Ada Blanche

Ada Blanche (born Ada Cecilia Blanche Adams; 16 July 1862 – 1 January 1953) was an English actress and singer known early in her career for vivacious performances in Victorian burlesque and pantomime and later in character roles in Edwardian musical comedy.

Born into a theatrical family, Blanche made her stage debut at the age of fourteen and had a forty-five year career, almost exclusively on the British stage, in the West End and on tour. In the 1890s she was a leading principal boy in London's most lavishly staged pantomimes. In the 20th century her career changed to playing comic, formidable older women. Her most celebrated role of this kind was in the hit musical The Arcadians (1909), staged by her brother-in-law Robert Courtneidge.

Beyond musical comedy, Blanche appeared in farces and other comedies in non-singing roles between 1906 and her retirement in 1921. Among her co-stars during her long career were George Grossmith Jr., Dan Leno, Marie Lloyd, Walter Passmore, Kate Santley and Little Tich.

Life and career Early years Blanche was born in Brixton, London, the daughter of the singer and actress Cicely Nott and her husband, Sam Adams, a theatre manager. The couple had five children, all of whom were later professionally associated with the theatre, including Rosaline, known professionally as Rosie Nott, who married the impresario Robert Courtneidge and was the mother of Cicely Courtneidge.

At the age of fourteen Blanche made her stage debut in London's Adelphi Theatre Christmas show, Little Goody Two Shoes. In the same year she appeared in her first breeches role in pantomime, playing Dandini in Cinderella at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. For the same company she appeared in As You Like It in 1880. In 1882 Ada played the soprano role of Fiametta, to her mother's Peronella, in Emily Soldene's touring production of Suppé's operetta Boccaccio. The Manchester Guardian commented, "Miss Cecily Nott has a nice voice, which she would do well not to force too much. Miss Ada Blanche was pleasant and ingenuous, if not very finished." The theatre historian Kurt Gänzl writes that Blanche left this engagement "to fulfil the kind of substantial pantomime principal boy engagement which would be the backbone of her early career".

Touring and burlesque; pantomime stardom

In 1883–84 Blanche toured with Lila Clay's all-women operetta company; in 1885 she went to the US, joining the Holmes Burlesque Company on tour. Returning to Britain she joined Dion Boucicault's touring company, together with her mother and another sister, Edith Blanche. In Dick Whittington, a reporter for The Era thought she "sang well, danced well and acted well", going onto say: "she was the life and soul of the evening. When the entertainment was flagging, on she came with her relentless spirit and energy."

Later career

As the 1890s went on, Blanche was given a few starring roles in musical comedy. Harris presented an English version of La demoiselle du téléphone, an operette by Maurice Desvallières and Gaston Serpette. With an English text by Harris and F. C. Burnand, The Telephone Girl debuted in 1896 and toured the provinces off and on until 1900, with Blanche in the title role. The Manchester Guardian observed:

Outside the pantomime season, Blanche's West End seasons during the late 1890s and early 1900s were few. In 1898 she co-starred with Courtice Pounds and Lottie Venne in The Royal Star, which ran only briefly; In 1903 she was in another musical comedy, The Medal and the Maid, which ran for six months. She played in Robert Courteidge's pantomimes in 1903 to 1905 and toured in a farce, What the Butler Saw, from 1906 to 1908.

Despite a starry cast in which Blanche's co-stars included Walter Passmore and C. Hayden Coffin, The Rebel Maid ran for only four months. When it closed, Blanche retired, first to Yorkshire and later to west London.

Blanche never married. She died at St. Mary's Convent in Chiswick on 1 January 1953 at the age of 90.