Madge Elliott

Leah Madeleine "Madge" Elliott (12 May 1896 – 8 August 1955) was a UK-born Australian dancer and actor who was the wife and stage partner of Cyril Ritchard.

Life Elliott was born in Fulham, London, in 1896. Her family emigrated to Australia while she was a young child. Her mother, Frances Selina Curtis ( Heighton), and her father, Nicholas Phillipps Elliott, lived in Toowoomba, Queensland, where her father was a surgeon. She was educated at a local grammar school.

After Elliott's family had moved to Sydney, she was trained as a dancer by Minnie Hooper. She was a member of the children's ballet at the Melba-Williamson Opera Company by 1911. Hooper tried to partner Elliott with Cyril Ritchard, a handsome actor, but Elliott thought Ritchard's dancing too poor for him to be an appropriate colleague. Nevertheless, they did subsequently form a duo, "Madge and Cyril", and went on a tour of New Zealand. There were said to be five thousand onlookers at the wedding, with Elliott's four-yard veil attracting especial attention.

Elliott died of bone cancer in Lenox Hill Hospital, New York City, in 1955.