Chili Bouchier (born Dorothy Irene Boucher; 12 September 1909 – 9 September 1999) was an English film actress who achieved success during the
silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) ...
era, and went on to many screen appearances with the advent of sound films, before progressing to theatre later in her career.
Career
Dorothy Irene Boucher was the daughter of an assessor for a painting and decorating firm. As a child, her initial ambition was to be a dancer and she enrolled at a ballet school. She made her first appearance as a child dancer at a charity performance. She became a typist on leaving school and later a model at Harrod's, where her brother worked. Her first appearance was as a bathing belle in '' Shooting Stars''. Bouchier won a contest run by the ''
Daily Mail
The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...
'' in 1927 to become a film star.
In 1928, she appeared in a short film made in the DeForest
Phonofilm
Phonofilm is an optical sound-on-film system developed by inventors Lee de Forest and Theodore Case in the early 1920s.
Introduction
In 1919 and 1920, Lee De Forest, inventor of the audion tube, filed his first patents on a sound-on-film process ...
sound-on-film process, ''Ain't She Sweet'', with Dick Henderson. She was known as Britain's "
It girl
An "it girl" is an attractive young woman, who is perceived to have both sex appeal and a personality that is especially engaging.
The expression ''it girl'' originated in British upper-class society around the turn of the 20th century. ...
", and the answer to
Clara Bow
Clara Gordon Bow (; July 29, 1905 – September 27, 1965) was an American actress who rose to stardom during the silent film era of the 1920s and successfully made the transition to "talkies" in 1929. Her appearance as a plucky shopgirl in the ...
in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
, who was famous for the tag.
She achieved success in the 1930s with the films ''
Carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival ...
'' (1931), directed by
Herbert Wilcox
Herbert Sydney Wilcox CBE (19 April 1890 – 15 May 1977) was a British film producer and director.
He was one of the most successful British filmmakers from the 1920s to the 1950s. He is best known for the films he made with his third wife ...
and ''
Gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...
'' (1937). The latter was made by the British arm of
Warner Brothers
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American Film studio, film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, Califo ...
at
Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also prov ...
, but, like a number of her films, is considered to be lost. She also played the supporting role of
Cleopatra
Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler. ...
in ''
The Ghost Goes West
''The Ghost Goes West'' is a 1935 British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film. The film shows an Old World ghost dealing with America ...
'', starring
Robert Donat
Friedrich Robert Donat (18 March 1905 – 9 June 1958) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his roles in Alfred Hitchcock's '' The 39 Steps'' (1935) and '' Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' (1939), winning for the latter the Academy Award for ...
. During this period, she was brought over to Warner Brothers in Hollywood but broke her contract after being kept hanging around. This reportedly caused her to be blackballed and unable to make another film. Hollywood film producer and business magnate
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in t ...
proposed to her, but Bouchier's great love was the bandleader Teddy Joyce, to whom she was engaged before his premature death.
Despite this setback, she continued to appear in British films until 1960, albeit often in supporting roles in
B-movies
A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...
. Among her later films were Murder in Reverse? (1945), a successful thriller starring
William Hartnell
William Henry Hartnell (8 January 1908 – 23 April 1975) was an English actor. He is best remembered for his portrayal of the first incarnation of the Doctor in '' Doctor Who'' from 1963 to 1966. In film, Hartnell notably appeared in '' Bri ...
, and '' Old Mother Riley's New Venture'' (1949), part of the successful series of Old Mother Riley comedy films.
Bouchier combined her film career with a great deal of stage work in the UK. From 1950, onwards most of her appearances were on stage in dramas, comedies and revues, where she continued to work until well into her eighties.
Marriages
In September 1929, she married the actor Harry Milton (1900-1965) whom she had met on set while filming ''Chick''. The marriage was dissolved in 1937.Papers of Chili Bouchier: Women's Library Archives archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk. Accessed 20 November 2022. She married 23 year-old actor Peter De Greef in 1946 at Kensington in London. They separated a few months later and the marriage was finally dissolved in 1955.
