic alcoholism
↑26	Pike & Cooper (1980) pps77-78 and 80
↑27	Screengrabs from Author’s copy of Pictures that Moved: Australian Cinema 1896-1920 (1968)
↑28	Marsden (2009) p4
↑29	Sun (Syd) 10 Jan 1915, p14
↑30	The Theatre (Syd) 1 April 1914, p1
↑31	Josephine had collected their son Fred Junior on a trip home in September 1914, thus that source of anxiety had been removed
↑32	Punch (Melb) 26 Dec 1912
↑33	Critic (Adelaide) 12 Nov 1913, p21
↑34	Pirie Bush was actually born in Wellington New Zealand, but had been with the Niblo-Cohan troupe in Australia from its inception
↑35	The Age (Melb) 3 June 1915, p12
↑36	Farewell souvenir program, 1915. National Library of Australia
↑37	New York Herald, 15 July, 1916, p5
↑38	Morehouse(1943) p20
↑39	Some Australians were unkind about the marriage. As late as 22 December 1947, journalist Jim Donald of the Sydney Daily Mirror publicly and incorrectly stated Josephine and Fred had divorced before her death.

“The finest actress in Australia”- Gwen Day Burroughs (1888-1968)

Above: Gwen Burroughs, in a rare colour Rexona advertisement in 1918.^[1]Theatre Magazine, 1 November 1918, via State Library of Victoria In 1923, Fred Niblo described her as “the finest actress in Australia.”^[2]The Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug 1923, P27 via Newspapers.com

Gwen Burroughs c 1908.^[3]*Punch* (Melb) 29 Oct 1908, P17, via National Library of Australia’s Trove

The Five Second Version
Gwen Burroughs (or Gwen Day Burroughs more often in later life) was born into a non-theatrical family in Melbourne, Australia. She was on stage for JC Williamsons, the Australian theatre monopoly, from her late teens, usually in ingénue roles. She made close friendships with Enid Bennett and Fred Niblo, and benefitted by appearing in support of touring players Nellie Stewart, Marie Tempest and Ethel Irving. She travelled to the US to perform in 1923, and although she returned to Australia, her 1930s New York stage work established her reputation. After 1936, she worked continually in radio in Britain, with only occasional returns to the stage. She appeared in one 1915 Australian film that has not survived.

She was probably engaged to actor Lewis Willoughby, but the couple parted company in 1918, and Gwen announced her intention to “divorce” him in 1923. Fred Niblo’s ringing endorsement about her skills as an actor dates from the same time.

Interviewed in 1947 for Radio Who’s Who, she listed one of her recreations as “sea travel,” which was fortunate, as she is amongst the best travelled Australian actors of the era. She died in London in 1968.

Australian career

Born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1888, she was named Gwendoline Helena Burroughs at birth, adopting “Day Burroughs” later in life.^[4]Victoria Births Deaths & Marriages, Gwendoline Helena Burroughs, Cert 23469/1888 Her mother was Lizzie nee Harwood, her father was Thomas Melbourne Burroughs, a successful ship chandler (supplier) who turned his hand to being a grazier in 1906. Gwen attended Methodist Ladies College in Kew, where she appears to have excelled in the creative arts.

22 year old Gwen Burroughs while in the Nellie Stewart Company, in 1910.^[5]*The Mirror* (Perth, WA) 21 Jan 1910, P15. Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

At the age of twenty she was associated with amateur theatricals at Melbourne’s Savage Club,^[6]The Argus (Melb) 31 Oct 1908, P20 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove and by 1909, she was appearing professionally on Nellie Stewart’s (1858-1931) long Australian tour, playing (she later recalled) “in the funniest little out of the way places imaginable”^[7]Sydney Mail, 29 Mail 1912, P21 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove – in Sweet Kitty Bellairs – where she reportedly also understudied the star. While Nellie Stewart’s own hefty autobiography contains only passing reference to Gwen, the young actor’s exposure to her – and then British actress Ethel Irving (1869-1963), was profound.^[8]Irving toured Australia with the London Comedy Company in 1911-1912 “You have no idea what encouragement I have received from those two women,” she said. Early interviews also noted the influence of theatrical entrepreneur George Musgrove (1854-1916) on her career.^[9]See The Sun (Sydney) 5 May 1912, P15, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Gwen as Iras in Ben Hur, a 1912 play based on the Lew Wallace novel.^[10]*The Town and Country Journal*, 8 May 1912, P27, via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Gwen’s great success in ingénue roles made her a regular subject of newspaper interviews early in her career. At 1.72cms (5’8″) in height she was taller than many of her contemporaries, with flashing dark brown eyes and black hair, and a clear, well modulated voice suited to the stage, almost certainly the product of elocution lessons that middle class Australians so valued. By 1913, some newspapers went so far as to predict this “modest Australian” would someday “be a star.”^[11]see for example The Mail (Adelaide) 29 March 1913, P12, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove Like so many Australian actors of the era, she was also developing plans to go to overseas to work, “some day, soon.”^[12]Sydney Mail, 29 Mail 1912, P21 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove That plan appears to have been delayed by the outbreak of war in 1914 – but she stayed very busy. The Ausstage database entry for Gwen, which is not definitive, lists about twenty stage shows in Australia between 1911 and 1918.

Fred Niblo’s production of the farce **The Seven keys to Baldpate** in Melbourne in 1915 included his future wife Enid Bennett and Gwen Burroughs. The two women became friends.^[13]J.C. Williamson scrapbooks of music and theatre programmes, 1905-1921.PROMPT Scrapbook 8 – Vol 3, P41, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Sylvia Bremer, Enid Bennett and Fred Niblo were colleagues and friends in the Australian theatre world and their assistance would be invaluable when she tried to establish herself in the US.^[14]See her glowing comments about them in The Lone Hand, 7 April 1919, P23, via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Gwen as the wicked blackmailer Myra, with Fred Niblo, in **The Seven Keys to Baldpate**, 1915.^[15]*Theatre Magazine* (Syd)1 Oct 1914, P20-21 a two page spread – hence the crease, Via State Library of Victoria

Gwen’s one Australian movie appearance was in Monte Luke’s 1915 For Australia, a now lost film made by JC Williamson’s. Loosely based on the sinking of the German raider SMS Emden by the Australian ship HMAS Sydney in late 1914, film historians Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper note that despite the topicality of the script, it was not a success.^[16]Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper (1980) Australian Film 1900-1977 P74. Oxford University Press/AFI The JC Williamson film studio was an experiment and it closed later that year.

Enter Lewis Willoughby 1915

Sometime in late 1914 or early 1915, Gwen met newly arrived English ^[17]or possibly Canadian born actor Lewis Willoughby.^[18]Not to be confused with Australian theatre manager George Willoughby (Dowse) (1869-1951) Interviewed at length by Melbourne’s Table Talk in late 1914,^[19]Table Talk (Melb)19 Nov 1914, P32-33, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove Willoughby had a great deal to say about acting and many other things, but was also intrigued by the young democracies of Australia and New Zealand – where women could vote. Did they exercise their right to vote? And what was the attitude of Australian women to the suffragette movement, he wondered.^[20]At the time, women could not vote in the UK He spent the next three years touring and performing in Australia and New Zealand – sometimes with Gwen.^[21]See for example, reports in The Sydney Morning Herald 8 Apr 1916, P19 and The Register (Adelaide) 17 Jan 1917, P6 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

In April 1917, after a successful tour of New Zealand, Gwen and Lewis joined Marie Tempest’s (1862-1942) company in Melbourne.^[22]Sunday Times (Sydney)1 Apr 1917, P17 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove Tempest was then part the way through a world performance tour. A few years later, Gwen acknowledged Tempest as one of her mentors in a long, self authored article for Australia’s Triad magazine, although her commentary on Tempest’s and Ethel Irving’s various concerns with their weight was not entirely diplomatic.^[23]The Triad 11 Apr 1921, P35-36, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Lewis Willoughby and Gwen Burroughs, c 1915. Photos by May and Mina Moore, copyright held by the State Library of Victoria. ^[24]State Library of Victoria

Gwen and Lewis’ marriage was first mentioned in a newspaper report in September 1915.^[25]See The National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW) 10 Sep 1915, P1. Via National Library of Australia’s Trove It would be easy to dismiss this as a muddled up account, except that shipping manifests in 1918 indicate the couple reported each other as dependent spouses when travelling to the US that year.^[26]See shipping manifests – SS Sonoma, 9 Jan 1918 for Lewis Willoughby and SS Ventura 13 May 1918 for Gwen Willoughby via Ancestry.com Yet there appears to be no corresponding marriage certificate in Australia or New Zealand, suggesting that while they may have intended to marry, they never actually did so. See also Note 1 below, regarding Lewis’ English wife and family

Establishing herself internationally

In early 1918, Gwen and Lewis Willoughby apparently reached a decision to work in the US – and Lewis went first.^[27]Variety 26 April 1918, Vol 50 Issue 9, P39, via the Internet Archive He found employment quite soon after arriving in California. In March 1918, Moving Picture World announced he would be appearing in the film Treasure of the Sea, with Edith Storey (1892-1967) – this marked the start of his modest film career as an actor and director.^[28]Moving Picture World, 23 March 1918, P1682, via Lantern Digital Media History Project 30 year old Gwen “Willoughby” then arrived in California in May 1918, determined to seek work in films – in “Vampire” parts, it was reported. ^[29]This may have been intended to be “Vamp” roles. See Table Talk (Melb) 2 May 1918, P12, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove But she only stayed in the US for a few months – returning home in August. It seems this was also the end of her relationship with Willoughby (See Note 1 below). Over the next decade she continued to use the name Willoughby when travelling to the US, which probably relates to the documents she first presented.

