Frederick Lonsdale
Encyclopedia
Frederick Lonsdale was an English
dramatist.
, the son of Susan (née Belford) and John Henry Leonard, a tobacconist. He began as a private soldier and worked for the London and South Western Railway. His daughters included Angela Worthington (who was born illegitimately, through his relationship with Muriel Rose Morice) and his biographer Frances Donaldson
, while his grandsons included the actors Edward Fox
, James Fox
, and the film producer Robert Fox
.
Frank Curzon
produced the young Lonsdale's first work, the musical King of Cadonia
(1908). Lonsdale's more substantial than usual dialogue for the show's Ruritanian comic opera plot won King of Cadonia fine notices and helped the musical to a long career. His next success was also for Curzon, The Balkan Princess
(1910), which was little more than King of Cadonia with the sexes reversed, but it enjoyed a good London run and a long and wide provincial tour and foreign productions.
Lonsdale's next success was five years later, for George Edwardes
, with Betty
(1915). Following Edwardes's death, he submitted to Edwardes' executor, Robert Evett
, a text that Curzon had rejected, The Maid of the Mountains
(1917; revived in 1920), which became one of the phenomenally successful wartime shows in London, establishing itself as a classic of the British musical stage.
Lonsdale continued to write some musicals after the war. He adapted Booth Tarkington
's Monsieur Beaucaire
(1919, with music by André Messager
) as a highly successful light opera and Jean Gilbert
's Die Frau im Hermelin (1922, The Lady of the Rose) and Katja, die Tänzerin (1925), as well as Leo Fall
's Madame Pompadour
(1923). He also wrote the successful original book to the Parisian tale of The Street Singer
for Phyllis Dare
(1924) and Lady Mary (1928).
He also began to write straight comedies, and his plays included Aren't We All?
(1923), Spring Cleaning
(1925), The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1925, which ran for 514 performances), On Approval (1927) and Canaries Sometimes Sing
(1929), among others. His last play, The Way Things Go
, was written in 1949, more than 40 years after his first stage work and five years before his death (in London) from a heart attack.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
dramatist.
Personal life
Lonsdale was born Lionel Frederick Leonard in St Helier, JerseySaint Helier
Saint Helier is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands in the English Channel. St. Helier has a population of about 28,000, roughly 31.2% of the total population of Jersey, and is the capital of the Island . The urban area of the parish of St...
, the son of Susan (née Belford) and John Henry Leonard, a tobacconist. He began as a private soldier and worked for the London and South Western Railway. His daughters included Angela Worthington (who was born illegitimately, through his relationship with Muriel Rose Morice) and his biographer Frances Donaldson
Frances Donaldson, Baroness Donaldson of Kingsbridge
Frances Annesley , Lady Donaldson of Kingsbridge was a British writer and biographer.Her father, Freddie Lonsdale, was a playwright. She married John George Stuart Donaldson, Baron Donaldson of Kingsbridge in 1935. Her body of work included topics such as farming and biographies on writers...
, while his grandsons included the actors Edward Fox
Edward Fox (actor)
Edward Charles Morice Fox, OBE is an English stage, film and television actor.He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal and King Edward VIII in the serial Edward & Mrs...
, James Fox
James Fox
James Fox, OBE is an English actor.-Early life:James Fox was born in London, England to theatrical agent Robin Fox and actress Angela Worthington. He is the brother of actor Edward Fox and film producer Robert Fox. The actress Emilia Fox is his niece and the actor Laurence Fox is his son. His...
, and the film producer Robert Fox
Robert Fox (producer)
Robert Michael John Fox is an English theatre and film producer, whose work includes the 2002 film, The Hours.-Life and career:...
.
Career
Frank Curzon
Frank Curzon was an English actor who became an important theatre manager, leasing the Royal Strand Theatre, Avenue Theatre, Criterion Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Prince of Wales Theatre and Wyndham's Theatre, among others....
produced the young Lonsdale's first work, the musical King of Cadonia
King of Cadonia
King of Cadonia is an English musical in two acts with a book by Frederick Lonsdale, lyrics by Adrian Ross and Arthur Wimperis and music by Sidney Jones and Frederick Rosse. It opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London on 3 September 1908, produced by Frank Curzon, and ran for 333...
(1908). Lonsdale's more substantial than usual dialogue for the show's Ruritanian comic opera plot won King of Cadonia fine notices and helped the musical to a long career. His next success was also for Curzon, The Balkan Princess
The Balkan Princess
The Balkan Princess is a British musical in three acts by Frederick Lonsdale and Frank Curzon, with lyrics by Paul Rubens and Arthur Wimperis, and music by Paul Rubens. It opened at the Prince of Wales Theatre on 19 February 1910. The cast included Isabel Jay and Bertram Wallis...
