Marie George

Marie George (25 June 1877 – 26 May 1975) was an American actress, singer and stage beauty who had a successful career in Great Britain during the Edwardian era.

Marie George in 1907

She was born in New York in 1877 as Marie Georg to German-American parents. On going on the stage she adopted the Anglicised version of her surname. She married the American theatrical manager Norman J. Norman.[1]

With Walter Passmore in Lady Tatters (1907)

On moving with her husband to London she played Dolly Twinkle in The Casino Girl at the Shaftesbury Theatre (1900), was in the American musical comedy The Belle of Bohemia at the Apollo Theatre (1901)[2] and played Cornelia in The White Chrysanthemum at the Criterion Theatre (1905).[3] For a number of years she was a regular in the annual pantomime at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane including: Gretchen in Mother Goose (1902) opposite Dan Leno;[4] Principal Girl in Humpty Dumpty (1903)[5] during which she was taken ill and was replaced by Mabel Love; Cupid in The White Cat (1904));[6] Ruby in Sinbad (1906);[7][8] Cissie in Babes in the Wood (1907);[9][10] and Katrina in Dick Whittington (1908); and the title role in Aladdin (1909).[11]

George appeared as Poll Merrie in Lady Tatters opposite Courtice Pounds and Walter Passmore at the Shaftesbury Theatre (1907)[12] and played Mariza opposite Passmore in Baron Trenck at the Strand Theatre (1911). In 1912 she played the title role in a British tour of the musical comedy The Boy Scout with C. Hayden Coffin[13] and in 1915 was Mrs. Pineapple in the first revival of A Chinese Honeymoon at the Prince of Wales Theatre.[14]

In July 1911 Marie George was accompanied by Herbert Sparling in a performance at the Palace Pier in Brighton when:

‘Marie George gives the audience twenty minutes of sparkling fun, and makes them regret very much the powers that be which prevent her continuing her part for double that period. She is delightful in her songs, “That’s a Cinch,” and “Over again.” She is most ably assisted by Mr. Herbert Sparling, whose make-up as a pianoforte turner and acting throughout is wonderfully clever.’[9][15]

Marie George died in Brentwood in her native New York in 1975 aged 97.[1]

References
  1. Marie George (1877-1975) - Stage Beauty website
  2. Miss Marie George - The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, January to March 1901
  3. Miss Marie George - Celebrities of the Stage - Tuck Postcards Database
  4. J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books pg. 125
  5. Wearing, pg. 166
  6. Wearing, pg. 214
  7. Tom Sutcliffe, We'll know we've made real progress, when colour on stage isn't an issue at all - The Independent 27 October 2012
  8. Wearing, pg. 322
  9. Marie George - Footlight Notes website
  10. Wearing, pg. 385
  11. Pantomimes at Drury Lane - It's Behind You website
  12. Lady Tatters - Truth, Volume 62, 3 July 1907, pg. 55
  13. The Boy Scout at the Grand Theatre, Leeds (1912) - Leeds Play Bills
  14. London Musicals 1915-1919 - Over the Footlights website
  15. Brighton & Hove Society, Brighton, Sussex, Thursday, 12 July 1911, p. 4482b
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