Christine Isie Silver (17 December 1883 – 23 November 1960) was a British stage, film and television actress, and a playwright.

Early life

Christine Isie Silver was born in 1883 (some sources give 1884) in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

, London, the daughter of

Arthur Silver Arthur Silver (1853–1896) was a designer and founder of the Silver Studio. He was born in Reading, Pennsylvania in 1853. His grandfather had been in the cabinet-making business and his father, James Silver, was an upholsterer. Education In ...

and Isabella Charlotte Walenn Silver. Her father was a textile designer. Her maternal grandfather was scientist William Henry Walenn, and her uncles included singer and actor Charles Walenn and composer Gerald Walenn.

Career

Silver began acting as a teenager, working on the London stage by 1902. She appeared in ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' (1904), ''The Lion and the Mouse'' (1907), ''

Diana of Dobson's Diana most commonly refers to: * Diana (name), given name (including a list of people with the name) * Diana (mythology), ancient Roman goddess of the hunt and wild animals; later associated with the Moon * Diana, Princess of Wales (1961–1997) ...

'' (1908), ''An Englishman's Home'' (1909), '' The Speckled Band'' (1910),

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 188 ...

's ''

Fanny's First Play ''Fanny's First Play'' is a 1911 play by George Bernard Shaw. It was first performed as an anonymous piece, the authorship of which was to be kept secret. However, critics soon recognised it as the work of Shaw. It opened at the Little Theatre ...

'' (1911), ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' (1913), ''The Sister-in-Law'' (1916), ''Betty at Bay'' (1918), ''The Mayor of Casterbridge'' (1926), and the title role in

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

's ''Tess of the d'Urbervilles''. Later roles included parts in '' The Cathedral'' (1930), ''The Cradle Song'' (1931), ''Barnet's Folly'' (1935) ''The Unveiling'' (1938), and ''

A Trip to Scarborough ''A Trip to Scarborough'' is an 18th-century play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751–1816), first performed on 24 February 1777. Sheridan based his work on John Vanbrugh's ''The Relapse'' (1696), removing much of the bawdy content. The pla ...

'' (1944). Silver was in several silent films, including ''The Pleydell Mystery'' (1916), ''

The Labour Leader ''The Labour Leader'' is a 1917 British silent film, silent drama film directed by Thomas Bentley (director), Thomas Bentley and starring Fred Groves (actor), Fred Groves, Fay Compton and Owen Nares. The film was based on an original screenplay b ...

'' (1917), '' The Little Welsh Girl'' (1920), and '' Judge Not'' (1920). She made the transition to sound films as a character actress, with roles in '' Dead Men Tell No Tales'' (1938), '' Salute John Citizen'' (1942), '' Those Kids from Town'' (1942), '' Heaven is Round the Corner'' (1944), '' Room to Let'' (1950), and '' Companions in Crime'' (1954), and ''

The Hornet's Nest ''The Hornet's Nest'' is a 2014 American documentary film about the Afghanistan war, directed and produced by David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud. The film follows two journalists, Mike Boettcher and Carlos Boettcher (a father and son), embedde ...

'', in 1955, as Becky Crumb, which was her last feature film rôle, with Nora Nicholson. She was heard on radio programmes in the 1920s and 1930s, and seen on television in the 1940s and 1950s. Silver also wrote a play, ''Doorsteps'' (1915), which was adapted into a silent film, '' Chicken Casey'' (1917).

Personal life

Silver married twice. Her first husband was her manager, Walter Maxwell; they married in 1908, and had a daughter Ellen Barbara Maxwell Sturgis (1912-2004), before they divorced. Her second husband was Roland Sturgis, the son of American-born writer Julian Russell Sturgis and brother of government official Mark Grant-Sturgis. They married in 1918. She died in 1960, aged 76 years, in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

, London.

References

External links

*
Portraits of Christine Silver
mostly by the Bassano studio, 1913–1917, in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

.
Portrait of Christine Silver with cat in the 1950s
by Anthony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon, in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery. {{DEFAULTSORT:Silver, Christine 1883 births 1960 deaths 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English dramatists and playwrights Actors from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Actresses from London English silent film actresses English stage actresses English women dramatists and playwrights People from Fulham Writers from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham