Sylvia Grey

Sylvia Grey (1866–1958) was an English actress, dancer and singer best remembered for her roles in burlesques in London during the Victorian era.

Life and career

Grey was born in London, England, partly of Swiss ancestry. She began her stage career at the age of 10 appearing in child roles in

Trinity College, London

. Grey then sang professionally in a choir while continuing to study singing.

After initially performing a number of small roles at the

A. C. Torr and Adrian Ross). The Dramatic Peerage commented, "The poetry of motion has no more charming exponent than Miss Sylvia Grey".^[2]

In addition to appearing on stage, Grey also taught dance to actors and to wealthy clients, some of whom were drawn from the aristocracy. This provided her with a greater income than that she received from performing at the Gaiety. Among her many prominent students was Ellen Terry.^[2] Grey married in 1893, and her last West End performance was as the Countess Acacia in Baron Golosh in 1895 at the Trafalgar Theatre. During World War I, she ran an Australian Officer's Club in London. She made several French films in the 1920s, including Le Secret de Rosette Lambert (1920), La Maison du mystère (1923, as Marjorie) and Comment j'ai tué mon enfant (1925).

^ St. Johnston, Reginald. A History of Dancing (1906), London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co.
^ ^a ^b Reid, Erskine and Herbert Compton. The Dramatic Peerage, Raithby, Lawrence & Co Ltd, London, 1892, pp. 95–96

Hindson, Catherine. Female Performance Practice on the Fin-de-Siecle Popular Stage of London and Paris: Experiment and Advertisement (2007) Manchester University Press
Biography of Grey