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Maudi Darrell

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Maudi Darrell
Photograph of a young white woman, in a glamourous pose, with bare shoulders and voluminous wavy hair.
Maudi Darrell, from a 1908 publication.
Born
Maud Rhoda Didcott

10 February 1882
London, England, U.K.
Died31 October 1910
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Actress, Gaiety Girl

Maudi Darrell (born Maud Rhoda Didcott, 10 February 1882 – 31 October 1910) was an English actress on the London and New York stages, and a performer in vaudeville. She was one of the fashionable young women known as "Gaiety Girls".

Early life

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Maud Rhoda Didcott was born in London in 1882, the daughter of Hugh Jay Didcott and Rose Fox. Her father was a theatrical agent, and her mother was a dancer who had a novelty act involving singing while skipping rope.[1][2] Her father was Jewish, but Maudi Didcott was educated at the Sion House Convent at Bayswater.[3] Her sister Violet Raye was also an actress.[4][5]

Career

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Maudi Darrell in The Beauty of Bath (1906)

Maudi Darrell appeared in popular musicals and comedies, including The Beauty of Bath (1906),[6] Mrs. Ponderbury's Past (1907),[7] The Cassilis Engagement (1907),[8] The Gay Gordons (1908), and The Belle of Brittany (1908).[9] Her signature song was "By the Side of the Zuyder Zee", from The Beauty of Bath.[10] She was a popular "postcard actress", with portraits of her sold in postcard format.[8] "Her appearance has the peculiar exotic beauty of a Beardsley drawing," noted one critic, "if she appealed to a boy at all, she would appeal with great force."[11] She had a valuable collection of diamonds, and the "Maharaja of Kuch Behar" (Sir Nripendra Narayan) presented Miss Darrell with "the finest emerald in England", in admiration for her beauty.[12][13]

Personal life

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Maudi Darrell married Scottish-born mill owner Ian Bullough in 1909.[14][15] She died the following year, from complications of a paralysis of unknown origin and acute appendicitis, aged 28 years.[3] Her widower married again in 1911, to actress Lily Elsie.[16] There were reports that Elsie fell ill from the same illness as Maudi Darrell, almost immediately after marrying Bullough.[17]

References

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  1. ^ Henry George Hibbert, Fifty Years of a Londoner's Life (Dodd, Mead & Company 1916): 110, 145.
  2. ^ John Hollingshead, Gaiety Chronicles (A. Constable & Company 1898): 345-347.
  3. ^ a b "Actress's Sad Fate" The Northwestern Advocate and Emu Bay Times (January 7, 1911): 2.via TroveOpen access icon
  4. ^ Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: An Illustrated History (Pen & Sword 2014): 215. ISBN 9781473837409
  5. ^ "A Chat with Miss Violet Raye" The Sketch (October 31, 1894): 45.
  6. ^ "The Story of the Beauty of Bath" The Play Pictorial 45(7)(1906): 141-143.
  7. ^ Photo caption, Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News (August 24, 1907): 1066.
  8. ^ a b "Heard in the Green Room" The Sketch (February 13, 1907): 148.
  9. ^ "It's Daffodil Time in Brittany" New York Star (November 28, 1908): 14.
  10. ^ Seymour Hicks, Twenty-Four Years of An Actor's Life (John Lane Co. 1911): 312.
  11. ^ "Mr. St. John Hankins' Comedy at the Stage Society" The Academy (February 16, 1907): 169.
  12. ^ "Maudi Darrell Dies in English Home" The Inter Ocean (November 6, 1910): 9. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  13. ^ "Actress Find a Way to Win Back Suitor". The Inter Ocean. 1909-04-04. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Maudi Darrell, Spinster No Longer" The Sketch (March 31, 1909): 367.
  15. ^ "Wedding Interest London" New York Times (March 28, 1909): C1.
  16. ^ "'The Dollar Princess' Who Took the Dollars" Oregon Daily Journal (December 3, 1911): 65. via Newspapers.comOpen access icon
  17. ^ "Lily Elsie, Pet of the English Stage, Who is Dying". The Buffalo Enquirer. 1912-08-31. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
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