Neva Carr Glyn

Vera "Neva" Josephine Mary Carr Glyn (10 May 1908 – 10 August 1975) was an Australian stage, film, television and radio actress.

Early life Carr-Glyn was born in Melbourne Australia to Adolphus Benjamin Carr Glyn known professionally as Arthur Carr Glyn (died 16 January 1923), who was a humorous baritone and stage manager born in Belfast, Ireland, (the son of Major Carr Glyn) and Marie Carr Glyn (late Mola) , née Marie Dunoon Senior (10 June 1874 – 24 December 1953), a Scottish actress, comedienne and singer with the stage name "Marie Avis". She had one half-sister Gwendoline Arnold O'Neill and two half-brothers Sacheverill Arnold Mola and Rupert Arnold Mola. She was named "Neva" after her great-aunt who was a contralto of some quality. Both spellings of her surname appear in print roughly equally and apparently arbitrarily.

Early career Neva was born while her parents were with the Fred Niblo company touring the J. C. Williamson circuit. Her theatrical debut was four months later, in New Zealand, when Fred Niblo carried her on stage. She was playing the young William to her mother's Lady Isabel Vane in East Lynne at the age of four.

From age five to twelve, when her father died, she was a boarder in various convent schools, ending in Sydney. At eight she was enrolled in the Minnie Hooper School of Dancing and at eleven she was dancing in a revue The Queen of Sheba at the Sydney Town Hall. this last starring Roy Rene. Other stars she worked with at this time were Jim Gerald and George Wallace.

In 1940 she married actor John Tate and their son Nick Tate, also an actor was born in 1942. In 1941 they commenced as a husband-and-wife team for the Macquarie network, where they were known as the "sweethearts of radio", playing romantic leads on the Lux Theatre, the premier drama show in the days when radio was king, and the dark-haired imperious Neva was one of the three "Queens of Radio" (with Lyndall Barbour and Thelma Scott). playing roles such as Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Paulina in A Winter's Tale and Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She had played the role on stage. and Ride a Wild Pony (1975). Her last role was in the ABC-TV series Certain Women. She died mid-series.

Recognition In 1950 she won the Macquarie Network's award for "best performance by an actress in a leading role" (in Half Light). In 1951 she won the Macquarie Network's award for "best performance by an actress in a leading role" (in If This Be Error).

Filmography

Film Girls, Please! (1934, feature film) The Squeaker (aka Murder on Diamond Row) (1937, feature film) First Victory Loan: Return Journey (1944, short film) Murder Story (1957, TV movie) as Jim Tanner's mother The Bastard Country (1959, TV movie) as Connie Naismith Harlequinade (1961, TV movie) as Edna Selby A Night Out (1961, TV movie) as Mother Red Peppers (1962, TV movie) Prelude to Harvest (1963, TV movie) as Mrs Barnsley Don't Listen Ladies (1963, TV movie) as Julie Rape of the Belt (1964, TV movie) as Hera A Touch of Gold (1967, TV movie) Age of Consent (1969, feature film) as Ma Ryan Ride a Wild Pony (1975, feature film) as Miss Gwen

Television The Adventures of Long John Silver (1958) The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day (1960) Whiplash (1960-61) The Mavis Bramston Show (1966) A Touch of Gold (1967) Skippy the Bush Kangaroo (episodes: 'Esmerelda' and 'Fred') (1967-68) The Cousin from Fiji (1972) Certain Women

Stage

East Lynne (1912) as William The Queen of Sheba (1919) as a dancer at Sydney Town Hall Dick Whittington and His Cat (1921, pantomime) in the chorus line for Fuller Brothers at Majestic Theatre, Newtown Band Box Revue (1925-31) (Australia & New Zealand tour) Robinson Crusoe (1925-26) as Principal Girl Aladdin (1927–28) as Principal Boy Clowns in Clover for Frank Neil Company Up in Mabel's Room (1929) as Mabel for Frank Neil Company (South African tour) Nina Rosa (1931, operetta) for Firth Shephard Company Living Dangerously (1934) for Firth Shephard Company Accidentally Yours (1935) for Firth Shephard Company Aren't Men Beasts? (1936) for Firth Shephard Company Cinderella (1937) as Dandini Love from a Stranger at Minerva Theatre Clutterbuck at Minerva Theatre Storm in a Teacup at Minerva Theatre Separate Rooms at Minerva Theatre Dangerous Corner by J.B. Priestley The Merchant of Venice as Portia for John Alden Shakespeare Company A Winter's Tale as Paulina for John Alden Shakespeare Company The Merry Wives of Windsor as Mistress Ford for John Alden Shakespeare Company The Shifting Heart for John Alden Shakespeare Company The Bastard Country (1959) as Connie Naismith The Slaughter of St Theresa's Day (1960) as Oola Maguire

Selected radio performances The Laughing Woman with Peter Finch for the ABC in 1941 If This Be Error by Rachel Grieve and Mollie Greenhalgh for Macquarie Network 1951 Mildred Pierce by James M. Cain in 1953