On stage in Sydney again, she was soon proving herself a well established favourite with audiences and demonstrating considerable versatility – for example, in early 1919 she was performing Ibsen and musical comedy at the same time.^[30]The Mirror (Sydney)17 Jan 1919, P10 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Gwen – well enough known to advertise Rexona soap for almost a decade. Note the use of Day Burroughs as a surname.^[31]*The Bulletin*, Feb 14, 1914. P47. Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

In 1921, she met Enid Bennett’s younger sister Marjorie Bennett, who had been enticed back to Australia by JC Williamson’s to perform in farces and musicals, and the two performed together with English comedian Joseph Coyne in His Lady Friends.^[32]The Sydney Morning Herald 28 Feb 1921, P4 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove They also appeared together in Johnny Get Your Gun.^[33]New Zealand Theatre and Motion Picture, 22 May 1922, P37, Via The Internet Archive Probably with encouragement from the Bennetts, in March 1923, she made a second trip to California, arriving there at about the same time as Marjorie.^[34]Sunday Times (Sydney) 18 Mar 1923, P27, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Although she again travelled using the name Gwen Willoughby, this time the passenger list contained no contact details for a husband. Instead, a pencilled annotation on the passenger list shows she was to stay with Enid Bennett and family. And soon after arrival she announced again that she planned to get roles in films, and that she was also looking forward to “getting a divorce” from Willoughby. She hoped this would “give me a new start all around.”^[35]The San Francisco Examiner 10 April 1923, P13, Via Newspapers.com. However, as with a marriage certificate, no records of a divorce have been found. In her 1921 piece for The Triad, she made the following unusual comment about publicity that actors sometimes face – that hangs awkwardly at the end of the article: “any divorce case, any breach of promise case, is dissected to the most minute detail… People are inclined to forget that the same unfortunate occurrences may thrust themselves into the very best regulated families…”^[36]The Triad 11 Apr 1921, P35-36, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove But the article made no direct reference to Lewis Willoughby.

In California there were no film offers, but she was offered a role in the bedroom farce Getting Gertie’s Garter, with Marjorie Bennett, probably courtesy the rousing endorsement from Fred Niblo – who announced that Gwen was “the finest actress in the whole of Australia.” ^[37]Los Angeles Evening Express 4 Aug 1923, P12. via Newspapers.com. The Billboard however, quoted him as saying she was “an excellent actress” See The Billboard 25 August 1923, Vol 35 Issue … Continue reading However, after running for 11 weeks at the Egan Theatre, the play ended up in court for its “indecency.”^[38]Variety 13 Sept 1923, Vol 72 Issue 4, P12, via the Internet Archive It was also very good publicity – and in the photo below, none of the cast look very worried. Changes were apparently made to the script by order of the court.^[39]The Los Angeles Evening Post Record, 27 Oct, 1923, P5, via Newspapers.com The play then ran on for another four weeks.

The cast, not looking very worried about a court appearance for alleged obscenity, with **Gwen Burroughs** in the big hat, fifth from the left.^[40]*The Los Angeles Times* 7 Sep 1923, P9, via Newspapers.com

In 1924, Gwen toured up and down the US east coast, some of the time appearing in the popular mystery The Last Warning, the entertaining tale of a haunted theatre. In June she appeared in One Helluva Night on Broadway with a group of actors calling themselves the “Cheese Club”. It was a one-night comedy performance, their intention was to run a play so bad it would be entertaining, and according to the New York Times the Cheese Club achieved this object – “a play so crazy in spots that it is funny.”^[41]The New York Times Theater reviews. 1920-1926, P392. Via The HathiTrust But it was not funny enough to run again, apparently.

Gwen returned to Australia again in March 1926.

Gwen – second from the left in a big hat, again, on her return to Australia. February 1926.^[42]*Newcastle Sun*, (NSW) 27 Feb 1926, P58, via National Library of Australia’s Trove

In Australia she toured in another string of JC Williamson’s productions, including The Last of Mrs. Cheyney and Brown Sugar. Then, in late 1927 Gwen Day Burroughs^[43] as she now usually was titled travelled to London by the ship Cathay, apparently still restless, or determined to test out new opportunities. By 1928 she was in a supporting role in the comedy Her Past, first at the Lewisham Hippodrome, and then moving to the Shaftesbury and Prince of Wales Theatres in 1929.^[44]See The Stage Thursday 29 November 1928, P18 and JP Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel P646, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers But then, again, there was another change. In October 1930, Gwen “Willoughby” arrived in New York, with a contract to appear in a US version of the Frank Harvey play The Last Enemy – which opened at the Schubert Theatre in November. Reviews were mixed and the play only ran for a few nights. Not so Ivor Novello’s The Truth Game, which opened in New York a month later, with Gwen in a supporting role. It ran for over 100 performances, and was described by one journalist as “a nice clean, diverting evening in the theatre.”^[45]See New York’s Daily News, 29 Dec 1930, P174, via Newspapers.com Active on the New York and US east coast stage for six years, she was now usually described as a “highly competent” member of a supporting cast – but she was no longer a leading player.

Gwen advertising makeup in 1914. ^[46]*The Theatre Magazine*, 1 June 1914, via State Library of Victoria

A career on British radio

In December 1936, Gwen Willoughby sailed back to England again. And finally, she settled down in the one place to build a career. As early as 1934, Gwen had appeared in US radio dramas^[47]For example, on Hearst’s WIN radio in New York – see The Nassau Daily Review, April 20, 1934, P19 via NYS Historic Newspapers and in England, radio also became her speciality – for the next 35 years. The BBC’s very thorough list of actors and programs notes her first broadcast performance in 1937, with more than three hundred and eighty entries to 1968.^[48]based on Radio Times reports Her radio career is also noteworthy for its variety.

Gwen’s experience in the US meant American roles became her speciality. Her work included original entertainments such as He’s Got Rhythm (based on the life of Cole Porter), Saddle Song (the life of Gene Autry) and Banjo Eyes (the life of Eddie Cantor). There were also radio versions of films such as Mr Deeds Goes to Town (1939) and Sunny Side Up (1939).^[49]It was not uncommon for studios to licence radio versions of their popular films When war broke out, her work switched to BBC forces radio. By the late 1940s she was a regular performer for The Children’s Hour and narrated The Woman’s Hour.

By the 1950s, there were even a few Australian authored plays and radio programs that made use of her talents. In 1950 for example, the BBC ran a ten part serial based on Rolf Boldrewood’s bushranger novel Robbery Under Arms – with numerous London-based Australian actors in the cast, including John Wood, Dorothy Alison, Gwenda Wilson, Don Sharp and Gwen. The C19th Australian novel The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was serialised, (Gwen played the character role of Mother Guttersnipe) and in 1958 Vernon Harris’s series The Flying Doctor required voice artists, presumably capable of distinctive Australian accents.^[50]It was made into a popular TV series a year later In 1959, she appeared in the live play Kookaburra. Set in rural Queensland c1910, it was a “kind of Australian ‘Oklahoma'”^[51]The Stage, 22 Oct 1959, P38. Via British Library Newspaper Archive and featuring fellow Australians Maggie Fitzgibbon (1929-2020) and Bettina Dickson (1920-1994). It ran for a short time regionally and then at London’s Princes Theatre, where it met with mixed reviews.^[52]The Age (Melb) 28 Nov 1959, P4, via Newspapers.com

In March 1955, 67 year old Gwen returned to Australia, to see her younger sister Adele and her family, and probably to test out whether she wanted to stay long term. She found work as a regular in a series of one hour radio dramas directed by Henry Cuthbertson for the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC).^[53]The Argus (Melb),1 Jul 1955, P13 via National Library of Australia’s Trove She stayed for ten months, but was back in London by January 1956. She continued her British radio career almost to the time of her death in 1968. Amongst her last performances was a celebrated dramatization of E M Forster’s A Passage to India, which also featured Sybil Thorndyke (1882-1976).

