Muriel Angelus

Muriel Angelus (born Muriel E S M Findlay, 10 March 1912 – 26 June 2004) was an English stage, musical theatre, and film actress.

Muriel Angelus
Screenshot of Muriel Angelus from the original trailer for the film The Great McGinty.
Born
Muriel E S M Findlay

(1912-03-10)10 March 1912
Lambeth, South London, England
Died26 June 2004(2004-06-26) (aged 92)
Harrisonburg, Virginia, U.S.
Years active1928–1946
Spouse(s)John Stuart (1928–1938)
Paul Lavalle (1946–1997) 1 child
ChildrenSuzanne Lavalle[1]

Born in Lambeth, South London, to Scottish parentage, her father was a chemist. She was educated at the Ursiline Convent in London.[2] She developed a sweet-voiced soprano at an early age. She made her debut on stage at the age of 12, appearing in a play she had written herself called The Sister Key. Also at 12, she acted in a production of Henry VIII.[3]

She went on to sing in music halls and to dance in a West End production of The Vagabond King (1927).[4]

She entered films toward the end of the silent era with The Ringer (1928), the first of three movie versions of the Edgar Wallace play. Her second film, Sailor Don't Care (1928) was important only in that she met her first husband, Scots-born actor John Stuart on the set; her role was excised from the film.[4]

Though in her first sound picture, Night Birds (1930), she got to sing a number, most of her films did not use her musical talents. The sweet-natured actress who played both ingenues and 'other woman' roles co-starred with husband Stuart in No Exit (1930), Eve's Fall (1930) and Hindle Wakes (1931), and appeared with British star Monty Banks in some of his film farces, including My Wife's Family (1931) and So You Won't Talk (1935). Muriel received a career lift with the glossy musical London hit Balalaika. She also acted in the British serial Lloyd of the C.I.D..[3]

She portrayed Adriana in the original Broadway production of The Boys From Syracuse (1938), and Marie Sauvinet in the Broadway production of Sunny River (1941).[5] In turn, she received a contract with Paramount Pictures, but never became a star and is largely remembered solely by the acting buffs and nostalgists. Her last known film role was in The Great McGinty (1940). She then revived her Broadway career and had a great success in the musical comedy, Early to Bed (1943).[6]

Her final performance came in 1946, after her marriage to Paul Lavalle. In 1959 she resisted the efforts of Richard Rodgers to secure her for the part of the Mother Abbess in the first Broadway production of The Sound of Music.[4]

Interviewed in 1996, she said it had been a mistake for her to leave England. "I was caught up in the glamour, but once in Hollywood I was nothing more than a tiny craft battling in an ocean beside much weightier ships."[4]

Angelus died at a nursing home in Harrisonburg, Virginia, aged 92, survived by her daughter from her second marriage.[7] She was cremated and her ashes returned to her surviving daughter.[8]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1928Sailors Don't CareBit part(scenes deleted)
1928The RingerMary Lenley
1928The Infamous LadyThe Girl
1929MascotsAnnie, Draftswoman
1930Eve's FallEve WarrenShort
1930No ExitAnn Ansell
1930Night BirdsDolly Mooreland
1930Red AcesEna Burslem
1931Let's Love and LaughThe Bride Who Was
1931The Wife's FamilyPeggy Gay
1931Hindle WakesBeatrice Farrar
1932Detective LloydSybil Craig
1932Blind SpotMarilyn Janney
1932Don't Be a DummyLady Diana Summers
1935So You Won't TalkKatrina
1939The Light That FailedMaisie
1940The Way of All FleshMary Brown
1940SafariFay Thorne
1940The Great McGintyCatherine McGinty(final film role)

References
  1. "Muriel Angelus". Independent.co.uk. 6 September 2004. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  2. Lathrop, Monroe (13 May 1940). "One Rejected, She's Now in High Favor". St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Missouri, St. Louis. p. 20. Retrieved 17 September 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Kirkley, Donald (11 October 1942). "The Theater". The Baltimore Sun. Maryland, Baltimore. p. 6 -Section 1. Retrieved 15 September 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. 'Muriel Angelus, actress in films and stage musicals', in Daily Telegraph, dated 20 September 2004
  5. "Muriel Angelus". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  6. Internet Broadway Database. Early to Bed, Broadhurst Theatre, (17 June 1943 - 13 May 1944).
  7. Vallance, T. Muriel Angelus, British-born Hollywood actress who first sang 'Falling in Love with Love' The Independent, Monday 6 September 2004.
  8. Wilson, Scott (2016-08-19). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. ISBN 9781476625997.
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