Marie Studholme

Caroline Maria Lupton (10 September 1872 – 10 March 1930), known professionally as Marie Studholme, was an English actress and singer of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, known for her supporting and sometimes starring roles in Edwardian musical comedy. Her attractive features made her one of the most popular postcard beauties of her day.

Studholme's theatre career spanned from 1891 to 1915. She was one of producer George Edwardes' famous Gaiety Girls and originated several roles in musical comedies. Studholme toured widely in the British provinces and abroad in shows that had enjoyed successful London productions, and she became extremely popular in the British provinces. She ended her career in music hall comedy sketches. After her retirement from the stage, she fostered a boy and adopted a girl.

Early life Studholme was born in Eccleshill, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, the only child of Joseph Ludholme Lupton, an auctioneer, and his wife Emma Greaves. and educated at Salt Grammar School on the Saltaire mill estate. She became interested in theatre while still at school. Charles Wyndham asked her to join his company at the Criterion Theatre in 1892. She appeared as Rhea Porter in the musical comedy Morocco Bound at the Shaftesbury Theatre in 1893, where she came to the attention of the manager George Edwardes, the leading promoter of Edwardian musical comedy. and when the piece transferred to Daly's Theatre in 1894, she was promoted to the title role.

After that, she played a series of roles for Edwardes in London and on tour. She understudied Letty Lind as Daisy Vane in An Artist's Model, eventually taking over the role and recreating it in the New York production in 1895. In 1897 she toured the United States with Edwardes' Gaiety company. She also appeared on Broadway in a revival of In Town in 1897. Studholme succeeded Marie Tempest in 1899 in the title role of San Toy on tour in the British provinces. In 1900 she took over the role of Nora from Violet Lloyd in The Messenger Boy at the Gaiety Theatre, London, where she enjoyed great success with the wartime song hit, "When the boys come home once more". and the title role in a revival of The Geisha. At Prince's Theatre, in Bristol, she appeared in San Toy in 1903–1904 and in Lady Madcap in 1905–1906. The petite Studholme sometimes played juvenile roles, for example the title role in Alice in Wonderland in a West End revival in 1906. In 1906-1907 in Southampton, she appeared in My Darling. She again took the title role in a 1906-07 revival of Lady Madcap and then played Joy Blossom in My Darling (1907). Studholme toured in South Africa during 1910 to 1911. She married Porteous in 1891, and the marriage ended in divorce. She was married again on 4 September 1908 to Harold Giles Borrett, four years her junior, the son of Major-General Herbert Charles Borrett, who courted her under an assumed name. Studholme had no children of her own. She fostered Peter Lupino and then around 1916 adopted Jill (Granddaughter of Eardley Norton, former Attorney General of Madras), who was four years younger than Lupino. Borrett was not fond of the children, but he suffered them as he was dependent on Studholme's considerable wealth. He never worked.

Studholme loved animals and was often photographed with them. She reportedly charged a sixpence to autograph her postcards and gave the proceeds to animal and theatrical charities. She converted to Christian Science and lived out her retirement in Hampstead and Laleham where, in 1909, the young Architect Edward Maufe designed a weekend house for her. She called the house 'The Barn', possibly after the Dutch Barn in the musical Miss Hook of Holland. Studholme Court, a council block, was later built on part of the site of the garden of Studholme's former Hampstead home, off the Finchley Road.

Selected productions

Daisy Vane in An Artist's Model. Studholme originated the role in the New York production at the Broadway Theatre on 23 December 1895, having played it as a replacement in London. In Town, 1897 in New York. The title role in San Toy on tour in 1899. Nora in The Messenger Boy at the Gaiety Theatre in 1900. Dora Selby in The Toreador, 1901. Cicely Marchmont in The School Girl, at the Prince of Wales Theatre, London, in 1903. Josephine Zaccary in The Orchard, Part Two (1904). The title role in The Geisha (1904 revival). The title role in Alice in Wonderland in 1906. The title role in a 1906-07 revival of Lady Madcap. Joy Blossom in My Darling (1907). The title role in Miss Hook of Holland, 1907 and afterwards, in a role she played extensively. Paulette in My Mimosa Maid, 1909.