INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. The sign or “target” for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image of the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a tai^et note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of “sectioning” the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand comer of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. For illustrations that cannot be satisfactorily reproduced by xerographic means, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and inserted into your xerographic copy. These prints are available upon request from the Dissertations Customer Services Department. 5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. Univer%^ M iotSrilm s International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 8426461 Reilly, Joy Harriman FROM WICKED WOMAN OF THE STAGE TO NEW WOMAN: THE CAREER OF OLGA NETHERSOLE (1870-1951); ACTRESS-MANAGER, SUFFRAGIST, HEALTH PIONEER The Ohio State University Ph.D. 1984 University Microfilms internetionelSOO N. z e e b Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1984 by Reilly, Joy Harriman All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark ■£_ 1. Glossy photographs or pages _ 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print_____ 3. Photographs with dark background 4. I llustrations are poor copy______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of page. 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages n/ ^ 8. Print exceeds margin requirements _____ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine____ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print. 11. Page(s)____________lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s)____________seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered ____________. Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages ______ 15. Other___________________________________________________ __________________ University Microfilms International FROM WICKED WOMAN OF THE STAGE TO NEW WOMAN; THE CAREER OF OLGA NETHERSOLE (1870-1951); ACTRESS-MANAGER, SUFFRAGIST, HEALTH PIONEER DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By joy Harriman Reilly, B.F.A., M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 1984 Reading Committee: Roy H. Bowen George P. Crepeau Alan Woods Adviser Department of Theatre kJ\AyJ^ Adviser Department of Theatre Copyright by Joy Harriman Reilly 1984 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a debt of gratitude to all three members of my committee: Roy Bowen, George Crepeau and Alan Woods, for their advice and encouragement. Their enthusiasm and careful scholarship during the preparation of the manuscript were invaluable. I am most grateful to Mrs. H. W. Green for loaning me some of her treasured personal mementos of Olga Nethersole. I would like to thank my mother Sybil Harriman for devotion above and beyond the call of grandmotherhood: for taking over the care of Patrick Harriman Reilly at the significant ages of three months and twenty months so that I could pursue my treasure hunt in the archives of Britain and for coming to America so that I could write. Above all, I want to acknowledge the part played by my husband Richard Reilly in getting this work completed. His emotional support, practical help, faith in my ability and love, kept me going. 11 VITA May 17, 1942 Born in Dublin, Eire 1961-1962 The Times, London 1962-1967 j. Walter Thompson Company, London, and Frankfurt, Germany 1971-1980 The Advocate, Newark, Ohio 1977 B.F.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1977-1983 Teaching Associate, Department of Theatre, The Ohio State University 1978 Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, summer workshop 1979 M.A., The Ohio State university, Columbus, Ohio 1982 Assistant Professor, Ohio Wesleyan University, visiting appointment winter quarter 1983-present Associate Producer, WOSU- Radio, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Theatre Studies in History. Professors Alfred Golding and Alan Woods Studies in Criticism and Literature. Professors Roy Bowen, George Crepeau, John Morrow, Yvonne Shafer Studies in Production. Professors David Ayers, Roy Bowen, Angela D ’Ambrosia, Rex McGraw, Richard Nichols, Ionia Zelenka 111 VITA Page 2 PUBLICATIONS AND PRESENTATIONS 1979 "Whatever Happened to Ellen Tree? The Changing Career of Mrs. Charles Kean." Women's Studies Research Colloquium, The Ohio State University. 1980 "The Shakespearean Roles of Mrs. Charles Kean." OSU Theatre Research Institute History Conference; Shakespeare on Stage. 1980 "Ellen Tree: The Woman Behind Charles Kean." Debut Panel in Theatre History, American Theatre Association Convention, San Diego. 1981 "Ellen Tree; The Woman Behind Charles Kean," Theatre Southwest 8 (October 1981); 9-13. 1982 "The Actress Today and in History." Women's Task Force, Ohio Wesleyan university, Delaware, Ohio. 1982 "The Acting of Miss Ellen Tree." OSU Theatre Research Institute History Conference; Victorian popular Entertainment. 1983 "Miss Ellen Tree (1805-1880); An Actress Overlooked, Or the Noble Art of Suffering," Theatre Studies 26-27 (1979-1981); 21-34. IV TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...................................... ii VITA ................................................... iii LIST OF I L L U S T R A T I O N S ................................ vi INTRODUCTION........................................... 1 CHAPTER I. THE THEATRICAL CAREER OF OLGA NETHERSOLE .. 23 The First Tour, 1894-1895 42 The Second Tour, 1895-1896 ................. 50 The Third Tour, 1896-1897 55 The Fourth Tour, 1899-1900 ................. 59 The Fifth Tour, 1905-1906 72 The Sixth Tour, 1906-1907 80 The Seventh Tour, 1907-1908 86 The Eighth Tour, 1908-1909 ......... .... 90 The Ninth Tour, 1909-1910 95 The Tenth Tour, 1910-1911 100 The Eleventh Tour, 1913-1914 ............... 107 II. THE ACTING STYLE OF THE ’BRITISH BERNHARDT' . 120 III. OLGA NETHERSOLE AS ACTRESS-MANAGER ......... 159 IV. NETHERSOLE AND THE SAPHO A F F A I R .......... 200 V. BEYOND THE FOOTLIGHTS: HEALTH PIONEER, PHILANTHROPIST AND SUFFRAGIST ............... 237 CONCLUSIONS ........................................... 278 APPENDIX A ........................................ 305 APPENDIX B ............................................. 311 APPENDIX C ............................................. 313 APPENDIX D ............................................. 315 APPENDIX E ............................................. 320 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 325 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page Frontispiece: Olga Nethersole in her most famous pose as Sapho. 1. Theatre Magazine of February 1918 places her Camille in the company of some famous ones .... 46 2. A color portrait appeared on the cover of The Theatre of February 1 9 0 7 ..................... 85 3. With Edward Mackay in the final act of Maeterlinck's Mary Magdalene in Theatre Magazine of January 1 9 1 1 ......................... 92 4. Olga Nethersole as C a r m e n ........... 134 5. About to demonstrate the Nethersole Kiss with Hamilton Revelle in Carmen in Theatre Magazine . 154 6. Sketch by C. A. Buchel of Nethersole and Herbert Beerbohm Tree in The Gordian Knot in The Tatler of May 1903 169 7. As Princess Beatrix in The Termagant. Courtesy of the Fawcett L i b r a r y .............................. 187 8. Olga Nethersole and company outside Le Théâtre Sarah Bernhardt, Paris, in June 1907 . ........ 194 9. The notorious staircase scene from Sapho; as Paula Tanqueray; and posing with her favorite pets in The Sketch of November 1904. 10. On a pedestal in Act I of S a p h o .................... 214 11. Out for a ride with her d o g s .........................246 12. Composite of Olga Nethersole later in life. Courtesy of Mrs. H. W. G r e e n ........................267 VI Olga Nethersole in her most famous pose as Sapho. Author's collection. INTRODUCTION Olga Nethersole was an English actress whose greatest triumphs were realized on the American stage. Lewis Strang, a nineteenth-century biographer of American actresses, noted that she was such a frequent