Daphne Pollard (born Daphne Trott; October 19, 1891 – February 22, 1978) was an Australian-born

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic compositio ...

performer and dancer, active on stage and later in US films, mostly short comedies.

Diminutive stage star

Born Daphne Trott, in the inner Melbourne suburb of

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family ( Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) **Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

, to Walter William Trott and Annie née Daniels, she joined the Pollard Lilliputian Opera Company at the age of six, having been taken to rehearsals by her older sister, Ivy, who was also a performer. The Pollard company featured performers whose ages ranged from six to sixteen years, playing light opera, operetta and musical comedy (LeCoq, Offenbach, etc.). They toured Australia, New Zealand and the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and were well received and highly acclaimed. Like many of its performers, Daphne Trott took her stage name from the Pollard company. In later years she claimed she was related to the "cricketing Trotts," presumably meaning famous Australian cricketers

Albert Trott Albert Edwin Trott (6 February 1873 – 30 July 1914) was a Test cricketer for both Australia and England. He was named as one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year in 1899. He is believed to be the only batsman to have struck a ball over the ...

and

Harry Trott George Henry Stevens Trott (5 August 1866 – 9 November 1917) was an Australian cricketer who played 24 Test matches as an all-rounder between 1888 and 1898. Although Trott was a versatile batsman, spin bowler and outstanding fielder, "it is a ...

Career in the US & UK

Daphne Pollard first arrived in Los Angeles during a company tour in September 1901 and was singled out in enthusiastic reviews. In a November 1903 review, the ''Los Angeles Herald'' reported that "Daphne has charm. A full contralto speaking voice, a fine mimicry and good health are her ordinary stock in trade possessions; her delightful small personality is the crown, and makes her every inch a little queen of comic opera." Following further tours of Australia, the company was again in North America from late 1905. By 1907, Pollard was confident and popular enough to strike out on her own. Her Broadway debut was in Eddie Foy's ''Mr. Hamlet of Broadway'' in 1908.Brent E. Walker (2013) ''Mack Sennett's Fun Factory: A History and Filmography of his Studio and His Keystone and Mack Sennett Comedies, with Biographies of Players and Personnel'' Part 1, Page 174. McFarland & Co.; She appeared soon after in ''

The Bohemian Girl ''The Bohemian Girl'' is an Irish Romantic opera composed by Michael William Balfe with a libretto by Alfred Bunn. The plot is loosely based on a Miguel de Cervantes' tale, ''La Gitanilla''. The best-known aria from the piece is " I Dreamt I Dw ...

'' at the

Los Angeles Theater The Los Angeles Theatre is a 2,000-seat historic movie palace at 615 S. Broadway in the historic Broadway Theater District in Downtown Los Angeles. History This Los Angeles Theatre was constructed in late 1930 and early 1931. It was commissione ...

, at $60 per show. The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'' reported that because she was small and not well-developed for her age, Humane Officers thought she was no more than seven. She convinced them that she was actually sixteen. In October 1908, Pollard appeared with a New York company that performed musical and dramatic shows such as ''The Thief'', ''The Chorus Lady'', ''The Witching Hour'', and ''Girls'', among others. The productions were staged at the Grand Opera House. Among her fellow actors were

Harry Macdonough John Scantlebury Macdonald (May 30, 1871 – September 26, 1931) was a Canadian-born singer of Irish and Scottish descent, and recording executive. Under the pseudonym Harry Macdonough, he was one of the most prolific and popular tenors du ...

and

Charles Halton Charles Halton (March 16, 1876 – April 16, 1959) was an American character actor who appeared in over 180 films. Life and career Halton trained at the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts. He made his Broadway debut in 1901, after which he ...

. Pollard appeared with the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the ...

and in

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

shows. In 1909, she was with a group which entertained at Keith and Proctor's Fifth Avenue Theater. Daphne Pollard 1915

In 1914 Pollard was the petite star of ''

The Girl Behind the Counter ''The Girl Behind the Counter'' is an Edwardian musical comedy with a book by Arthur Anderson and Leedham Bantock, music by Howard Talbot and lyrics by Arthur Anderson (and additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank).Morosco Theatre The Morosco Theatre was a Broadway theatre near Times Square in New York City from 1917 to 1982. It housed many notable productions and its demolition, along with four adjacent theaters, was controversial. History Located at 217 West 45th Stree ...

Broadway (Manhattan) Broadway () is a road in the U.S. state of New York. Broadway runs from State Street at Bowling Green for through the borough of Manhattan and through the Bronx, exiting north from New York City to run an additional through the Westchest ...

