Irene Desmond, English musical comedy actress

Irene Desmond (1884-1975), English musical comedy actress, who appeared in supporting roles in The Belle of Mayfair (Vaudeville Theatre, London, 11 April 1906) and The Merry Widow (Daly’s Theatre, London, 8 June 1907).
(photo: unknown, probably London, circa 1907)

Irene Desmond, whose real name was Irene Marguerite Pix, was the elder daughter of John Henry Charles Pix (1851-1887), a German born stuff merchant and naturalized British subject, and his wife, Emilie (née Stead, 1860-), who were married in Yorkshire in 1881. The couple’s younger daughter was the actress, Gladys Desmond (Gladys May Pix, Mrs Herbert G. Reynolds, 1886-1945). Emilie (Emily) Pix subsequently married James Kelly in 1900.

Irene Desmond was married on 15 February 1910 at St. George’s, Hanover Square, London, to Sir Richard William Levinge (1878-1914), 10th Bt. Her second marriage was on 31 August 1916 to Robert Vere Buxton (1883-1953) whose maternal grandfather was John Laird Mair Lawrence (1811-1879), 1st Baron Lawrence of the Punjaub and of Grately.

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‘ACTRESS’S QUIET WEDDING.
‘SIR R.W. LEVINGE MARRIED TO MISS IRENE DESMOND.
‘Sir Richard William Levinge, of Knockdrin Castle, Millingar, Ireland, was married yesterday, at St. George’s, Hanover-square, to Miss Irene Desmond. The Rev. David Anderson, the rector, took the service. The bride, who was given away but Mr. Close, wore a dress of soft grey crêpe de Chine trimmed with lace and chiffon, and a large black hat adorned with grey feathers, while she wore a long chinchilla stole, and carried a bag muff to match. After the service the wedding party drove to the Carlton Hotel, where luncheon was served, Sir Richard and Lady Levinge leaving early in the afternoon for their honeymoon tour.
‘Miss Irene Desmond was a well-known musical comedy actress. The time and place of the wedding were kept secret, and only a few select friends of the bride and bridegroom were present.’
(The Standard, London, Wednesday, 16 February 1910, p. 7c)

Billie Burke and J. Farren Soutar as they appeared as Columbine and Harlequin in the harlequinade introduced on 22 December 1906 into the musical comedy, The Belle of Mayfair at the Vaudeville Theatre, London.

Billie Burke (1884-1970) and J. Farren Soutar (1870-1962), English actor and singer, as they appeared as Columbine and Harlequin in the harlequinade introduced into the musical comedy, The Belle of Mayfair (Vaudeville Theatre, London, 11 April 1906) on Saturday afternoon, 22 December 1906. Other members of the harlequinade were Arthur Williams (Clown), Sam Walsh (Pantaloon), Courtice Pounds (Policeman), Charles Angelo (Swell), Louie Pounds (Fairy Princess), Ruby Ray (Mdlle. Amorette), and Camille Clifford (La Pompadour).
(photo: Bassano, London, 1906)

Phyllis Dare as Peggy in The Dairymaids, 1907-1908

Phyllis Dare (1890-1975), English actress, singer and star of musical comedy as she appeared in The Dairymaids, a farcical musical play, with music by Paul Rubens and Frank E. Tours, 1907-1908
(photo: Foulsham & Banfield, London, 1907/08)

The Dairymaids was first produced by Robert Courtneidge at the Apollo Theatre, London, on 14 April 1906, with Carrie Moore in the leading role of Peggy. The piece ran for 239 performances and closed on 8 December 1906. Courtneidge organized various tours of The Dairymaids, including one for the autumn of 1907 which began at the Gaiety Theatre, Douglas, Isle of Man, on Monday, 19 August, with Phyllis Dare playing Peggy. Miss Dare was obliged to abandon her appearances for two weeks (Belfast and Sheffield) because of laryngitis, when the part of Peggy was taken by Violet Lloyd.