Later years
In 1996, Bouchier published her autobiography, ''Shooting Star'', and received some media attention: she was a guest on the
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of Talk radio, spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history fro ...
series ''
Desert Island Discs
''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942.
Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight recordings (us ...
'' in January, and was the subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in February, when she was surprised by
Michael Aspel
Michael Terence Aspel (born 12 January 1933) is an English retired television newsreader and host of programmes such as '' Crackerjack'', ''Aspel & Company'', '' Give Us a Clue'', ''This is Your Life'', '' Strange but True?'' and '' Antiques R ...
at a book signing session at
Harrods
Harrods Limited is a department store located on Brompton Road in Knightsbridge, London, England. It is currently owned by the state of Qatar via its sovereign wealth fund, the Qatar Investment Authority. The Harrods brand also applies to oth ...
. Featured guests were
Patricia Roc
Patricia Roc (born Felicia Miriam Ursula Herold; 7 June 1915 – 30 December 2003) was an English film actress, popular in the Gainsborough melodramas such as '' Madonna of the Seven Moons'' (1945) and ''The Wicked Lady'' (1945), though she only ...
Peggy Mount
Margaret Rose Mount OBE (2 May 1915 – 13 November 2001) was an English actress. As a child, she found acting an escape from an unhappy home life. After playing in amateur productions, she was taken on by a repertory company and spent nine yea ...
Lionel Blair
Lionel Blair (born Henry Lionel Ogus; 12 December 1928 – 4 November 2021) was a Canadian-born British actor, choreographer, tap dancer, and television presenter. From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, he made regular appearances as a danc ...
Dorothy Tutin
Dame Dorothy Tutin, (8 April 19306 August 2001) was an English actress of stage, film and television. For her work in the theatre, she won two Olivier Awards and two ''Evening Standard'' Awards for Best Actress. She was made a CBE in 1967 and ...
Leslie Ash
Leslie Ash (born 19 February 1960) is an English actress.
She is best known for her roles in ''C.A.T.S. Eyes'' (1985–1987), the BBC sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1997), ITV drama '' Where the Heart Is'' (2000–2003), and BBC medic ...
and
Petula Clark
Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades.
Clark's professional career began during th ...
.
Death
Bouchier died three days short of her ninetieth birthday in her ground floor flat in
Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it m ...
, London following a serious fall.
Her agent, Vincent Shaw, said of her after her death, "She was one of the last of the great pre-war beauties - a fabulous trouper and a lovely lady." Author Michael Thornton, a close friend, said: "Her life was a rollercoaster. She had known great wealth and acclaim, but sadly died alone in virtual poverty in a tiny council flat supported financially by theatrical charities. John Paul Getty was marvellous to her, and always had a crate of champagne delivered to her flat on every birthday. He will be sad to hear of her death."
Selected filmography
* ''
Mumsie
''Mumsie'' is a 1927 British silent drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Pauline Frederick, Nelson Keys and Herbert Marshall. It was adapted from the 1920 play of the same title by Edward Knoblock about a favourite son of a fam ...
Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's ho ...
City of Play
''City of Play'' is a 1929 British drama film directed by Denison Clift and starring Chili Bouchier, Patrick Aherne and Lawson Butt. It was made by Gainsborough Pictures and produced by Michael Balcon. It was made partly in sound.Low p.205
...
Enter the Queen
''Enter the Queen'' is a 1930 British silent short comedy film directed by Arthur Varney and starring Richard Cooper, Dora March, Chili Bouchier and Percy Walsh.
It was made at Beaconsfield Studios as a quota quickie for distribution by ...
'' (1930, Short) - Marjorie Manners
* '' Call of the Sea'' (1930) - Poquita
* ''
Brown Sugar
Brown sugar is unrefined or partially refined soft sugar.
Brown Sugar may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1922 film), a 1922 British silent film directed by Fred Paul
* ''Brown Sugar'' (1931 film), a 1931 ...
'' (1931) - Ninon de Veaux
* ''
Carnival
Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival ...