For many years Gwen lived alone at Collingwood House on Dolphin Square in London. She died in a Kensington nursing home on 3 April 1968.

This writer has yet to find photos of Gwen Burroughs taken after 1927. This one was taken in 1909 ^[54]*Table Talk* (Melb) 14 Jan 1909, P19 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

Note 1- Lewis Willoughby (c 1876-1968)

Lewis Willoughby, who before his Australian experience had performed and designed for the theatre in London and Glasgow, already had a family – artist wife Vera and two children – in England,^[55]The Stage, 14 March 1912, P24, via British Library Newspaper Archive^[56]JP Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, P264, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers but later went on to a long personal and professional relationship with US based, British-born actress Olga Petrova (Muriel Harding). He appeared in her play Hurricane in 1923 at New York’s Frolic Theatre – in the same year Gwen arrived to stay with the Bennetts in California. Lewis and Olga married in September 1939, following the death in England of his first wife, artist Vera Willoughby, in May*. He died in Florida in 1968. In the US, his name was generally spelled Louis.

*The claim that Vera Willoughby was born in Hungary is wrong. She was born in England as Vera Christie, but she also used the name Vera Petrovna during the 1920s.^[57]Also see a relevant V&A Museum item record entry here Her father was British mathematician James Robert Christie (1814-1879).

Nick Murphy
June 2022

References

Text:
- Cyrus Andrews (1947) Radio Who’s Who. Pendulum Publications, London
- Andrew Pike & Ross Cooper (1980) Australian film 1900-1977, P224-226. Oxford University Press/AFI
- Eric Porter (1965) Stars of Australian Stage and Screen. Rigby
- Anthony Slide (2002) A biographical and autobiographical study of 100 silent film actors and actresses. University of Kentucky.
- Nellie Stewart (1923) My Life’s Story. John Sands, Sydney
- JP Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
- JP Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers

Film
- Trapped by the Mormons (1922) @ The Internet Archive. Starring Lewis Willoughby.

Lewis Willoughby in **Trapped by the Mormons.**

Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University:
- Jean Gittins,(1974) ‘Musgrove, George (1854–1916)’, accessed online 7 June 2022.
- Ross Cooper (1990) ‘Stewart, Eleanor Towzey (Nellie) (1858–1931)’, accessed online 5 June 2022.

Newspaper & Magazine Sources
- National Library of Australia’s Trove
- State Library of Victoria
- Newspapers.com
- New York State Historic Newspapers Project
- The HathiTrust
- British Library Newspaper Archive
- National Library of New Zealand’s Papers Past
- Internet Archive Library

Primary Sources
- Familysearch.com
- Ancestry.com
- Victoria, Births, Deaths and Marriages
- General Register Office, HM Passport Office.

This site has been selected for preservation in the National Library of Australia’s Pandora archive

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes
↑1	Theatre Magazine, 1 November 1918, via State Library of Victoria
↑2	The Los Angeles Times, 8 Aug 1923, P27 via Newspapers.com
↑3	Punch (Melb) 29 Oct 1908, P17, via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑4	Victoria Births Deaths & Marriages, Gwendoline Helena Burroughs, Cert 23469/1888
↑5	The Mirror (Perth, WA) 21 Jan 1910, P15. Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑6	The Argus (Melb) 31 Oct 1908, P20 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑7, ↑12	Sydney Mail, 29 Mail 1912, P21 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑8	Irving toured Australia with the London Comedy Company in 1911-1912
↑9	See The Sun (Sydney) 5 May 1912, P15, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑10	The Town and Country Journal, 8 May 1912, P27, via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑11	see for example The Mail (Adelaide) 29 March 1913, P12, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑13	J.C. Williamson scrapbooks of music and theatre programmes, 1905-1921.PROMPT Scrapbook 8 – Vol 3, P41, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑14	See her glowing comments about them in The Lone Hand, 7 April 1919, P23, via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑15	Theatre Magazine (Syd)1 Oct 1914, P20-21 a two page spread – hence the crease, Via State Library of Victoria
↑16	Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper (1980) Australian Film 1900-1977 P74. Oxford University Press/AFI
↑17	or possibly Canadian born
↑18	Not to be confused with Australian theatre manager George Willoughby (Dowse) (1869-1951)
↑19	Table Talk (Melb)19 Nov 1914, P32-33, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑20	At the time, women could not vote in the UK
↑21	See for example, reports in The Sydney Morning Herald 8 Apr 1916, P19 and The Register (Adelaide) 17 Jan 1917, P6 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑22	Sunday Times (Sydney)1 Apr 1917, P17 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑23, ↑36	The Triad 11 Apr 1921, P35-36, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑24	State Library of Victoria
↑25	See The National Advocate (Bathurst, NSW) 10 Sep 1915, P1. Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑26	See shipping manifests – SS Sonoma, 9 Jan 1918 for Lewis Willoughby and SS Ventura 13 May 1918 for Gwen Willoughby via Ancestry.com
↑27	Variety 26 April 1918, Vol 50 Issue 9, P39, via the Internet Archive
↑28	Moving Picture World, 23 March 1918, P1682, via Lantern Digital Media History Project
↑29	This may have been intended to be “Vamp” roles. See Table Talk (Melb) 2 May 1918, P12, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑30	The Mirror (Sydney)17 Jan 1919, P10 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑31	The Bulletin, Feb 14, 1914. P47. Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑32	The Sydney Morning Herald 28 Feb 1921, P4 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑33	New Zealand Theatre and Motion Picture, 22 May 1922, P37, Via The Internet Archive
↑34	Sunday Times (Sydney) 18 Mar 1923, P27, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑35	The San Francisco Examiner 10 April 1923, P13, Via Newspapers.com.
↑37	Los Angeles Evening Express 4 Aug 1923, P12. via Newspapers.com. The Billboard however, quoted him as saying she was “an excellent actress” See The Billboard 25 August 1923, Vol 35 Issue 34 P118, via The Internet Archive
↑38	Variety 13 Sept 1923, Vol 72 Issue 4, P12, via the Internet Archive
↑39	The Los Angeles Evening Post Record, 27 Oct, 1923, P5, via Newspapers.com
↑40	The Los Angeles Times 7 Sep 1923, P9, via Newspapers.com
↑41	The New York Times Theater reviews. 1920-1926, P392. Via The HathiTrust
↑42	Newcastle Sun, (NSW) 27 Feb 1926, P58, via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑43	as she now usually was titled
↑44	See The Stage Thursday 29 November 1928, P18 and JP Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel P646, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
↑45	See New York’s Daily News, 29 Dec 1930, P174, via Newspapers.com
↑46	The Theatre Magazine, 1 June 1914, via State Library of Victoria
↑47	For example, on Hearst’s WIN radio in New York – see The Nassau Daily Review, April 20, 1934, P19 via NYS Historic Newspapers
↑48	based on Radio Times reports
↑49	It was not uncommon for studios to licence radio versions of their popular films
↑50	It was made into a popular TV series a year later
↑51	The Stage, 22 Oct 1959, P38. Via British Library Newspaper Archive
↑52	The Age (Melb) 28 Nov 1959, P4, via Newspapers.com
↑53	The Argus (Melb),1 Jul 1955, P13 via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑54	Table Talk (Melb) 14 Jan 1909, P19 Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑55	The Stage, 14 March 1912, P24, via British Library Newspaper Archive
↑56	JP Wearing (2014) The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, P264, Rowman and Littlefield Publishers
↑57	Also see a relevant V&A Museum item record entry here

Marjorie Bennett (1896-1982), from bathtubs to character roles

Above: Marjorie Bennett onstage and in the bath in Australia, in Parlor, Bedroom and Bath (1922).^[1]Table Talk (Melb) 3 Aug 1922, P25 Via State Library of Victoria

The Five Second version

Marjorie Bennett, the younger sister of actress Enid Bennett, was born in York, Western Australia, in 1896. She travelled to the US in December 1916 to join Enid. Famous in later years for “cheerful, white haired woman” roles, by the time of her death she had over 200 film and TV appearances to her credit. (TCM and the IMDB provide lists of her screen appearances after 1946.) Much less well known is that before 1946 she had already enjoyed a long career as a stage actress, including a successful twenty-eight month performance tour back to Australia, where she developed something of a reputation for “saucy theatre” in the process. When she died in June 1982, she was so well known that almost every notable US newspaper carried her obituary.^[2]Australian papers did not report her death

Younger sister Catherine Bennett also briefly appeared in Hollywood films.

