Ellaline Terriss
Encyclopedia
Seymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
in 1893, and the two collaborated on many projects for the stage and screen.
Born in Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...
, Terriss made her London stage debut at the age of 16 in Cupid's Messenger in the role of Mary Herbert at London's Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
. Impressed with her perfomance, she was given a three-year contract by producer Charles Wyndham, first playing Madge in Why Women Weep. In 1892, Terriss starred in Faithful James (by B. C. Stephenson
B. C. Stephenson
Benjamin Charles Stephenson or B. C. Stephenson was an English dramatist, lyricist and librettist. After beginning a career in the civil service, he started to write for the theatre, using the pen name "Bolton Rowe". He was author or co-author of several long-running shows of the Victorian theatre...
) and the following year, starred in the title role of Cinderella, produced by Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
. She was featured in W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
's His Excellency
His Excellency (opera)
His Excellency is a two-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by F. Osmond Carr. The piece concerns a practical-joking governor whose pranks threaten to make everyone miserable, until the Prince Regent kindly foils the governor's plans...
in 1894, followed the next year by a starring role in the George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
production of the musical The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was first produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 24 November 1894...
, playing alongside her husband, which they repeated on Broadway and subsequently toured in America. The next year she starred in another hit, The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Walter Apllant , with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross, music by Ivan Caryll, and additional music by Lionel Monckton....
.
In 1897 her father, William Terriss
William Terriss
William Terriss was an English actor, known for his swashbuckling hero roles, such as Robin Hood, and in Shakespeare plays, and for his murder outside a London theatre. His daughter was the Edwardian musical comedy star Ellaline Terriss.-Life and career:Terriss's real name was William Charles...
, a well-known actor of his day, was murdered. His daughter received much public sympathy, returning to the stage to star in A Runaway Girl
A Runaway Girl
A Runaway Girl is a musical comedy in two acts written in 1898 by Seymour Hicks and Harry Nicholls. The composer was Ivan Caryll, with additional music by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Harry Greenbank...
in 1898, one of her most successful shows. In the new century, she starred in a series of long-running hits, including Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland is a Christmas-season children's entertainment described as a "a musical dream play", in two acts, with a book by Seymour Hicks, lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Charles H. Taylor, and music by Walter Slaughter. It was produced by Charles Frohman. The creators sought to...
(1901), Quality Street
Quality Street (play)
Quality Street is a comedy in four acts by J. M. Barrie, written before his more famous work Peter Pan. The story is about two sisters who start a school "for genteel children"....
(1902), The Catch of the Season
The Catch of the Season
The Catch of the Season is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
(1905) and The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath is a musical comedy with a book by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, lyrics by C. H. Taylor and music by Herbert Haines; additional songs were provided by Jerome Kern , F. Clifford Harris and P. G. Wodehouse . The story concerns a young woman from a noble family, who falls in...
(1906). After 1910, Terriss concentrated on comedy roles and music hall tours. Her one return to musical comedy, Cash on Delivery (1917), confirmed the wisdom of this new career course.
Her later career also included film roles. She began in the silent films
Silent film
A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...
Scrooge
Scrooge (1913 film)
Scrooge is a 1913 British black and white silent film based on the 1843 novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It starred Seymour Hicks as Ebenezer Scrooge. In the United States it was released in 1926 as Old Scrooge....
and David Garrick
David Garrick (1913 film)
David Garrick is a 1913 black-and-white silent film based on the life of British actor David Garrick. The film starred Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss and was based on the 1864 play David Garrick by T. W. Robertson, adapted by Max Pemberton...
(both from 1913) and made a successful transfer to talkies in Blighty
Blighty (film)
Blighty is a 1927 British World War I silent film melodrama, directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Ellaline Terriss, Lillian Hall-Davis and Jameson Thomas...
(1927), A Man of Mayfair
A Man of Mayfair
A Man of Mayfair is a 1931 British musical comedy film directed by Louis Mercanton and starring Jack Buchanan, Joan Barry and Warwick Ward.-Cast:* Jack Buchanan - Lord William* Joan Barry - Grace Irving* Warwick Ward - Ferdinand Barclay...
(1931), The Iron Duke
The Iron Duke (film)
The Iron Duke is a 1934 British historical film directed by Victor Saville and starring George Arliss, Ellaline Terriss, Gladys Cooper and Peter Gawthorne...
