Vivienne Chatterton (8 June 1896 - 1 January 1974) was a British singer and noted radio actress of the 20th-century.

Biography

Vivienne Chatterton was born in Paddington, London. Her father was English, her mother French. She was educated at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

, for which she won an open scholarship in 1919. Her early career was as a singer of

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er,

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, with roles in a number of London shows. She opened a long BBC career in 1924, appearing in ''The Rose of Persia'' and from the early 1930s she appeared as an actor in radio plays, and schools programmes. She appeared in several films during the 1930s including a lead role in the comedy ''

Love Up the Pole ''Love Up the Pole'' is a 1936 British comedy film directed by Clifford Gulliver and starring Ernie Lotinga, Vivienne Chatterton and Wallace Lupino. It was made at the Cricklewood Studios in London, and distributed by Butcher's Film Service whic ...

'' (1936) and supporting roles in ''

Mayfair Melody ''Mayfair Melody'' is a 1937 British musical film, directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring popular bass-baritone singer Keith Falkner in the first of his three screen performances. It was made at Teddington Studios by the British subsidiary of ...

'' (1936) and ''

Annie Laurie "Annie Laurie" is an old Scottish song based on a poem said to have been written by William Douglas (1682?–1748) of Dumfriesshire, about his romance with Annie Laurie (1682–1764). The words were modified and the tune was added by Alicia Sco ...

'' (1939). She appeared a number of times in singing roles in the first full year of regular

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

broadcasting. She was engaged throughout 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 opposin ...

on children's programmes, and in her post-war career she became noted as

radio actor Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

, voicing the character of Mrs Mountford in the popular ''

Mrs Dale's Diary ''Mrs Dale's Diary'' was the first significant BBC radio serial drama. It was first broadcast on 5 January 1948 on the BBC Light Programme, later BBC Radio 2; it ran until 25 April 1969. A new episode was broadcast each weekday afternoon, with ...

'',MacNeice p.144 and appearing in several hundred radio plays. She was said to have an 'unusual talent for every type of dialect'. Chatterton married

L. Stanton Jefferies Leonard Stanton Jefferies Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music, LRAM (4 September 1896 – 22 October 1961) was a British musician, composer, and Orchestral conductor, conductor. He was the first director of music at the British Broadcastin ...

, the BBC's director of music. She died in London on 1 January 1974, aged 77.

Selected filmography

* '' Squibs'' (1935) * ''

'' (1936) * ''

Dinner at the Ritz ''Dinner at the Ritz'' is a 1937 British mystery romance film directed by Harold D. Schuster and starring David Niven, Annabella, and Paul Lukas. It was produced by the British branch of 20th Century Fox, and shot at Denham Studios. Synopsis T ...

'' (1937) * '' Father Steps Out'' (1937) * ''

Little Miss Somebody Little is a synonym for small size and may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little'' (album), 1990 debut album of Vic Chesnutt * ''Little'' (film), 2019 American comedy film *The Littles, a series of children's novels by American author John P ...

'' (1937) * ''

Down Our Alley ''Down Our Alley'' is a 1939 British musical film directed by George A. Cooper and starring Hughie Green, Wally Patch and Vivienne Chatterton. It was made at Highbury Studios as a quota quickie.Wood p.100 Main cast * Hughie Green as Hughie Dunst ...

'' (1939)

References

Bibliography

* MacNeice, Louis. ''Louis MacNeice: The Classical Radio Plays''. Oxford University Press, 2013.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chatterton, Vivienne Year of birth unknown 1974 deaths British stage actresses British film actresses British radio actresses 20th-century British actresses 20th-century British women singers 1896 births