Beatrice de Leon
Beatrice de Leon | |
---|---|
Born | Beatrice Augusta Lewisohn 12 August 1902 London Borough of Hackney, England |
Died | 16 February 1991 Kew, London, England | (aged 88)
Nationality | British |
Other names | Beatie |
Spouse | Jack de Leon |
Children | Jean de Leon |
Beatrice Augusta de Leon born Beatrice Augusta Lewisohn (12 August 1902 – 16 February 1991) was a British theatre manager, dance school owner and impresario. She and Jack de Leon founded the Q Theatre funded by Delia de Leon.
Life
De Leon was born in the London Borough of Hackney in 1902. Her parents were Lydia Moses and Bernhard Lewisohn; the latter, who died in 1906, was a boot manufacturer. She was taken to the theatre and opera when growing up, and her mother would get her to recite. She learnt typing and shorthand before following her elder brother Victor into the acting profession, training at Herbert Beerbohm Tree's Academy of Dramatic Art. She later did some acting but discovered that she had stage fright.[1]
In 1923 she and Delia de Leon founded the London Academy of Dramatic Art. Two years earlier she had married Delia's brother, Jack de Leon, a solicitor with an interest in the arts.[1]
In 1924, she and her husband took a lease of what had been the Prince's Hall Cinema in Kew. No longer a cinema, it had become a film studio for a while and had in the past been a pub and roller-skating rink. They decided to rename it the
De Leon returned in 1931 to put on productions created by her drama school. She was now in charge and the theatre returned to professional productions, with several transferring to the West End.[1] Jack De Leon died in 1956 and the Q Theatre closed. De Leon and her daughter Jean ran a dance studio at the Richmond Adult College for 30 years.[1] After she retired, Beatie would use her money to back new productions in the West End. One of her successes was to invest in Oliver!
De Leon lived with her sister-in-law Delia in Kew. She died at her home in 1991.[1] The building that contained the Q Theatre was demolished and replaced with a block of flats.[2]
References
- ^ required.)
- ^ a b "Q Theatre in London, GB - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2020-11-01.
- ISBN 978-1-84714-001-2.