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User:Pdebee/Gertrude Musgrove

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Gertrude Musgrove
Born
May Gertrude Lilian Musgrove

(1912-09-09)9 September 1912
Middlesex, England, UK
Died3 November 2006(2006-11-03) (aged 94)
West Palm Beach, Florida, USA
OccupationActress
Years active1931–1951
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1933; div. 1947)​
[1][2]
Children1, Michael Korda

Gertrude Musgrove (9 September 1912 – 3 November 2006) was an English actress, singer and dancer who performed on stage and in film from the early 1930s to the early 1950s. She is known for The Girl from Maxim's (1933), Scarlet Pimpernel (1934), and The Divorce of Lady X (1938). She was married to Vincent Korda from 1933 until they divorced in 1947.

Early life

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Musgrove was born in London, the daughter of a dental surgeon. She was schooled in a convent in France, where she became stage struck.[3] When she was 17, her mother took her to a friend in the theatrical business and asked him to talk her out of the idea of a career on the stage. Instead, he persuaded her mother to let her try it.[3] After graduating from London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 1931,[4] Musgrove joined Charlot's Revue.[3]

Stage career

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Musgrove made her stage debut at the Savoy Theatre in 1931,[5] sharing the role of Electra Pivonka with Ethel Baird in Wonder Bar, the English version—with libretto and lyrics adapted by Rowland Leigh—of Die Wunder-Bar, a musical comedy written in 1929 by Géza Herczeg and Karl Farkas, set to music by Robert Katscher [de].[6]

Greta Galla in Men about the House (1932).

Mrs Richards in Mary Read (1934–1935).

Six roles[i] in Shall We Reverse? (1935).

Seven roles[ii] in Stop-...Go! (1935).

From 26 February[9] to 9 May 1936,[10] she played five roles[iii] in The Town Talks, a revue by André Charlot. Although highly popular at the time, the show was withdrawn on 9 May 1936, owing to repeated illness by principal actor Arthur Riscoe.[10].

Queen Arabella in Sleeping Beauty; or, What a Witch! (1935–1936).

Unknown role in The Rag Bag, a charity show performed by ex-RADA students on 26 Apr 1936, for charity.

From 13 August 1936 to 1 May 1937, she was Patty Moss in the musical theatre play Two Bouquets, in which she danced and sang four songs: "Git on de Boat, Chillun", "She did the Fandango", "Pretty Patty Moss", and "Yes or No".[14]

In 1937, she played the role of Antoinette in The Wise Cat, Selma Vaz Dias's English translation of Herman Heijermans's 1918 play De Wijze Kater.[15]

Hazel Campbell in Talk of the Devil (1937–1938).

On 7 February 1938, she took over the leading role of Diana Lake from Kay Hammond in French Without Tears at the Piccadilly Theatre.[16]

Observa in Who's Taking Liberty? (1939–1940).

In February 1942, Musgrove made her American debut at Henry Miller's Theater on Broadway, playing the role of Judy in Lesley Storm's Heart of a City, a play about the sentimental lives of two showgirls from London's Windmill Theatre at the height of the Blitz.[17]

Irina in Three Sisters (1942–1943).[18][19]

Lt Thomasina "Tommy" Grey in Storm Operation (1944).[20][21]

Martha Culver in The Constant Wife (1951).[22][23]

[Year?] She sang and danced in the BBC's first experimental programme.[24]

Personal life

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Musgrove married Vincent Korda in 1933.[1] They had one son, Michael Korda (born 8 October 1933). The couple separated in 1942[citation needed] and divorced on 22 October 1947.[25][2]

Works

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Theatre

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  • Wonder Bar (1931) – Electra Pivonka[6]
  • Men about the House (1932) – Greta Galla[26]
  • Mary Read (1934–1935) – Mrs Richards[27]
  • Shall We Reverse? (1935) – (Six roles)[28]
  • Stop-...Go! (1935) – (Seven roles)[29]
  • Sleeping Beauty; or, What a Witch! (1935–1936) – Queen Arabella[30]
  • The Town Talks (1936) – (Five roles)[iii][31]
  • The Rag Bag (1936) – [Role unknown][32]
  • The Two Bouquets (1936–1937) – Patty Moss[33][34]
  • French Without Tears (1936–1939) – Diana Lake[35][34]
  • The Wise Cat (1937) – Antoinette[15]
  • Talk of the Devil (1937–1938) – Hazel Campbell[36][37]
  • Who's Taking Liberty? (1939–1940) – Observa[38]
  • Heart of a City (1942) – Judy[39]
  • Three Sisters (1942–1943) – Irina[18][19]
  • Storm Operation (1944) – Lt Thomasina "Tommy" Grey[20][21]
  • The Constant Wife (1951) – Martha Culver[22][23]

