Alicia Ramsey (1864–1933) was a British

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. She was born Alice Joanna Royston.

Life

Alice Joanna Royston was born in Chelsea, the daughter of William Hayelett Royston, gentleman.Register of Marriages solemnized at St John the Baptist, Kensington
p. 5
at ancestry.co.uk, accessed 20 April 2020 She was educated in Oxford and Paris and trained as a pianist in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

.”Ramsey (1864-1933) née Alice Joanna Royston aka Alice Ramsey Author, Playwright, Screenwriter” at tellersofweirdtales.com, accessed 20 April 2020 In 1891, in Kensington, she married Sanderson Henry Walker, who gave his occupation as Theatrical. Her pen name was taken from her husband’s stage name, Cecil Ramsey. They had a son, Guy Haylett Walker (1900-1959), also known as Guy Ramsey, an author. Sanderson Henry Walker (or Ramsey) died in 1914, and in September 1916, in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, Alice, now Alicia Ramsey, married the Jamaican-born writer and actor Rudolph de Cordova, with whom she had been working for twenty years. He was the brother of another actor,

Leander de Cordova Leander de Cordova (5 December 1877 – 19 September 1969) was a Jamaican-born American actor and film director. He was the brother of Rudolph de Cordova. He was the son of Altamont de Cordova and Katherine Lewis. He was also the grandneph ...

. Several of Ramsey's plays were turned into films, in the

silent era A silent film is a film without 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, wh ...

. When she died in 1933, Ramsey was living at 99, Oxford Gardens,

North Kensington North Kensington is an area of west and northwest London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green predominately in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and partly in the London Borough of Brent and City of Westminster. The ...

, and probate for her estate valued at £121 was granted to Cordova.“De CORDOVA Alicia or RAMSEY Alicia”
in Probate Index for England and Wales, 1933, at probatesearch.service.gov.uk, accessed 20 April 2020

Selected works

Plays *''The Redskins'' (1903) * ''

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

'' (1908) * '' Social Hypocrites'' (1918) Screenplays * ''

Eve's Daughter ''Eve's Daughter'' is a 1918 American silent comedy-drama film produced by Famous Players–Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Kirkwood and starred popular theatre star Billie Burke. The film is based ...

'' (1918) * '' The Two Brides'' (1919) * '' The Spark Divine'' (1919) * '' Rob Roy'' (1922) * '' Silent Evidence'' (1922) * ''

Young Lochinvar ''Young Lochinvar'' is a 1923 British silent historical drama film directed by W. P. Kellino and starring Owen Nares, Gladys Jennings, and Dick Webb. The screenplay was based on J. E. Muddock’s 1896 novel ''Young Lochinvar, A Tale of the B ...

'' (1923) * ''

The Money Habit ''The Money Habit'' is a 1924 British silent film, silent crime film directed by Walter Niebuhr and starring Clive Brook, Annette Benson and Nina Vanna.Low p.411 It was based on a novel by Paul M. Potter. The screenplay concerns a man whose mist ...

'' (1924) * '' The Desert Sheik'' (1924) * ''

The Love Story of Aliette Brunton The Love Story of Aliette Brunton may refer to: * The Love Story of Aliette Brunton (novel), a 1922 novel by Gilbert Frankau * The Love Story of Aliette Brunton (film), a 1924 British silent film based on the novel {{DEFAULTSORT:Love Story ...

'' (1924) * '' The Presumption of Stanley Hay, MP'' (1925) * '' King of the Castle'' (1925) * '' One Colombo Night'' (1926)

References

External links

* * 1864 births 1933 deaths British writers People from Chelsea, London Writers from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea 20th-century British screenwriters {{UK-playwright-stub