Left: Marjorie Bennett as an ingenue, in the play The Taming of Bab, at the Royal Playhouse, California, 1924. ^[3]News-Pilot (San Pedro, CA) 4 Oct 1924, P5. Via Newspapers.com

The Bennett family

The Bennett girls from Western Australia – Enid (born 1893)^[4]Western Australia, BDM document 1325/1893, Marjorie (born 1896)^[5]Western Australia, BDM document 2741/1896 and step-sister Catherine (born 1901)^[6]Western Australia, BDM document 5122/1901 all ended up living and working in California’s booming film industry. However all three women had a different experience – Enid preferred screen work, Marjorie spent twenty years on stage before returning to film, while Catherine briefly tried stage and screen and then rejected both.

Enid Bennett was the first to go the United States – in June 1915, appearing on stage in New York later that year.^[7]Cock O’ the Walk opened in New York at George M Cohan’s Theatre on December 27 1915, but it appears to have opened as early as October in Scranton, Pennsylvania This followed several years performing in Australia with the Fred Niblo–Josephine Cohan Troupe, and appearances in two Australian films directed by Niblo. Her Australian story is told here.

Enid Bennett and Fred Niblo, about the time of Marjorie’s return from Australia. c1923. By this time the couple were married and well established in Hollywood – Enid as a popular screen player, and Fred as one of its leading directors. Author’s collection.

While Enid’s path to the stage and screen is well documented, Marjorie’s is less so. It was US film critic Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times who gleaned much information from Marjorie while she was alive.^[8]See Kevin Thomas articles in The Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) 28 Aug 1977, P49 and The Journal Herald (Ohio) 3 Jan 1978, P30, via Newspapers.com Reading these accounts today, one gains the impression she was a woman with a strong sense of self, a healthy sense of humour and held in high esteem by many in the industry. In 1977, Rick Rosner, a producer and writer for the popular TV series CHiPs told her “you are the sun on a cloudy day. When you arrive everything becomes beautiful.” A nice compliment for an 80 year old, still hard at work.^[9]Kevin Thomas (Los Angeles Times) via Asbury Park Press (New Jersey), 4 Sept 1977, P52, via Newspapers.com

Enid, Marjorie and Catherine’s mother was Nellie nee Walker. After the death of her first husband Francis Bennett in 1898 and second husband Alexander Gillespie in 1903,^[10]Both husbands were school principals Nellie Gillespie moved her family from Western Australia back to Sydney, to the comfortable suburb she had been born in – Woollahra, where she apparently ran a boarding house at No 20 Newcastle Street, Rose Bay.^[11]Now No 34 according to the 1917 Sands Directory of Sydney In response to letters from a homesick Enid in Hollywood, Marjorie was sent to keep her older sister company. Marjorie arrived in the US in December 1916 on the SS Ventura, accompanied by just two pieces of luggage and on a tourist visa. She recalled that she didn’t want to go to the US and certainly “didn’t want to be an actress.”^[12]Kevin Thomas, The Journal Herald, (Dayton Ohio), 3 Jan 1978, P30, via Newspapers.com By this time, Enid had already appeared on stage and in her first Thomas Ince film, A Princess of the Dark and her star was rising.^[13]Motion Picture News, 21 October 1916, P2523, Via Lantern Media History Digital Library The sisters lived together in an apartment in Los Angeles and there is some evidence they had a jolly time of it, socialising with various celebrities and sometimes the other Australians working in Hollywood.^[14]see for example a photo of the Bennetts with Sylvia Breamer in Ralph Marsden’s (2016) Who Was Sylvia? There are also reports of the Australian girls forming a “Kangaroo Club” for … Continue reading Soon after, Marjorie was also convinced to appear in a film for Ince, reportedly The Girl, Glory, where Enid had a leading role.

Marjorie and Enid reunited in late 1916. This newspaper report suggested the sisters were twins.^[15]*San Francisco Call*, Volume 100, Number 153, 26 December 1916, via UCR California Digital Newspaper Collection

The family together in the US

The Bennetts together for Enid’s marriage to Fred Niblo in 1918. *The Green Room magazine*, 1 June 1918, P34. Via State Library of New South Wales

Nellie Gillespie arrived in the US in January 1918, with her younger children Catherine and Alexander. Several dramatic events had impacted the family at this time. One was the tragic death of Francis or “Reg”, the oldest of the Bennett children and a Lieutenant in the Australian Army, killed in action in Belgium in October 1917^[16]The location of Reg Bennett’s grave was lost soon after his burial in the field, a fact that must have caused the family great distress. See https://www.guildfordanzacs.org.au/anzac/45 The second, a happier piece of news, was the impending wedding of Enid and Fred Niblo. The couple married in February 1918.^[17]Josephine M Cohan had died in July 1916 Niblo went on to become one of Hollywood’s leading directors while Enid’s fame as a star soared. By the early 1920s the couple were very well known figures in the industry – perhaps “Hollywood royalty” might be the term.^[18]See for example, a very inaccurate profile piece on Enid in Picture Show Jan 8, 1921, P8. Via Lantern, Media History Digital Library

An ad for for the film **Naughty Naughty** in late 1918.^[19]*The Bulletin* (Pomona, CA) 13 Oct 1918, P10. Via newspapers.com

Touring with Julian Eltinge and a return to Australia

Unlike Enid, it is difficult to find Marjorie showing any interest in acting while growing up in Australia. It appears she owed her entree to Hollywood films entirely to her sister Enid and the counsel of Fred Niblo.^[20]In this 1921 report in Australia, Marjorie specifically mentioned Niblo giving career advice to her – Table Talk (Melb) 8 Sept 1921, P39, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove Marjorie appeared in three films in 1918, including Naughty Naughty with Enid. Motion Picture directories of the time listed her as a suitable ingenue type.

Marjorie or Rosemary Theby being ravished in Thomas Ince’s *The Midnight Patrol* (1918)^[21]Advertising in *The Theatre Magazine*, 1 March 1921, via State Library of Victoria

And then at the end of 1918, as she recalled when interviewed by Kevin Thomas, she gave up the screen to try the stage.^[22]The Journal Herald (Dayton Ohio) 3 Jan 1978, P30 via Newspapers.com In fact, for the next eight months she performed with famous female impersonator Julian Eltinge(1881-1941), touring throughout the US.

Marjorie (left) heads off on tour with Julian Eltinge in 1919 ^[23]*The San Francisco Examiner*, 10 Jan 1919, P11, *The Seattle Star*, 1 Feb 1919, P10, *Los Angeles Evening Express*, 22 Dec 1918, P37. Via newspapers.com

Eltinge was very well known in the US and had appeared successfully in vaudeville, several films and musical theatre by the time of the tour.^[24]Mark Berger’s short documentary on Eltinge can be seen here, which also explains the origins of Eltinge’s act. In vaudeville, Eltinge spectacularly “revealed his male identity at … Continue reading His 1919 revue was firmly in the vaudeville tradition and included Marjorie and fellow Australian Arthur Shirley (1886-1967) in the cast. Historians Cullen, Hackman and McNeilly estimate that Eltinge may have been earning $3,500 per week before the tour, an enormous sum for a performer at the time,^[25]About $65,000 per week in 2022 money which possibly indicates how lucrative working with him was for Marjorie. But given that female impersonators soon came to be regarded as thoroughly improper entertainment, it is hardly surprising that later biographies of the careers of Marjorie Bennett and Arthur Shirley don’t make mention of this lengthy tour, while the memory of Julian Eltinge has also been buried.^[26]As Mark Berger indicates, Eltinge’s act was part of a long tradition that disappeared with the decline of vaudeville, and is far removed from what we might expect from a female impersonation … Continue reading

Marjorie Bennett in **Nightie Night** in Australia in 1921.^[27]*Critic* (Adelaide) 2 Nov 1921, P12, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

In the later part of 1920, the Australian theatre firm JC Williamsons, enticed Marjorie back to Australia to perform with another import – Joseph Coyne (1867-1941) – in farces including Nightie Night, My Lady Friends and Wedding Bells. Clearly someone representing Williamsons, probably Hugh Ward, had seen her perform in the US and thought highly enough of her to bring her back.

