Rudge Sisters

The Rudge Sisters were British actresses and dancers from Birmingham. Their father, Henry Rudge, was a brass founder and chandelier maker. Their mother, Elizabeth, had a brief acting career in the Birmingham area. They also had two brothers who became brass founders.[1] The Rudge sisters were:

  • Letitia Elizabeth Rudge – Letty Lind (1861–1923)
  • Sarah Rudge – Millie Hylton (1870–1920)
  • Elizabeth Rudge – Adelaide Astor (1873–1951 who married George Grossmith Jr. in 1895)
  • Lydia Rudge – Lydia Flopp (1877–1963)
  • Fanny Rudge – Fanny Dango (1878–1972 who married Samuel Peter Mackay in 1911)


Letty Lind
Millie Hilton
Adelaide Astor
Lydia Flopp
Fanny Dango


The sisters were primarily dancers, but later developed their singing talents, working variously in pantomime; variety and music hall; Victorian burlesque, often at the Gaiety Theatre, Alexandra Theatre and Daly's Theatre, London, in the 1880s and 90s; and Edwardian musical comedy.[2]

Letty Lind became a famous skirt dancer and musical comedy star. Millie Hylton worked in the theatre and the music halls, eventually making a career in variety as a male impersonator and was the mother of actress Millie Sim (b. 1895). Adelaide Astor, a West End actress, and her husband George Grossmith Jr. had three children, Ena Sylvia Victoria (1896–1944), who became a stage and film actress; George (1906–c.2000), who became a theatrical manager; and Rosa Mary (1907–1988).[3] Lydia Flopp appeared in pantomime. Fanny Dango worked in theatre in London and then had a long and successful career in Australia. While touring Australia, she made an astute property purchase, married a wealthy sheep farmer[4] and settled there.[2][5]

Notes
  1. Cruickshank, p. 5
  2. Cruickshank, Graeme. "The Rudge Family: The Lives and Work of Letty Lind and her sisters", National Operatic and Dramatic Association newsletter, January 2005
  3. Gänzl, Kurt. "Grossmith, George (1874-1935)" in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press (2004) accessed 21 Oct 2007
  4. "Personal", The Argus, 1 December 1910, p. 7, accessed 16 November 2020
  5. Buckle, Liz. "Stories found within the major shipping list project: 1852–1923", Public Record Office, Victoria, Australia, 6 December 2012.

References
  • Cruickshank, Graeme. "The Life and Loves of Letty Lind" in The Gaiety, Issue 22, Summer 2007


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