Tag: Nellie Stewart

Eileen Robinson – Bright reports & close friends from the USA

Eileen Robinson by Hollywood photographer Max Munn Autrey, c1935. The ‘bright reports’ of Eileen’s early US successes came about courtesy of letters she sent home to her father in Sydney in 1921. Photo courtesy Margaret Leask.
The Five Second Version
The only daughter of Sydney publisher Herbert E.C. Robinson (1857-1933) and Augusta Dahlquist (1862-1914), Eileen was “a young actress with an exceptionally charming personality across the footlights” reported one newspaper after her first professional appearance in 1914.[1]Sunday Times (Sydney)19 Apr 1914 P22 Great success was predicted for her. In 1919 she went to the US, where her older brother Cecil Robinson (aka Ashley Cooper) and niece (Dulcie Cooper) had been performing for more than a decade. She again earned good reviews, but extended returns to visit and perform in Australia every few years meant it was difficult for her to build career momentum in the US.
Her close friend and professional collaborator for a decade, US actress Theresa Carmo,(1906-1990) worked with her in the US and joined her on two extended Australian trips – in 1929-1931 and 1935-1936. Their collaboration included scripting and performing original material for the stage and on radio.
In 1923 she bore a daughter, Peggy, to US actor Alan Brooks (Irving Hayward) (1888 – 1936), but their marriage was short- lived. She died in Sydney in 1955.
Eileen Robinson in an undated photo, most likely from her performances in John Ferguson in San Francisco in 1921. (Enlarged) Courtesy Margaret Leask

At the time of her travel overseas in 1919, Eileen Robinson was spoken of as one of the new generation of successful Australian actresses. She was a direct contemporary of Sylvia Breamer(1897-1943), Dorothy Cumming (1894-1983) and a friend of Judith Anderson(1897-1992), all of whom would make successful careers in the United States. As Andree Wright has noted, “At the time, [these film success] stories convinced readers that ‘with very few exceptions, every Australian who ha[d] ever gone to America ha[d] succeeded beyond expectations.“[2]Andrée Wright (1986) Pps18-19. The inserted quote is from Picture Show, 2 August 1919

Eileen, aged about 25, in 1921,[3]The Triad (Aust) 10 June 1921, P24. Photo has been filtered

Born Eola Eileen Trilby Robinson in Sydney in October 1896, to Herbert Robinson (or “HEC” as he was known – after his initials), a well known map maker and publisher, and his wife Augusta nee Dahlquist.[4]The Daily Telegraph (Syd) 30 Oct 1896, P1 Eileen’s schooling was at Astraea College in Chatswood.[5]Sydney Morning Herald, 26 Nov 1941, P9 While she was still young, her much older brother Cecil (born 1880) threw in his career as a draftsman in Sydney to pursue the stage. In 1905, Cecil [6]later using the name Herbert Robinson and then Ashley Cooper took his young family to the US, spending some years establishing himself.

While a career on the stage continued to be viewed with some suspicion in many Australian homes, it clearly had great credibility in this family. Both Augusta and HEC Robinson were friends of actress Nellie Stewart and Eileen became a good friend of Nellie’s daughter Nancye. Eileen was also known within the family as “Trilby,” a name found in the novel and play popular at the time of her birth.

Company letterhead for HEC Robinson Ltd, showing the address in central Sydney in the 1930s. Courtesy Margaret Leask

By 1912, Eileen was attending classes with well known actor Walter Bentley – later moving to Douglas Ancelon and Stella Chapman’s dramatic school. [7]Daily Telegraph (Syd) 28 March 1914, P14 As Desley Deacon has noted, in the early twentieth century, such acting and elocution schools served a much broader purpose than just knocking off vestiges of a colonial accent. It also taught girls marketable skills and instilled discipline.[8]See Deacon (2013)

In September 1919, Walter Bentley (1849-1927) reminded Sydney readers that Eileen had been one of his successful students, along with Sylvia Bremer and Dorothy Cumming. [9]Freeman’s Journal (Syd) 27 Sept 1919, P1

Eileen’s first professional outings were in productions at Sydney’s Little Theatre, in The Gay Lord Quex in April 1914, followed by a short season in George Bernard Shaw’s Fanny’s First Play. The latter was “her first important role, (where she) scored a decided success. She hit off the Cockney mannerisms very well indeed, and gave the character the required note of impudent familiarity.”[10]The Daily Telegraph (Syd), 12 May 1914, P14

