Vitality Of Cicely Courtneidge At 72

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30998, 2 March 1966, Page 2

Vitality Of Cicely Courtneidge At 72

(By

Susan Vaughan)

Critics, friends and admirers of Cicely Courtneidge, C.8.E., have described her in a thousand ways. One word in their description recurs again and again—vitality.

It was vitality that made her Britain’s most popular comedienne of the between-the-wars era. It was vitality that enabled her to make a comeback after the second war and remain today, at the age of 72, one of the best loved actresses in the business. Her vitality has played an important part in her marriage to Jack Hulbert—a marriage that has just celebrated its 50th anniversary, proving that stage folk can be as happily married as anyone else. She summed up her philosophy on life a few years back: “When the going gets toughest, I know it’s time to press hardest on the accelerator and push with everything I’ve got.” There have been quite a few times in her life when she has had to prove it. Even during her heyday in the ’3os she appeared in plays and films that were panned by the critics and were instant flops, although usually not through any fault of hers. One of her most recent London appearances lasted only five days, when “Let’s Be Frank” folded after very frank notices from the critics. But she soon bounced back in another production, as : happy and funny as ever. The hardest days of her life were undoubtedly at the beginning of her career. She was born in Sydney on Apnl ' Fool’s Day, 1893, which augured well for a comedi- ' enne. Although her father was a ' theatrical manager, with con- , tacts throughout the stage world and always sending ; shows on tour, he was a hard task-master and she had to ( battle to get any decent parts at all.

Bequest—Miss Grace Macfarlane, a horsewoman and regular cattle exhibitor at the Horowhenua A and P. Show, bequeathed the show association £2OOO in her will. Miss Macfarlane died last year at Ashhurst. (P.A.).

She was only three when she first appeared on the stage in “Babes in the Wood.” But she cannot claim to have trodden the boards; she was carried on. It was not until the ripe old age of eight that she made an appearance under her own steam—in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Prince's Theatre, Manchester. Perfect Casting At 14, she graduated to London in a comic-opera adaptation of “Tom Jones.” The papers described her as “the worst actress in London.” After several seasons in repertory, she began to make a more promising name for herself. It was while she was in repertory in Hull, in a show called “The Pearl Girl,” that she first met Jack Hulbert. She was 20 and he, just down from Cambridge, was 21. They were cast as lovers and during one of the performances he proposed to her. From repertory, Cicely Courtneidge proceeded to musicals and revues, through a long line of plays to the razmatazz of the ’2os and the bitter-sweet shows of the ’3os..

Most of her shows and films are remembered today and their names bring a nostalgic tear to many a middle-aged eye—classics like “Something

in the Air,” “Things are Looking Up,” Soldiers of the Queen,” "Falling For You” and ’‘Under Your Hat”—“my favourite,” she says, “though I loved doing them all.” Stands Out One show that stands out in her memory above them all was “Gay’s the Word,” written specially for her by Ivor Novello. It received a standing ovation at the end of the first act! Does Cicely Courtneidge ever wish she had taken things more easily? “I suppose we should have had a quieter life,” She says, “but it’s not for us. If I hadn’t been in the theatre, I would have lost interest in life by now. I never think of retiring. We are both ambitious and we intend to go on for as long as possible.” Cicely and Jack have just finished a tour with a play called “The Spider’s Web” and will soon be going to Torquay to appear in "The Amorous Prawn.” The veteran trouper has lost count of the shows she has been in. “Some people put the total at 50, but I think it’s more than that—and I hope there’s be many more yet,” Miss Courtneidge said. (All Rights Reserved)