(1934) and Royal Cavalcade
Royal Cavalcade
Royal Cavalcade is a 1935 British, black-and-white, drama film directed by six separate directors: Thomas Bentley , Herbert Brenon, Norman Lee, Walter Summers, Will Kellino and Marcel Varnel. The film features Marie Lohr, Hermione Baddeley, Owen Nares, Robert Hale, Austin Trevor, James Carew,...
(1935). Her last film was The Four Just Men
The Four Just Men (film)
The Four Just Men is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones, Edward Chapman and Garry Marsh. It is based on the novel The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace.-Cast:...
in 1939. She died in Richmond, England, at the age of 99.
Life and career
Stanley, Falkland Islands
Stanley is the capital and only true cityin the Falkland Islands. It is located on the isle of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2006 census, the city had a population of 2,115...
. Her father, William Lewin
William Terriss
William Terriss was an English actor, known for his swashbuckling hero roles, such as Robin Hood, and in Shakespeare plays, and for his murder outside a London theatre. His daughter was the Edwardian musical comedy star Ellaline Terriss.-Life and career:Terriss's real name was William Charles...
, was a sheep-farmer there and eventually became a well-known actor in London. He loved the adventurous, outdoor life, and had previously tried his hand at various professions, including merchant seaman and silver miner. Shortly after Ellaline's birth, he gave up farming and moved his family to England where, adopting his stage-name, William Terriss, he became a popular actor who, because of his swashbuckling style, was known as "Breezy Bill". Her brother Tom Terriss became a well-known film director, writer and actor. Her mother Amy nee Lewis (stage name Fellowes) had also acted.
Early career
In 1888, at the age of sixteen, Terriss made her professional London stage debut with Cupid's Messenger in the role of Mary Herbert at London's Haymarket TheatreHaymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
. Petite, pretty and talented, she attracted the praise of both critics and the public. She was given a three-year contract by producer Charles Wyndham, first playing Madge in Why Women Weep. She also attracted a promising young actor, Seymour Hicks
Seymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
. They married in 1893.
In 1892, Terriss starred in Faithful James (by B. C. Stephenson
B. C. Stephenson
Benjamin Charles Stephenson or B. C. Stephenson was an English dramatist, lyricist and librettist. After beginning a career in the civil service, he started to write for the theatre, using the pen name "Bolton Rowe". He was author or co-author of several long-running shows of the Victorian theatre...
), with Brandon Thomas
Brandon Thomas
Walter Brandon Thomas was an English actor, playwright and song writer, best known as the author of the farce Charley's Aunt....
at the Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
. In December 1893, Terriss starred in the title role in the successful and famously lavish version of the "fairy pantomime" Cinderella, produced by Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
with music by Oscar Barrett. Toward the end of the run, Hicks took over the role of Thisbe, one of Cinderella's half-sisters. They brought this production to America under the management of George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
. The following season, Terriss played a supporting role in the W. S. Gilbert
W. S. Gilbert
Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan, of which the most famous include H.M.S...
and Frank Osmond Carr
Frank Osmond Carr
Frank Osmond Carr , known as F. Osmond Carr, was an English composer who wrote the music for some of the earliest musical comedies.-Life and career:...
comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
His Excellency
His Excellency (opera)
His Excellency is a two-act comic opera with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by F. Osmond Carr. The piece concerns a practical-joking governor whose pranks threaten to make everyone miserable, until the Prince Regent kindly foils the governor's plans...
.
In 1895, Terriss was a replacement in the London George Edwardes hit, The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl
The Shop Girl was a musical comedy in two acts written by H. J. W. Dam, with Lyrics by Dam and Adrian Ross and music by Ivan Caryll, and additional numbers by Lionel Monckton and Ross. It was first produced by George Edwardes at the Gaiety Theatre in London, opening on 24 November 1894...
, joining her husband as co-star, which they repeated on Broadway. They toured America in 1895, where they befriended the American novelist Richard Harding Davis
Richard Harding Davis
Richard Harding Davis was a journalist and writer of fiction and drama, known foremost as the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish-American War, the Second Boer War, and the First World War. His writing greatly assisted the political career of Theodore Roosevelt and he also played...