The Coyne company tour of major cities in Australia and New Zealand was a success. Coyne left for England in December 1921, but Marjorie stayed on. She then performed in another string of farces and comedies – Johnny Get Your Gun, The First Year and Parlor, Bedroom and Bath, in company with other visiting actors brought in by JC Williamsons, including Louis Bennison and Phillips Tead.

Although she often spoke to reporters of her “home” now being in California, in August 1922 she told Table Talk that she didn’t want to go back to the US just yet. “All the rest of the family is in California, and mother keeps writing to ask when I am going back; but I want to make good in my native country before I leave it. I never realised how fascinating Australia is until I left it… There’s nothing like seeing other countries to make one appreciate one’s own.” The comment was the sort Australians liked to hear and was shared nationwide.^[28]Table Talk (Melb) 17 Aug 1922, P17, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove Significantly, she also expressed her preference for the stage very clearly, despite Enid’s success on the screen back in Hollywood.^[29]Table Talk (Melb) 8 Sept 1921, P39, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove

In Australia, Marjorie felt confident enough to speak publicly occasionally about Hollywood matters – including the death of Virginia Rappe in September 1921, after news broke.^[30]She claimed to know both Rappe and “Fatty” Arbuckle. This is possible – and Rappe had appeared in a Julian Eltinge film in 1920. See Newcastle Sun (NSW) 21 Sept 1921, P7 via … Continue reading Finally, in late March 1923, she boarded the SS Sonoma for California.

Trouble with Getting Gertie’s Garter

If Australian newspapers thought Parlor, Bedroom and Bath was a bit “saucy,”^[31]The Daily Telegraph (Syd), 12 Jul 1922, P10, SYDNEY SHOWS, via National Library of Australia’s Trove this was not the case with Marjorie’s first play on returning to Los Angeles. While the reports surrounding the court appearance of the cast of Getting Gertie’s Garter created a blaze of publicity – and what wonderful publicity – it seems likely the play really was pulled for “indecency” several weeks after the start of its run at the Frank Egan Theatre in 1923.^[32]The Los Angeles Times 6 Sep 1923, P19, via Newspapers.com Changes were apparently made to the script by order of the court.^[33]The Los Angeles Evening Post Record, 27 Oct, 1923, P5, via Newspapers.com

The cast, not looking very worried about a court appearance, with Marjorie, fourth from the right. Note fellow Australian cast member **Gwen Burroughs** in the big hat,^[34]*The Los Angeles Times* 7 Sep 1923, P9, via Newspapers.com

Of course, this was an era of publicity stunts and outrageously silly stories – all in the interests of self-promotion. For example, reports about Marjorie’s newly arrived Australian friend and costar Gwen Burroughs (1888-1968) made much of her reputation as a film star “vamp” (and impending divorce from Lewis Willoughby),^[35]The San Francisco Examiner 10 Apr 1923, P13, via newspapers.com yet she had only appeared in one Australian film and none in the US. Consider also the very dramatic story about Lotus Thompson and the “acid” on her legs stunt, which surfaced in early 1925 and continues to dominate accounts of her life, even 100 years later.

Marjorie back on the US stage as a “scarlet woman.” ^[36]*Los Angeles Evening Post Record*, 16 Feb 1924, P16, via Newspapers.com

Only a few months later, another newspaper report suggested that Enid was concerned with a part Marjorie had taken in the play The Adding Machine, as a “scarlet woman,” and insisted she withdraw. Possibly. But the story has all the hallmarks of another publicity stunt.

Marjorie’s stage performances over the next twenty years were many – and in a variety of theatre styles, but they reflected the popular tastes of the time, such as the romantic comedy Loose Ankles, which opened at Los Angeles’ Playhouse Theatre in early 1927. In the 1930s she was also in one act plays for the Writers Club ^[37]Daily News (LA)16 December 1930, P20 via, radio dramas and occasionally more traditional plays – including a stage version of A Tale of Two Cities in 1933 and the drama The Shining Hour at the Beverley Hills Little Theatre in 1937. Comedies and bedroom farces prevailed however – as a quick survey of titles suggest – Wedding Night (1941), Two in a Bed (1944) and Motel Wives (1945).

Marjorie with Nancy Carroll in **Loose Ankles** in 1927. ^[38]*The San Francisco Examiner*, 29 Jan 1927, P11 and *Los Angeles Evening Post Record*, 8 Jan 1927, P9. Via Newspaper.com

Unfortunately, we have few clues regarding the reason for her steady twenty-year preference for the stage whilst living in the midst of Hollywood’s thriving film industry – or her sister Catherine’s rejection of both stage and screen as a career in 1926 (see Note 1 below). It is noteworthy that in the 1940 US census she described herself as a “motion picture actress.” By contrast, in the 1930 US census, she had stated her occupation and industry as the “legitimate stage.” Unfortunately, US journalists, even the diligent Kevin Thomas, tended to brush over Marjorie’s activities for the entire period 1924-46. Perhaps Marjorie did some very mundane extra work in films in the later 1930s and early 40s, that has yet to be discovered.

Marjorie Bennett in a brief role in Universal’s **Dressed to Kill** (1946). Screengrab from a copy at the Internet Archive.

200 screen characters

Marjorie Bennett’s first known later-in-life film role was an uncredited appearance as a shop assistant in Universal’s Sherlock Holmes film Dressed to Kill (1946). Here, she portrayed a cheerful white haired woman character for the first time. With her white hair usually tied in a distinctive “crown braid,” she repeated this role numerous times over the next thirty years. Why she re-embraced the screen as a career at this time is unknown, but it was a successful move and by the 1970s – with more than 200 appearances behind her, she was so familiar for US audiences that she was also being used in television commercials – for Ford cars and Kentucky Fried Chicken.^[39]Kevin Thomas, The Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) Aug 28, 1977, P49, via Newspapers.com

On her passing, Kevin Thomas wrote that she was the “classical little old lady with a mischievous gleam in her eye.“^[40]The Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 Jun 1982, P88. Via Newspapers.com But this writer is of the view her success was not simply because she was effective at playing a stereotyped older woman. She was also versatile – as shown by her appearance at the end of Have Rocket, Will Travel with the Three Stooges. Here, she dances cheerfully with Joe and then neatly pulls a punch thrown at Nadia Sanders. All those years learning stagecraft had paid off.

Marjorie Bennett in the 3 Stooges film **Have Rocket, Will Travel** (1959) with Larry Fine and Joe DeRita. In the party scene shown at right, Marjorie’s character is about to slap a tall girl, played by Nadia Sanders. Via the Internet Archive.

Marjorie also displayed versatility with her accent. In Limelight (1952), her second film with Charles Chaplin, she played landlady Mrs Alsop, sporting (what sounds like) a broad Australian accent. Set in London but filmed in Hollywood, most viewers probably heard Mrs Alsop as a working class Londoner. Yet in her many TV guest roles of the 50s and 60s, such as Lassie, The Real McCoys and The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis her accent had changed to sit comfortably alongside a variety of American accents.

At left – Marjorie in **The Real McCoys**, Episode “Three is a Crowd”(1958). At right, as the troublesome customer in **The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis**, Episode “Deck the Halls”(1959) Screengrabs from copies mounted on Youtube.

Of the examples of her screen work reviewed by this writer, the trademark of her performances seems to have been an irrepressible good humour.

According to her many obituaries, she had finally retired in 1980, aged 84, due to failing health. She died two years later in June 1982. In May 1933, in Tijuana, Mexico, she had married Bill Cady, a singer, with whom she had occasionally performed. The couple had no children of their own but seem to have enjoyed close relationships with their nephews and nieces.

Marjorie’s recollections of Hollywood in the late 1910s, 1920s and 1930s appear in the press interviews she gave in the 1970s and her obituaries. Her accounts of meeting the likes of Valentino, Mary Pickford, mentoring a young Robert Taylor, and working with Charles Chaplin are generally based on real events, even if there are some errors in detail and timing.^[41]See for example Dion Thompson’s obituary in The Los Angeles Times, 21 June 1982, P28

Marjorie Bennett late in life.^[42]*The Philadelphia Inquirer* 20 Jun 1982, P88 via Newspapers.com

Note 1: Catherine Bennett (1901-1978)

Catherine Fanny Bennett (or Gillespie) was a step sister to Enid and Marjorie Bennett. Born in Perth, Western Australia on 17 January 1901, she arrived in the US with her mother and brother Alexander in early 1918.^[43]Alexander was born in 1903. Western Australia BDM document 6179/1903. Confusingly, both Catherine and Alexander variously adopted Bennett as a surname

Catherine Bennett with Stan Laurel in **When Knights Were Cold** (1923). Screengrabs from a clip on youtube. The film is part of a compilation available from http://www.flickeralley.com

After some extra work in Robin Hood in 1921, Catherine appeared in a leading role in a Stan Laurel short, When Knights Were Cold in 1923. But her few public comments reveal an ambivalence about a career in acting and suggests that she had little desire to try to copy Enid’s success.^[44]Picture-Play Magazine Sep 1923-Feb 1924, P74. Street and Smith. via Lantern Media History Digital Library Despite showing “a great deal of dramatic talent” ^[45]Photoplay 1925-12, Vol 29 Issue 1, P84, via Lantern Media History Digital Library and being heralded as a new MGM ingenue, by late 1926 she had left it behind, and taken up secretarial work in a studio – in some accounts she was also described as a scenario writer.^[46]Table Talk (Melb) 8 Sept 1921, P39, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove Although romantically associated with producer John Considine for a while, she did not marry. She died in 1978.

