Madge Titheradge (2 July 1887 14 November 1961) was an Australian-born actress who became a leading actress in the West End of London and 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 ...

. She began as a child actress before the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and went on to star in the 1920s and 1930s. Her range was unusually wide, including

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

farce Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...

drawing-room comedy In English literature, the term comedy of manners (also anti-sentimental comedy) describes a genre of realistic, satirical comedy of the Restoration period (1660–1710) that questions and comments upon the manners and social conventions of a gre ...

and

Ruritania Ruritania is a fictional country, originally located in central Europe as a setting for novels by Anthony Hope, such as ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1894). Nowadays the term connotes a quaint minor European country, or is used as a placeholder name f ...

n romance. Ill health forced her early retirement from the stage in 1938, and she lived in retirement until her death at her home in Surrey, aged 74.

Life and career

Early years, 1887–1907

Titheradge was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, to a theatrical English family. She was the daughter of the actor George Titheradge and his wife Alma, ''née'' Saegert (Stage name Alma Santon);Parker ''et al'', pp. 2373–2374 her younger brother Dion became an actor and playwright."Obituary: Miss Madge Titheradge", ''The Times'', 15 November 1961, p. 17 She was educated at a private school in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

,"Titheradge, Madge"
''Who's Who & Who Was Who'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 7 April 2019 and in 1902, shortly after her fifteenth birthday, she appeared at the

Garrick Theatre The Garrick Theatre is a West End theatre, located in Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, named after the stage actor David Garrick. It opened in 1889 with ''The Profligate'', a play by Arthur Wing Pinero, and another Pinero play ...

, London, as the Second Water Baby in

Rutland Barrington Rutland Barrington (15 January 1853 – 31 May 1922) was an English singer, actor, comedian and Edwardian musical comedy star. Best remembered for originating the lyric baritone roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operas from 1877 to 1896, his ...

's adaptation of '' The Water Babies''. Barrington recalled in his memoirs "Madge Titheradge was our première danseuse and made a great success with her dance outside the little school-house, or rather cottage; she danced with such evident enjoyment of her work." Over the next three years Titheradge performed at a succession of West End theatres, including the

Haymarket Haymarket may refer to: Places Australia * Haymarket, New South Wales, area of Sydney, Australia Germany * Heumarkt (KVB), transport interchange in Cologne on the site of the Heumarkt (literally: hay market) Russia * Sennaya Square (''Hay Squ ...

and His Majesty's, appearing at the latter as Mimi in

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 production of ''

Trilby A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and ...

''. In 1907 she appeared at the Playhouse 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 ...

in a French farce adapted into English as "French as He is Spoke", and the following year played the same role in French at His Majesty's in the original version, ''L'Anglais tel qu'on le parle'', with

Coquelin aîné Coquelin is a French surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Benoît-Constant Coquelin (1841–1909), French actor * Charles Coquelin (1802–1852), French economist * Ernest Alexandre Honoré Coquelin (1848–1909), French actor, brot ...

1908–1928

In 1908 Titheradge joined

Lewis Waller William Waller Lewis (3 November 1860 – 1 November 1915), known on stage as Lewis Waller, was an English actor and theatre manager, well known on the London stage and in the English provinces. After early stage experience with John Lawrence To ...

's company, in which she played her first Shakespearian role, Princess Katherine in ''

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

''. In 1910 she married the actor

Charles Quartermaine Charles Quatermaine (30 December 1877 in Richmond, Surrey – August 1958 in Sussex) was a British stage and film actor. He also appeared on Broadway. He was the second husband of actress Mary Forbes, and brother of Leon Quartermaine Leon ...

, with whom she appeared on stage in several productions. The marriage was happy at first, but the couple grew apart and in 1919 they divorced. Titheradge rejoined Waller for several later productions in London, New York and on tour in the US (1912) and Australia (1913) – her only return to the country in which she was born. In Australia she performed in ''A Marriage of Convenience'' and ''Henry V,'' a play that also featured her father George S. Titheradge. While there on tour she also played Peggy Admaston in E.G Hemmerde and

Francis Neilson Francis Neilson (26 January 1867 – 13 April 1961) was an accomplished actor; playwright, stage director; political figure; member of the British House of Commons; avid lecturer; author of more than 60 books, plays and opera librettos and the ...

