Dorothy Ward
Dorothy Ward | |
---|---|
Born | Aston, Birmingham, England | 26 April 1890
Died | 30 March 1987 | (aged 96)
Nationality | British |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1906–1957 |
Spouse | |
Children | Peter Glenville |
Dorothy Ward (26 April 1890 – 30 March 1987) was an English actress who specialised in pantomimes, playing the principal boy roles, while her husband Shaun Glenville would play the dame roles.[1][2] She had a successful 52 year career and played in over 40 pantomimes between 1905 and 1957.
Early career
Ward was born in
Following her success in this Robert Courtneidge offered her the role of Betty in the Edwardian musical comedy The Dairymaids at the Apollo Theatre in London (1906) opposite Phyllis Dare and Walter Passmore.[4][5] The Christmas season of 1906 saw her as Dandini in the pantomime Cinderella at Edinburgh, where she understudied the role of Prince Charming; when the principal player fell ill Ward had her first opportunity to play principal boy. She next created the non-speaking role of Etoff in Edward German's comic opera Tom Jones at the Apollo Theatre in London (1907),[6] and in 1908 she played Princess Helene in the operetta A Waltz Dream at the Hicks Theatre.[7][8] This was followed by George Edwardes's production of Havana at the Gaiety Theatre[8] before joining the cast of The Gay Gordons at the Aldwych Theatre.[2]
In his history of Daly's Theatre D. Forbes Winslow wrote of this period:
Dorothy said one of the happiest times of her life was when she was with George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre, understudying at the age of sixteen several parts in Havana. She got her chance to play the lead. Edwardes gave her her first big chance in London as the Princess in A Waltz Dream. After the first performance he presented her with a quaint ring: it consisted of two large diamonds, set one on each side of a shamrock leaf in emeralds – similar to the one he gave to Lily Elsie when she made her first big hit in The Merry Widow.[8]
She played Robin Hood in the pantomime The Babes in the Wood at the Prince of Wales Theatre in her home town of Birmingham (1909–10) followed by the title role in the pantomime Little Jack Horner at Newcastle in (1910–11) in which the Dame was played by the young Irish actor Shaun Glenville. The two married in 1911.[9] Their son was actor/director Peter Glenville (1913–1996).[2]
Peak years
Ward became noted as one of the leading
Ward and Glenville had been cast in Mother Goose at the Alhambra Theatre in Glasgow for the Christmas pantomime in 1921. At the last minute, however, Ward was called to replace
At the outbreak of World War II Ward was among the first entertainers to join ENSA, for whom she toured France entertaining the troops.[2] By now the couple were quite wealthy and included a Rolls-Royce car among their possessions. The actor Roy Hudd wrote of Ward's appearance as Colin the Miller's Son in a pantomime of Puss in Boots in 1941:
At the dress rehearsal she made her first entrance in her "poor boy" costume but wearing a positive fistful of diamond rings. She was very proud of how well she'd done, and wanted everyone else to know it too. At the end of the run-through, Emile Littler said, "Dorothy, darling, you’re supposed to be the poor miller’s son. I think we should dispense with the diamond rings".
Dorothy said nothing, but on the opening night she came on with her hands behind her back and said, "Here I am, Colin the poor miller’s son". She then waved her bejewelled hands at the audience and added, "and look what the Good Fairy keeps giving me!"[13]
From October 1944 to January 1945 Ward played Loretta Zelma in Meet Me Victoria at the
Songs and recordings
During her career Ward performed a number of songs by her and Glenville's friend, Fred Godfrey, including: 'Meet Me Jenny When The Sun Goes Down' in pantomime in Belfast in 1908. Ward is known to have recorded four Godfrey songs: 'Blue Eyes' (Regal G-7170, 1915); 'Tommy’s Learning French' (Regal G-7219, 1915); 'I Love My Motherland' (Regal G-7418, 1916); and 'Take Me Back To Dear Old Blighty' (Regal G-7398, 1916). Also, from information gathered from sheet music covers and other sources she also sang Godfrey’s 'It’s The Way They Have In The Navy' (1914); 'I’m Coming Back To Old Kilkenny' (1915); 'Take Me Back To Your Heart' (1915); 'You Were The First One To Teach Me To Love' (1916); 'Down Texas Way' (1917); 'Open Your Heart And Let The Sunshine In' (1920); 'Till You Come Back Again' (1926); 'Arm In Arm Together' (1931); and 'There Is Always A Silver Lining' (1939).[15]
Later years
She was interviewed as a castaway on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs on 23 December 1954.[16] She and her husband jointly retired to London in 1957,[17] where Glenville died in 1968.
Music hall historian W. Macqueen-Pope called her:
a handsome and striking woman, with auburn hair, wonderful carriage and fine figure. ... Tights become her, they are second nature to her and she understands pantomime and its topsy turviness. To see her as "Jack" in Jack and the Beanstalk defy the giant outside his castle, wearing shining armour and then join in mortal combat with him in his own kitchen, clad in trailing clouds of gauze and silk, is to witness true pantomime. ... [She] left the halls plenty of fine songs.[18]
Dorothy Ward died aged 96 in Hendon in London on 30 March 1987.[1][19]
References
- ^ a b c d "The Home of Dorothy Ward". Archived from the original on 18 December 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "It's Behind You - Dorothy Ward and Shaun Glenville". Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- ^ 1891 England Census for Dorothy Ward: Warwickshire, Birmingham, St George - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- ^ Photograph of Dorothy Ward in The Dairymaids - National Portrait Gallery, London Collection
- ^ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books, p. 288
- ^ Cast list for Tom Jones (1907) - British Musical Theatre website
- ^ Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909, p. 399
- ^ a b c D. Forbes-Winslow, Daly's - The Biography of a Theatre, W. H. Allen & Co., London (1944)
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1837-1915 for Dorothy Ward (1911) - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
- ^ W. MacQueen-Pope, The Melodies Linger On: The Story of Music Hall, (London: W.H. Allen, 1950), p. 340
- ^ Dorothy Parker, Dorothy Parker: Complete Broadway, 1918–1923, iUniverse LLC (2014) - Google Books p. 224
- ^ Dan Dietz, The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals, Rowman & Littlefield 2019) - Google Books p. 62
- ^ Hudd, Roy. Roy Hudd’s Book of Music-Hall, Variety and Showbiz Anecdotes, Robson Books (1998), p. 69
- ^ J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books p. 172
- ^ "Dorothy Ward (1890–1987)". Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- ^ "Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Dorothy Ward". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
- ^ The Daily Telegraph Third Book of Obituaries: Entertainers, ed. Hugh Massingberd, Pan Books, 1998 (Macmillan, 1997), p. 10
- ^ MacQueen-Pope, W. (1950). The Melodies Linger On: The Story of Music Hall. London: W.H. Allen. pp. 339–340.
- ^ Dorothy Ward-Glenville, England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007 - Ancestry.com (subscription required)
External links
- Tribute site by a family member, with many pictures. (Link now via Internet Archive]
- Portraits of Dorothy Ward - National Portrait Gallery, London