Blanche Eleanor Stocker (20 July 1884 – 1950) was a British actress and singer, who played minor roles in a string of

Edwardian musical comedies Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the Am ...

and other stage works early in the 20th century. She also played a film role.

Life and career

Stocker was born in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

in India in 1884, the oldest of three children of a British couple, George Stocker (1857–1929), an engineer, and Mary Dunn ''née'' Johnston (1862–1946). While George remained in India for work, Mary returned to England with the children to live in London from at least 1891 to 1911. Her younger sister

Doris Stocker Doris Mary Stocker (Lady Segrave) (1886 – 16 December 1968) was a British actress and singer, especially in Edwardian musical comedy. Early life and career She was born in Bombay in India in 1886, the second of three children of George ...

was also a singer and actress. Stocker played roles in several

early in her career, including Lucille in ''

The Belle of Brittany ''The Belle of Brittany'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts set in 'Daffodil Time' in rustic 18th-century Brittany. It premiered at the Queen's Theatre in London on 24 October 1908. The music is by Howard Talbot and Marie Horne, to ...

'' at the Queen's Theatre (1908). For producer

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

she was Lady Sybil Julia James in ''

Our Miss Gibbs ''Our Miss Gibbs'' is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by 'Cryptos' and James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank, music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. Produced by George Edwardes, it opened at the Gaiety Theat ...

'' (1909); Ethel in ''

Peggy Peggy may refer to: People * Peggy (given name), people with the given name or nickname Arts and entertainment * ''Peggy'' (musical), a 1911 musical comedy by Stuart and Bovill * ''Peggy'' (album), a 1977 Peggy Lee album * ''Peggy'' (1916 ...

'' (1910); and Viola in ''

The Girl on the Film ''Filmzauber'', literally 'Film Magic', is a Posse mit Gesang (a kind of popular musical drama) in four scenes by Walter Kollo and Willy Bredschneider, with a German libretto by Rudolf Bernauer and Rudolph Schanzer. A parody of (then popular) s ...

'' (1913), all at the Gaiety Theatre in the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

; she also appeared in the latter work at the

44th Street Theatre The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 216 West 44th Street in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It opened and operated for three years as the Weber and Fields' Music Hall. Its rooftop theatre, the Nora Bayes Theatre, presen ...

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 ...

later in 1913. She was Ruth Goldman/Miss Cohen in ''

Potash and Perlmutter ''Potash and Perlmutter'' is a 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Clarence G. Badger. The film is based on an ethnic Jewish comedy with characters created by Montague Glass and Charles Klein for a 1913 Broadway play of the same na ...

'' at the Queen's Theatre (1914–15); Lady-in-Waiting in '' Arlette'' 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 d ...

(1917); and appeared as Goo Goo in ''

The Bing Boys Are Here ''The Bing Boys Are Here'', styled "A Picture of London Life, in a Prologue and Six Panels," is the first of a series of revues which played at the Alhambra Theatre, London during the last two years of World War I. The series included ''The Bing Bo ...

'' (1916) and ''The Bing Girls Are There'' (1917), both at the

Alhambra Theatre The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

. She played Jane in the

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, 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) ...

''Winning a Widow'' (1910).Blanche Stocker

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

, accessed 24 April 2020 Stocker died in Kensington in London in 1950 aged 65. She never married.

References

External links

Photographic portraits of Blanche Stocker
-

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was arguably the first national public gallery dedicated to portraits in the world when it ...

Blanche Stocker
on

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stocker, Blanche 1884 births 1950 deaths Actresses from Mumbai English women singers Edwardian era English stage actresses 20th-century English actresses English silent film actresses