Rudge Sisters

The Rudge sisters were British actresses and dancers from Birmingham.

The sisters were actually first cousins. Their mothers were all sisters. 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).

The sisters were primarily dancers but later developed their singing talents, working in pantomime, burlesque, and later musical comedy, often at the Gaiety Theatre and Daly's Theatre in London in the 1880s and 90s.

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). She might or might not have been married at one time to the agent, Hugh Didcott. Adelaide Astor, a West End actress, and husband George Grossmith, Jr. had sons, George Grossmith (manager) and Lawrence Grossmith (actor) and a daughter, Ena Grossmith (b.1896, actress). Lydia Flopp appeared in pantomimes. Fanny Dango worked in theatre and then had a long and successful career in Australia. While touring Australia, she made an astute property purchase, married a wealthy sheep farmer, and settled there.

The Rudge sisters were cousins of music hall artist, Millie Lindon (1869-1940), who was married at one time to T. E. Dunville (1868-1924), but they divorced long before his sad and dramatic death.

References

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

External links

* [http://www.str.org.uk/interests/abc.html Information about Rudge sisters]