Catherine and Enid Bennett, c 1924. ^[47]*Photoplay* magazine, July-Dec 1924, P57. Via Lantern, Media History Digital Library

Enid, Marjorie and Catherine’s younger brother Alexander Gillespie (1903-1978) used the surname Bennett for much of his life and married silent actress Frances Lee (1906-2000) in 1933.^[48]See his marriage certificate 1933 here via Family Search While he is often described as an Assistant Director in Hollywood, his 1931 US naturalisation papers reveal he was an auditor-accountant.

Nick Murphy
April 2022

References

Text:

Kevin Brownlow (1968) The Parade’s Gone By… University of California Press
Andrew Pike & Ross Cooper (1980) Australian film 1900-1977, P224-226. Oxford University Press/AFI
Eric Porter(1965) Stars of Australian Stage and Screen. Rigby
Charles Fox and Milton Silver’s (eds)(1920) Who’s who on the screen, Ross Publishing, New York. Via the Internet Archive.

Media
Some of Marjorie Bennett’s screen appearances are now in the public domain, including the following;

Films

TV Series

Newspaper & Magazine Sources

National Library of Australia’s Trove
National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Newspapers.com
Lantern, the Media History Digital Library

Primary Sources

Familysearch.com
Ancestry.com
Western Australia, Births, Deaths and Marriages

This site has been selected for preservation in the National Library of Australia’s Pandora archive

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes
↑1	Table Talk (Melb) 3 Aug 1922, P25 Via State Library of Victoria
↑2	Australian papers did not report her death
↑3	News-Pilot (San Pedro, CA) 4 Oct 1924, P5. Via Newspapers.com
↑4	Western Australia, BDM document 1325/1893
↑5	Western Australia, BDM document 2741/1896
↑6	Western Australia, BDM document 5122/1901
↑7	Cock O’ the Walk opened in New York at George M Cohan’s Theatre on December 27 1915, but it appears to have opened as early as October in Scranton, Pennsylvania
↑8	See Kevin Thomas articles in The Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) 28 Aug 1977, P49 and The Journal Herald (Ohio) 3 Jan 1978, P30, via Newspapers.com
↑9	Kevin Thomas (Los Angeles Times) via Asbury Park Press (New Jersey), 4 Sept 1977, P52, via Newspapers.com
↑10	Both husbands were school principals
↑11	Now No 34 according to the 1917 Sands Directory of Sydney
↑12	Kevin Thomas, The Journal Herald, (Dayton Ohio), 3 Jan 1978, P30, via Newspapers.com
↑13	Motion Picture News, 21 October 1916, P2523, Via Lantern Media History Digital Library
↑14	see for example a photo of the Bennetts with Sylvia Breamer in Ralph Marsden’s (2016) Who Was Sylvia? There are also reports of the Australian girls forming a “Kangaroo Club” for social events in 1918
↑15	San Francisco Call, Volume 100, Number 153, 26 December 1916, via UCR California Digital Newspaper Collection
↑16	The location of Reg Bennett’s grave was lost soon after his burial in the field, a fact that must have caused the family great distress. See https://www.guildfordanzacs.org.au/anzac/45
↑17	Josephine M Cohan had died in July 1916
↑18	See for example, a very inaccurate profile piece on Enid in Picture Show Jan 8, 1921, P8. Via Lantern, Media History Digital Library
↑19	The Bulletin (Pomona, CA) 13 Oct 1918, P10. Via newspapers.com
↑20	In this 1921 report in Australia, Marjorie specifically mentioned Niblo giving career advice to her – Table Talk (Melb) 8 Sept 1921, P39, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑21	Advertising in The Theatre Magazine, 1 March 1921, via State Library of Victoria
↑22	The Journal Herald (Dayton Ohio) 3 Jan 1978, P30 via Newspapers.com
↑23	The San Francisco Examiner, 10 Jan 1919, P11, The Seattle Star, 1 Feb 1919, P10, Los Angeles Evening Express, 22 Dec 1918, P37. Via newspapers.com
↑24	Mark Berger’s short documentary on Eltinge can be seen here, which also explains the origins of Eltinge’s act. In vaudeville, Eltinge spectacularly “revealed his male identity at the end of his act…” while in musical comedy and his early films he generally “played a young male hero who had to assume a woman’s disguise in order to prevail or right some wrong.”(Frank Cullen, Florence Hackman and Donald McNeilly(2007) Vaudeville Old and New Vol 1. P353-355. Routledge)
↑25	About $65,000 per week in 2022 money
↑26	As Mark Berger indicates, Eltinge’s act was part of a long tradition that disappeared with the decline of vaudeville, and is far removed from what we might expect from a female impersonation act today
↑27	Critic (Adelaide) 2 Nov 1921, P12, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑28	Table Talk (Melb) 17 Aug 1922, P17, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑29, ↑46	Table Talk (Melb) 8 Sept 1921, P39, Via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑30	She claimed to know both Rappe and “Fatty” Arbuckle. This is possible – and Rappe had appeared in a Julian Eltinge film in 1920. See Newcastle Sun (NSW) 21 Sept 1921, P7 via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑31	The Daily Telegraph (Syd), 12 Jul 1922, P10, SYDNEY SHOWS, via National Library of Australia’s Trove
↑32	The Los Angeles Times 6 Sep 1923, P19, via Newspapers.com
↑33	The Los Angeles Evening Post Record, 27 Oct, 1923, P5, via Newspapers.com
↑34	The Los Angeles Times 7 Sep 1923, P9, via Newspapers.com
↑35	The San Francisco Examiner 10 Apr 1923, P13, via newspapers.com
↑36	Los Angeles Evening Post Record, 16 Feb 1924, P16, via Newspapers.com
↑37	Daily News (LA)16 December 1930, P20 via
↑38	The San Francisco Examiner, 29 Jan 1927, P11 and Los Angeles Evening Post Record, 8 Jan 1927, P9. Via Newspaper.com
↑39	Kevin Thomas, The Akron Beacon Journal (Ohio) Aug 28, 1977, P49, via Newspapers.com
↑40	The Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 Jun 1982, P88. Via Newspapers.com
↑41	See for example Dion Thompson’s obituary in The Los Angeles Times, 21 June 1982, P28
↑42	The Philadelphia Inquirer 20 Jun 1982, P88 via Newspapers.com
↑43	Alexander was born in 1903. Western Australia BDM document 6179/1903. Confusingly, both Catherine and Alexander variously adopted Bennett as a surname
↑44	Picture-Play Magazine Sep 1923-Feb 1924, P74. Street and Smith. via Lantern Media History Digital Library
↑45	Photoplay 1925-12, Vol 29 Issue 1, P84, via Lantern Media History Digital Library
↑47	Photoplay magazine, July-Dec 1924, P57. Via Lantern, Media History Digital Library
↑48	See his marriage certificate 1933 here via Family Search

Enid Bennett (1893-1969) – The Australian who kept her accent

Above: Enid Bennett in Fred Niblo’s Strangers of the Night (1923). She was at the height of her Hollywood popularity. Sadly it is a lost film. Via Wikipedia Commons. See below for full frame photo.

The 5 second version

Born Enid Eulalie Bennett, York, Western Australia, Australia, 15 July 1893,
Died Malibu, California, USA 14 May, 1969. Busy on stage in Australia 1910-1915. Also appeared in Fred Niblo’s two Australian films before working in the US. Most active in Hollywood between 1917-1927, during which time she gained great attention. Some later minor roles in sound films and worked until her death for the Christian Science Church. Married to Fred Niblo 1918-48.