Eileen in a Marie Tempest comedy, in Melbourne in November 1917. Cast members Gwen Burroughs and Nancye Stewart both tried their luck overseas.[11]State Library of Victoria

Eileen’s first contract with JC Williamson’s was for a 1916 revival of the very popular Get Rich Quick Wallingford, on £5 per week – a modest salary but still more than twice the Australian “minimum wage” of the time. [12]JC Williamson’s contracts, Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne By the end of World War 1, she had almost three years of strong stage experiences performing in Australia under her belt, including tours with visiting actors like Marie Tempest (1864-1942) and Margaret Wycherly (1881-1956). Like so many of her contemporaries at this time, Eileen embarked for the US in early 1919. She travelled with Nancye Stewart – the adventure being described as a “six month holiday.”[13]See The Daily News (WA)1 Mar 1919, P3

Like many young Australian actresses, 18 year old Eileen was paid to advertise cosmetics.[14]The Bulletin (Aust) 26 Nov 1914, P45

In later years there were oblique references to how hard it was to establish herself.[15]The Sun (Syd) 7 Aug 1921, P17 However, in early 1920 she was offered a small role on Broadway in Trimmed in Scarlet, with Maxine Elliott. The New York Tribune dismissed it as the “silliest play of the season”, which may explain its short run.[16]New York Tribune, 3 Feb 1920, P11 Enthusiastic Australian newspaper reports claimed she appeared in films for Famous Players–Lasky, a claim now difficult to verify, but she is known to have found a supporting role in Mid-Channel, a film with popular cinema actor Clara Kimball Young(1890-1960).[17]Sydney Mail, 4 Aug 1920, P13 By extraordinary chance, this film has survived.[18]It can be seen here

Clara Kimball Young and Eileen Robinson in Mid-Channel (1920) Eileen Robinson has marked herself “me!” under the photo. Most online sources incorrectly credit her as playing Mrs Pierpoint, rather than the daughter Ethel Pierpoint. Photo courtesy Margaret Leask.

There was a brief mention in one Australian magazine that although she enjoyed the novelty of “picture acting”, she preferred the legitimate stage.[19]Everyone’s.(Aust) 10 August 1921, P5 Her one outing in film was rarely mentioned again.

However, it was Eileen’s work in the the play John Ferguson, first at San Francisco’s Columbia Theatre in early 1921 and then on tour, that brought her greatest acknowledgement.[20]6 weeks of touring is mentioned in Variety, March 11, 1921, P28 An oft-cited review in the San Francisco Call reported “Eileen Robinson, young, beautiful, clever, plays the role of Hannah, daughter of John Ferguson. All eyes are turned on her the moment she enters the stage. Her voice contains that undefined something that attracts respectful attention. She is a most finished actress. In her principal scene her interpretation of her part is such that when the tenseness of the moment was over the audience broke into the most enthusiastic applause of the evening. Miss Robinson scored every moment during the rest of the play.”[21]San Francisco Call, 1 February 1921, P4

Eileen’s father passed this and similar wonderful reviews on to the Sydney papers. Also of interest to Australians was the fact that well-known Queensland actor, Tempe Pigott, was in the John Ferguson cast. Eileen wrote to her father that she was “having a glorious time” and was “enjoying herself immensely.”[22]The Daily Telegraph (Syd) 21 May 1921 P8 She ended her US experience with a series of performances at the Denham Theatre in Colorado. By August 1921, she was back in Sydney.

Almost immediately she went on stage with comedian Bert Gilbert, touring on the Tivoli circuit. At the same time she reassured journalists that she would soon return to the US. This seems to have been because, while in the US, she had met US writer and actor Alan Brooks (Irving Hayward) and the couple apparently sustained a long distance relationship for more than six months.[23]The Daily Mail (Qld) 4 Mar 1922, P11, mentions she will soon marry She departed Australia again, in April 1922, taking the SS Osterley, bound straight for Southampton, England, because Brooks was now presenting his own play Dollars and Sense throughout Britain. Eileen joined him onstage on tour, and the couple married in Paddington in January 1923.

By June 1923, she was back in Australia yet again, with Brooks, and despite being pregnant, she appeared with him on the Tivoli circuit for the opening weeks of an Australian season of Dollars and Sense. Newspapers reported he was “very proud” of his wife. Eileen was “splendid” he told Australians.[24]The Sun (Syd) 9 Jun 1923, P6 A daughter, Peggy, was born of the union in Sydney in July 1923. Several months later, they departed for the US- first Brooks, followed a few months later by Eileen and baby Peggy.

