Beatrice Lillie

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beatrice Lillie, March 1948

Beatrice Gladys "Bea" Lillie , born Constance Sylvia Gladys Munston , (born May 29, 1894 in Toronto , Ontario , † January 20, 1989 in Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire , England ) was a Canadian film and theater actress .

Life

Childhood and youth

Beatrice Lillie, the daughter of a Canadian government official, grew up in Canada and was a child with her mother Lucie Shaw Lillie and her older sister Muriel on the stage. She also sang in the church choir and, according to her mother's wishes, should become a musical singer . So she sent Beatrice to Germany to study musicology , but the beginning of the First World War interrupted her studies. In 1914 Lillie moved to England, where she gained her first experience in a London theater in the West End . As more and more young men were sent to the front as soldiers, including many actors, Lillie took advantage of this, slipped into a suit, put on a fake mustache , and then stood on the stage in various trouser roles .

family

In 1919 she met the British aristocrat Sir Robert Peel, 5th Baronet (of Drayton in the County of Stafford), a direct descendant of the British Prime Minister of the same name Robert Peel . They were married on January 20, 1920. In the same year their only child, Sir Robert Peel, 6th Baronet, was born. After the death of her father-in-law in 1925, and because her husband was now allowed to call himself a baronet, she received the title Lady. However, she never made use of this privilege, probably also because the couple were growing apart. However, the two did not get divorced from peritonitis until Robert Peel's death in 1934 .

Film career

Beatrice Lillie first appeared in front of the camera in the US silent film romance Exit Smiling in 1926 . However, the stage was always her home, she could only be won as an actress for a total of six other films. Around the world in 80 days , the classic film from 1956, which won five Oscars , was probably her best-known production. Her last film, Modern Millie, from 1967, also won an Oscar.

Lillie's debut on Broadway in New York City took place in 1924. Through the music revue Not Likely by André Charlot , she also received her first long-term engagement from January to September 1924. In the following years she received numerous engagements both in the USA and in Europe. Shortly after the beginning of World War II , she was one of the first artists to give the British troops moral support with her singing. Her tour even went to Africa , the Caribbean and the Middle East . She was awarded the British Africa Star and Charles de Gaulle personally with the French Liberation Medal .

However, in addition to numerous personal successes, she also had to cope with a severe blow of fate at that time. Robbie Peel, their only 21-year-old son, also had to fight as a soldier in the war and was stationed in Colombo , Sri Lanka . On April 5, 1942, the HMS Tenedos , which was staying in the port of Colombo, was attacked by Japanese bombers and sunk. Sir Robert Peel VI was among the victims of the Tenedos .

Next life

In 1948, Lillie, who was 54 years old at the time, met the 24-year-old actor John Phillip Huck, who initially became her manager. A professional relationship soon developed into a private one. Despite the age difference, they remained a couple for the next 40 years. Still, there were rumors that Lillie was a lesbian . She was said to have romances with actresses Tallulah Bankhead and Gertrude Lawrence, among others .

Lillie was still on stage until the late 1960s. Although she always tried to draw attention to herself in television appearances, the audience's interest in the grand dame of the theater soon ebbed. After suffering a number of harmless strokes in the mid-1970s , and also showing symptoms of Alzheimer's disease , she withdrew into private life for good.

Beatrice Lillie was 94 years old and died in 1989 at her home in England of complications from Alzheimer's. John Phillip Huck, her life partner, died of a heart attack just 31 hours after her . Both are buried in Blackburn .

In her honor there is a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

Web links

Commons : Beatrice Lillie  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Person Page. In: www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved December 3, 2016 .
  2. ↑ Person Page. In: www.thepeerage.com. Retrieved December 3, 2016 .
personal data
SURNAME Lillie, Beatrice
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Munston, Constance Sylvia Gladys (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Canadian film and stage actress
DATE OF BIRTH May 29, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Toronto , Ontario , Canada
DATE OF DEATH January 20, 1989
Place of death Henley-on-Thames , Oxfordshire , England , United Kingdom