. The production also featured actor

Al Shean Abraham Elieser Adolph Schönberg (May 12, 1868 – August 12, 1949), known as Al Shean, was a comedian and vaudeville performer. Other sources give his birth name variously as Adolf Schönberg, Albert Schönberg, or Alfred Schönberg. He is mos ...

. She followed this success with performances in ''A Knight for a Day'' (1915) and ''The Passing Show of 1915''. The latter play was staged at The Mason Theater in Los Angeles and also featured

Marilyn Miller Marilyn Miller (born Mary Ellen Reynolds; September 1, 1898 – April 7, 1936) was one of the most popular Broadway musical stars of the 1920s and early 1930s. She was an accomplished tap dancer, singer and actress, and the combination of these ...

. In 1917, Pollard was in London, where she appeared with English comedian/singer

George Robey Sir George Edward Wade, CBE (20 September 1869 – 29 November 1954), Harding, James"Robey, George" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, accessed 10 May 2014. known professionally as George Robey, was an E ...

, playing the role of "She of the Tireless Tongue" in Albert de Courville, Dave Stamper and Gene Buck's lavishly-staged revue '' Zig-Zag!,'' which ran for 648 performances at the

Hippodrome The hippodrome ( el, ἱππόδρομος) was an ancient Greek stadium for horse racing and chariot racing. The name is derived from the Greek words ''hippos'' (ἵππος; "horse") and ''dromos'' (δρόμος; "course"). The term is used ...

. She remained with the show when it moved to the

Folies Bergère The Folies Bergère () is a cabaret music hall, located in Paris, France. Located at 32 Rue Richer in the 9th Arrondissement, the Folies Bergère was built as an opera house by the architect Plumeret. It opened on 2 May 1869 as the Folies Trév ...

in Paris at the end of the year. She appeared in other successful productions at the Hippodrome, including ''Box o' Tricks'' (1918), ''

Joy Bells ''Joy Bells'' was a revue staged at the London Hippodrome at the end of World War I. It was devised by Albert de Courville, with music and lyrics by H. G. Pether, Rupert Hazell, Oliver Wallace, Harold Weeks and others. The revue opened on 25 ...

'' (1919) and ''Jig-Saw!'' (1920). She returned to New York and performed in ''The Greenwich Village Follies'' in 1923–24.

Hollywood screen comedian

After a long career on stage and aged in her late thirties,

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in th ...

signed her with great fanfare in June 1927, describing her as an "internationally famous musical comedy and vaudeville star." She was cast in several "Sennett Girl Comedies," two-reel productions designed to show off the beauty of Sennett's latest actresses. Other actresses featured in the girl comedy shorts were

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard ...

, Anita Barnes, and Kathryn Stanley. Her first title was ''The Girl from Everywhere,'' with Pollard receiving title billing. Some of these films included short, two-strip technicolor sequences. In these first movies for Sennett, Pollard demonstrated her talents as a comedian and dancer. Lombard and Pollard became close friends during the time they were working for Sennett. Lombard reportedly said "Daphne Pollard and I were just in hysterics the whole time. We used to pull the worst gags on...some of the boys." Pollard went on to work for

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...

and

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...

. She memorably appeared in several

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo ...

films of the mid-1930s, as a shrewish wife of

Oliver Hardy Oliver Norvell Hardy (born Norvell Hardy; January 18, 1892 – August 7, 1957) was an American comic actor and one half of Laurel and Hardy, the double act that began in the era of silent films and lasted from 1926 to 1957. He appeared with his c ...

in '' Thicker than Water'' (1935) and ''

Our Relations ''Our Relations'' is a 1936 feature film starring Laurel and Hardy, produced by Stan Laurel for Hal Roach Studios. This is the third of three films in which they play a dual role: the first was '' Brats'' and the second was ''Twice Two''. The sto ...

'' (1936) and also as a maid in '' Bonnie Scotland'' (1935), achieving almost 60 screen credits in the seven years between 1928 and 1935. She continued to appear in occasional supporting roles into the early 1940s, again appearing briefly with Laurel and Hardy in '' The Dancing Masters'' (1943). Her final role was as Mrs. McGinnis in '' Kid Dynamite'' (1943).

Personal life

In July 1911, aged 19, she married Ellington Strother Bunch, a journalist. Pollard's parents and five of her siblings joined her in the US after 1911, settling in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. An older sister, Hilda, who had married, stayed in Melbourne. In early 1928, together with other former Pollard Lilliputan Opera Company members, she attended the Hollywood funeral of comedian

Ted McNamara Edward Joseph McNamara (19 September 1894 – February 1928) was an Australian vaudevillian who made a career on stage in Australia, the United States, and in Hollywood silent films before dying suddenly in 1928. At various times he has credite ...

following his sudden death from pneumonia.''The Daily News'' (Perth, WA : 1882 - 1950), Fri 23 Mar 1928, Page 11, COMEDIAN'S DEATH
accessed 23 December 2016. Daphne Pollard died in Los Angeles in 1978, aged 86.