Filmography

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References

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Explanatory footnotes

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  1. ^ The programme/playbill of Shall We Reverse? identifies Musgrove's roles in the following scenes:
    PART ONE. Scene 3: "A Country House" – Emily; Scene 4: "Versailles" – Eveline; Scene 5: "On Board Ship" – Sophie; Scene 6: "The Ballet School" – Maidservant; Scene 8: "Cambridge" – (Chorus). PART TWO. Scene 1: "Cambridge, the Next Morning" – (Chorus); Scene 6: "Martinique" – Josephine (later Empress of France); Scene 8: "A Mews Flat" – Audrey.[7]
  2. ^ The programme/playbill of Stop-...Go! identifies Musgrove's roles in the following scenes:
    PART ONE. "The London Stop-Go" – Pedestrian; "Rusticate" – Dairymaid; "The Hunt Ball" – 3rd Girl. PART TWO. "Masks Unlimited" – Miss Mayfair; "Simultaneous Pantomime" – Cinderella; "Britain's Ballet" – The Girl; "The Truth in Advertising" – Mrs. O'Bryan; "Burning Up The Snow" – One of three Girls.[8]
  3. ^ a b The sources highlighted only five roles performed by Musgrove in the following scenes of The Town Talks:
    1. "Off to Town" – a droll Fairy;[11] 2. "Tea for Two" – a Waitress;[12] 3. "Eton versus Harrow" – a Spectator lunching at Lord's;[12] 4. "The Hat" – a Customer;[13] 5. "Round the Shows" – Musgrove delivered an impersonation of Marie Tempest serving tea.[11]

Citations

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  1. ^ a b BFI #374114.
  2. ^ a b Calisphere 1947.
  3. ^ a b c The Star Press; 10 Feb 1943, p. 9.
  4. ^ RADA.
  5. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 73, [1].
  6. ^ a b Wearing 2014, p. 72, [2].
  7. ^ Shall We Reverse?. London, 1935.
  8. ^ Stop-...Go!. London, 1935.
  9. ^ The Stage; 6 Feb 1936.
  10. ^ a b Sunday Express; 10 May 1936.
  11. ^ a b The Stage; 5 Mar 1936.
  12. ^ a b Country Life; 21 Mar 1936.
  13. ^ Frederick Ashton.
  14. ^ The Two Bouquets.
  15. ^ a b Wearing 2014, pp. 585–586, [3]. Cite error: The named reference "FOOTNOTEWearing2014585–586[httpswwwgooglecoukbookseditionThe_London_Stage_1930_1939Z2mYAwAAQBAJhlengbpv1dq22GertrudeMusgrove22-wikipediapgPA586printsecfrontcover" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  16. ^ London Evening News; 5 Feb 1938.
  17. ^ Billboard; 21 Feb 1942, p. 10.
  18. ^ a b Bordman 1996, p. 219, [4].
  19. ^ a b Life; 4 Jan 1943, pp. 33–35.
  20. ^ a b Bordman 1996, pp. 228–229, [5].
  21. ^ a b IBDB #1377.
  22. ^ a b Billboard; 22 Dec 1951, p. 42.
  23. ^ a b Evening Sun; 3 Nov 1951, p. 7.
  24. ^ McFarlane & Slide 2014, p. 2009, [6].
  25. ^ Billboard; 15 Nov 1947, p. 67.
  26. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 214, [7].
  27. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 397, [8].
  28. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 439, [9].
  29. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 462, [10].
  30. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 487, [11].
  31. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 509, [12].
  32. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 516, [13].
  33. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 541, [14].
  34. ^ a b Theatricalia GM.
  35. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 559, [15].
  36. ^ Wearing 2014, p. 652, [16].
  37. ^ UoB #2F3222.
  38. ^ Wearing 2014, pp. 772–773, [17].
  39. ^ Bordman 1996, p. 212, [18].
  40. ^ Gifford 2017, p. 393, [19].
  41. ^ Gifford 2017, p. 415, [20].
  42. ^ AFI #7750.
  43. ^ BFI #472462.
  44. ^ Gifford 2017, p. 472, [21].
  45. ^ Gifford 2017, p. 480, [22].
  46. ^ RT #829; 21 Aug 1939, p. 16.
  47. ^ Gifford 2017, p. 495, [23].
  48. ^ Gifford 2017, p. 494, [24].
  49. ^ Gifford 2017, p. 498, [25].
  50. ^ BFI #1423806.
  51. ^ Reid 2006, p. 225, [26].

Sources

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Books

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  • Bordman, Gerald (1996). American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1930-1969 (hardcover) (1st ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-535808-7.
  • Gifford, Denis (2017) [1997]. The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film 1895–1994 (hardcover). Vol. 1 (3rd ed.). Milton Park, UK: Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-57958-199-2.
  • Korda, Michael (2000) [1999]. Another Life: A Memoir of Other People (hardcover) (Reprint ed.). New York, NY: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-385-33507-2.
  • — (2002) [1980]. Charmed Lives: A Family Romance (softcover) (Reprint ed.). New York, NY: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-06-008556-8.
  • McFarlane, Brian; Slide, Anthony, eds. (2014). "Entries A-Z". The Encyclopedia of British Film: Fourth edition. The Encyclopedia of British Film (softcover) (Fourth Revised ed.). Manchester: Manchester University Press. p. 2009. ISBN 978-0-7190-9139-1 – via books.google.co.uk.
  • Moore, James Ross (2005). André Charlot – The Genius of Intimate Musical Revue (softcover) (1st ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina, and London: McFarland Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7864-1774-2.
  • Reid, John Howard (2006). Hollywood Movie Musicals (softcover) (1st ed.). Lulu.com. ISBN 978-1-4116-9762-1.
  • Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1930–1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (hardcover) (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-8108-9303-0.

Theatre programmes/playbills

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Magazines and newspapers

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Websites

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