Gertrude Lawrence facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gertrude Lawrence
Lawrence in 1947
Born	Gertrude Alice Dagmar Klasen (1898-07-04)4 July 1898 London, England
Died	6 September 1952(1952-09-06) (aged 54) New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Actress singer dancer musical comedy performer
Years active	1916–1952
Spouse(s)	Francis Gordon-Howley ​ ​ (m. 1917; div. 1927)​ Richard Aldrich ​ (m. 1940)​

Gertrude Lawrence (born July 4, 1898 – died September 6, 1952) was a famous English actress, singer, and dancer. She was well-known for her performances in plays and musicals. She starred in many shows in London's West End and on Broadway in New York.

Early Life and First Steps on Stage

Gertrude Lawrence was born in London, England. Her full name was Gertrude Alice Dagmar Klasen. Her father, Arthur Lawrence, was a singer with a very deep voice. Her mother, Alice, left him when Gertrude was young.

In 1904, when Gertrude was six, her family went to Bognor for a summer holiday. They went to a concert where people from the audience could perform. Gertrude sang a song and won a gold coin! This was her first time performing in public.

Gertrude Lawrence in 1917

In 1908, Gertrude's mother got a job in a Christmas play called a pantomime. They needed a child who could sing and dance, so Gertrude joined the show. While working there, her mother heard about Italia Conti. She was a teacher who taught dance, clear speaking, and basic acting. Gertrude auditioned for Conti, who thought Gertrude was so talented that she gave her free lessons.

Gertrude then joined Italia Conti's play, Where the Rainbow Ends. Italia Conti's teaching helped her start the famous Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in 1911. Gertrude also appeared in other plays like The Miracle and Fifinella. Around this time, she decided to use her father's stage name, Lawrence, as her own.

She later met Noël Coward while working on a play called Hannele. This meeting was the start of a very important friendship and working relationship for both of them.

Starting a Career in Theatre

After Hannele, Gertrude toured with her father in different shows. When her father left for South Africa, Gertrude, who was sixteen, decided to live at the Theatrical Girls' Club in London.

She worked steadily with touring groups. In 1916, she was hired by André Charlot, a theatre producer. She was a backup (an understudy) for actress Beatrice Lillie and also sang in the chorus of his London show. Later, she took over Lillie's role on tour.

Gertrude married Francis Gordon-Howley, a dance director, in 1917. They had a daughter named Pamela in 1918. Their marriage did not last, and Gertrude and Pamela moved in with Gertrude's mother. They divorced ten years later.

In 1918, Gertrude became ill and was fired by Charlot. It was hard for her to find work after that. However, a theatre program from December 1918 shows she was in Charlot's show Buzz Buzz.

In 1919, Gertrude started singing at Murray's, a popular London nightclub. She stayed there for almost two years. There, she met Captain Philip Astley, who became a close friend. He taught her about high society.

In late 1920, Gertrude returned to the theatre. She toured in a music hall act with singer Walter Williams. In 1921, Charlot asked her to replace Beatrice Lillie in his show A to Z. In this show, Gertrude and Jack Buchanan sang "Limehouse Blues," which became one of Gertrude's most famous songs.

With Noël Coward in London Calling!

In 1923, Noël Coward wrote his first musical show, London Calling!, especially for Gertrude. One of Coward's songs, "Parisian Pierrot," became another song Gertrude was known for.

The show was a big hit. This led Charlot to create André Charlot's London Revue of 1924, which he brought to Broadway in New York. Gertrude, Lillie, and Jack Buchanan starred in it. It was so popular that it moved to a bigger theatre. After its Broadway run, the show toured the United States and Canada. Gertrude had to leave the tour when she got very sick with pneumonia and pleurisy. She spent fourteen weeks recovering in a hospital in Toronto.

Charlot's Revue of 1926, also starring Gertrude, Lillie, and Jack Buchanan, opened on Broadway in late 1925. A famous critic, Alexander Woollcott, praised Gertrude. He called her "the personification of style and sophistication" and "the ideal star." This was Gertrude's last show with Charlot.

In November 1926, she became the first British performer to star in an American musical on Broadway. This was Oh, Kay!, with music by George Gershwin. After 256 shows on Broadway, it opened in London, where it ran for 213 performances.

Gertrude Lawrence and Noël Coward in Private Lives, a hit in the UK and the US.

In 1928, Gertrude returned to Broadway in Treasure Girl, another Gershwin musical. She thought it would be a huge success. However, audiences did not like her role as a tricky woman, and the show only ran for 68 performances.

In 1929, she starred with Leslie Howard in Candle Light. In 1931, she and Noël Coward had a great success in his play Private Lives. This play was a hit in both the UK and on Broadway. In 1930, Johnny Green wrote his famous song "Body and Soul" just for Gertrude Lawrence.