Eileen reappeared on the US stage in San Francisco in early 1926, in the comedy A Man’s Man. Sometime in 1926 or 1927 she met Theresa Carmo, an actress about ten years her junior, who was making a name for herself in ingenue roles. As subsequent events show, the two became trusted friends.

Eileen on stage with Lowell Sherman (1888-1934) in Los Angeles in 1928 [25]The Los Angeles Times, 15 Jul 1928, P44

In early 1929, Eileen and Theresa were on stage together in the comedy One Wild Night at Los Angeles’ Theater Mart, when they decided to pack up and move to Australia. We don’t know the context or exact reason for this dramatic move – perhaps Eileen wanted to see her father again, or perhaps they thought the depression would be easier to manage in Australia.[26]It wasn’t, although Carmo did tell one Australian paper that conditions were very bad in the US. See Truth (Bris), 12 Jan 1930 P25 Eileen’s marriage to Alan Brooks had come to an end by this time.[27]The Los Angeles Times 15 Jul 1928, P44 (See Note 1 below)

To the left of the ANZ Bank was the home of HEC Robinson Map publishers at 221 George Street, Sydney. The Robinson’s rooftop apartment can be made out. Eileen lived here with her father, daughter and Theresa Carmo in 1929-1931 [28]Daily Pictorial (Syd) 8 Feb 1931, P19 and again in 1935. Photograph dated 1963. Copyright City of Sydney, Archives & History Resources

Within a few weeks of arriving in Australia in August 1929, Eileen and Theresa were on stage at Sydney’s Tivoli, in a sketch they had written themselves, You’re Another. Eileen’s father escorted Nellie Stewart to watch the show from a box. Eileen announced that she was “tickled to bits! I’ve got lots of flowers and bottles of champagne… America is a dry country!” [29]This was a reference to Prohibition in the US. Daily Telegraph (Syd) 20 Aug 1929, P5 Eileen and Theresa’s US acting credentials meant that they were welcomed and feted by the city’s society and theatrical leaders. For radio, Theresa sang – occasionally in other languages, accompanying herself on the ukulele.[30]The Wireless Weekly, 27 Sept 1929, P54 For the press, Eileen provided recipes from the US and entertaining stories of Hollywood – including a lengthy description of Marion Davies’ 36 bedroom mansion.[31]Poverty Bay Herald (NZ) 12 Oct 1929, P12

Eileen, Theresa Carmo and a very young John Wood (1909-1965) with Yvonne “Fifi” Banvard in January 1930. Courtesy Margaret Leask.

By November 1929 they were appearing with Yvonne Banvard in her touring comedy company. However, by the end of 1930, their stage appearances had come to an end – presumably by choice rather than a lack of opportunity, as they were popular performers. In April 1931 they returned to the US. But this was not to be the end of their Australian connection – as in July 1935, Eileen and Theresa were back in Sydney again.

In the intervening four years, Eileen and Theresa ran an acting studio and children’s Little Theatre in Hollywood, providing elocution and preparing children for performance.[32]Sydney Morning Herald 14 Aug 1935, P7 and The Australian Women’s Weekly, 14 Sept, 1935, P25

The very simple program for Eileen and Theresa’s Theatre of Youth, Christmas 1932. Eileen’s daughter Peggy Brooks also featured.
Courtesy Margaret Leask.

They titled this “The Theatre of Youth.” Although details of the enterprise are sparse, Eileen’s family records confirm that the enterprising pair constructed their own little theatre, with seating for 70. “Three performances were given every month with different casts and programs.”[33]Margaret Leask (2023) In 1938, Eileen took some pride in telling Australians that Hollywood actress Lynn Bari had once been her student.[34]The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 Dec 1938, P21 Others may have included David Holt and Dorothy Gray.[35]Wireless Weekly, April 10, 1936, P21

Eileen and her long time collaborator Theresa Carmo c1935, taken by Max Munn Autry in Hollywood. Photo courtesy Margaret Leask.

