April Olrich (17 July 1931 – 15 April 2014), born Edith April Oelrichs, was an English ballerina and actress, born in

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...

, now part of Tanzania.

Early life

Edith April Oelrichs was born in

in 1931 (some sources give 1933), where her father was a British diplomat. She also lived in the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, ...

and

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

while she was growing up. She trained as a ballerina in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

at the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón (Spanish: ''Columbus Theatre'') is the main opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acousti ...

, and in New York with George Balanchine."In Memoriam: April Olrich Pegram"
''Royal Ballet School'' (23 April 2014).

Career

Olrich joined the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

in 1949 under Ninette de Valois. She danced with

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

in London from 1950 to 1954, in ''The Sleeping Beauty'', ''Les Sylphides'', ''Coppélia'' , ''Façade'', '' Mam'zelle Angot'', '' Swan Lake'', ''Cinderella'', ''Checkmate'', ''A Wedding Bouquet'', ''Apparitions'', ''A Mirror for Witches'', ''Bonne-bouche'', ''Ballet Imperial'', ''Giselle'', ''Don Juan'', ''The Three-Cornered Hat'', ''Job'', ''Daphnis and Chloe'', ''Ballabile'', ''Veneziana'', ''Homage to the Queen'', ''Tiresias'', and ''Les Patineurs''. After her ballet career, she remained on the London stage as a performer. Olrich appeared in ''Pay the Piper'' (1954–1955), ''

The Balcony ''The Balcony'' (french: Le Balcon) is a play by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It is set in an unnamed city that is experiencing a revolutionary uprising in the streets; most of the action takes place in an upmarket brothel that functions as a ...

'' (1957), ''Honeymoon'' (1957), the musical ''

The Boys from Syracuse ''The Boys from Syracuse'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers and lyrics by Lorenz Hart, based on William Shakespeare's play ''The Comedy of Errors'', as adapted by librettist George Abbott. The score includes swing and other contemporar ...

'' (1963), and the South African folk revue '' Wait a Minim!'' (1964–1966). She accompanied ''Wait a Minim!'' to Broadway from 1966 to 1967. In New York, she won the Whitbread Anglo-American Theatre Award for Outstanding Musical Performance.Richard Anthony Baker
"Obituary: April Olrich"
''The Stage'' (9 May 2014). Theatre critic

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is curren ...

(then a Harvard undergraduate) admired Olrich's appearance, saying, "Then there is April Olrich, who dances and, when she has nothing else to do, just stands facing the audience flashing a pair of large, sparkling eyes. The eyes are part of a body which also seems to throw off a few sparks from time to time." She also appeared in many films including '' Women without Men'' (1956), ''

Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...

'' (aka ''Pursuit of the Graf Spee'') (1957) ''

Kill Me Tomorrow ''Kill Me Tomorrow'' is a 1957 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars Pat O'Brien and Lois Maxwell. It was made by Tempean Films at Southall Studios in West London. The film features a cameo by Tommy Steele.Tom Weaver, ''The H ...

'' (1957), '' Room at the Top'' (1959), '' Deadly Record'' (1959), '' It's All Over Town'' (1964), '' The Skull'' (1966), '' Clinic Exclusive'' (1972), '' Keep It Up Downstairs'' (1976), '' Riding High'' (1981), and ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' (1984). She is probably best known for playing the female lead, Madame Petrovna, opposite

Morecambe and Wise Eric Morecambe (John Eric Bartholomew, 14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984) and Ernie Wise (Ernest Wiseman, 27 November 1925 – 21 March 1999), known as Morecambe and Wise (and sometimes as Eric and Ernie), were an English comic double act, working ...

in the film ''

The Intelligence Men ''The Intelligence Men'' is a 1965 comedy film starring the British comic duo Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise. In the US, it was retitled ''Spylarks''. It is subtitled " M.I.5 plus 2 equals 0". The film was successful enough to enable Morecambe ...

'' (1966). She frequently appeared on British television in both dramatic and comedy roles, most notably an episode of '' The Avengers'' (1963), ''

Fresh Fields ''Fresh Fields'' is a British sitcom starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers. A ratings success at the time, it was written by John Chapman and produced by Thames Television for ITV, running for four series between 7 March 1984 and 23 Oc ...

'' (1985), '' She-Wolf of London'' (1990), and as a game-show panelist in the popular series '' Whodunnit?'' (1976).

Personal life

April Olrich married English actor (and her co-star in ''Wait a Minim!'')

Nigel Pegram Nigel Pegram (born 22 November 1940) is a South African-English actor and voice artist. He is best known for playing Eric in ''Robert's Robots'' (1973–1974), Group-Captain Ruark in ''Get Some In!'' (1977–1978), Sir Reginald in ''All Dogs Go ...

in 1968, in San Francisco.

Death

She died in 2014, in London, aged 82."Obituary: April Olrich"
''The Times'' (23 May 2014). There is an annual April Olrich Award for Dynamic Performance, given at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

in her memory.

References

External links

*
April Olrich's listing at IBDBAn image of Olrich from 1960
at Getty Images
An image of Olrich from 1957
at the Portal to Texas History {{DEFAULTSORT:Olrich, April English stage actresses English ballerinas English film actresses 1931 births 2014 deaths 20th-century English actresses British expatriates in Tanzania