While working in New York, Gertrude started taking lessons from vocal coach Estelle Liebling. She continued to study with Liebling for many years.

Later Stage Roles

In 1936, Gertrude and Noël Coward starred in Tonight at 8.30. This was a group of ten short plays that Coward wrote just for them. In 1937, she was in the play Susan and God. In 1939, she starred in the comedy Skylark.

Gertrude felt Skylark needed more work before opening on Broadway. So, it had a trial run at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts. The theatre was run by producer Richard Aldrich. Gertrude and Richard fell in love and got married on her birthday in 1940. They stayed married until her death in 1952. They had homes in Dennis and in New York City.

In June 1941, Gertrude's daughter Pamela married William G. Cahan, a doctor. The wedding was at Gertrude and Richard's home. Gertrude did not have any grandchildren during her lifetime.

Gertrude returned to musicals in 1941 with Lady in the Dark. This show was very challenging and showed off all of Gertrude's talents in singing, dancing, and acting. Critics loved her performance. Richard Watts called her "the greatest feminine performer in the American theatre." Brooks Atkinson called her "a goddess." She stayed with the show for three years, including its national tour.

In 1945, Gertrude starred as Eliza Doolittle in a new production of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. Shaw had not wanted her to play the role at first. After its Broadway run, she toured the United States and Canada in the play until 1947.

Autobiography

In 1945, Gertrude Lawrence published her autobiography, A Star Danced. Her friend Noël Coward later said it was a romantic and not entirely true story of her life. Gertrude went on a tour across the United States to promote her book. She was the first person to do such a book tour.

During World War II

Gertrude's second husband, Richard Aldrich, joined the United States Navy during World War II. Gertrude was invited to perform for British troops by the Entertainments National Service Association. Her biggest challenge was getting from her home in Massachusetts to Britain.

In her memoir, she wrote about the long process of getting permission to travel. She finally got permission to go to England and "do her bit" for the troops. She flew on a charter flight from Washington, D.C., to London. The flight took 36 hours with two stops. She performed for British and American troops who were preparing for the D-Day landings in Normandy.

Later that year, Gertrude also performed for troops in the South Pacific. She took long plane rides and faced dangerous conditions to entertain them.

Connection to Daphne du Maurier

In 1948, Gertrude returned to the United Kingdom to star in September Tide. This play was written just for her by Daphne du Maurier, a famous author. Gertrude played a middle-aged woman whose son-in-law falls in love with her.

London newspapers did not pay much attention to her return to the stage. Gertrude was sad to see that people were less interested in stage stars after the war. The play toured before opening in London. Audiences were often small and mostly older people who remembered Gertrude from her earlier fame.

Critics did not like the play much. Eric Keown of Punch said Gertrude's return was "an occasion for rejoicing" but called the play "an artificial piece." She stayed with the play until July 1949, then returned to the United States.

According to a book about Daphne du Maurier, Gertrude and Daphne became close friends during the London production of September Tide. The exact nature of their friendship is not fully clear.

Film Career

Between 1929 and 1950, Gertrude Lawrence appeared in only nine films. She made her first movie, The Battle of Paris, in 1929. It had songs by Cole Porter. She played Georgie, an artist in Paris who becomes a cabaret singer and falls in love with an American soldier. The film was not a success.

In 1932, she was in three movies: Aren't We All?, Lord Camber's Ladies, and No Funny Business with Laurence Olivier. In 1935, she was in Mimi. The next year, she starred with Charles Laughton in Rembrandt and with Rex Harrison in Men are Not Gods.

Gertrude's most famous American film role was Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie (1950). This role was for an overbearing mother. Tennessee Williams, who wrote the play, thought casting Gertrude was a "dismal error." Critics had mixed feelings about her performance. Bosley Crowther called her Amanda "a farcically exaggerated shrew." However, Richard Griffith praised her, saying her face showed "amazing play of thought and emotion."

Television and Radio Appearances

On June 7, 1938, Gertrude and her cast performed Susan and God live for NBC's new television audience. This was a historic event because it was the first full-length play broadcast live on television. At that time, very few people had TV sets, mostly engineers and critics in New York City. The actors had to perform in a special studio because early TV cameras and lights could not work well in a theatre.

In 1943, Gertrude hosted a weekly radio show in America. Some shows had discussions with guests, and others were adaptations of popular Hollywood films. In 1947, she returned to NBC for a radio production of the play The Great Catherine.

To promote The King and I, Gertrude appeared on TV shows like Toast of the Town. She performed songs from the show with Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. She also appeared on several BBC Radio shows.

