Carrie Moore (31 July 1882 – 5 September 1956) was an Australian actress who achieved fame on the Australian and British stage. She was born Caroline Ellen Moore in

Geelong, Victoria Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River, a ...

, on 31 July 1882, the third of the nine children of Robert William Moore, a labourer and Mary née Wyatt. She first appeared on stage in Geelong in local amateur productions. By late 1895, she had successfully auditioned for

J. C. Williamson James Cassius Williamson (26 August 1845 – 6 July 1913) was an American actor and later Australia's foremost impresario, founding the J. C. Williamson's theatrical and production company. Born in Pennsylvania, Williamson moved with his fami ...

and was appearing in the Christmas pantomime, ''Djin Djin'', attracting positive reviews. After successfully understudying in 1897 and 1898, Moore performed for Williamson's "Royal Comic Opera Company" in a number of leading roles. In a highly publicized case she took Ernest Tyson to court alleging "breach of promise", in August 1901. The matter was settled out of court. In July 1903 she left Australia for England, where she appeared for producer George Edwardes. For five years she performed on the London stage and in provincial theatre, becoming "a much-paragraphed and much-photographed actress." Scene from Tom Jones 1907

In mid 1908 she returned to Australia, to perform the role of Sonia in '' The Merry Widow'' for Williamson, a role that brought her great acclaim. She married Englishman Percy Bigwood in September, the event attracting much press attention in part because of another action for "breach of promise", this time brought against Bigwood by a Miss Silva. The marriage also proved to be bigamous – on the couple's return to England it transpired Bigwood already had a wife and child, as a 1912 divorce action showed. On her return to England, she appeared in ''

A Persian Princess ''A Persian Princess'' is an oriental-themed Edwardian musical comedy in two acts, with a book by Leedham Bantock and P. J. Barrow, lyrics by Percy Greenbank and music by Sidney Jones, with additional numbers by Marie Horne. It premiered on 27 A ...

'' (1909) and on stage for producer

Robert Courtneidge Robert Courtneidge (29 June 1859 – 6 April 1939) was a British theatrical manager-producer and playwright. He is best remembered as the co-author of the light opera ''Tom Jones'' (1907) and the producer of '' The Arcadians'' (1909). He was t ...

. She made several return trips to perform in Australia, in 1912 and 1917. Moore was estranged from Bigwood by the time of his death from pneumonia in 1915. She married wealthy Sydney bookmaker John Wyatt in 1918 and retired from the stage. She obtained a divorce from Wyatt in 1932 and returned to a few supporting roles on stage, including ''Music in the Air'' and a Command Performance in London in 1938. In 1945 she appeared in her only film, a supporting role in Charles Chauvel's ''

Sons of Matthew ''Sons of Matthew'' is a 1949 Australian film directed and produced and co-written by Charles Chauvel. The film was shot in 1947 on location in Queensland, Australia, and the studio sequences in Sydney. ''Sons of Matthew'' took 18 months to comp ...

.'' She died in relative poverty and obscurity in Sydney, in 1956."'The merry widow' wants more money"
''Truth'' (Sydney), Sun 22 November 1953, Page 54. Accessed 7 May 2017

References

External links

Australian Dictionary of Biography – Carrie MooreImages of Carrie Moore in souvenir for the 100th performance in Melbourne of Florodora 1901 at State Library Victoria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Carrie 1882 births 1956 deaths British actresses 20th-century Australian actresses 20th-century British actresses 19th-century Australian women Actresses from Geelong Actors from Geelong