MISS DOROTHEA BAIRD.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 September 1933, Page 8 (Supplement)

MISS DOROTHEA BAIRD.

ORIGINAL ENGLISH “TRILBY" Mrs. H. B. Irving, or, as she was better known upon the stage, Miss Dorothea Baird, whose death is reported from England, was 58 years of age on May 20 last She was the daughter of John Foster Baird, barrister-at-law, and married Mr. H. B. Irving in 1896. Her first appearance on any stage was with ,the Oxford University Dramatic Society as Iris in “The Tempest,” in February, 1894. In June of that year she joined up with Ben Greet’s forces,’ and while on tour with that happy school, which nursed so many players to fame and fortune, she played Hippolyta, Heleana, Paulina, Rosalind and other Shakespearean roles. Her initial London appearance was in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at Camberwell, but it was not until Beerbohm Tree singled her out to create the role of “Trilby” at the Haymarket in October, 1895, that she achieved fame over-night. Her Trilby became the talk of London, and lifted her on to a plane no young actress could have risen to without the part and the opportunity. After brief seasons at St. James’ and Her Majesty’s, “Trilby” was revived again in 1897 In 1898 Miss Baird made her first contact with the Irvings, playing in “The Medicine Man,” “The Lyons Mail,” “The Merchant of Venice,” “The Bells” and “Louis XI” with the late Sir Henry Irving, being then, of course, his daughter-in-law. Probably Miss Baird never again succeeded in reaching anything like the same degree of success that she had in Du Maurier’s play She was a charming Mrs. Darling in “Peter Pan” and an interesting Paola in “Paola and Francesca,” and achieved success as Lavinella Orsini in “Caesar Borgia,” but the histrionic greatness which Trilby promised was not fulfilled. She toured Australia and New Zealand with her late husband in 1911, but her performances were hardly of a character to indelibly impress. On that occasion Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Irving practically played the repertoire associated for years with Sir Henry Irving, and his performances of such characters as Hamlet, Louis XI and Mathias in “The Bells,” were to a very great extent founded on the model set by England’s greatest actor. “Trilby” it may interest some to recall, was first played through New Zealand by a company headed by two American stars, Mr. Reuben Fax and Miss Edith Crane. “Living in a Big Way.” Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has acquired motion picture right to Louis Bromfield’s forthcoming novel, “Living in a Big Way,” which is to be published in the “Cosmopolitan Magazine.” “Moonlight and Pretzels.” The delightful music composed by four of the leading song-writers of America in Universal’s musical production, “Moonlight and Pretzels,” reflects the spirit of the times in a manner unique for screen musical comedy. “Dusty Shoes” is a dramatic cavalcade of happenings in the world from 1928 to 1933. The highlights depicted in song and action are the boom year of 1928, the stock market crash of 1929, the depression years of 1930-32. “I gotta get up and go to work” depicts various types rising in the morning and preparing for their jobs in offices, factories and stores with a cheer on their lips and new hope in their hearts. Mary Brian has the leading role in “Moonlight and Pretzels,” and she is supported by Roger Pryor, Leo Carillo, Bernice Claire, and many others, and 50 beautiful chorus girls chosen by New York’s leading artists. *