Norma Whalley (? – 1954) was an Australian theatre and film actress active in the United States and Britain.

Biography

Whalley was the daughter of Henry Octavius Whalley, a doctor working in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. During the late 1890s she toured South Africa, meeting

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904) was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and President of the South African Republic (or ...

, president of the

Transvaal Republic The South African Republic ( nl, Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek, abbreviated ZAR; af, Suid-Afrikaanse Republiek), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer Republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it ...

soon after the

Jameson Raid The Jameson Raid (29 December 1895 – 2 January 1896) was a botched Raid (military), raid against the South African Republic (commonly known as the Transvaal) carried out by British colonial administrator Leander Starr Jameson, under the emplo ...

. In 1901 she was married to J. Sherrie Matthews, an American vaudeville performer, who since mid-1900 had been prevented from working due to ill health, and by 1902 was permanently disabled after a stroke of paralysis. In 1904 she divorced Matthews to marry barrister Percival Clarke (1872–1936), later Sir Percival, son of Sir Edward Clarke.

Acting career

Theatre

Whalley was brought to the United States for a production by

George Edwardes George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond. Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...

. She worked in the

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and New York for several years from the late 1890s. Whalley appeared in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

production of ''The Man in the Moon'' between April and November 1899.

Selected filmography

* ''

Mr. Gilfil's Love Story ''Mr. Gilfil's Love Story'' is a 1920 British silent drama film directed by A. V. Bramble and starring Robert Henderson Bland, Mary Odette and Peter Upcher. It was based on the short story ''Mr. Gilfil's Love Story'' from George Eliot's 1857 ...

'' (1920) * '' Colonel Newcome'' (1920) * '' Greatheart'' (1921) * '' The Mystery of Mr. Bernard Brown'' (1921) * ''

Open Country "Open Country" is a designation used for some UK access land. It was first defined under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 (and extended by the Countryside Act 1968), and was land over which an appropriate access agreeme ...

'' (1922) * '' The Pointing Finger'' (1922) * ''

The Pauper Millionaire ''The Pauper Millionaire'' is a 1922 British silent comedy film directed by Frank Hall Crane and starring C. M. Hallard, Katherine Blair, and John H. Roberts.Half a Truth ''Half a Truth'' is a 1922 British silent crime film directed by Sinclair Hill and starring Margaret Hope, Lawford Davidson and Miles Mander.Murphy p.294 It was based on a 1911 novel by Eliza Humphreys writing as Rita. Cast * Margaret Hope as ...

'' (1922) * '' The Crimson Circle'' (1922) * ''

A Gipsy Cavalier ''A Gipsy Cavalier'' is a 1922 British historical drama film directed by J. Stuart Blackton and starring Georges Carpentier, Flora le Breton and Rex McDougall. It was one of three films made in Britain during the early 1920s by the British-born ...

'' (1922) * ''

The Knight Errant ''The Knight Errant'' is a 1922 British silent romance film directed by George Ridgwell and starring Madge Stuart, Rex McDougall and Olaf Hytten.Goble p.122 Cast * Madge Stuart as Ernestine * Rex McDougall as Cecil Mordaunt Livingston ...

'' (1922) * '' The Experiment'' (1922) * '' Sliver Blaze'' (1923) * '' The Virgin Queen'' (1923) * '' The Luck of the Navy'' (1927) * '' Bitter Sweet'' (1933) * '' This Is the Life'' (1933) * '' The Camels Are Coming'' (1934)

References

External links

* * Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Australian stage actresses Australian film actresses Australian silent film actresses 20th-century Australian actresses 19th-century Australian women Australian expatriate actresses in the United Kingdom Australian expatriate actresses in the United States Australian expatriates in South Africa {{Australia-film-actor-stub