Financial Challenges

Throughout her adult life, Gertrude often spent more money than she earned. She had very little savings. Even though she made a lot of money from Private Lives, she was still deeply in debt. At one point, she owed a fashion designer over $10,000. She opened accounts at many shops and spent freely, not paying much attention to her bills.

In 1935, two laundry owners, who were owed a small amount, took legal action. Gertrude's financial situation was then looked at by the Official Receiver. On February 26, 1935, a newspaper reported that her assets were worth £1,879, but she owed nearly £35,000, plus another £10,000 in taxes to the UK government for her earnings in the United States.

Later in 1935, her flat, cars, clothes, and jewelry were taken by the London bankruptcy court. Gertrude, her maid, and her dog had to move into a flat owned by her agent. She was ordered to pay back her debts from her earnings.

It was also found that Gertrude had never paid American taxes. Her lawyer worked out a plan for $150 to be taken from her salary each week she worked in the United States until her tax debt was paid.

She refused to live with less money. So, she decided to work on films during the day, perform on stage at night, and sing in nightclubs late at night to support her spending. She even bought a country house and farm, but left it empty while she stayed in the United States.

Teaching at Columbia University

In September 1951, while starring in The King and I on Broadway, Gertrude announced she would be teaching at Columbia University. She taught a class called "Study of Roles and Scenes" for advanced students. The class met on Thursday afternoons.

Gertrude said she would be teaching an advanced course. She hoped to find and train one truly talented person. The New York Times reported that she had "stage fright" before her first class and did not let reporters watch.

She taught the class again in the spring of 1952. This time, she allowed a New York Times reporter and photographer to attend.

The King and I

Yul Brynner and Gertrude Lawrence in the stage musical The King and I

The musical The King and I began in 1950. Gertrude's manager, Fanny Holtzmann, was looking for a new project for her. Gertrude saw the film Anna and the King of Siam and asked Holtzmann to get the rights to the book it was based on.

Gertrude thought a musical version would be better. She wanted Cole Porter to write the music, but he was not interested. So, Gertrude sent the book to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Rodgers was unsure at first because he thought Gertrude's singing voice was limited. But they realized the story had great potential, and they agreed to write The King and I.

The show opened on Broadway in March 1951. A year later, Gertrude won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her role.

Her success was short-lived. Her health quickly got worse, forcing her to miss many performances. She was finally hospitalized with her last illness. While in the hospital in September 1952, she asked her manager to add her co-star Yul Brynner's name to the theatre sign.

Death and Funeral

On August 16, 1952, Gertrude fainted backstage after a Saturday show of The King and I. After a few days at home, she was admitted to New York Hospital for tests. Doctors said she had hepatitis.

According to The New York Times, 5,000 people gathered outside the church for Gertrude's funeral. Another 1,800 people, including Yul Brynner and famous actors like Marlene Dietrich, filled the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

Oscar Hammerstein II gave a speech at her funeral. Gertrude was buried in the champagne-colored dress she wore for the "Shall We Dance?" song in The King and I. She was buried in her husband's family plot in Upton, Massachusetts. She was the first person for whom the lights were dimmed in all Broadway theaters after her death. This was a special tribute to a beloved performer.

Legacy

In early 1953, Gertrude Lawrence's name was on a list of Columbia University professors who had died the previous year. They were honored with a memorial service, and flags on campus were lowered to half-staff.

Richard Aldrich's book about his late wife became a best-seller in 1954 and 1955.

Gertrude's biographer, Sheridan Morley, wrote in 1981 that most traces of Gertrude Lawrence had disappeared. She died before television regularly recorded artists. Although she made a few films, they do not fully show her amazing stage presence.

Julie Andrews played Gertrude Lawrence in the musical film Star!, released in 1968. The movie was loosely based on Gertrude's life from her early days to her marriage to Richard Aldrich. Richard Crenna played Aldrich, and Daniel Massey played Noël Coward. The film was not a box office success.

The Glass Menagerie was Gertrude Lawrence's only film that was a box-office success. It was rarely shown on American television until 1992. Then, American Movie Classics (AMC) showed it with an introduction about Gertrude Lawrence for viewers who did not know her.

Janet McTeer played Gertrude Lawrence in Daphne, a TV movie from the BBC in 2007.

Three years after Gertrude's death, her daughter Pamela had a son, Benn Clatworthy. He is now a tenor saxophonist in Los Angeles. Gertrude's other two grandchildren, Sarah Hunt and Tom Clatworthy, live in the United Kingdom.

Selected Theatre Credits

Filmography

Discography

• A Bright Particular Star (Decca Records DL-74940)

Images for kids

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  Gertrude Lawrence and Noël Coward in Private Lives, a hit in the UK and the US.

See also

In Spanish: Gertrude Lawrence para niños