. At the instance of Gilbert, Hicks wrote a drama called One of the Best, a vehicle for Terriss's father William Terriss at the Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
, based on the famous Dreyfus trial
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...
. The Hickses were frequent guests of Gilbert at his estate in Grim's Dyke
Grim's Dyke
Grim's Dyke is the name of a house and estate located in Harrow Weald, in Northwest London, England, built in 1872 by Norman Shaw, and named after the nearby pre-historic earthwork known as Grim's Ditch. The house is best known as the home of dramatist W.S. Gilbert, who lived there for the last...
. Terriss next played the title role, May, in My Girl (1896 at the Gaiety. Another early success for the young couple was The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl
The Circus Girl is a musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Walter Apllant , with lyrics by Harry Greenbank and Adrian Ross, music by Ivan Caryll, and additional music by Lionel Monckton....
(1896; Terriss made Lionel Monckton
Lionel Monckton
Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English writer and composer of musical theatre. He was Britain's most popular musical theatre composer of the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:...
's song, "A Little Bit of String" into a major hit). Hicks and Terriss both had a comedy background, and they transformed the "lovers" roles in musicals from overly sentimental to mischievous and light-hearted.
Tragedy and triumph
Richard Archer Prince
Richard Archer Prince, also known as William Archer Flint, was an actor, often down on his luck. He became famous for murdering actor William Terriss outside the Adelphi Theatre, in London, in 1897.-Biography:...
. The murder, and Prince's trial, filled the country's newspapers for weeks. Already the most popular couple on the London stage, Terriss and Hicks received an outpouring of sympathy. They moved on, becoming even more famous over the next decade. She next starred in the title role of a new show co-authored by Hicks, A Runaway Girl
A Runaway Girl
A Runaway Girl is a musical comedy in two acts written in 1898 by Seymour Hicks and Harry Nicholls. The composer was Ivan Caryll, with additional music by Lionel Monckton and lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Harry Greenbank...
(1898), which became one of the Gaiety Theatre's
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
most successful shows. This was followed by With Flying Colours (1899).
The Hickses then joined forces with producer Charles Frohman and, in his company over a period of seven years, they played the leads in a series of musicals written by Hicks, including: Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland is a Christmas-season children's entertainment described as a "a musical dream play", in two acts, with a book by Seymour Hicks, lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Charles H. Taylor, and music by Walter Slaughter. It was produced by Charles Frohman. The creators sought to...
(1901), which was continually revived as a Christmas entertainment for the next four decades; The Cherry Girl (1902); The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath is a musical comedy with a book by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, lyrics by C. H. Taylor and music by Herbert Haines; additional songs were provided by Jerome Kern , F. Clifford Harris and P. G. Wodehouse . The story concerns a young woman from a noble family, who falls in...
(1906), which opened the Hicks Theatre (later renamed the Globe) and included additional lyrics by a newcomer, P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, and music by Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, and which became one of Terriss's best-loved roles; and The Gay Gordons (1907). Hicks and Terriss also starred in J. M. Barrie
J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
's play Quality Street
Quality Street (play)
Quality Street is a comedy in four acts by J. M. Barrie, written before his more famous work Peter Pan. The story is about two sisters who start a school "for genteel children"....
in 1902. At that time, they moved to a new home, The Old Forge, at Merstham, Surrey. Their cul-de-sac was renamed "Quality Street".
Later career
The Catch of the Season
The Catch of the Season is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
, which had been created by Zena Dare
Zena Dare
Zena Dare was an English singer and actress who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre and comedic plays in the first half of the 20th century, and for her role as Mrs...
during Terriss's pregnancy. Later Terriss ceded the role to Dare's sister, Phyllis Dare
Phyllis Dare
Phyllis Dare born Phyllis Constance Haddie Dones was an English singer and actress who was famous for her performances in Edwardian musical comedy and other musical theatre in the first half of the 20th century....
. After the birth of their second daughter, Betty, in 1907, Terriss reduced the grueling acting schedule she had kept up for almost twenty years. She did continue to appear in a limited number of plays, including The Dashing Little Duke (1909; with C. Hayden Coffin
C. Hayden Coffin
Charles Hayden Coffin was an English actor and singer known for his performances in many famous Edwardian musical comedies, particularly those produced by George Edwardes....