Enid Bennett, a young Australian who arrived in the US with Fred Niblo and Josephine Cohan in June 1915, hardly qualifies as “a forgotten Australian actor.” She received widespread publicity in the early 1920s and was, at the time, one of Hollywood’s premier stars. Many of her films still exist and she has been the subject of numerous biographies since her death in 1969.

In Australia

Above: Enid Bennett photographed by May and Mina Moore, C 1910, about the time she began to develop a reputation in Australia. State Library of Victoria, via National Library of Australia’s Trove.

She was born Enid Eulalie Bennett to Francis Bennett and Nellie nee Walker at York, Western Australia in 1893. She had an older brother – Francis Reginald (1891-1917) and a younger sister Marjorie Esme (1896-1982), and two step siblings. Having attempted to open his own school in the inland town of York, about 100 kms east of Perth , Western Australia, her father Francis Bennett became the founding Principal of Guildford Grammar School in 1896. It wasn’t for very long unfortunately. He apparently took his own life in 1898 while suffering the increasingly debilitating effects of locomotor ataxia. Nellie, who seems to have been the school matron, then married the school’s new Principal Alexander D Gillespie in 1898. Two children were born of this union – Catherine Fanny (1901-1978) and Alexander David (born 1903). But Gillespie also died only a few years later.

Enid Bennett’s career can be traced through early performances first in Western Australia and then under the tutelage of Julius Knight. In 1910 visiting US performer Katherine Gray had also encouraged her to pursue a career on stage. In the eastern states she performed in Everywoman with British actress Hilda Spong and another up and coming Australian, Dorothy Cumming, in 1911. However, her major breakthrough was to find work with Fred Niblo and his wife Josephine Cohan, on their extended tour of Australia. About the same time Nellie moved the family back to Sydney, where she had been born, eventually settling down in Rose Bay.

Above: L-R Enid, Fred and Josephine. Such was the fame of the Niblo-Cohan troupe during their three years in Australia, that they regularly featured in Australian papers, and interest continued even after they departed in 1915. These are covers of Sydney’s The Theatre Magazine. Left: January 1920, Centre: November 1912, Right: March 1914. Via State Library of Victoria

Moving to the US

Niblo was effusive about the Australian performers in his company, and young Enid Bennett in particular. In early 1915 he told Perth’s Sunday Times; “Miss Enid Bennett … is a splendid actress, and the Perth people will watch her career with interest and pride,” noting how well she had filled in for Josephine Cohan when she was (often) indisposed. The Niblo-Cohan troupe traveled Australia for three years, despite Josephine’s declining health. In June 1915 Niblo, Cohan and 22 year old Enid packed up and headed for the US on the Matson liner Ventura.

Above: Enid and Fred Niblo performing together in the comedy The Travelling Salesman in Sydney, in March 1915. Theatre Magazine, 1 March 1915. Via State Library of Victoria.

Before they departed, Niblo quickly made two filmed versions of popular plays for J.C.Williamson’s – Get Rich Quick Wallingford and Officer 666. According to film historians Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, the surviving reels of Officer 666 “reveal a crude production doggedly faithful to the stage.” These were Niblo’s first efforts as a director – he was to significantly refine his skills in Hollywood. Watch a clip from Officer 666 here

Soon after arriving in the US, Enid Bennett appeared in a supporting role in Henry Arthur Jones‘ comedy Cock O’ The Walk, a vehicle for popular comedian Otis Skinner being performed in east coast US cities, including New York. At about the same time she also appeared in her first film, A Princess of the Dark for Thomas H. Ince and Triangle Studios.

Above: Enid Bennett in her first US play, Cock O’ the Walk, with Janet Dunbar and Rita Otway, in early 1916. Author’s Collection

Above: Thomas Ince marketing his latest star in March 1917. “El Paso Times”, 2 March 1917. Via Newspapers.com

Enid’s sister Marjorie was to claim that the family pressured her to join Enid in the US, to keep her company. But the early years in Hollywood appear to have a degree of excitement about them even if the transition to work in the US was tough. Sylvia Bremer‘s biographer Ralph Marsden reproduces one photo showing a happy Bremer, Enid and Marjorie Bennett swimming together at California’s Arrowhead Springs, in 1917. According to Theatre historian Desley Deacon, the success of these young Australian women inspired others, including Judith Anderson.

In Australia in late 1917 Nellie, Catherine and Alexander received some catastrophic news. The family’s oldest son, Frank Reginald, had been killed in fighting at Passchendaele, Belgium on 9 October 1917, not long after being promoted to Lieutenant. Nellie’s few letters held in Frank’s Australian military file reflect the deep grief the family must have felt. Soon after, Enid’s two step-siblings packed up and departed for the US on the SS Ventura.

Above: Enid Bennett in The Theatre Magazine, 2 April, 1917. Via State Library of Victoria

Enid and Fred Niblo married in late February 1918 – his first wife Josephine Cohan had died in July 1916. The impending wedding was almost certainly the main reason for the Bennett family’s arrival in the US a few months before. But there the family stayed, all building careers for themselves in the US. For a few years in the early 1920s, Catherine enjoyed a career in comedy films, often with Monty Banks. Alexander Bennett is reported to have become an accountant. Marjorie, the reluctant actress, would eventually build a remarkable career in Hollywood character roles from the late 1940s, after a long career on stage, including two years performing back in Australia (1921-23).

The Niblo-Bennett wedding in 1918. All of the family were in attendance. The Green Room, 1 June 1918, P23. Via State Library of New South Wales.

Catherine and Enid Bennett, c 1924. Photoplay magazine, July-Dec 1924, P57. Via Lantern, Media History Digital Library.

Fred Niblo’s first US directing experience was The Marriage Ring, with Enid in a leading role, in 1918. He had learned a lot since the days of his Australian film experience; he went on to direct until the early 1930s and the first years of sound film. Kevin Brownlow has documented Niblo’s work on one of his most famous films – Ben Hur, a Tale of the Christ made in 1925. Like Enid, he also took on small acting roles in sound films later in life. He died in 1948.

Enid Bennett was busy – her most prolific period was the ten years between 1917-1927. There were some stand-out roles in films that still survive. These included Robin Hood in 1922 with Douglas Fairbanks, The Sea Hawk with fellow Australian Mark McDermott, and The Red Lily with Ramon Novarro, both in 1924, the latter also being directed by Niblo.

Above – The author’s favourite photo of Enid Bennett as she appeared in Fred Niblo’s Strangers of the Night (1923). Via Wikipedia Commons (which has more than 50 public domain images of her).

Enid later in Life

Did she retire? Well, not exactly. As noted below, Enid continued to act until the early 1940s. A great Hollywood hostess, she earned a reputation for entertaining, and sometimes newspapers published her favourite recipes. In addition, she had another and more significant interest. By 1930, Enid Bennett was an active Christian Scientist, in company with many Hollywood actors – including Mary Pickford, Joan Crawford, Ginger Rogers and Dick Powell.

She remained so to the end of her life, and there is plenty of evidence she devoted much of her time and expertise in front of the camera and microphone in the cause of the church, particularly after the death of her first husband Fred Niblo, in 1948. She regularly appeared on radio and TV, sometimes credited as Enid Bennett Niblo, hosting short Christian Science programs on healing, including Light of Faith and How Christian Science heals.

Above: The Melbourne Age, 18 August 1956, reporting on Enid’s work as a Christian Scientist but already seriously muddled up about her connection to Australia. (If she ever lived in St Kilda, Melbourne it wasn’t for very long.) Via newspapers.com

Enid and Fred had three children in the 1920s – Loris, Peter and Judith. They also parented Niblo’s son Fred Junior, from his marriage with Josephine. Late in life, Enid married family friend and former film director Sidney Franklin. But Enid Bennett’s ashes were interned next to Fred Niblo’s after her sudden death in May 1969.

Marjorie Bennett outlived all her siblings. She died in Hollywood in 1982, working almost to the end of her life.

Enid Bennett’s accent

Although most famous as a silent star, what interests this writer is her accent, as evidenced by her voice in the talkies she appeared in between 1931 and 1941. It is not the very broad and theatrical accent often heard when an “Australian voice” is used in Hollywood films, or a faux-British one, but the authentic accent of many middle-class Australians living on the coastal fringe.

Why accents evolve and vary as they do is well beyond the scope of this article, but it is safe to note that Bennett’s accent is a feature of her ethnicity, social standing and education. Desley Deacon has also established that middle-class girls like Bennett often attended schools of acting and elocution as a first step on the path to acting on stage and screen. Her accent and vocabulary is clearly one of middle Australia, perhaps tending a little to the broad accent on pronunciation of certain words – See more on accents here.

