Gertrude Elliott (December 14, 1874 – December 24, 1950), later Lady Forbes-Robertson, was an American stage actress, part of an extended family of theatre professionals including her husband, Sir

Johnston Forbes-Robertson Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson (16 January 1853 – 6 November 1937)''Sir Johnston Forbes Robertson, Beauty And Grace in Acting'', Obituaries, ''The Times'', 8 November 1937. was an English actor and theatre manager and husband of actress Gertrud ...

, and her elder sister,

Maxine Elliott Maxine Elliott (February 5, 1868 – March 5, 1940) also known as Little Jessie, Dettie or by her birth name Jessie Dermott, was an American actress and businesswoman. She managed her own theater and experimented with silent films in the 1910s. ...

. She was President of the

Actresses' Franchise League The Actresses' Franchise League was a women's suffrage organisation, mainly active in England. Founding In 1908 the Actresses' Franchise League was founded by Gertrude Elliott, Adeline Bourne, Winifred Mayo and Sime Seruya at a meeting in ...

in the UK.

Early life

May Gertrude Dermott was born in

Rockland, Maine Rockland is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Maine, United States. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the town population was 6,936. The city is a popular tourist destination. It is a departure point for the Maine S ...

Career

Elliott's career on stage began in 1894, with a role in

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

's ''

A Woman of No Importance ''A Woman of No Importance'' by Oscar Wilde is "a new and original play of modern life", in four acts, first given on 19 April 1893 at the Haymarket Theatre, London. Like Wilde's other society plays, it satirises English upper-class society. It ...

'', in a company that was touring New York state. The Elliott sisters joined a company in San Francisco that toured Australia in 1896. The company was run by

Nat C. Goodwin Nathaniel Carl Goodwin (July 25, 1857 – January 31, 1919) was an American male actor born in Boston. In his early career he was chiefly known for his performances in musical theatre and light opera; making his Broadway debut in a musical burle ...

, an actor who soon married Maxine Elliott. Their company went to London in 1899, and the next year Elliott was hired into the company of Johnston Forbes-Robertson; Elliott and Forbes-Robertson married at the end of 1900, and continued to work together predominantly in Shakespearean works for much of their careers. Away from the stage, Elliott starred with her husband in a silent film version of ''Hamlet'' in 1913, directed by their friend

J. H. Ryley John Handford Ryley (11 September 1841Kurt Gänzl, Gänzl, Kurt"J H Ryley: setting at least some of the record straight ..." Kurt of Gerolstein, 13 May 2018 – 28 July 1922) was an English singer and actor, best known for his performances in th ...

. She also appeared in a 1917 silent film, ''Masks and Faces''. Elliott was a co-founder of the

with

Sime Seruya Sime Seruya (1876–1955) was a Portuguese actress, suffragist and socialist who campaigned in Britain. She was a member of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), the Women's Freedom League (WFL), Women's Tax Resistance League (WTRL) and ...

Winifred Mayo Winifred Mayo born Winifred Monck Mason (8 November 1869 – 18 February 1967) was a British actor, director, translator and suffragette. She was a co-founder of the Actresses' Franchise League and the secretary of the Six Point Group which cal ...

and

Adeline Bourne Adeline Bourne (8 January 1873 – 8 February 1965) was a British Anglo-Indian actress, suffragette and charity worker.'Miss Adeline Bourne: Actress and suffragette', ''The Times'', 10 February 1965 Early life Bourne was born Selina "Lena" Mans ...

, and served as president. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

she managed the "Shakespeare Hut" in Bloomsbury, a project of the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

for entertaining and raising morale among war workers. In 1923, New Zealand gave Elliott an award for her work for

ANZAC The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

troops during the war.

Personal life

Elliott married English actor Johnston Forbes-Robertson in 1900. They had four daughters, including aircraft designer

Maxine (Blossom) Miles Maxine Frances Mary "Blossom" Miles (''née'' Forbes-Robertson; 22 September 1901 – 6 April 1984) was a British aviation engineer, socialite, businesswoman, engraver, costume designer, and gardener. She was born into a well-known family of ac ...

, writer Diana Forbes-Robertson, and actress

Jean Forbes-Robertson Jean Forbes-Robertson (16 March 1905 – 24 December 1962) was an English actress. A versatile Shakespearean actress, she was often cast in boys' roles because of her slim build, playing Jim Hawkins in a stage version of ''Treasure Island'', P ...

. Johnston was knighted in 1913, making Elliott "Lady Forbes-Robertson" from that time. She was widowed when her husband died in 1937, and Elliott died in 1950, aged 76 years. Her grandchildren include actress Joanna Van Gyseghem. There is a plaque marking the birthplace of the Elliott sisters in the Trackside Station in Rockland, Maine."Maxine Elliott"
''Maine: An Encyclopedia''.

References

External links

* *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 ...

ha
21 portraits of Gertrude Elliott
most of them from various theatrical roles. * *
''The Elliott Sisters of Rockland''
(Gem Productions 2012), a short film about Maxine and Gertrude Elliott, made for Maine Community TV {{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, Gertrude 1874 births 1950 deaths Actresses from Maine American silent film actresses American stage actresses British women in World War I British suffragists People from Rockland, Maine YMCA leaders Wives of knights 20th-century American actresses Forbes-Robertson family