Barbara Dolignon "Jill" Furse (1915–27 November 1944) was an English actress.

Early life

Barbara Dolignon Furse was born in 1915 to Celia (née Newbolt) and Sir Ralph Furse at Netherhampton House in

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

. Her grandfather was the poet Sir

Henry Newbolt Sir Henry John Newbolt, CH (6 June 1862 – 19 April 1938) was an English poet, novelist and historian. He also had a role as a government adviser with regard to the study of English in England. He is perhaps best remembered for his poems "Vit ...

Career

Furse made her stage debut as Francine in ''National 6'' at Gate Studio Theatre. She would later reprise of the play on radio in 1937. In 1938, Furse played Carol in ''

Goodness, How Sad ''Goodness, How Sad'' is a play written by the British actor Robert Morley, which was first performed in 1937. The work was strongly influenced by Morley's affection for provincial theatre.Richards p.175 Synopsis A British-born Hollywood idol re ...

'' at the Vaudeville Theatre. Furse also starred in ''The Intruder'', a play translated from ''Asmodée'' by

François Mauriac François Charles Mauriac (, oc, Francés Carles Mauriac; 11 October 1885 – 1 September 1970) was a French novelist, dramatist, critic, poet, and journalist, a member of the'' Académie française'' (from 1933), and laureate of the Nobel Priz ...

, produced by Norman Marshall at

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

. In 1939, she starred in the films ''

Goodbye, Mr. Chips ''Goodbye, Mr. Chips'' is a novella about the life of a school teacher, Mr. Chipping, written by English writer James Hilton and first published by Hodder & Stoughton in October 1934. It has been adapted into two feature films and two televi ...

'' and ''

There Ain't No Justice ''There Ain't No Justice'' is a 1939 British sports drama film directed by Pen Tennyson and starring Jimmy Hanley, Edward Chapman and Edward Rigby. The film is based on the 1937 novel of the same name by James Curtis. Plot summary Tommy Mutc ...

''. Due to frequent bouts of illness, Furse lost out on some roles, such as playing the Shakespearean heroines at

The Old Vic The Old Vic is a 1,000-seat, nonprofit organization, not-for-profit producing house, producing theatre in Waterloo, London, Waterloo, London, England. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, and renamed in 1833 the Royal Victoria Th ...

produced by

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 Briti ...

. In 1942, after a break from acting for a couple of years, Furse returned to the stage in ''Rebecca'' at the Strand Theatre in the lead role. Furse had been cast in ''The Last Rose of Summer'' produced by Gieldgud, but dropped out after discovering she was pregnant for the second time.

Personal life and death

In 1937, writer and family friend

Edith Olivier Edith Maud Olivier MBE (31 December 1872 – 10 May 1948) was an English writer, also noted for acting as hostess to a circle of well-known writers, artists, and composers in her native Wiltshire. Family and childhood Olivier was born in Wilton ...

introduced Furse to engraver

Laurence Whistler Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler (21 January 1912 – 19 December 2000) was a British glass engraver and poet. He was both the first President of the British Guild of Glass Engravers and the first recipient of the King's Gold Medal for Po ...

. Whistler and Furse married in September 1939 at

Salisbury Cathedral Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Anglican cathedral in Salisbury, England. The cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese of Salisbury and is the seat of the Bishop of Salisbury. The buildi ...

. After their honeymoon, the couple settled on the Furse family estate in Halsdon. When Whistler was serving in the army, the couple only reunited for a few days at a time during his leave. Furse gave birth to her second child, Caroline, in November 1944. Twelve days after the birth, Furse died on 27 November 1944 from a blood infection, at the age of 29. In 1950, Whistler married Furse's younger sister, Theresa.

Legacy

After the end of the Second World War, Whistler published a limited run of Furses's poems. In 1964, he released ''The Initials in the Heart'', an account of his marriage to Furse. This was followed in 1967 with ''To Celebrate Her Living'', a collection of 70 poems dedicated to Furse's memory.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Furse, Jill 1915 births 1944 deaths 20th-century English actresses Actresses from Salisbury English film actresses English stage actresses Date of birth missing