Marjorie Gordon (12 November 1893 – 14 October 1983) was an English actress and singer. Gordon was born in Southsea,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

as Marjorie Kettlewell. Her professional stage career began in 1915 on tour in the chorus of the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...

. The next season, she was given the roles of the Plaintiff in ''

Trial by Jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

'' and Lady Psyche in '' Princess Ida''. She also understudied and occasionally played the title role in '' Patience'' and Yum-Yum in ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

''. She left D'Oyly Carte in June 1916 to understudy the role of Sylvia Dale at the

Adelphi Theatre The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...

in London in the Rudolf Friml musical ''

High Jinks High jinks was a popular 18th-century drinking game in Scotland. The game involved throwing a die, and if the caster got a bad score, they had to choose between drinking more alcohol or performing an undignified task. The term "high jinks" is now c ...

'', sometimes appearing in the role until July 1917 and touring in the role later that year.Stone, David
Marjorie Gordon
''Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company'', 10 September 2001, accessed 12 May 2011 Gordon starred in the title role in the romantic comic opera ''Valentine'' at the St. James's Theatre from January to April 1918. She next starred as Grace in the hit musical '' Going Up'' (1918–1919) at London's Gaiety Theatre. In July and August 1919 she played Rose Bunting in the musical ''

Nobody's Boy Nobody's Boy may refer to: * '' Sans Famille'', a novel of 1878 by Hector Malot * '' Nobody's Boy: Remi'', an anime of 1977 based on the above novel * '' Nobody's Boy (1913 film)'', a silent film of 1913 * ''Nobody's Boy (musical) ''Nobody's Boy ...

'' at the Garrick. She then appeared in the

Ivor Novello Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century. He was born into a musical ...

musical ''Who's Hooper?'' at the

(1919–1920). Next, she appeared in ''My Nieces'' at the Aldwych Theatre, London, in 1921. She also recorded songs from ''Going Up'' and ''Who's Hooper?''. For the next two decades, she appeared in both musicals and plays. These included ''Stop Flirting'' (1923). She later appeared in a few films, playing Ruth Hopkins in ''Danger Trails'' (1935), Matron in '' All the Way to Paris'' (1967) and Passenger in '' Golden Rendezvous'' (1977). Later stage roles included Midge in ''Tulip Time'' in 1935 at the

Alhambra Theatre The Alhambra was a popular theatre and music hall located on the east side of Leicester Square, in the West End of London. It was built originally as the Royal Panopticon of Science and Arts opening on 18 March 1854. It was closed after two yea ...

.''Tulip Time''
Guide to Musical Theatre, accessed 12 May 2011 Her last appearance on stage in London was in the "revusical promenade" ''Let's All Go Down the Strand'' at the Adelphi in 1939. She died one month shy of her 90th birthday in

Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

References

External links

Gordon in ''Rose Marie'', 1938
*
1928 photo of Gordon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Marjorie 1893 births 1983 deaths English film actresses English musical theatre actresses 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women singers