AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS

Taranaki Daily News, 30 November 1932, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN ACTRESS

SUCCESS IN NEW YORK. New York, Nov. 23. Glowing praise is bestowed by the critics on the performance of an Australian actress,' Miss Judith Anderson, who is “starring”; in New York in the play “Firebird.” Miss Anderson plays the role of a wife wrongly accused of murdering a libertine. The wife distractedly confesses the crime, though innocent, and is saved by the discovery of the real culprit. The critics hail Miss Anderson’s performance as her greatest, and refer to her “controlled power,” her “quiet, forceful magic, which dominates the play,” and her “rare poise and intelligence.” The play itself receives a mildly favourable review. Henry Stephenson and lan Keith are splendid supporters of the star. Miss Judith Anderson is an Adelaide girl. She commenced her stage career with Julius Knight, and when she returned- to Australia to star many years later she said in an interview: “I owe all I know about acting to Julius Knight. He gave me the sense and the feeling or the theatre.” She was very young when she went to America, and soon secured an engagement with Frank Keenan. Later she was starred by David Belasco in “Cobra” and “The Dove.” She returned to Australia in “Cobra” in 1927, and followed by co-starring with Leon Gordon in “Tea for Two.” A disastrous season of “The Green Hat” finished her engagement. She had a severe illness and left, somewhat disgusted by her reception in her native land. She rose again to fame in “The Young Truth” in New York, and has sustained a leading posl-. tion ever since.