When Eileen and Theresa arrived in Sydney again in July 1935, their focus was firmly on radio performance. Together they wrote and performed radio adaptions of popular stories and performed a stream of their own original material – whose titles hint at a range of content – The Lady’s Maid,[36]Australian Women’s Weekly 14 Sept 1935, P28 Therese and Me, the Fairy Clown [37]The Daily Telegraph 11 Feb 1936, P12 and College Daze [38]Sydney Mail, 11 Mar 1936, P34 all for Sydney radio station 2GB. It was a remarkable period of creative collaboration, but sadly only one of Eileen’s short skits has survived – a short solo piece probably designed for radio.

An undated skit by Eileen Robinson, c1935-6. Courtesy Margaret Leask. (Click to enlarge)

Eileen and Theresa’s collaborative radio work came to an end in 1936. Their final broadcast together seems to have been in early May 1936 and soon after this, Theresa went back to the California. In family correspondence there is evidence of a falling out between Theresa and Eileen, but why or over what is no longer known.[39]Personal communication, Margaret Leask to the author, December 2023

Flyer for Eileen’s Little Playhouse, established in Sydney in 1937. Courtesy Margaret Leask

After the death of her father, Eileen took an increasing role in company matters for HEC Robinson Ltd, but she still maintained an interest in the theatre. In 1937, she opened a Little Playhouse in the HEC Robinson Ltd building at 221 George Street Sydney. [40]The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Apr 1937, P18 She had by this time, renovated her father’s old apartment on the top floor, and this became her home.[41]The Sydney Morning Herald 18 Jan 1936, P11

Judith Anderson (Centre) on a visit to the Robinson’s Sydney apartment in July 1944 with Eileen (Right) and daughter Peggy Brooks (Left). Courtesy Margaret Leask. [42]See The Australian Women’s Weekly 29 Jul 1944 P12

Unfortunately relationships within the family were unhappy in later years, and Eileen was estranged from her daughter at the time of her early death in January 1955. In the post war period she sometimes styled herself Eileen Robinson-Brooks, [43]The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1950, P2 and was, more often than not, publicly associated with company business. The following photograph from 1945 concerned her plans to publish books about geography to ensure children enjoyed the subject at school. “Geography should be a wonderful adventure in a child’s education,” she said. [44]The Daily Telegraph(Syd)11 Jan 1945, P16

Eileen at HEC Robinson Ltd in 1945. Photograph courtesy Margaret Leask.

On her return to the US, Theresa Carmo went back to acting for the stage and radio. However, during the early 1940s she changed career and become membership secretary of the Press and Union League Club in San Francisco, a position she held for many years. Interestingly, she stayed connected to some of the Australians she had met through Eileen, even though the former partners were estranged. The 1940 US census shows her boarding with Tempe Pigott, the Queensland-born actor who was, by then 73 years old, but working on regardless.[45]Tempe told the census collector she was 56, and born in England. When Eileen died, it was mutual friend Judith Anderson who told Theresa. Theresa then set about rebuilding the connection with Eileen’s daughter Peggy and her family, later welcoming them on visits to the US and sending letters and presents. Eileen’s granddaughter Margaret Leask recalls her very fondly. Theresa died in California in 1990.[46]Personal communication, Margaret Leask to the author, December 2023

Note 1: Alan Brooks

Brooks appeared in several films in the late 1920s and early 1930s, but his reputation was also built on his work as a writer and vaudeville performer. He also appeared in a number of Broadway performances between 1909 and 1932 and he gained some notoriety when he appeared in Mae West’s scandalous production The Pleasure Man in New York in October 1928. It ran for two performances at the Biltmore Theatre before being shut down by Police, with West and the actors were dragged to court.[47]Times Union (New York) 2 Oct 1928, P1 The experience appears to have done his career little harm. Brooks died of tuberculosis at the National Vaudeville Association’s sanitorium at Saranac Lake, in September 1936, having spent several miserable years in “rest cure.”[48]Variety, 7 Oct 1936, P62

Note 2: Theresa Carmo

Theresa Carmo was born Theresa Maria Perry, probably in Oakland, California in October 1906, although some sources state the Azores, Portugal. She married in 1951 but her husband died in 1954. She had no children. Theresa is reported to have been in episodes of the Lux Radio Theatre in the late 1930s. [49]Including Confession, a 1938 episode – which can be heard at the Internet Archive, here

Nick Murphy
December 2023

References

Special Thanks

  • Margaret Leask, Eileen’s grand daughter. Margaret holds Eileen Robinson’s archive, which includes many of the photos used here. Sincere thanks for her willingness to share some of these, and the long conversation.
  • Claudia Funder at the Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne Australia.
  • Fellow researcher Jean Ritsema in the US

Theatre Heritage Australia

  • Margaret Leask, Paper presented 16 July 2023 for Theatre Heritage Australia. You Never Know Where Stories Will Take You.