's ''A Butterfly on the Wheel.'' In London in December 1914 she played the name part 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 succe ...

's ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...

'', with

Hilda Trevelyan Hilda Trevelyan (4 February 1877 – 10 November 1959) was an English actress. Early in her career she became known for her performance in plays by J. M. Barrie, and is probably best remembered for creating the role of Wendy in ''Pete ...

as Wendy and the fifteen-year-old

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 ...

as Slightly. She made her screen debut in the 1915 film ''

Brigadier Gerard Brigadier Gerard is the comedic hero of a series of 17 historical short stories, a play, and a major character in a novel by the British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. Brigadier Etienne Gerard is a Hussar officer in the French Army during the Napoleon ...

'' starring opposite Waller. Her obituarist in ''

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'' (fou ...

'' wrote of the next phase of her career: :Thereafter came a number of variegated parts at

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Notable landmarks ...

, where she showed that she could enact a highly strung heroine of melodrama and the principal boy in pantomime with equal facility. Thus in 1916 she was in the "autumn drama" ''The Best of Luck''; in successive pantomimes she was "principal boy" and after a season of film work in California she returned to Drury Lane in 1920 for what proved to be a spectacular success for the theatre, herself and the leading man,

Godfrey Tearle Sir Godfrey Seymour Tearle (12 October 1884 – 9 June 1953) was a British actor who portrayed the quintessential British gentleman on stage and in both British and US films. Biography Born in New York City and brought up in Britain, he was th ...

– the stage version of Robert Hichen's novel ''The Garden of Allah''. Titheradge's roles in the 1920s included Desdemona to Tearle's

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

( Court Theatre, 1921), Nora Helmer in

's ''

A Doll's House ''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...

'' (Playhouse, 1923) and Beatrice in ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'' with Tearle as Benedick (1926). She created two roles in plays by Coward: Nadya in ''

The Queen Was in the Parlour ''The Queen Was in the Parlour: a romance in three acts'' is a play by the English writer Noël Coward. Although written in 1922 it was not produced until 24 August 1926, when it was premiered at the St Martin's Theatre. The play is Coward's only ...

'' ( St Martin's, 1926), and Janet Ebony in ''

Home Chat Home Chat was a British weekly women's magazine, published by Amalgamated Press. History and profile Alfred Harmsworth founded ''Home Chat'' to compete with '' Home Notes''. He ran the Amalgamated Press and through them he published the magazin ...

'' (Duke of York's, 1927). She then went to New York, and at the

Majestic Theatre Majestic Theatre or Majestic Theater may refer to: Australia * Majestic Theatre, Adelaide, former name of a theatre in King William Street, Adelaide, built 1916, now demolished *Majestic Theatre, Launceston, a former cinema in Tasmania designed by ...

in January 1928, she played Anna, Baroness Ostermann in

Ashley Dukes Ashley Dukes (29 May 1885 – 4 May 1959) was an English playwright/dramatist, critic, theatre manager. Biography Personal life Ashley Dukes was born one of five children in 1885. He was the son of the Congregationalist clergyman, Rev. Edwin J ...

's "The Patriot".

Second marriage and later years

In 1928 Titheradge married an American businessman, Edgar Park, and temporarily retired.

Sir John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Briti ...

, who greatly admired Titheradge, recalled that her husband lost his fortune in the

Wall Street Crash of 1929 The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange colla ...

