Sylvia Grey (1866–1958) was an English actress and dancer best remembered for her roles in

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

Life and career

Grey was born in London, England, partly of Swiss ancestry. She began her stage career at the age of 10 appearing in child roles in

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

plays performed at

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

in London. After two years, she continued with her education, graduating with a degree in music from

Trinity College, London Trinity College London (TCL) is an examination board based in London, United Kingdom, which offers graded and diploma qualifications (up to postgraduate level) across a range of disciplines in the performing arts and English language learning and ...

. Grey then sang professionally in a choir while continuing to study singing. After initially performing a number of small roles at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

, Grey moved to the Gaiety Theatre. The Gaiety presented musical burlesques that employed dancers, and so Grey studied dance with

John D'Auban Frederick John D'Auban (1842 – 15 April 1922) was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the c ...

, among others, before debuting as a dancer in 1884. In 1885, she danced the role of Polly Flamborough in ''The Vicar of Wide-awake-field'' at the Gaiety and soon rose to become the principal dancer there. In addition to dancing, she often played comedy roles. Grey became known for her performances in Gaiety burlesques such as ''

Monte Cristo Jr. ''Monte Cristo Jr.'' was a Victorian burlesque with a libretto written by Richard Henry, a pseudonym for the writers Richard Butler and Henry Chance Newton. The score was composed by Meyer Lutz, Ivan Caryll, Hamilton Clarke, Tito Mattei, G. ...

'' and ''

Little Jack Sheppard ''Little Jack Sheppard'' is a Victorian burlesque, burlesque melodrama written by Henry Pottinger Stephens and William Yardley (cricketer), William Yardley, with music by Meyer Lutz, with songs contributed by Florian Pascal,Florian Pascal was a ps ...

'' (1886), ''Miss Esmeralda'' (1887) and ''

Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué ''Ruy Blas and the Blasé Roué'' is a Victorian burlesque, burlesque written by A. C. Torr and Herbert F. Clark with music by Meyer Lutz. It is based on the Victor Hugo drama ''Ruy Blas''. The piece was produced by George Edwardes. As with man ...

'' (1889 in London and then Australia). In 1891, she played one of the stepsisters in the Gaiety's ''

Cinder Ellen up-too-Late ''Cinder Ellen up too Late'' is a musical Victorian burlesque, burlesque written by Frederick Hobson Leslie (writing under the pseudonym A. C. Torr) and W. T. Vincent, with music arranged by Meyer Lutz from compositions by Lionel Monckton, Sidney ...

'' after which the company, including Grey, toured the piece in Australia. She played Flo Fanshawe at the

Prince of Wales's Theatre The Scala Theatre was a theatre in Charlotte Street, London, off Tottenham Court Road. The first theatre on the site opened in 1772, and the theatre was demolished in 1969, after being destroyed by fire. From 1865 to 1882, the theatre was kn ...

in '' In Town''.St. Johnston, Reginald
''A History of Dancing''
(1906), London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co. In 1893, she played Donna Julia in ''Don Juan'' at the Gaiety (by

Meyer Lutz Wilhelm Meyer Lutz (19 May 1829 – 31 January 1903) was a German-born British composer and conductor who is best known for light music, musical theatre and burlesques of well-known works. Emigrating to the UK at the age of 19, Lutz started as ...

A. C. Torr Frederick George Hobson, known as Fred Leslie (1 April 1855 – 7 December 1892), was an English actor, singer, comedian and dramatist. Beginning his career in operetta, Leslie became best known for starring in, and writing (under the pseudon ...

and

Adrian Ross Arthur Reed Ropes (23 December 1859 – 11 September 1933), better known under the pseudonym Adrian Ross, was a prolific writer of lyrics, contributing songs to more than sixty British musical comedies in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

). ''The Dramatic Peerage'' commented, "The poetry of motion has no more charming exponent than Miss Sylvia Grey".Reid, Erskine and Herbert Compton. ''The Dramatic Peerage'', Raithby, Lawrence & Co Ltd, London, 1892, pp. 95–96 In addition to appearing on stage, Grey also taught dance to actors and to wealthy clients, some of whom were drawn from the

aristocracy Aristocracy (, ) is a form of government that places strength in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. The term derives from the el, αριστοκρατία (), meaning 'rule of the best'. At t ...

. This provided her with a greater income than that she received from performing at the Gaiety. Among her many prominent students was

Ellen Terry Dame Alice Ellen Terry, (27 February 184721 July 1928), was a leading English actress of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born into a family of actors, Terry began performing as a child, acting in Shakespeare plays in London, and tour ...

. Grey married in 1893, and her last West End performance was as the Countess Acacia in ''

Baron Golosh ''Baron Golosh'' is an operetta adapted from the 1891 French opérette ''L'oncle Célestin'' by Edmond Audran with some of the original music replaced with songs composed by Meyer Lutz and Leslie Stuart. After a tryout in Swansea, it premiered fro ...

'' in 1895 at the Trafalgar Theatre. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she ran an Australian Officer's Club in London. She made several French films in the 1920s, including ''Le Secret de Rosette Lambert'' (1920), ''La Maison du mystère'' (1923, as Marjorie) and ''Comment j'ai tué mon enfant'' (1925).

Notes

References

*Hindson, Catherine. ''Female Performance Practice on the Fin-de-Siecle Popular Stage of London and Paris: Experiment and Advertisement'' (2007) Manchester University Press
Biography of Grey

External links

*
Drawing of Grey in ''Ruy Blas'', 1889
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey, Silvia English stage actresses English film actresses English silent film actresses 19th-century English actresses 20th-century English actresses 1866 births 1958 deaths Actresses from London