'' (1931) - Simonetta Steno
* ''
The Blue Danube
"The Blue Danube" is the common English title of "An der schönen blauen Donau", Op. 314 (German for "By the Beautiful Blue Danube"), a waltz by the Austrian composer Johann Strauss II, composed in 1866. Originally performed on 15 Februar ...
Purse Strings
''Purse Strings'' is a 1933 British drama film directed by Henry Edwards and starring Chili Bouchier, Gyles Isham and Allan Jeayes. It was made as a quota quickie at British and Dominion's Elstree Studios.Wood p.79
Cast
* Chili Bouchier as Mary ...
'' (1933) - Mary Willmore
* ''
It's a Cop
''It's a Cop'' is a 1934 British police-themed comedy film directed by Maclean Rogers and starring Sydney Howard, Chili Bouchier and Garry Marsh. It was made at British and Dominion Elstree Studios.Wood p.78
Plot
An incompetent police const ...
Royal Cavalcade
''Royal Cavalcade'', also known as ''Regal Cavalcade'', is a 1935 British, black-and-white, drama film directed by six separate directors: Thomas Bentley (Supervising Director), Herbert Brenon, Norman Lee, Walter Summers, W. P. Kellino and Ma ...
Get Off My Foot
''Get Off My Foot'' is a 1935 British comedy film, directed by William Beaudine and starring Max Miller and Chili Bouchier. It is classed as a lost film.
'' (1935) - Marie
* ''
Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk
''Mr. Cohen Takes a Walk'', also known as ''Father Takes a Walk'', is a 1935 British comedy film directed by William Beaudine, starring Paul Graetz, Violet Farebrother, and Chili Bouchier, and based on a novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart. This was ...
'' (1935) - Julia Levine
* ''
The Ghost Goes West
''The Ghost Goes West'' is a 1935 British romantic comedy/fantasy film starring Robert Donat, Jean Parker, and Eugene Pallette, and directed by René Clair, his first English-language film. The film shows an Old World ghost dealing with America ...
Southern Roses
''Southern Roses'' is a 1936 British musical comedy film directed by Frederic Zelnik and starring George Robey, Gina Malo and Chili Bouchier. It was shot at Denham Studios.Wood p.92 The film's sets were designed by the art director Frederick ...
'' (1936) - Estrella Estrello
* ''
Gypsy
The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with si ...
The Mind of Mr. Reeder
''The Mind of Mr. Reeder'' is a 1939 British mystery crime film directed by Jack Raymond and starring Will Fyffe as Mr. Reeder, with Kay Walsh, George Curzon, and supporting roles for Chili Bouchier, John Warwick and Ronald Shiner.
It was p ...
Murder in Reverse?
''Murder in Reverse'' (also styled ''Murder in Reverse?'') is a 1945 British thriller film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring William Hartnell, Jimmy Hanley and Chili Bouchier. It is based on the story ''Query'' by "Seamark" (Austin J ...
'' (1945) - Doris Masterick
* ''
The Laughing Lady
''The Laughing Lady'' is a 1946 British Technicolor musical drama film directed by Paul L. Stein and starring Anne Ziegler, Webster Booth and Francis L. Sullivan. Based on a play by Ingram D'Abbes, its plot follows a young aristocrat who ma ...
'' (1946) - Louise
* ''
Mrs. Fitzherbert
Maria Anne Fitzherbert (''née'' Smythe, previously Weld; 26 July 1756 – 27 March 1837) was a longtime companion of George, Prince of Wales (later King George IV of the United Kingdom). In 1785, they secretly contracted a marriage that was ...
The Counterfeit Plan
''The Counterfeit Plan'' is a 1957 British crime film directed by Montgomery Tully and starring Zachary Scott and Peggie Castle.The Boy and the Bridge'' (1959) - Publican's Wife
* '' Dead Lucky'' (1960) - Mrs. Winston (final film role)
References
External links
*
*The archives of Chili Bouchier are held at
The Women's Library
The Women's Library is England's main library and museum resource on women and the women's movement, concentrating on Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries. It has an institutional history as a coherent collection dating back to the mid-1920s ...