Cicely Courtneidge

Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge (1 April 1893 – 26 April 1980) was an Australian-born British actress, comedian and singer. The daughter of the producer and playwright Robert Courtneidge, she was appearing in his productions in the West End by the age of 16, and was quickly promoted from minor to major roles in his Edwardian musical comedies. while her father was touring Australia with the J. C. Williamson company. The family returned to England in 1894. Her parents were the Scottish producer and actor Robert Courtneidge and his wife, Rosaline May (née Adams), who worked under the stage name Rosie Nott. Rosaline was the daughter of the singer and actress Cicely Nott and the sister of three other actresses, including Ada Blanche, a well-known pantomime star. In 1901, at the age of eight, Courtneidge made her stage debut as the fairy Peaseblossom in her father's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Prince's Theatre, Manchester.

Courtneidge was educated in England and, for two teenage years, in Switzerland. In the piece that followed, The Mousmé (1911), which also featured a book co-written by her father, she was cast in one of the two leading female roles alongside Florence Smithson.

At this stage in Courtneidge's career, there was some feeling in theatrical circles that her elevation to star status was largely due to her being Robert Courtneidge's daughter. The Times liked her better and praised her "pretty impudence and roguery".

Courtneidge continued to star in her father's productions. In September 1913, she played the part of Lady Betty Biddulph in the musical comedy The Pearl Girl. The cast included Ada Blanche; this was the third successive production in which aunt and niece had appeared together.

The failures put her father temporarily out of business, and as no other producer invited her to star in musical comedy, she turned instead to music hall variety shows.

Courtneidge later recalled of her first years on the halls, "When I started, my name was in such small print you could hardly read it. Music hall is the toughest thing in the world. ... I often used to get the bird, and I've had pennies thrown at me many a time." Nevertheless, she mastered the genre, according to her biographer Derek Pepys-Whiteley:There was about her a buoyancy and gaiety, an indefinable zest, which held the attention. With her tuneful voice, forceful humour, and vital personality, no one knew better how to get the right song across to an audience. [By] 1918 she had firmly established herself as a music-hall artiste, both in the provinces and in London. Courtneidge returned to variety, appearing at the London Coliseum in 1922.

In 1923, Courtneidge and Hulbert appeared in The Little Revue, produced by Hulbert. The Times wrote of the show, "there is no reason why it should not have a dozen successors, all as good." There were, in fact, five successors, described by Pepys-Whiteley as "a series of uninterrupted successes throughout eight years, in which both partners had star parts." The notices for the piece were dreadful, and those for Courtneidge's performance scarcely better: The Guardian wrote of "a woeful excess of underplay", and The Observer commented, "The sight of Cicely Courtneidge hamming it until she drops in purple harem knickers with diamanté cycle clips isn't honestly hilarious enough to carry the evening."

The last London production in which the Hulberts appeared together was a well-reviewed revival of Dear Octopus at the Haymarket Theatre in 1967 with Richard Todd, Joyce Carey and Ursula Howells. Courtneidge, in the part originally made famous by Marie Tempest, won uniformly excellent notices. In 1969, Courtneidge turned to television, playing a working-class role as "Mum" in the first series of the LWT comedy On the Buses, opposite Reg Varney. In about 1970, Courtneidge and Hulbert were engaged by the impresario Pieter Toerien to perform in John Chapman's Oh, Clarence! in Cape Town, South Africa.

Courtneidge's theatre work in the 1970s included tours of Agatha Christie's The Hollow and Peter Coke's Breath of Spring, both with Hulbert. In 1971, Courtneidge starred in the farce Move Over, Mrs Markham at the Vaudeville Theatre, playing "a prudish authoress from Norfolk, bemused by all the flying exits, unexpected entrances, and atmosphere of incipient carnality." During this, her last West End run, she celebrated 70 years on stage. In 1976, she and Hulbert toured in a semi-autobiographical revue, Once More With Music.

One of her last appearances was in a royal gala performance at the Chichester Festival Theatre in June 1977, celebrating the Queen's Silver Jubilee. The performance was called God Save the Queen! and had an all-star cast, including Ingrid Bergman, Wendy Hiller, Flora Robson and Diana Rigg.

Hulbert died in 1978; Courtneidge died two years later, shortly after her 87th birthday, at a nursing home in Putney, survived by her only child, a daughter. Courtneidge was cremated at the Golders Green Crematorium.

Filmography

Films credits with Hulbert

Year Title Role Notes 1928 British Screen Tatler No. 10 Short 1930 Elstree Calling Herself 1931 The Ghost TrainMiss Bourne 1932 Jack's the Boy Mrs. Bobday Happy Ever After Illustrated Ida 1933 Falling for You Minnie Tucker 1937 Take My Tip Lady Hattie Pilkington 1940 Under Your Hat Kay Millett 1955 Miss Tulip Stays the Night Miss Tulip 1960 The Spider's Web Miss Peake 1973 Not Now Darling Mrs. Harriet Frencham Final film role

Other credits

Year Title Role Notes 1933 Soldiers of the King Jenny Marvello / Maisie Marvello 1934 Aunt Sally Sally Bird / Mademoiselle Zaza 1935 Me and Marlborough Kit Ross The Perfect Gentleman April Maye Things Are Looking Up Cicely Fytte / Bertha Fytte 1936 Everybody Dance Katharine "Lady Kate" Levering 1962 The L-Shaped Room Mavis 1965 Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines Muriel – Colonel's Wife uncredited 1966 The Wrong Box Major Martha

Notes and references