Madoline Thomas

Madoline Thomas (born Madoline Mary Price; 2 January 1890 – 30 December 1989) was a Welsh character actress whose career, beginning in midlife, encompassed stage, film and television roles.

Madoline Thomas
Born(1890-01-02)2 January 1890
Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, Wales
Died30 December 1989(1989-12-30) (aged 99)
Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England
OccupationActress
Years active1910s – 1985

Early life

Madoline Mary Price was born in Abergavenny in Monmouthshire. Her father E. J. Price[1] was a draper.[2] She was musical, a singer and pianist, and held an ATCL diploma from Trinity Guildhall as a piano teacher.[3][4] She sang in church[5] and participated in concerts and theatrical productions as a young woman.[6][7][8] "Miss Madoline Price possesses an exceptionally fine voice," noted one report from Abergavenny in 1909, adding "We wish Miss Price every success in her musical career".[3]

Career

Thomas' stage credits beginning in the 1940s[9][10] included a number of roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company during the 1960s in productions directed by Peter Hall, including The Comedy of Errors, Richard II,[11] Richard III,[12] Henry V and Henry VI, Part 2, supporting David Warner, Roy Dotrice, Ian Holm, and Peggy Ashcroft, among others.[13] In 1977, she played a zither[6] as a "venomous elder" in Tales from the Vienna Woods at the Royal National Theatre.[14] In 1982, at age 92, she was Marina in Peter Hall's production of Uncle Vanya.[15] That year, the Guardian profiled Thomas under the headline "A National Legend."[16]

Thomas appeared in supporting parts in more than a dozen films between 1945 and 1972.[17] Her television credits from the late 1940s into the 1980s included parts in shows such as Dixon of Dock Green, Coronation Street, Angels, " Shoestring " and When the Boat Comes In.[18]

Personal life

Madoline Mary Price married John W. H. "Jack" Thomas in 1917;[1] they had a son. She became a professional actress after her husband died.[6][15] She broke her hip and died soon after, in Weston-super-Mare, on 30 December 1989, three days before her 100th birthday.[19]

Filmography

References
  1. "Marriages". Abergavenny Chronicle. 19 October 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Welsh Newspapers.
  2. Morgan, Irena (15 November 2012). Abergavenny Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-4456-2644-4.
  3. "Musical Matinee". Abergavenny Chronicle. 25 June 1909. p. 5. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Welsh Newspapers.
  4. "Piano Teachers and Trinity Diplomas - ATCL, LTCL, FTCL?". YourPianoLessons. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
  5. "St. George's Day at Abergavenny". Abergavenny Chronicle. 20 April 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Welsh Newspapers.
  6. Cotes, Peter (3 January 1990). "Third Age Actress". The Guardian. p. 31. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "Borough Theatre". Abergavenny Chronicle. 3 December 1915. p. 5. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Welsh Newspapers.
  8. "St. Mary's Band of Hope". Abergavenny Chronicle. 8 May 1914. p. 8. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Welsh Newspapers.
  9. G.P. (31 October 1944). "Opera House, 'Three Waltzes'". The Guardian. p. 3. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Wearing, J. P. (22 August 2014). The London Stage 1940-1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 188, 321. ISBN 978-0-8108-9306-1.
  11. Shewring, Margaret (1998). King Richard II. Manchester University Press. p. 197. ISBN 978-0-7190-4626-1.
  12. Richmond, Hugh M. (1991). King Richard III. Manchester University Press. p. 146. ISBN 978-0-7190-2724-6.
  13. RSC Stage Histories The Modern Library. Retrieved 21-08-2010
  14. Billington, Michael (9 August 1977). "Tales from the Vienna Woods". The Guardian. p. 8. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Actress Madoline Thomas Dies at 99". AP NEWS. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  16. "A National Legend". The Guardian. 19 June 1982. p. 15. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Gifford, Denis (1 April 2016). British Film Catalogue: Two Volume Set - The Fiction Film/The Non-Fiction Film. Routledge. pp. 530, 561, 599, 651. ISBN 978-1-317-74063-6.
  18. "Madoline Thomas". Aveleyman.
  19. Obituaries The Rocky Mountain News, 1 January 1990. Retrieved 21 August 2010
  20. "The Girl of the Canal". Daily News. 9 October 1947. p. 87. Retrieved 9 March 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
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