Joyce Carey,
OBE (30 March 1898 – 28 February 1993) was an English actress, best known for her long professional and personal relationship with
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
. Her stage career lasted from 1916 until 1987, and she was performing on television in her 90s. Although never a star, she was a familiar face both on stage and screen. In addition to light comedy, she had a large repertory of
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 ...
an roles.
Career
![Barretts-of-Wimpole-Street-3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Barretts-of-Wimpole-Street-3.jpg)
Joyce Carey was born Joyce Lilian Lawrence, the daughter of actor
Gerald Lawrence
Gerald Leslie Lawrence (23 March 1873 – 9 May 1957) was a British actor and manager.
Lawrence was born in London in 1873, the son of Emily Mills ''née'' Asher (1832-1912) and John Moss Lawrence (1827-1888), an investor. Lawrence studied sta ...
, a matinée idol who had been a juvenile in
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...
's Shakespeare company, and his wife, actress
Lilian Braithwaite
Dame Florence Lilian Braithwaite, (9 March 1873 – 17 September 1948), known professionally as Lilian Braithwaite, was an English actress, primarily of the stage, although she appeared in both silent and talkie films.
Early life
She was born ...
,
[''Gaye'', pp 426–427] a major
West End star.
["Obituary", ''The Times'', 3 March 1993, p. 17] Carey was educated at the Florence Etlinger Dramatic School.
[
Carey made her stage debut in 1916, aged 18, as Princess Katherine in an all-female production of '']Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...
''. She joined Sir George Alexander's company at the St James's Theatre
The St James's Theatre was in King Street, St James's, London. It opened in 1835 and was demolished in 1957. The theatre was conceived by and built for a popular singer, John Braham; it lost money and after three seasons he retired. A succ ...
playing Jacqueline, a French countess, in ''The Aristocrat''. After a succession of West End roles in light comedy, Carey took on further Shakespearean parts, appearing at Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon (), commonly known as just Stratford, is a market town and civil parish in the Stratford-on-Avon district, in the county of Warwickshire, in the West Midlands region of England. It is situated on the River Avon, north-we ...
as Anne Page, Perdita, Titania, Miranda and Juliet
Juliet Capulet () is the female protagonist in William Shakespeare's romantic tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. A 13-year-old girl, Juliet is the only daughter of the patriarch of the House of Capulet. She falls in love with the male protagonist R ...
. Over the next few years she added Hermia
Hermia is a fictional character from Shakespeare's play, ''A Midsummer Night's Dream''. She is a girl of ancient Athens named for Hermes, the Greek god of trade.
Overview
Hermia is caught in a romantic entanglement where she loves one man, Lysan ...
, Celia and Olivia Olivia may refer to:
People
* Olivia (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name
* Olivia (singer) (Olivia Longott, born 1981), American singer
* Olívia (basketball) (Carlos Henrique Rodrigues do Nascimento, born 19 ...
to her Shakespearean repertoire, in between regular appearance in West End comedies.[
Her first appearance in a ]Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
play was as Sarah Hurst in '' Easy Virtue'' in New York in 1926.[ For most of the following seven years, her career was chiefly in New York, following a great success in ''The Road to Rome'' in 1927.][ In 1934 she wrote (pseudonymously), and acted a supporting role in, a comedy, ''Sweet Aloes'', which ran in London for more than a year.][ In 1936 she resumed her connection with Coward, playing a series of character roles in his cycle of short plays, '' Tonight at 8.30'' in London and New York.][ In 1938 she starred in the comedy play '']Spring Meeting
''Spring Meeting'' is a 1941 British comedy film directed by Walter C. Mycroft and Norman Lee and starring Enid Stamp-Taylor, Michael Wilding, Basil Sydney and Sarah Churchill. It was based on a 1938 play of the same title by M. J. Farrell ...
'' in the West End.
During the Second World War, Carey toured with 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 ...
for the Entertainments National Service Association
The Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA) was an organisation established in 1939 by Basil Dean and Leslie Henson to provide entertainment for British armed forces personnel during World War II. ENSA operated as part of the Navy, ...
(ENSA) bringing theatre to members of the armed forces at home and abroad, recreating some of her roles from ''Tonight at 8.30''. In 1942 she rejoined Coward to tour in his three newest plays, ''This Happy Breed
''This Happy Breed'' is a play by Noël Coward. It was written in 1939 but, because of the outbreak of World War II, it was not staged until 1942, when it was performed on alternating nights with another Coward play, ''Present Laughter''. The t ...
'' as Sylvia, '' Blithe Spirit'' as Ruth, and ''Present Laughter
''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...
'' as Liz – a character based partly on the actress herself. She later played all three roles in London. After the war she played in new Coward plays, ''Quadrille
The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six '' contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of opera melodie ...
'' (with Alfred Lunt
Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End thea ...
and Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and We ...
) and ''Nude with Violin
''Nude with Violin'' is a play in three acts (later revised into two acts) by Noël Coward. A light comedy of manners, the play is a satire on " Modern Art", criticism, artistic pretension and the value placed on art. It is set in Paris in 195 ...
'' (with Gielgud in London and Coward in New York).[
'']The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' stated of her film work: "One role in a film written by Coward will remain always in the memory: with haughty disdain and an accent of fearful gentility Carey was the manageress of the station buffet in ''Brief Encounter
''Brief Encounter'' is a 1945 British romantic drama film directed by David Lean from a screenplay by Noël Coward, based on his 1936 one-act play ''Still Life''.
Starring Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway, and Joyce Carey, ...
'', who froze her customers and slapped down attempts at familiarity from Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway (1 October 1890 – 30 January 1982) was an English actor, comedian, singer and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles Stanley Holloway on stage and screen, on stage and screen, especially t ...
's ticket collector."[ Carey's other Coward film roles were the petty officer's wife in '']In Which We Serve
''In Which We Serve'' is a 1942 British patriotic war film directed by Noël Coward and David Lean. It was made during the Second World War with the assistance of the Ministry of Information (United Kingdom), Ministry of Information.
The scree ...
'' and Mrs Bradman in '' Blithe Spirit''. Her other films included ''The Way to the Stars
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' and '' Cry the Beloved Country''.[
Between 1976 and 1979, Carey starred in the popular series '']The Cedar Tree
''The Cedar Tree'' was a television serial that ran from 1976 to 1979 on ITV in the United Kingdom.
It involved the story of the upper class Bourne family before the turn of the Second World War. The main setting is Larkfield Manor, the famil ...
''. Her last stage performance was in 1984, as Mrs Higgins in ''Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'', opposite Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...
;[ the critic ]Michael Coveney
Michael Coveney (born 24 July 1948) is a British theatre critic.
Education and career
Coveney was born in London and educated at St Ignatius’ College, Stamford Hill, and Worcester College, Oxford.
After graduation, he worked as a script re ...
described her performance as plaintive and touching. She continued working on screen into her nineties, attracting enthusiastic notices for her portrayal of a frail old lady faced with eviction in Michael Palin
Sir Michael Edward Palin (; born 5 May 1943) is an English actor, comedian, writer, television presenter, and public speaker. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. Since 1980, he has made a number of travel documentaries.
Palin w ...
's 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 exam. ...
...
play ''No 27''.