Gertie Millar

Gertrude Ward, Countess of Dudley ( Millar; 21 February 1879 – 25 April 1952), known as Gertie Millar, was an English actress and singer of the early 20th century, known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies.

Beginning her career at age 13, Millar was a prominent star of musical comedies for two decades. In 1902, she married the composer Lionel Monckton, who wrote the scores of many of her shows and songs that she made famous. She was one of the most prominent West End theatre performers of the early 20th century, starring in such long-running hits as The Toreador (1901), The Orchid (1903) The Spring Chicken (1905), The New Aladdin (1906) The Girls of Gottenberg (1907), Our Miss Gibbs (1909), The Quaker Girl (1910), Gipsy Love (1912), The Dancing Mistress (1912), The Marriage Market (1913), and A Country Girl (1914).

After Monckton died in 1924, Millar married the 2nd Earl of Dudley.

Life and career Millar was born in Manningham, Bradford, where her father, John Millar, was a mill worker, and her mother, Elizabeth (née Miller), was a worsted-stuff worker and dressmaker.

Early career

As a child, Millar performed in London pantomimes, beginning with Babes in the Wood at the St. James Theatre in Manchester, at the age of 13. She started out as a singer and dancer in the music halls of Yorkshire. Later, she moved to London where she was soon earning good notices and better pay appearing in variety show bills. By 1897, she was playing the role of Phyllis Crosby in A Game of Cards at Shodfriars Hall, Boston, Lincolnshire. Next she toured in The New Barmaid in the role of Dora; in The Silver Lining; and as Sadie Pinkhose, the "other woman", in The Lady Detective.

In the new century, she starred in a series of hit musical comedies produced by George Edwardes. In 1900, she played Isabel Blythe in the touring production of The Messenger Boy. Edwardes's next show was The Toreador in 1901 at the Gaiety Theatre in London. Lionel Monckton, one of the show's composers, had seen Millar in The Messenger Boy and requested that she be given the role of the bridesmaid Cora in the new musical, singing "Keep Off the Grass". She made the song popular and earned a second song, "Captivating Cora", and a third, "I'm not a simple little girl". Monckton continued to write hit songs for her in subsequent shows. She had top billing as the Hon. Violet Anstruther in The Orchid, the show that opened the new Gaiety (1903; introducing the songs "Little Mary", "Liza Ann", and "Come with me to the zoo").

Later years

After she returned to London, from New York, some of Millar's biggest successes were still in front of her. They included the title role of the hit Gaiety musical, Our Miss Gibbs (1909), with Millar introducing the songs "Moonstruck", "Yorkshire", and "Our farm", all written for her by Monckton. Monckton and Millar then moved to Edwardes' newest theatre, the Adelphi, where she played the title role, Prudence Pym, in another international hit, The Quaker Girl (1910). In this, she popularised the songs "The Quaker Girl", "The Little Grey Bonnet", and "Tony from America". After this, she returned to continental operetta, playing Lady Babby in Edwardes's English language version of Franz Lehár's Gipsy Love (1912) at Daly's Theatre. In this role, the musical demands were light, and the show was a success. She returned to the Adelphi to play Nancy Joyce in The Dancing Mistress (1912), and back at Daly's she played Kitty Kent in The Marriage Market (1913). This was followed by the role of Nan in a major revival of A Country Girl (1914).

World War I brought a change in the tastes of the theatregoing public. Edwardes died in 1915, and Millar's husband was in poor health. Millar married the 2nd Earl of Dudley.

Millar (now Lady Dudley), survived her second husband by two decades and died at her home in Chiddingfold in 1952, aged 73. She left an estate valued at £52,354.

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