Ruth Mackay (9 May 1878 – 31 March 1949) was a British

stage Stage, stages, or staging may refer to: Arts and media Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly Brit ...

and

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She was married to actor

Eille Norwood Eille Norwood (born Anthony Edward Brett; 11 October 1861 – 24 December 1948) was an English stage actor, director, and playwright best known today for playing Sherlock Holmes in a series of silent films. Early life He was born 11 October 186 ...

. She was born in

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

in London in 1878, the daughter of David McDonald MacKay (1839–1910) and Florence ''née'' Dignam (1846–). Her daughter was Marjorie Florence Grahame - the actress Jane Grahame (1899-1981). In 1905 Mackay married the actor

; they were to remain together until his death. In 1902 she toured Australia as Iras in '' Ben Hur''. She was 'Carrots' in ''Resurrection'' (1903) with

Herbert Beerbohm Tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and Actor-manager, theatre manager. Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End theatre, West End, winning ...

and appeared in ''The Gordian Knot'' before travelling to New York to appear with

Nat 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 theatre, Broadway debut ...

in ''The Usurper'' at the Knickerbocker Theatre in 1904. In 1905 she was Potiphar's Wife in ''Joseph and His Brethren'' at the

Coliseum The Colosseum ( ; , ultimately from Ancient Greek word "kolossos" meaning a large statue or giant) is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ...

in London. while in 1908 she was in '' Beau Brocade''. She played the title role in ''

Mrs. Warren's Profession ''Mrs. Warren's Profession'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902. It is one of the three plays Shaw published as ''Plays Unpleasant'' in 1898, alongside ''The Philanderer'' and '' Widowers' H ...

'' (1913) at the

Royalty Theatre, Glasgow The Royalty Theatre, Glasgow (later the Lyric Theatre) was a theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live a ...

, was Miriam Leigh in '' The Man Who Stayed at Home'' at the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

(1914) and was Mrs. Gordon Peel in '' The Luck of the Navy'' (1918) at the Queen's Theatre. In her later years, she lived with her husband at Corner Cottage, Waverley Lane in

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

. Ruth Mackay Brett died in Westfields Nursing Home in

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent, England, at the convergence of the The Swale, Swale and the Greater Thames Estuary, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay, Kent, Herne Bay. The town, formerly known as Whitstable-on-Se ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Ruth Brett 1949- Ancestry.com
/ref>

Filmography

* '' Honeymoon for Three'' (1915) * ''

Esther Esther (; ), originally Hadassah (; ), is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. According to the biblical narrative, which is set in the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus falls in love with Esther and ma ...

'' (1916) * '' East Is East'' (1916) * '' Merely Mrs. Stubbs'' (1917) * '' The Woman Who Was Nothing'' (1917) * ''

Goodbye Goodbye, Good bye, or Good-bye is a parting phrase and may refer to: Film * ''Goodbye'' (1918 film), a British drama directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Goodbye'' (1995 film) (''Tot Ziens!''), a Dutch film directed by Heddy Honigmann * ''Goodbye'' ( ...

'' (1918) * '' No Children Wanted'' (1918) * ''

Duke's Son ''Duke's Son'' is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by Franklin Dyall and starring Guy Newall, Ivy Duke and Hugh Buckler.Low p.147 Cast * Guy Newall as Lord Francis Delamere * Ivy Duke as Loan Lambourne * Hugh Buckler as Sir Robert ...

'' (1920) * ''

Testimony Testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. Etymology The words "testimony" and "testify" both derive from the Latin word ''testis'', referring to the notion of a disinterested third-party witness. Law In the law, testimon ...

'' (1920) * ''

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is prior to the sense of legal guilt and is a primal emotion connected with the sense of self. It is often confused as being the op ...

'' (1921) * ''

The Place of Honour ''The Place of Honour'' is a 1921 British silent film, silent adventure film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Hugh Buckler, Madge White and Miles Mander.Low p.428 It is based on a short story by Ethel M. Dell set in British India. Cast * ...

'' (1921) * '' The Scourge'' (1922)

References

Bibliography

* Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

*
Collection of photographic portraits of Ruth Mackay
-

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mackay, Ruth 1878 births 1949 deaths English stage actresses English film actresses English silent film actresses Actresses from London 20th-century English actresses Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth People from Kennington