Violet Englefield (1881 – 22 March 1946) (born as Maud Violet Englefield) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
actress and singer known for her
musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...
performances in London's
West End and on
Broadway in the first two decades of the 20th century.
Career
Born in
Hounslow
Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...
, she was the daughter of Joel Englefield (1846-1912), an army
bandmaster, and Ellen Cashel Cross (
née
The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...
Bevan); all of their children were trained musicians. In 1904, she had an illegitimate son, Juan Englefield, with the actor Harry Chart. It is not known what became of the child.
Englefield's British acting credits included ''
Dick Whittington'' (1899) at the
Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, during which she played a violin solo which was "a conspicuous feature of the performance", playing the Prince in the
pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment, generally combining gender-crossing actors and topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or ...
''
Cinderella
"Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...
'' at the
King's Theatre, Edinburgh (1906), Millie Mostyn in ''
The Girl Behind the Counter'' at
Wyndham's Theatre (1906–07), the lead role of Bess Moore in ''The Bad Girl of the Family'' at the Elephant and Castle Theatre (1909) followed by a Christmas season of the same play at the
Aldwych Theatre.
On
Broadway her appearances included Gussie Pope in ''Fancy Free'' (1918), ''
The Passing Show of 1918'' at the
Winter Garden Theatre (1918), part of the Rigoletto Quartette in ''
The Passing Show of 1921'' at the Winter Garden Theatre (1920–21), and Mrs. Horridge in the revue ''Sky High'' at the
Winter Garden Theatre and later the
Casino Theatre (1925). After this production Englefield retired from the stage.
Family life
In 1913, she married Jerrard Grant Allen (1878-1964), a theatrical agent/manager and the son of
Grant Allen, the science writer and novelist. They had a son, Reginald "Reggie" Grant Allen (1910-1985). Deep in debt, in 1916, the couple left Liverpool for New York, intending to settle there permanently, but their young son did not leave Britain to join them until early 1917. By 1920, the Allen family were living at 119 E. 82nd St, New York. In 1930, the family was living in
Norwalk, Connecticut
Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...
, and Jerrard Allen and Violet Englefield were registered US citizens by this date. In about 1939 the couple retired to
Lake Worth in Florida.
Grant Allen on Peter Moreton's website
/ref>
Violet Englefield died in March 1946 at West Palm Beach in Florida.
References
External links
Englefield on Broadway World
{{DEFAULTSORT:Englefield, Violet
1881 births
1946 deaths
Actresses from London
English stage actresses
Actors from the London Borough of Hounslow
People from Hounslow