Sir Oswald Stoll (20 January 1866 – 9 January 1942) was an Australian-born British theatre manager and the co-founder of the Stoll Moss Group theatre company. He also owned

Cricklewood Studios Cricklewood Studios, also known as the Stoll Film Studios, were British film studios located in Cricklewood, London which operated from 1920 to 1938. Run by Sir Oswald Stoll as the principal base for his newly formed Stoll Pictures, which als ...

and film production company Stoll Pictures, which was one of the leading British studios of the Silent era.Patricia Warren ''British Film Studios: An Illustrated History'', London: B.T. Batsford, 2001, p.22 In 1912, he founded the Royal Variety Performance (originally Royal Command Performance) a now-annual charity show which benefits the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund.

Biography

Early life

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 ...

, Australia as Oswald Gray, he moved to England with his mother, Adelaide McConnell Gray after the death of his father James Oswald Gray. When his mother remarried, he took his stepfather's last name, Stoll.

Entertainment career

Theatre management

At a young age, Stoll left school to help his mother, Adelaide, manage first the Parthenon music hall in Liverpool, and later a regional theatre company. The company was a success, and Stoll began to buy or build city theatres. The theatre business made Stoll a wealthy man, and in 1898 he merged his business with that of competitor Edward Moss, to form

Moss Empires Moss Empires was a company formed in Edinburgh in 1899, from the merger of the theatre companies owned by Sir Edward Moss, Richard Thornton and Sir Oswald Stoll. This created the largest chain of variety theatres and music halls in the United ...

. By 1905, almost every large town in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

had an "Empire" or a "Coliseum" theatre, managed by Stoll. He continued to honour the roots of his business by installing his mother in each new box office, so she could take the first ticket sale.

Royal Variety Performance

Beginning with the first event in 1912, and continuing until 1926, Stoll was instrumental in presenting the Royal Variety Performance (originally Royal Command Performance) a now-annual charity show benefiting the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund.

Film production

His film company Stoll Picture Productions was founded in April 1918, and acquired a one-stage studio in Surbiton which the company retained until 1923. A former aeroplane factory in Cricklewood was purchased in 1920 and converted to film use as

. Particularly associated with director

Maurice Elvey Maurice Elvey (11 November 1887 – 28 August 1967) was one of the most prolific film directors in British history. He directed nearly 200 films between 1913 and 1957. During the silent film era he directed as many as twenty films per year. He a ...

, Stoll's company maintained a connection with the film industry until 1938 when the Cricklewood studio was closed.

Theatre architecture

Stoll worked with the theatre architect

Frank Matcham Francis Matcham (22 November 1854 – 17 May 1920)Mackintosh, Iain"Matcham, Frank" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 7 July 2019 was an English architect who specialised in the design o ...

on several theatres, including: * Nottingham Palace (1898). *

Hackney Empire Hackney Empire is a theatre on Mare Street, in the London Borough of Hackney. Originally designed by Frank Matcham it was built in 1901 as a music hall, and expanded in 2001. Described by ''The Guardian'' as ‘the most beautiful theatre in L ...

(1901). *

London Coliseum The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...

(1904). *

Bristol Hippodrome The Bristol Hippodrome () is a theatre located in The Centre, Bristol, England, United Kingdom with seating on three levels giving a capacity of 1,951. It frequently features shows from London's West End when they tour the UK, as well as re ...

(1912). *

Chiswick Empire The Chiswick Empire was a theatre facing Turnham Green in Chiswick that opened in 1912 and closed and was demolished in 1959. A venue for touring artists, some of the greatest names in drama, variety and music hall performed there including Geor ...

(1912)

Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation

Stoll was a philanthropist who donated the land in 1916 for the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation, a charity in Fulham, London for disabled soldiers returning from World War I and their families. An

Old soldiers' home An old soldiers' home is a military veterans' retirement home, nursing home, or hospital, or sometimes an institution for the care of the widows and orphans of a nation's soldiers, sailors, and marines, etc. United Kingdom In the United King ...

named Sir Oswald Stoll mansions based in Fulham Broadway London still continues to house disabled ex-servicemen and women. It also provides supported housing for veterans suffering from mental ill health, and those who, having left the Forces, have found themselves homeless.

Combat Veteran Players

From Stoll Foundation workshops designed to help veterans suffering from post traumatic stress through performing Shakespeare stemmed the Combat Veteran Players, or CVP. Since establishment they have performed with the RSC Open Stages programme, at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

Vaults, and

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays, in the London Borough of Southwark, on the south bank of the River Thames. The original theatre was built in ...

. In 2014 they were awarded an inaugural Owle Schreame Award for innovation in historical theatre, for their production of Henry V.

Personal life

Stoll married twice. He married his first wife, Harriet Lewis, in Cardiff in 1892, and they had one daughter. Harriet died in 1902, and Stoll married Millicent Shaw the following year. Oswald and Millicent Stoll had three sons. Lady Stoll became President of the Sir Oswald Stoll Foundation following her husband's death. Stoll was knighted by

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

in 1919. He died in 1942 at his home in

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

, 33 Putney Hill.The Putney Society (2010). ''The Bulletin, December. p2.

Bibliography

*''The Grand Survival: A Theory of Immortality by Natural Law'', London : Simpkin, Marshall & Co., 1904. * ''The People's Credit''. London : E. Nash, 1916. * ''Freedom in Finance''. London : T.F. Unwin, 1918. * ''"Broadsheets" on National Finance''. London : W.J. Roberts, 1921. * ''More "broadsheets" on the National Finance''. London : W.J. Roberts, 1922. * ''National Productive Credit''. London : George Allen & Unwin, 1933. For an analysis of Stoll's writings see Vincent Barnett, 'A Creditable Performance? Sir Oswald Stoll as Business Strategist and Monetary Heretic', ''Journal of the History of Economic Thought'', September 2009.

Notes

References

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External links

Sir Oswald Stoll FoundationPryors Bank CafeStoll Studios, Cricklewood at The StudioTour.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stoll, Oswald Philanthropists from Melbourne 1866 births 1942 deaths Knights Bachelor