After a break during the Christmas season of 1907/08, during which Phyllis Dare appeared with Carrie Moore, Gwennie Hasto, Esta Stella, Rosie Berganine, John Humphries, Dan Rolyat, Stephen Adeson and Fred Leslie junior in the pantomime Cinderella at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, she was again seen as Peggy in The Dairymaids. The production opened at the Queen’s Theatre, London, on 5 May 1908 for a run of 83 performances and closed on 18 July 1908.

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‘LONDON, May 13 [1908]… . Revival of The Dairymaids this week at the Queen’s, the newest of London theaters, brings up that precocious little actress, Phyllis Dare, who, although she has been an established London favorite for three years, is only 19 years old. She has more ”puppy” adorers than any other woman on the English stage. The junior ”Johnnydom” goes mad over her, assures her of a well-filled house whenever she appears, and buys her postcards in thousands. It was the fair haired Phyllis who was summoned back from boarding school in Belgium when only 17 years of age to assume Edna May’s part in The Belle of Mayfair, when that independent American actress threw up her part because of the importance given to Camille Clifford, the original ”original” Gibson girl. The papers made so much of the fact that the little Phyllis’s studies had been interrupted by the siren call of Thespis that she packed the playhouse for many weeks with a curious public, many of whom had never before heard her name. Now I hear that Miss Dare will shortly essay the role of Juliet at a special matinee to be arranged by Robert Courtneidge, her manager.’
(Deseret Evening News, Salt Lake City, Utah, Saturday, 23 May 1908, p. 16c)

Camille Clifford

Camille Clifford (1885-1971), Belgian-born, Scandinavian/American-raised, English theatrical celebrity, as a Gibson Girl, in The Belle of Mayfair, Vaudeville Theatre, London, 1906
(photo: Bassano, London, 1906)

‘Miss Camille Clifford was so annoyed by a crowd at Bristol that she took refuge in a confectioner’s shop. We have known actresses to do the same even without the pressure of a crowd.’
(The Sporting Times, London, Saturday, 10 November 1906, p. 1b)

Andrew Higginson as Danilo and Carrie Moore as Sonia
in the Australian production of The Merry Widow,
Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 6 May 1908
(photo: Talma, Melbourne, 1908)

Carrie Moore as Sonia in The Merry Widow, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney, and her sudden marriage, May 1908
‘Sydney, N.S.W., Nov. 25 [1908].
‘The theatrical sensation of the past month has been caused by the unexpectedly sudden wedding of Carrie Moore – at present appearing in the name part in The Merry Widow at Her Majesty’s Theatre – and the subsequent happenings. Hardly had Mr. and Mrs. Percy Bigwood recovered from the host of congratulations showered on them when news of their marriage leaked out, when a lady in the person of Ivy Salvin comes post haste from Melbourne and, through her Sydney solicitor, issues a Supreme Court writ, claiming £5,000 damages for alleged breach of promise on the part of the gentleman now known in Sydney as “Carrie Moore’s husband.” This action was subsequently settled to the satisfaction of both parties, and Ivy Salvin accepted her first theatrical engagement in The Belle of Mayfair at the Criterion Theatre, which engagement she is now relinquishing to enter the married state. Such is fame!
‘“Carrie Moore’s Husband” is a young Englishman of means, not altogether unknown on the African and Australian turf, where his racing colors have met with judge’s eye on more than one occasion.
‘Carrie Moore is retiring from the cast of The Merry Widow and returning to England, where she is under engagement to appear as principal boy under the management of Bob Courtneidge in the forthcoming pantomime of Cinderella at London’s Adelphi Theatre. Her place as the dashing Widow will be filled by Betty Ohls, an actress well known on your side, where in 1904 she appeared with the Bostonians as Maid Marian in De Koven’s Robin Hood, and subsequent American appearances include those in The Queen of Laughter, at Boston; The Student King, at Chicago, and The Rose of the Alhambra, in New York. She has recently been appearing at the Empire and Tivoli, London, in gesture songs.’
(The New York Dramatic Mirror, New York, Saturday, 19 December 1908, p.5c)