Catherine Rodger Ball (born Catherine Rodger Campbell; 1877 – 1957), known professionally as Marion Fawcett, was a British actress and theatre producer and director.

Life

Fawcett was born in Toxteth Park in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

(although one source says Aberdeen). Her name was Catherine Rodger Campbell. Her mother was also named Catherine and her father Peter Campbell was a marine engineer. She became a stage actress and adopted the name "Marion Fawcett". After the first world war

Lena Ashwell Lena Margaret Ashwell, Lady Simson ( Pocock; 28 September 1872 – 13 March 1957) was a British actress and theatre manager and producer, known as the first to organise large-scale entertainment for troops at the front, which she did during Wo ...

was delivering subsidised theatre around London. By 1923 there was a "Friends of the Players" with members receiving the "Lena Ashley Players Magazine". Ashwell formed the Lena Ashwell Players Ltd in April 1923. The directors were Ashwell, Fawcett,

Esme Church Esme Church (11 February 1893 – 31 May 1972) was a British actress and theatre director. In a long career she acted with the Old Vic Company, the Royal Shakespeare Company and on Broadway. She directed plays for the Old Vic, became head of t ...

and

Cicely Hamilton Cicely Mary Hamilton (née Hammill; 15 June 1872 – 6 December 1952), was an English actress, writer, journalist, suffragist and feminist, part of the struggle for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She is now best known for the feminist ...

. The first three of these were to be the company's theatre managers and Fawcett was also the first manager of the new company. The players continued to appear throughout London and

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

was later to become a member. In 1926 Fawcett was producing plays at the Theatre Royal in Huddesfield. She produced two "International Masterpieces Seasons" which included

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' () is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition later that year in Saint Petersburg, via A.F. Marks Pu ...

and

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897, and first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstan ...

by Chekov and

The Wild Duck ''The Wild Duck'' (original Norwegian title: ''Vildanden'') is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It explores the complexities of truth and illusion through the story of a family torn apart by secrets and the intrusion of a ...

by Henry Ibsen. Notably she produced a play in which

Pierre Fresnay Pierre Fresnay (; 4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor. Biography Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company ...

of the comedie Francais delivered his lines in French. The play was "Game As He Played It" and it was delivered in the 1927 season. In 1931 she was producing plays in

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

. She directed the play ''Royal Romance'' at the end of 1947. The play told the story of Queen Victoria from her 21st birthday to her marriage. She played the role of Boppy in the play. In 1954 she was appearing at the

St James's Theatre The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham (tenor), John Braham; it lost mone ...

in London in

Terence Rattigan Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...

's successful play

Separate Tables ''Separate Tables'' is the collective name of two one-act plays by Terence Rattigan, both taking place in the Beauregard Private Hotel, Bournemouth, on the south coast of England. The first play, titled ''Table by the Window'', focuses on the ...

where she played "Mabel" with a cast led by

Margaret Leighton Margaret Leighton (26 February 1922 – 13 January 1976) was an English actress. Known for her work on stage and screen, her film appearances included Anthony Asquith's ''The Winslow Boy'' (her first credited film role), Alfred Hitchcock's ' ...

and

Eric Portman Eric Harold Portman (13 July 1901 – 7 December 1969) was an English stage and film actor. He is probably best remembered for his roles in three films for Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger during the 1940s. Early life Born in Halifax, ...

. The play was directed by

Peter Glenville Peter Glenville (born Peter Patrick Brabazon Browne; 28 October 19133 June 1996) was an English theatre and film director, and actor. He was a prominent director of stage plays on the West End and Broadway in the 1950s. He was nominated fo ...

."St James's Theatre", ''The Times'', 23 September 1954, p. 10

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fawcett, Marion 1877 births 1957 deaths People from Toxteth British theatre managers and producers British actors