Sylva Stuart Watson (her married name) (4 March 1894 – 26 March 1984) was licensee and manager of the

Theatre Royal, Haymarket The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre in Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

, in London, England, from 1963. Sylva Larratt was born in 1894 in Camberwell the daughter of Herbert Arthur and Jane Larratt (née Van Dyk), she would later use the name ''Little Carmen Sylva'' when performing as child vocalist with her father who was a baritone. She married Stuart Watson in 1920 in Wandsworth. Having been a child singer, she began her adult career singing opera and in

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was most popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850, through the World War I, Great War. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as Varie ...

, and worked as an actress, once performing with

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her h ...

. She formed the Theatre Royal Haymarket Company which included

Ralph Richardson Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor who, with John Gielgud and Laurence Olivier, was one of the trinity of male actors who dominated the British stage for much of the 20th century. He wo ...

and

Flora Robson Dame Flora McKenzie Robson (28 March 19027 July 1984) was an English actress and star of the theatrical stage and cinema, particularly renowned for her performances in plays demanding dramatic and emotional intensity. Her range extended from qu ...

. Her father-in-law Horace Watson was previously manager of the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. In 1969, she campaigned against the opening of theatres on Sundays, and was quoted in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

Martin Peake, 2nd Viscount Ingleby Martin Raymond Peake, 2nd Viscount Ingleby (31 May 1926 – 14 October 2008) was a British hereditary peer and businessman. Early life and education Ingleby was the only son of Osbert Peake, created Viscount Ingleby in 1956, and his wife Lady Jo ...

on the matter, in 1971. She appeared as a castaway on the

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...

programme ''

Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...

'' on 21 August 1971, where her book choice consisted of volumes on astronomy and astrology, and her luxury item was forty yards of flowered

chintz Chintz () is a woodblock printed, painted, stained or glazed calico textile that originated in Golconda (present day Hyderabad, India) in the 16th century. The cloth is printed with designs featuring flowers and other patterns in different colo ...

, a needle & cotton. Watson died on 26 March 1984 in London.

Notes

References

1894 births 1984 deaths Place of death missing 20th-century British actresses British theatre managers and producers British women theatre managers and producers Actresses from London Singers from the London Borough of Southwark 20th-century English singers 20th-century English women 20th-century English people People from Camberwell Actors from the London Borough of Southwark {{UK-stage-actor-stub