New South Wales, Births Deaths & Marriages

  • Birth Certificate 1923 Peggy Hayward (Brooks)

HM Passport Office, General Register Office (UK)

  • Marriage certificate 1923 Hayward – Robinson

Clay Djubal and others: Australian Variety Theatre Archive

Films

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

Text

Primary Sources

  • City of Sydney, Archives & Resources
  • National Library of Australia, Trove
  • State Library of New South Wales
  • State Library of Victoria
  • National Library of New Zealand, Paperspast
  • Ancestry.com
  • Newspapers.com
  • Lantern Digital Media Library@ the Internet Archive
This site has been selected for archiving and preservation in the National Library of Australia’s Pandora archive

Footnotes

Footnotes
↑1 Sunday Times (Sydney)19 Apr 1914 P22
↑2 Andrée Wright (1986) Pps18-19. The inserted quote is from Picture Show, 2 August 1919
↑3 The Triad (Aust) 10 June 1921, P24. Photo has been filtered
↑4 The Daily Telegraph (Syd) 30 Oct 1896, P1
↑5 Sydney Morning Herald, 26 Nov 1941, P9
↑6 later using the name Herbert Robinson and then Ashley Cooper
↑7 Daily Telegraph (Syd) 28 March 1914, P14
↑8 See Deacon (2013)
↑9 Freeman’s Journal (Syd) 27 Sept 1919, P1
↑10 The Daily Telegraph (Syd), 12 May 1914, P14
↑11 State Library of Victoria
↑12 JC Williamson’s contracts, Australian Performing Arts Collection, Melbourne
↑13 See The Daily News (WA)1 Mar 1919, P3
↑14 The Bulletin (Aust) 26 Nov 1914, P45
↑15 The Sun (Syd) 7 Aug 1921, P17
↑16 New York Tribune, 3 Feb 1920, P11
↑17 Sydney Mail, 4 Aug 1920, P13
↑18 It can be seen here
↑19 Everyone’s.(Aust) 10 August 1921, P5
↑20 6 weeks of touring is mentioned in Variety, March 11, 1921, P28
↑21 San Francisco Call, 1 February 1921, P4
↑22 The Daily Telegraph (Syd) 21 May 1921 P8
↑23 The Daily Mail (Qld) 4 Mar 1922, P11, mentions she will soon marry
↑24 The Sun (Syd) 9 Jun 1923, P6
↑25 The Los Angeles Times, 15 Jul 1928, P44
↑26 It wasn’t, although Carmo did tell one Australian paper that conditions were very bad in the US. See Truth (Bris), 12 Jan 1930 P25
↑27 The Los Angeles Times 15 Jul 1928, P44
↑28 Daily Pictorial (Syd) 8 Feb 1931, P19
↑29 This was a reference to Prohibition in the US. Daily Telegraph (Syd) 20 Aug 1929, P5
↑30 The Wireless Weekly, 27 Sept 1929, P54
↑31 Poverty Bay Herald (NZ) 12 Oct 1929, P12
↑32 Sydney Morning Herald 14 Aug 1935, P7 and The Australian Women’s Weekly, 14 Sept, 1935, P25
↑33 Margaret Leask (2023)
↑34 The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 Dec 1938, P21
↑35 Wireless Weekly, April 10, 1936, P21
↑36 Australian Women’s Weekly 14 Sept 1935, P28
↑37 The Daily Telegraph 11 Feb 1936, P12
↑38 Sydney Mail, 11 Mar 1936, P34
↑39, ↑46 Personal communication, Margaret Leask to the author, December 2023
↑40 The Sydney Morning Herald, 1 Apr 1937, P18
↑41 The Sydney Morning Herald 18 Jan 1936, P11
↑42 See The Australian Women’s Weekly 29 Jul 1944 P12
↑43 The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 Dec 1950, P2
↑44 The Daily Telegraph(Syd)11 Jan 1945, P16
↑45 Tempe told the census collector she was 56, and born in England.
↑47 Times Union (New York) 2 Oct 1928, P1
↑48 Variety, 7 Oct 1936, P62
↑49 Including Confession, a 1938 episode – which can be heard at the Internet Archive, here

“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
Lewis Willoughby in Trapped by the Mormons.
  • 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