Anne Elizabeth "Elsie" Fogerty (16 December 1865 – 4 July 1945) was a British teacher who departed from the customary practice of “voice and diction” also called elocution. At that time “Voice and Diction” focused entirely on the mouth and nasal cavity to produce speech sounds. Fogerty’s technique ended up focusing on the entire body and voice to produce speech. At first, she used just the lungs to resonate the sound, but soon included the whole body, because she discovered that posture and movement also affected speech. It ultimately became known as the “Body and Voice” technique.
/sup> She was founder and principal of the Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
in London from 1906 to 1942. /sup>
Early years
The daughter of engineer and architect Joseph Fogerty
Joseph Fogerty, CE, FRIBA, was an Irish civil engineer, architect, and novelist active in mid-to-late-nineteenth-century Limerick, London, and Vienna.
Born in Limerick, he studied under his father, engineer John Fogerty in Limerick before en ...
FRIBA (d. 1899) and his wife, Hannah Cochrane (d. 1910), both of Limerick, Fogerty was born in Sydenham Sydenham may refer to:
Places Australia
* Sydenham, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
** Sydenham railway station, Sydney
* Sydenham, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
** Sydenham railway line, the name of the Sunbury railway line, Melbourne ...
, south London on 16 December 1865.
An only child, she was privately educated and in 1883 trained at the Paris Conservatoire
The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...
under Coquelin aine and Louis-Arsène Delaunay
Louis-Arsène Delaunay (1826–1903), French actor, was born in Paris, the son of a wine-seller. He studied at the Conservatoire, and made his first formal appearance on the stage in 1845, in Molière's ''Tartuffe'' at the Odéon, where he was e ...
, and with Hermann Vezin in London. Fogerty went on to teach English and Elocution at the Crystal Palace School of Art and Literature from 1889, Roedean School
Roedean School is an independent day and boarding school founded in 1885 in Roedean Village on the outskirts of Brighton, East Sussex, England, and governed by Royal Charter. It is for girls aged 11 to 18. The campus is situated near the Sus ...
from 1908 to 1937, and was tutor of diction at Sir Frank Benson's London School of Acting.
Central School of Speech and Drama
Fogerty began teaching Saturday speech classes at the Royal Albert Hall in the 1890s. Following their success, in 1906 she founded the Central School of Speech and Drama
The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...
then known as the Central School of Speech-Training and Dramatic Arts at the Hall. By 1908 she had worked out a three year training course from speech trainer and drama teachers. In 1923 the school was one of three educational establishments approved by the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
to grant diplomas in dramatic art. Fogerty gave university extension lectures at the Albert Hall, and for many years took evening classes for London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kno ...
teachers.
The School remained at the Royal Albert Hall until 1957, when it moved to its current site in Swiss Cottage
Swiss Cottage is an area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. Th ...
, north London.
Many of Fogerty's pupils had successes in the Poetry Reading Competition at Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
before the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
and many alumni went on to become teachers in speech and the management of theatres.
Whilst at the Royal Albert Hall Elsie Fogerty trained notable actors including:
* Rodney Ackland
Rodney Ackland (18 May 1908 in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex – 6 December 1991 in Richmond upon Thames, Surrey) was an English playwright, actor, theatre director and screenwriter.
Born as Norman Ackland Bernstein in Southend, Essex, to a Jewish fat ...
* Dame Peggy Ashcroft
Dame Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft (22 December 1907 – 14 June 1991), known professionally as Peggy Ashcroft, was an English actress whose career spanned more than 60 years.
Born to a comfortable middle-class family, Ashcroft was deter ...
* Iris Baker
* William Fox
* Sir John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...
* John Laurie
John Paton Laurie (25 March 1897 – 23 June 1980) was a Scottish actor. In the course of his career, Laurie performed on the stage and in films as well as television. He is perhaps best remembered for his role in the sitcom '' Dad's Army'' (19 ...
* Alison Leggatt
* Ruth Lodge
* Irene Mawer
* Sir Laurence Olivier
* Frederick Piper
Frederick Piper (23 September 1902 – 22 September 1979) was an English actor of stage and screen who appeared in over 80 films and many television productions in a career spanning over 40 years. Piper studied drama under Elsie Fogerty at th ...
* Ann Todd
* Marda Vanne
Marda "Scrappy" Vanne (born Margaretha van Hulsteyn;One source, a close friend, spells her name "Margueretha". 27 September 1896 – 27 April 1970) was a South African actress who found fame in London.
Early life
Margaretha was born in Pretoria, ...
Many public figures and actors consulted Fogerty on special difficulties connected with the speech side of their work including poet Laurence Binyon, Elizabeth Bergner
Elisabeth Bergner (22 August 1897 – 12 May 1986) was an Austrian-British actress. Primarily a stage actress, her career flourished in Berlin and Paris before she moved to London to work in films. Her signature role was Gemma Jones in '' Esca ...
, Sarah Bernhardt, George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
, T S Eliot
Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Bi ...
, various pillars of Church and State, and Princess Louise, who became Patron of the School.
Speech Clinic, St Thomas' Hospital
Fogerty was a pioneer in the cure of stammering and in 1912 opened a speech clinic at St Thomas' Hospital, London, of which she became superintendent, and consequently one of the first speech therapists.
Honours
Fogerty was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(CBE) in the 1934 Birthday Honours
The King's Birthday Honours 1934 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of King George V to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The appointments were made to celebrate the o ...
for services to speech training and dramatic arts.
Drama Profession
Elsie Fogerty worked to secure the first recognition of drama as a diploma subject in an English university – the University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, where she was a member of the advisory committee for the Diploma in Dramatic Art. She was a member of the Council of the British Drama League from its foundation until her death, and was a keen supporter for the establishment of the Royal National Theatre, London.
Publications
Plays
* ''The Queen's Jest'', Elsie Fogerty
Non-Fiction
* ''Notes on Speech Training'', Elsie Fogerty (1918)
* ''The Speaking of English Verse'', Elsie Fogerty (J M Dent & Sons, Limited, 1923)
* ''Stammering'', Elsie Fogerty (Allen & Unwin, 1930)
* ''Rhythm'', Elsie Fogerty (G Allen & Unwin, Limited, 1937)
* ''Art of the Actor'', Coquelin, trans. Elsie Fogerty (G Allen & Unwin, Limited)
Later years
Fogerty never married but devoted her entire life to her work. In 1944 her flat in South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, London was completely destroyed following an air raid during the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. With all of her possessions destroyed she moved into a nearby hotel. Fogerty died in 1945 in a nursing home at Leamington Spa.[Elsie Fogerty, Dictionary of National Biography, Muriel H Wigglesworth (Oxford University Press)]
Further reading
* ''The Central Book'', Lolly Susi (Oberon Books, London, 2006)
* ''Fogie – The Life (1865–1945) of Elsie Fogerty Pioneer of Speech Training for the Theatre and Everyday Life'', Marion Cole (Peter Davis, London, 1967)
* ''Elsie Fogerty Archive'', THM/324 – Theatre & Performance Special Collections, V&A, London
* ''Miss Elsie Fogerty – Speech Training and Dramatic Art'', Obituary, The Times, London, 7 July 1945
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fogerty, Elsie
1865 births
1945 deaths
People from Sydenham, London
People associated with the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Drama teachers
Teachers of English