Jean Jarrott

Some years ago I was sent some information about a woman called Jean Jarrott. Jean was an Australian performer who featured in Queensland WEA productions such as And so to Bed and The Insect Play in the late 1930s.

Here she is in Judgement Day, 1938, as Madame Carelli.

During World War 2 she performed for the Red Cross and with the Brisbane Repertory Society, which was being run by Barbara Sisley, a famous name in amateur theatre. Below is a programme of one of her shows.

I particularly like the war bonds ad on the back.

It says for her future happiness, invest in War bonds

In the 1950s, Jean travelled the world and when she returned to Australia she continued to work for Brisbane repertory. Her career contined through to the 1970s when she appeared in Australian TV serials such as " Until Tomorrow."

Here is Jean performing in the 1950s.

Jean was a talented and generous actress and a fixture in social and theatrical circles in Brisbane. She passed away in 2002.

Sydney Harbour Bridge and other articles

I've just started writing articles for Suite101.com. My profile includes a picture of me and also a list of the articles I have written.

Of the three articles, I think the most interesting was about De Groot,the man who opened the Harbour Bridge, illegally.

I cant believe he was charged with damaging a ribbon worth 2 pounds. Apparently bits of the ribbon are in the bowels of Mitchell Library.

Here's a lovely photo of our wonderful bridge courtesy of Adrian Ng.



It's so beautiful no wonder De Groot was so eager to open it.

My grandfather used to tell stories about travelling by ferry from Manly and watching the bridge being built above him. It must have been an incredible sight. It still is . A true engineering marvel.

Winifred Atwell

Winifred Atwell was a hugely popular star in Australia in the 1950s, everybody knew her. She was also a very talented musician and performer. I was lucky to get these candid snaps of her, some of them are on my website, but these are not.

Winfred's father was a pharmacist and she was supposed to follow the family path, but she was lured by music and succumbed to its siren song.

She played in the US, studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and wowed them with her boogie tunes in the clubs there. She headlined the Palladium and the music charts, and finally came to Australia to stay.

Above is a signed copy of a programme from Chequers in Sydney. In the pages of the programme she is asked a series of questions one of them is,

"What do you hate?"

She answers

"Colour prejudice and new shoes."

Winifred Atwell died in 1983 in Sydney.

La Motogirl

This curious postcard is of 'la motogirl'

She was brought to Australia by Harry Rickards, of the Tivoli Circuit in 1906. Her Manager, Fred Melville, accompanied her.

La Motogirl was taken from her cabinet on stage and left there to dance, sing, play the violin and perform other comedic feats. It was said that she was run by electricity, and sparks flew from her limbs as she performed.

The audience were allowed to look at La Motogirl and encouraged to decide, 'Is she real?"

A young American lady named Doris Chertsey may have also been part of the act.

Maude Beatty

While looking through my trunk full of theatre programmes yesterday I found a letter signed by Maud Beatty.

Maud was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1878. Her parents ran the Theatre Royal in that city. She and her younger sister, May, were soon recruited by Pollards Lilliputians, a famous children's theatre troupe.

Maud was famous as a teenager for taking the male lead roles in productions such as Paul Jones. According to Peter Downes, who wrote the definitive book on the pollard company, The Pollards, Maud's physique and voice made her suitable for such roles.

Here is a picture of Maud in tights from an old cigarette card.

By 1904, when the letter below was written, Maud had been to London and was performing at the Theatre Royal, Brisbane doing a variety turn.

In the letter she thanks an admirer for sending her some flowers. So she was obviously a very polite, well brought up lady. Nobody seems to know when Maud died, but she was still performing in 1919 with JC Williamson. Her sister May, two years younger, died in 1945.

Our Glad-Gladys Moncrieff

Gladys Moncrieff was one of Australia's greatest performers.Gladys began her career with J C Williamson and one of her most famous roles was as Teresa in Maid of the Mountains.


She would spend most of her life playing Teresa. Above is the original song music from 1921, with a very young Gladys on the cover.

Another of her famous roles was the lead in the Street Singer.

Glad's marriages, her accidents and her every move were chronicled by the Australian Press and avidly followed by the public. She was, in every way, a superstar.

When Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney closed in 1933, who better to farewell the old place than Glad? Maid of the Mountains was the last performance in that grand old hall. Below is the front page of the programme for the final night, if you look closely, or click to enlarge, you can see Glad's autograph in the top right hand corner.

Glad died in 1976, but she is remembered forever.

Larry and Viv

I have always been a big fan of Gone with the Wind and especially the leading lady, Vivien Leigh. Vivien was an amazing woman because she courageously battled a terrible disease, bi polar disorder, and yet she produced some of the most incredible acting performances ever seen. Of course when Vivien lived there was no drug treatment , so she had shock treatment. There are stories of how she would have shock treatment in the morning and then in the evening, covering the burns with makeup, she would go on stage and produce a perfect performance.

In 1948, Vivien and her more famous husband, Laurence Olivier toured Australia. Vivien was already showing signs of her disease and according to the authoritative book on the subject,( Darlings of the Gods by Garry O Connor), their marriage was floundering.

That didn't bother the audiences. Larry and Viv were treated like royalty, literally. They reviewed troops, they came to parliament and were adored by the Australian press and public.

Above is an autographed copy of one of their programmes. The tour was conducted in a most professional manner and the programmes were exquisite works of art as can be seen.

In Sydney, they performed at the Tivoli Theatre, which was located near Belmore Park at Central. This was the second Tivoli, the first was located at Castlereagh Street and was transformed into the Embassy Cinema before demolition.Some years ago when I was working at a shop in Sydney, a customer told me that he had met Larry and Vivien during their tour. They had stayed in the Mosman area and he was a child at the time. He said Vivien was wonderful, but Larry was awful, a horrible man.

That is the lasting impression of Vivien Leigh in Australia.

-Leann