Partial filmography

*''The Crossroads of New York'' (1922) - Minor Role * '' The Girl from Everywhere'' (1927) - Minnie Stitch *''Run, Girl, Run'' (1928, Short) - Coach Minnie Marmon *''Love at First Flight'' (1928, Short) - Polly Polka - Dance Instructor *''The Swim Princess'' (1928, Short) - Sally Forthe *'' Hit of the Show'' (1928) - The Slavey *''

The Good-Bye Kiss ''The Good-Bye Kiss'' is a 1928 American silent comedy film directed by Mack Sennett and written by Jefferson Moffitt, Mack Sennett and Carl Harbaugh. The film stars Johnny Burke, Sally Eilers, Matty Kemp, Wheeler Oakman, Irving Bacon and Lione ...

'' (1928) - Minor Role (uncredited) *''The Girl from Nowhere'' (1928, Short) - Tillie Tucker - Wardrobe Mistress *''The Campus Carmen'' (1928, Short) - Tillie Toober *''Sinners in Love'' (1928) - Mabel *''The Campus Vamp'' (1928, Short) - Dora *''The Old Barn'' (1929, Short) - The School Teacher *'' Big Time'' (1929) - Sybil *''

South Sea Rose ''South Sea Rose'' is a 1929 American comedy-drama film distributed by the Fox Film Corporation and produced and directed by Allan Dwan. This picture was Dwan's second collaboration with star Lenore Ulric, their first being '' Frozen Justice''. ...

'' (1929) - Mrs. Nott *'' The Sky Hawk'' (1929) - Minnie *''

Loose Ankles ''Loose Ankles'' is a 1930 pre-Code romantic comedy with songs, produced and released by First National Pictures, which had become a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film was directed by Ted Wilde and stars Loretta Young, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., L ...

'' (1930) - Agnes *''

Swing High ''Swing High'' is a 1932 American Pre-Code short documentary film directed by Jack Cummings. In 1932, it was nominated for an Academy Award at the 5th Academy Awards The 5th Academy Awards were held by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts ...

'' (1930) - Mrs. May *''America or Bust'' (1930, Short) - Arriet Emingway *''

What a Widow! ''What a Widow!'' was a 1930 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by Allan Dwan and produced by and starring Gloria Swanson. It was distributed through United Artists. The film was produced by Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. It received gene ...

'' (1930) - Masseuse *'' Bright Lights'' (1930) - Mame Avery *''Divorced Sweethearts'' (1930, Short) - Aunt Louise *''Don't Bite Your Dentist'' (1930, Short) - Mrs. Edward Martin *''Help Wanted, Female'' (1931, Short) - Mrs. Hemingway *''

The Lady Refuses ''The Lady Refuses'' is a 1931 American pre-Code melodrama film, directed by George Archainbaud, from a screenplay by Wallace Smith, based on an original story by Guy Bolton and Robert Milton. It stars Betty Compson as a destitute young woman ...

'' (1931) - Millie - Apartment House Maid *''She Snoops to Conquer'' (1931, Short) - Daphne *''Slide, Speedy, Slide'' (1931, Short) - Myrtle Brady *''Crashing Reno'' (1931, Short) *''Fast and Furious'' (1931, Short) *''Oh! Marry Me'' (1931, Short) *''Sold at Auction'' (1931, Short) - Daphne, the Working Girl *''Straight Goods'' (1931, Short) *''Monkey Shines'' (1932, Short) *''Smoked Hams'' (1934, Short) - Emma Pollard *'' Thicker than Water'' (1935, Short) - Mrs. Daphne Hardy *'' Bonnie Scotland'' (1935) - Millie - the Maid *''

'' (1936) - Mrs. Daphne Hardy *''

Tillie the Toiler ''Tillie the Toiler'' is a newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Russ Westover who initially worked on his concept of a flapper character in a strip he titled ''Rose of the Office''. With a title change, it sold to King Features Syndica ...

'' (1941) - Mumsy Tomkins *'' Kid Dynamite'' (1943) - Mrs. McGinnis *'' The Dancing Masters'' (1943) - Mother at Dancing School (uncredited) (final film role)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Daphne 1890s births 1978 deaths Actresses from Melbourne Australian film actresses Australian silent film actresses Australian stage actresses Vaudeville performers Australian expatriate actresses in the United States Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century Australian actresses 19th-century Australian women