Lydia Bilbrook (6 May 1888 – 4 January 1990; sometimes credited as Bilbrooke) was an English actress whose career spanned four decades, first as a stage performer in the West End, and later in films. Bilbrook made her first stage appearance in 1906 and her last in 1924. She created roles in ''

Where the Rainbow Ends ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a children's play, originally written for Christmas 1911 by Clifford Mills and John Ramsey. The incidental music was composed by Roger Quilter. ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a fantasy story which follows the journe ...

'' (1911), '' The Great Adventure'' (1913), and '' Dear Brutus'' (1917). She played the role of Alice Hobson in the first London production of ''

Hobson’s Choice A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that multiple choices are available. The most well known Hobson's choice is "I'll give you a choice: take it or leav ...

'' (1916). She retired from the stage after her second marriage, in 1924, but appeared in several films between 1940 and 1949, most of them made during her residence in the US during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

and early post-war years.

Life and career

Early years

Bilbrook was born Phillis Lydia Macbeth, in

Billbrook Billbrook () is a quarter of Hamburg, Germany, in the borough of Hamburg-Mitte. It is located on the southeastern border of the borough adjacent to the borough of Bergedorf. Billbrook is located in a swamp area near the Elbe and Bille rivers, ...

, Somerset, daughter of the painter

Robert Walker Macbeth Robert Walker Macbeth (30 September 1848 – 1 November 1910) was a Scottish painter, etcher and watercolourist, specialising in pastoral, pastoral landscape and the rustic genre. His father was the portrait painter Norman Macbeth and his niec ...

and his wife Lydia Esther, ''née'' Bates.Parker, Gaye and Herbert, p. 207"Phyllis Lydia MacBeth"
Ancestry UK. Retrieved 31 August 2021 She was a student at

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...

's Academy of Dramatic Art (later the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art). In October 1906 she appeared with Tree on tour in

Kinsey Peile Frederick Kinsey Oman Peile (20 December 1861 –13 April 1934), known professionally as F.KinseyPeile or Kinsey Peile, was a British actor and playwright. During a forty-year stage career he created roles in plays by Oscar Wilde and Noël Coward ...

's adaption of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's ''The Man Who Was''.

Stage career

In May 1907 Bilbrook (spelling her stage surname as "Bilbrooke") made her first appearance on the London stage, at the

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by th ...

, in the role of the Countess Carina in Robert Marshall's comedy ''A Royal Family'', starring

Henry Ainley Henry Hinchliffe Ainley (21 August 1879 – 31 October 1945) was an English actor. Life and career Early years Ainley was born in Morley, near Leeds, on 21 August 1879, the only son and eldest child of Richard Ainley (1851–1919), a textile ...

and

Alexandra Carlisle Alexandra Carlisle (born Alexandra Elizabeth Swift, 15 January 1886 – 21 April 1936) was an English actress and suffragist who settled in the United States. She was also known in the U.S. as Alexandra Carlisle Pfeiffer, adding the name of her t ...

. She appeared at the Comedy Theatre in December 1907 as Tiny Montague in ''Angela'', a farce by Georges Duval and Cosmo Gordon-Lennox, starring

Allan Aynesworth Edward Henry Abbot-Anderson (14 April 1864, Sandhurst, Berkshire – 22 August 1959, Camberley, Surrey), known professionally as Allan Aynesworth, was an English actor and producer. His career spanned more than six decades, from 1887 to 194 ...

and Marie Tempest. In 1908 she appeared at the Comedy Theatre as Nellie Sellenger to Tempest's Mrs Dot in Somerset Maugham's play ''Mrs Dot''. The drama critic of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' judged Bilbrook's performance to be "flirtingly pleasant". She then joined George Alexander's company at the

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...

, where in February 1909 she played the Countess of Rassendyl in ''The Prisoner of Zenda'', and subsequently Princess Flavia in the same play. Also for Alexander's company she played Madge Rockingham in ''Colonel Smith''. In 1909 she married the actor

Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs. Career The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...

. They had one child, a daughter, Blossom (1911–1927). The marriage was later dissolved. Between September 1900 and October 1910 Bilbrook was in five West End productions – as Helene in ''Madame X'', Mrs Otto Rosenberg in ''Smith'', Ethel Morley in ''The House of Temperley'', Adele in ''A Bolt from the Blue'', and Odette de Versannes in ''Inconstant George''. In September 1911 she appeared as Stephanie Julius in the comedy ''The Great Name'' with Charles Hawtrey (and, in a small role, the boy actor

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

). During the 1911–12 Christmas season she appeared as Mrs Carey at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

in Hawtrey's production of a new "fairy play" for children, ''

'', with a largely juvenile cast that included Coward,

Philip Tonge Philip Asheton Tonge (26 April 1897 – 28 January 1959) was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he was a child actor, making his stage debut at the age of five. Among the stars with whom he performed while he was a boy were Henry I ...

and Esmé Wynne. Between 1911 and her retirement from the stage in 1924, Bilbrook appeared in 14 more West End productions and one on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. Among her roles were Honoria Looe in

Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett (27 May 1867 – 27 March 1931) was an English author, best known as a novelist. He wrote prolifically: between the 1890s and the 1930s he completed 34 novels, seven volumes of short stories, 13 plays (some in collaboratio ...

's long-running comedy '' The Great Adventure'' (1913), Alice Hobson in the London production of ''

'' (1916), and Lady Caroline Laney in

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

's '' Dear Brutus'' (1917). In 1923 she toured America with

Cyril Maude Cyril Francis Maude (24 April 1862 — 20 February 1951) was an English actor-manager. Biography Maude was born in London and educated at Wixenford and Charterhouse School. In 1881, he was sent to Adelaide, South Australia, on the clipper ship ...

and

Mabel Terry-Lewis Mabel Gwynedd Terry-Lewis (born as Mabel Gwynedd Lewis) ( 28 October 1872 – 28 November 1957) was an English actress and a member of the Terry-Gielgud dynasty of actors of the 19th and 20th centuries. After a successful career in her twe ...

, playing Lady Tybar in ''If Winter Comes'', playing at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

in April and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in the autumn. At the

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was ...

in April 1924 Bilbrook appeared in her final stage role, Mrs Cattestock, in ''A Perfect Fit'', a comedy by

Arthur Wimperis Arthur is a common male given name of Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. Another theory, more w ...

and Harry M. Vernon. In October 1924, in Paris, she married a journalist, George Harrison Brown (1893–1977). She did not appear on stage after her second marriage. The couple had one child, Felicity, born in 1928.

Later career: films

Bilbrook had appeared in the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized 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) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s ''A Place in the Sun'' (1916) and ''Smith'' (1917), but her main film career began after she moved to the US in 1939. Her American film roles included Lady Copewell in '' Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' (1941), Lady Epping in three films in the popular RKO "Mexican Spitfire" comedies with Leon Errol (1941–42), Susan in the Sherlock Holmes mystery '' The Spider Woman'' (1943), Millie in ''

Passport to Destiny ''Passport to Destiny'' is a 1944 RKO Radio Pictures war film, starring Elsa Lanchester as an English charwoman who, believing herself invulnerable by being protected by a magic eye amulet, travels to Nazi Germany to personally assassinate Adolf ...

'' (1944), Mrs Manby in ''

The Brighton Strangler ''The Brighton Strangler'' is a 1945 American crime film directed by Max Nosseck and starring John Loder, June Duprez and Michael St. Angel. During the blitz in wartime London, an actor suffers concussion and believes himself to be the characte ...

'' (1945) and Mrs Vane in ''

The Picture of Dorian Gray ''The Picture of Dorian Gray'' is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde. A shorter novella-length version was published in the July 1890 issue of the American periodical '' Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''.''The Picture of Dorian G ...

'' (1945). In 1949 she appeared in a British film, ''

All Over the Town ''All Over the Town'' is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Derek N. Twist and starring Norman Wooland, Sarah Churchill and Cyril Cusack. It was based on the 1947 novel by R. F. Delderfield. Premise After serving in the RAF during the ...

'', in the role of Mrs Vane."Lydia Bilbrook"
British Film Institute. Retrieved 31 August 2021 Bilbrook died at Bromham Hall, Bromham, Bedfordshire on 4 January 1990 aged 101.

References

Sources

* * *

External links

*
Bilbrook
on the National Portrait Gallery website
Painting of Lydia Bilbrook with her mother
by

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bilbrook, Lydia 1888 births 1990 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Somerset English centenarians English film actresses English stage actresses Women centenarians