(1910), which was little more than King of Cadonia with the sexes reversed, but it enjoyed a good London run and a long and wide provincial tour and foreign productions.
Lonsdale's next success was five years later, for 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....
, with Betty
Betty (musical)
Betty is an English musical in three acts, with a book by Frederick Lonsdale and Gladys Unger, music by Paul Rubens and Ernest Steffan, and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Rubens. It was first produced at the Prince's Theatre in Manchester, opening on December 24, 1914, then at Daly's Theatre in London,...
(1915). Following Edwardes's death, he submitted to Edwardes' executor, Robert Evett
Robert Evett
Robert Evett was an English singer, actor, theatre manager and producer.-Acting career:In 1892 Evett joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company on tour in The Vicar of Bray, playing the Reverend Henry Sandford, the tenor lead. In 1893, Evett added the role of Oswald in Haddon Hall...
, a text that Curzon had rejected, The Maid of the Mountains
The Maid of the Mountains
The Maid of the Mountains, called in its original score a musical play, is an operetta or musical comedy in three acts. The music was by Harold Fraser-Simson, with additional music by James W...
(1917; revived in 1920), which became one of the phenomenally successful wartime shows in London, establishing itself as a classic of the British musical stage.
Lonsdale continued to write some musicals after the war. He adapted Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington
Booth Tarkington was an American novelist and dramatist best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams...
's Monsieur Beaucaire
Monsieur Beaucaire (operetta)
Monsieur Beaucaire is a romantic opera in three acts, composed by André Messager. The libretto, based on the 1900 novel by Booth Tarkington, is by Frederick Lonsdale, with lyrics by Adrian Ross...
(1919, with music by André Messager
André Messager
André Charles Prosper Messager , was a French composer, organist, pianist, conductor and administrator. His stage compositions included ballets and 30 opéra comiques and operettas, among which Véronique, had lasting success, with Les p'tites Michu and Monsieur Beaucaire also enjoying international...
) as a highly successful light opera and Jean Gilbert
Jean Gilbert
Jean Gilbert was a German operetta composer and conductor. His real name was Max Winterfeld. He adopted the name of Jean Gilbert for the production of his first operetta in 1901.Gilbert was born in Hamburg...
's Die Frau im Hermelin (1922, The Lady of the Rose) and Katja, die Tänzerin (1925), as well as Leo Fall
Leo Fall
Leo Fall was an Austrian composer of operettas.-Life:Born in Olmütz , Leo Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall , a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father in Berlin...
's Madame Pompadour
Madame Pompadour (operetta)
Madame Pompadour is an operetta in three acts, composed by Leo Fall with a libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm Welisch. Conducted by the composer, It opened at the Berliner Theater in Berlin on September 9, 1922 and then at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on March 2,...
(1923). He also wrote the successful original book to the Parisian tale of The Street Singer
The Street Singer
The Street Singer is a 1912 short silent film drama. The film starred Earle Foxe and Alice Joyce. It was Foxe's first film, aged seventeen....
for 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....
(1924) and Lady Mary (1928).
He also began to write straight comedies, and his plays included Aren't We All?
Aren't We All?
Aren't We All? is a play by Frederick Lonsdale.At the core of the drawing room comedy's slim plot is the Hon. William Tatham who, having been consigned to the proverbial doghouse for a romantic indiscretion, is determined to catch his self-righteous wife in an extramarital kiss of her own, while a...
(1923), Spring Cleaning
Spring Cleaning
Spring Cleaning is a 1925 comedy play by the British writer Frederick Lonsdale. A man becomes convinced his wife is about to have an affair, and in order to shock her he hires a prostitute to come and live in their house...
(1925), The Last of Mrs. Cheyney (1925, which ran for 514 performances), On Approval (1927) and Canaries Sometimes Sing
Canaries Sometimes Sing
Canaries Sometimes Sing is a 1930 British romantic comedy film, directed by Tom Walls. The film is a four-hander, starring Walls, Cathleen Nesbitt, Athole Stewart and Yvonne Arnaud...
(1929), among others. His last play, The Way Things Go
The Way Things Go
The Way Things Go is a 1987 art film by the Swiss artist duo Peter Fischli and David Weiss. It documents a long causal chain assembled of everyday objects, resembling a Rube Goldberg machine....
, was written in 1949, more than 40 years after his first stage work and five years before his death (in London) from a heart attack.