It is also notable that Enid Bennett plays essentially the same role in all these films – usually an earnest and thoroughly decent mother figure. Here are some examples:

The Big Store (1941)

In this well known Marx Brothers comedy, Bennett plays an unnamed store clerk in the millinery department. Nasty Miss Peggy Arden (played by Marion Martin) makes life very hard for her. (Harpo Marx then plays a clever trick on Miss Peggy – which is the point of the scene.)

Above: Screen grab of 48 year old Enid Bennett in her final film role – the Marx Brothers film The Big Store, of 1941. The film is widely available on DVD. Author’s collection.

Strike Up the Band (1940)

Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland star in this cheerful Busby Berkeley musical. In this scene Bennett is welcoming Jimmy, although he soon learns he is not allowed to play at her daughter Barbara’s birthday.

Above: This is Rooney as Jimmy Connors, with Enid Bennett playing Mrs Morgan and June Preisser as her daughter Barbara Morgan. Strike Up The Band, 1940. Author’s collection.

Meet Dr Christian (1939)

This is the first of six Dr Christian films made between 1939 and 1941, starring (and partly written by) Danish actor Jean Hersholt, as the sensible small town Doctor. Enid Bennett plays the Mayor’s wife, but her role is not reprised in the later films. In this scene she is talking to her husband.

Above: Screen grab of Enid Bennett as Mrs Hewitt in Meet Dr Christian. This film is widely available, and apparently now in the public domain. Author’s Collection.

Waterloo Bridge (1931)

Waterloo Bridge was based on the play of the same name by Robert Sherwood. In this scene Mrs Wetherby (Enid Bennett) welcomes her son Roy’s new girlfriend Myra (Mae Clarke) and insists she stays, not yet knowing she is really a prostitute. When Myra admits this later to Mrs Wetherby, she is unbelievably nice about it, although naturally she doesn’t think marriage is a good idea.

Above: Screen grab of Enid Bennett from Waterloo Bridge (1931). The film is still available from TCM. Author’s Collection.

Skippy (1931)

Director Norman Taurig won the Academy Award for Best Director for this film. Jackie Cooper‘s character might be regarded as tiresome today, but in 1931 the film was immensely popular. Enid Bennett plays Skippy’s mother and Dr Herbert Skinner’s wife. A sequel was made with many of the actors reprising their roles, including Bennett.

This is a sound clip from the beginning of the film, where the Skinners are having breakfast while Skippy is still lying in bed upstairs pretending to get dressed.

Above: Screen grab of Willard Robertson and Enid Bennett as Skippy’s parents, in the breakfast scene that begins the film. Skippy is available from TCM. Author’s Collection

Nick Murphy
February 2020

Further Reading

Online

Film – Robin Hood 1922 – on Youtube and Internet Archive
Film clip –Officer 666 National Film and Sound Archive
State Library of Victoria
State Library of New South Wales
National Library of Australia – Trove.
- May and Mina Moore Collection
- The Daily News, 3 Aug 1910. Page 3
- The Lone Hand, 1 August 1913. Pages 326-7
- The Leader, (Vic) 30 Dec 1911. Page 27
- Sunday Times 21 Mar 1915. Page 25
- The Catholic Paper – Freeman’s Journal, 10 Dec 1931. Page 3
- The Age, 18 August 1956. Page 11
Peter Niblo (2006) –Remembering My Father, Fred Niblo The Silents are Golden website
Australian Live Performance Database
AusStage – Enid Bennett
Austage – Majorie Bennett
Newspapers.com
- Boston Globe. 13 July 1916. (This extraordinary newspaper article attributes Josephine Cohan’s death to “Too much dancing” rather than heart disease, which it was)
- New York Tribune. 2 August 1915. P9
- El Paso Times 2 March 1916 P9
- Los Angeles Times. 30 Oct 1935. P13

Text

Kevin Brownlow (1968) The Parade’s Gone By. University of California Press.
Desley Deacon (2008) “Cosmopolitans at Home: Judith Anderson and the American aspirations of J C Williamson’s Stock Company Members” in Robert Dixon, Veronica Kelly (Eds) Impact of the Modern: Vernacular Modernities in Australia 1870s-1960s. University of Sydney.
Desley Deacon (2013) Australasian Journal of Victorian Studies. Vol 18, No 1 “From Victorian Accomplishment to Modern Profession: Elocution Takes Judith Anderson, Sylvia Bremer and Dorothy Cumming to Hollywood, 1912-1918“
Desley Deacon (2019) Judith Anderson: Australian Star, First Lady of the American Stage. Kerr Publishing.
Al Kemp, Tina Kemp (2002) Enid Bennett A Forgotten Star : Life of a Jazz Actress
Pen Productions Media/Publishing. [Book could not be sourced for this narrative]
Ralph Marsden (2016) Who was Sylvia? An autobiography of Sylvia Breamer. Screencrafts Productions.
Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper (1980) Australian Film 1900-1977. Oxford University Press
Hal Porter (1965) Stars of Australian Stage and Screen. Rigby
Scott Wilson (2016) Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons. Third Edition. McFarland and Co.

This site has been selected for preservation in the National Library of Australia’s Pandora archive

Off to Australia

The Australian contracts

Fred Niblo’s first films

Fred and Josephine, and being in Australia

Nick MurphyNovember 2025

References

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She was probably engaged to actor Lewis Willoughby, but the couple parted company in 1918, and Gwen announced her intention to “divorce” him in 1923. Fred Niblo’s ringing endorsement about her skills as an actor dates from the same time.

Interviewed in 1947 for Radio Who’s Who, she listed one of her recreations as “sea travel,” which was fortunate, as she is amongst the best travelled Australian actors of the era. She died in London in 1968.

Australian career

Enter Lewis Willoughby 1915

Establishing herself internationally

A career on British radio

Note 1- Lewis Willoughby (c 1876-1968)

References

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The Five Second version

Younger sister Catherine Bennett also briefly appeared in Hollywood films.

The Bennett family

The family together in the US

Touring with Julian Eltinge and a return to Australia

Trouble with Getting Gertie’s Garter

200 screen characters

Note 1: Catherine Bennett (1901-1978)

References

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Above: Enid Bennett in Fred Niblo’s Strangers of the Night (1923). She was at the height of her Hollywood popularity. Sadly it is a lost film. Via Wikipedia Commons. See below for full frame photo.

In Australia

Above: Enid Bennett photographed by May and Mina Moore, C 1910, about the time she began to develop a reputation in Australia. State Library of Victoria, via National Library of Australia’s Trove.

Moving to the US

Above: Enid and Fred Niblo performing together in the comedy The Travelling Salesman in Sydney, in March 1915. Theatre Magazine, 1 March 1915. Via State Library of Victoria.

Above: Enid Bennett in her first US play, Cock O’ the Walk, with Janet Dunbar and Rita Otway, in early 1916. Author’s Collection

Above: Thomas Ince marketing his latest star in March 1917. “El Paso Times”, 2 March 1917. Via Newspapers.com

Above: Enid Bennett in The Theatre Magazine, 2 April, 1917. Via State Library of Victoria

The Niblo-Bennett wedding in 1918. All of the family were in attendance. The Green Room, 1 June 1918, P23. Via State Library of New South Wales.

Catherine and Enid Bennett, c 1924. Photoplay magazine, July-Dec 1924, P57. Via Lantern, Media History Digital Library.

Above – The author’s favourite photo of Enid Bennett as she appeared in Fred Niblo’s Strangers of the Night (1923). Via Wikipedia Commons (which has more than 50 public domain images of her).

Enid later in Life

Above: The Melbourne Age, 18 August 1956, reporting on Enid’s work as a Christian Scientist but already seriously muddled up about her connection to Australia. (If she ever lived in St Kilda, Melbourne it wasn’t for very long.) Via newspapers.com

Enid Bennett’s accent

Above: Screen grab of 48 year old Enid Bennett in her final film role – the Marx Brothers film The Big Store, of 1941. The film is widely available on DVD. Author’s collection.

Above: This is Rooney as Jimmy Connors, with Enid Bennett playing Mrs Morgan and June Preisser as her daughter Barbara Morgan. Strike Up The Band, 1940. Author’s collection.

Above: Screen grab of Enid Bennett as Mrs Hewitt in Meet Dr Christian. This film is widely available, and apparently now in the public domain. Author’s Collection.

Above: Screen grab of Enid Bennett from Waterloo Bridge (1931). The film is still available from TCM. Author’s Collection.

Above: Screen grab of Willard Robertson and Enid Bennett as Skippy’s parents, in the breakfast scene that begins the film. Skippy is available from TCM. Author’s Collection

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Nick Murphy
November 2025