May Leslie Stuart (born Mary Catherine Barrett, January 1887 – 20 June 1956) was an English actress and singer in operetta and

Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...

from 1909 to 1915. She also sang on the

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Bri ...

circuit, performing with her father, the composer

Leslie Stuart Leslie Stuart (15 March 1863 – 27 March 1928) born Thomas Augustine Barrett was an English composer of Edwardian musical comedy Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII ...

Early life

Stuart was born in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, Lancashire (now in

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

),General Record Office Births, Year 1887, Quarter 1, District – Salford, vol. 8D, p. 19 the elder daughter of the composer Leslie Stuart (born Thomas Augustine Barrett) and his wife, Katherine Mary, ''née'' Fox.Lamb, pp. 29, 36, 56–58 Her father's song "Sweetheart May" was written about Stuart when she was a girl. MayLeslieStuart1906

Career

Stuart acted and sang on the London stage, with roles in ''Pinkie and the Fairies'' (as "Beauty", 1909), ''Sunlight and Shadow'' (1910), ''The Slim Princess'' (1910), ''

The Count of Luxembourg ''The Count of Luxembourg'' is an operetta in two acts with English lyrics and libretto by Basil Hood and Adrian Ross, music by Franz Lehár, based on Lehár's three-act German operetta ''Der Graf von Luxemburg'' which had premiered in Vienna in 1 ...

'' (1911), ''The Hope'' (1911), ''

The Crown of India ''The Crown of India'', was a masque, an elaborate theatrical presentation, staged in 1912 to celebrate the visit the preceding December of King George V and Queen Mary to Delhi for their coronation as Emperor and Empress of India. For this ma ...

'' (as "Delhi", 1912), an adaptation of '' Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford'' (1913), ''The Girl Next Door'' (1915), ''

Florodora ''Florodora'' is an Edwardian musical comedy. After its long run in London, it became one of the first successful Broadway musicals of the 20th century. The book was written by Jimmy Davis under the pseudonym Owen Hall, the music was by Leslie St ...

'' (as "Lady Holyrood" in the 1915 revival) and '' The Case of Lady Camber'' (title role, 1915). A reviewer mentioned her "brilliant" acting in creating the role of Lady Camber as a highlight of the last work. Stuart appeared in one British silent film, ''

The Second Mrs. Tanqueray ''The Second Mrs. Tanqueray'' is a problem play by Arthur Wing Pinero. It utilises the "Woman with a past" plot, popular in nineteenth century melodrama. The play was first produced in 1893 by the actor-manager George Alexander and despite ca ...

'' (1916), in the role of Lady Orreyd. She appeared on the

stage and made some recordings as a singer in 1915, in both settings accompanied by her father on piano, and singing his songs. In 1910 she was the subject of a photograph in Lallie Charles's exhibit, "Five Hundred Fair Women". After her father's death, she formed and conducted a small touring orchestra to present his works. Her obituaries in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' and ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

'' record that she and her husband were involved in theatrical production after her father's death. Later in life she wrote radio scripts and was an on-air presenter for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Personal life

In 1911 she married a fellow actor, Cecil Cameron, son of the actress

Violet Cameron Violet Lydia Thompson (7 December 1862 – 25 October 1919), known professionally as Violet Cameron, was an English actress and singer who gained fame in Robert Planquette's operettas ''Les cloches de Corneville'' and ''Rip Van Winkle'', and Fr ...

. They divorced in 1916. She married again in 1917, to James Mayhew Balls, an auctioneer. There was some opposition from Stuart's family to the second marriage on the grounds that Balls was five years her junior and a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

, whereas the Stuarts were staunchly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. Stuart's pregnancy with the first of the couple's four children effectively ended the family's opposition.Lamb, pp. 253–255 In her last years Stuart lived in

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

, a London suburb; she died in 1956, in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, London.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

*
A photograph of May Leslie Stuart in a scene from ''The Hope'' (1911)
in the

Gabrielle Enthoven Gabrielle Enthoven (born Augusta Gabrielle Eden Romaine, 12 January 1868 – 18 August 1950) was an English playwright, amateur actress, theatre archivist, and prolific collector of theatrical ephemera relating to the London stage. In 1911, En ...

Collection,

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stuart, May Leslie 1887 births 1956 deaths 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English opera singers Actresses from Salford English musical theatre actresses Music hall performers