, leading her to return to the stage. After nearly five years absence she reappeared in the West End at the Haymarket in December 1932 as Clary Frohner in ''Business with America''. At the

Globe A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to maps, but unlike maps, they do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down. A model globe ...

in September 1933 she succeeded

Fay Compton Virginia Lilian Emmeline Compton-Mackenzie, (; 18 September 1894 – 12 December 1978), known professionally as Fay Compton, was an English actress. She appeared in several films, and made many broadcasts, but was best known for her stage per ...

as Norma Matthews in " Proscenium", co-starring with

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

. One of her most celebrated roles came late in her career, when she played Julie Cavendish in "Theatre Royal" by

Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), ''Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Cim ...

and

George S. Kaufman George Simon Kaufman (November 16, 1889June 2, 1961) was an American playwright, theater director and producer, humorist, and drama critic. In addition to comedies and political satire, he wrote several musicals for the Marx Brothers and others. ...

directed by Coward at the Lyric Theatre in October 1934. She co-starred with

Marie Tempest Dame Mary Susan Etherington, (15 July 1864 – 15 October 1942), known professionally as Marie Tempest, was an English singer and actress. Tempest became a famous soprano in late Victorian light opera and Edwardian musical comedies. Later, sh ...

and the young

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...

in a thinly-disguised parody of the American theatrical family the Barrymores. At

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

in, September 1936, again directed by Coward, she played the title role in

Jacques Deval Jacques Deval (1895–1972) was a French playwright, screenwriter and film director. Novels *''Marie Galante'' (1931) Plays *''Une faible femme''; a comedy in three acts (1920) *''Dans sa candeur naïve''; a comedy in three acts (1926); translate ...

's comedy ''Mademoiselle'', heading a cast that included

Isabel Jeans Isabel Jeans (16 September 1891 – 4 September 1985) was an English stage and film actress known for her roles in several Alfred Hitchcock films and her portrayal of Aunt Alicia in the 1958 musical film '' Gigi''. Early life and career Bo ...

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

and

Cecil Parker Cecil Parker (born Cecil Schwabe, 3 September 1897 – 20 April 1971) was an English actor with a distinctively husky voice, who usually played supporting roles, often characters with a supercilious demeanour, in his 91 films made between ...

. During the run of the play her health began to decline; she suffered from severe

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

, and after one more role – Edith Venables in "A Thing Apart", in March 1938 – she retired. Her husband died in that year. Titheradge died on 14 November 1961, at the age of 74, at her house in

Fetcham Fetcham is a suburban village in Surrey, England west of the town of Leatherhead, on the other side of the River Mole and has a mill pond, springs and an associated nature reserve. The housing, as with adjacent Great Bookham, sits on the lower s ...

, Surrey."Madge Titheradge", ''The Guardian'', 15 November 1961, p. 7

Films

* ''

'' (1915) * '' A Fair Impostor'' (1916) * ''The Woman Who Was Nothing'' (1917) * ''God Bless Our Red, White and Blue'' (1918) * ''Gamblers All'' (1919) * ''

David and Jonathan David and Jonathan were, according to the Hebrew Bible's Books of Samuel, heroic figures of the Kingdom of Israel, who formed a covenant, taking a mutual oath. Jonathan was the son of Saul, king of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and David w ...

'' (1920) * '' Her Story'' (1920) * ''

The Husband Hunter The Husband Hunter is a 1920 American comedy-drama film directed by Howard M. Mitchell starring Eileen Percy and Emory Johnson Alfred Emory Johnson (March 16, 1894 – April 18, 1960) was an American actor, director, producer, and writer. A ...

'' (1920) * ''

Love in the Wilderness ''Love in the Wilderness'' is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by Alexander Butler and starring Madge Titheradge, C. M. Hallard and Campbell Gullan. It was adapted from Gertrude Page's 1907 novel '' Love in the Wilderness''. The film ...

'' (1920) * ''

A Temporary Gentleman ''A Temporary Gentleman'' is a 1920 British silent comedy film directed by Fred W. Durrant and starring Owen Nares, Madge Titheradge and Alfred Drayton. It was shot at Isleworth Studios.Harris p.65 Plot A clerk's service as subaltern spoils ...

'' (1920)

References and sources

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Titheradge, Madge 1887 births 1961 deaths 19th-century Australian women 20th-century Australian actresses 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Melbourne Australian expatriate actresses in the United Kingdom Australian expatriate actresses in the United States Australian film actresses Australian people of English descent Australian silent film actresses Australian stage actresses People educated at Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School