Sylvia Grey

Sylvia Grey (1866 – 1958) was an English actress and dancer best remembered for her roles in burlesque productions in London during the Victorian era.

Life and career

Grey was born in London, England. She began her stage career at the age of 10 appearing in child roles in Shakespeare plays performed at Sadler's Wells Theatre in London. After two years, she continued with her education, graduating with a degree in music from Trinity College, London. Grey then sang professionally in a choir while continuing to study singing.

After initially performing a number of small roles at the Vaudeville Theatre, Grey moved to the Gaiety Theatre. The Gaiety presented musical burlesques that employed dancers, and so Grey studied dance before debuting as a dancer in 1884. In 1885, she danced the role of Polly Flamborough in "The Vicar of Wide-awake-field" at the Gaiety and soon rose to become the principal dancer there. In 1887, she had her first adult speaking role in "Miss Esmeralda". In addition to dancing, she often played comedy roles. Grey became known for her performances in Gaiety burlesques such as "Little Jack Sheppard" (1886) and "Ruy Blas and the Blase Roue" (1889 in London and then Australia). In 1891, Grey played one of the stepsisters in the Gaiety's "Cinder Ellen up-too-Late" after which the company, including Grey, toured the piece in Australia. In 1893, she played Donna Julia in "Don Juan" at the Gaiety (by Meyer Lutz, A. C. Torr and Adrian Ross).

Grey married in 1893, and her last West End performance was in "Baron Golosh" in 1895. During World War I, she ran an Australian Officer's Club in London. She made several French films in the 1920s, including "Le Secret de Rosette Lambert" (1920), "La Maison du mystère" (1923, as Marjorie) and "Comment j'ai tué mon enfant" (1925).

In addition to appearing on stage, Grey also taught dance to actors and to wealthy clients, some of whom were drawn from the aristocracy. This provided her with a greater income than that she received from performing at the Gaiety.

References

*Hindson, Catherine. "Female Performance Practice on the Fin-de-Siecle Popular Stage of London and Paris: Experiment and Advertisement" (2007) Manchester University Press
* [http://www.gabrielleray.150m.com/ArchiveTextG/SylviaGrey.html Biography of Grey]

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0340696/ Sylvia Grey at the IMDB database]
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=708063&imageID=833988&word=Grey%2C%20Sylvia&s=3&notword=&d=&c=&f=2&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&total=1&num=0&imgs=12&pNum=&pos=1 Drawing of Grey in "Ruy Blas", 1889]