, Courtice Pounds
Courtice Pounds
Charles Courtice Pounds , better known by the stage name Courtice Pounds, was an English singer and actor known for his performances in the tenor roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and his later roles in Shakespeare plays and Edwardian musical comedies.As a young member...
and Louie Pounds
Louie Pounds
Louisa Emma Amelia "Louie" Pounds was an English singer and actress, known for her performances in musical comedies and in mezzo-soprano roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company....
), which was less successful. Terriss played the title role in that production (a woman playing a man). When she missed several performances due to illness, Hicks played the role – possibly the only case in the history of the musical where a husband succeeded to his wife's role.
After the failure of Captain Kidd (1910), Hicks and Terriss concentrated on comedy roles and music hall tours, including a tour of South Africa in 1911 and later a tour of France following the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, to give concerts to British troops at the front. Their one return to musical comedy, Cash on Delivery (1917), confirmed the wisdom of their new career course. After 1917, Terriss returned to the stage only on special occasions. In December 1925, she appeared at the Lyceum with her husband in The Man in Dress Clothes, a French farce he had translated and in which their daughter made her stage debut. It was intended only to run for a short season, but it was such a success that its run was extended. "The Theatre World" reported in January 1926:
- There is little doubt that much of the success of this revival is due to the presence in the cast of our one and only Ellaline Terriss. Of the older generation of actresses there is no more beloved figure than 'dear Ella' as the gallery girls used to call her. She has never been a 'great' actress, but her charm – a sort of sweet radiance – has made her one of the most popular of living players.
Film career and retirement
Terriss also appeared in over a dozen British films, generally in which her husband was involved as an actor, writer or director. These included ScroogeScrooge (1913 film)
Scrooge is a 1913 British black and white silent film based on the 1843 novel A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. It starred Seymour Hicks as Ebenezer Scrooge. In the United States it was released in 1926 as Old Scrooge....
(1913), David Garrick
David Garrick (1913 film)
David Garrick is a 1913 black-and-white silent film based on the life of British actor David Garrick. The film starred Seymour Hicks and Ellaline Terriss and was based on the 1864 play David Garrick by T. W. Robertson, adapted by Max Pemberton...
(1913), Flame of Passion (1915), A Woman of the World (1916), Masks and Faces (1918), Always Tell Your Wife (1923), Land of Hope and Glory (1927), Blighty
Blighty (film)
Blighty is a 1927 British World War I silent film melodrama, directed by Adrian Brunel and starring Ellaline Terriss, Lillian Hall-Davis and Jameson Thomas...
(1927), Atlantic (1929), A Man of Mayfair
A Man of Mayfair
A Man of Mayfair is a 1931 British musical comedy film directed by Louis Mercanton and starring Jack Buchanan, Joan Barry and Warwick Ward.-Cast:* Jack Buchanan - Lord William* Joan Barry - Grace Irving* Warwick Ward - Ferdinand Barclay...
(1931), Glamour (1931), The Iron Duke
The Iron Duke (film)
The Iron Duke is a 1934 British historical film directed by Victor Saville and starring George Arliss, Ellaline Terriss, Gladys Cooper and Peter Gawthorne...
(1934), Royal Cavalcade
Royal Cavalcade
Royal Cavalcade is a 1935 British, black-and-white, drama film directed by six separate directors: Thomas Bentley , Herbert Brenon, Norman Lee, Walter Summers, Will Kellino and Marcel Varnel. The film features Marie Lohr, Hermione Baddeley, Owen Nares, Robert Hale, Austin Trevor, James Carew,...
(1935) and The Four Just Men
The Four Just Men (film)
The Four Just Men is a 1939 British thriller film directed by Walter Forde and starring Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones, Edward Chapman and Garry Marsh. It is based on the novel The Four Just Men by Edgar Wallace.-Cast:...
(1939).
Hicks died in 1949, and Terriss survived him by 22 years. She died in Richmond, England, at the age of 99.
External links
- Biography and photos
- Biography and other information
- Profile and photos
- Filmography
- Views of Gilbert and Sullivan by Terriss
- Photos and information about Hicks and Terriss's home at "Quality Street" in Merstham
- Information about Terriss performances, Theatre Archive, University of Bristol
- Youtube recording of Terriss and Hicks song medley
- Photo of Terriss as Cinderella, 1893