“OFF” THE STAGE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 196, 16 May 1936, Page 24

“OFF” THE STAGE

Lawyer’s Ban in Will

Mr. Charles Richard Steele, of The Drive, Belmont, Surrey, a city solicotor, left a large share of his fortune of £63,919 in trust for his daughter, Betty Muriel —but she wilt receive nothing if she becomes an actress.

Mr. Steele stated in his will that his daughter had intimated her intention to go on the stage, which was altogether contrary to his wishes. “Should she,” he wrote in a codicil, “give in public any performance by way of acting, singing, dancing, playing any musical instrument,, or giving any performance with a view to its being broadcast or reproduced by cinematograph or gramophone process, the life interest given to her shall cease, and during the residue of her life the income of her share shall be paid to the British Home for Incurables. Putney.”

Mr. A. Leslie Smith, partner in the firm of Francis Miller and Steele, said recently that Mr. Steele had no antipathy to the stage, but made the codicil when his daughter ,at the age of seventeen, told him she intended to go in for a stage career.