Ethel Coleridge

Coleridge was born Ethel Coleridge Tucker in South Molton, Devonshire, and educated at Bristol University. At the age of 22 she appeared onstage for the first time as a member of the chorus in Carmen.[1] Over the next fifteen years she acted in a wide range of touring companies, and finally made her West End debut in a cast led by Gladys Cooper, in a revival of My Lady's Dress by Edward Knoblock;[2] she played several roles in the piece, including Mrs Moss, "a stout, elderly, motherly type".[1] Following this she was cast as Nancy Sibley in a revival of Knoblock and Arnold Bennett's Milestones.[3] Over the next six years she played character roles in plays ranging from earnest drama to farce, and in 1926 she was recruited by Tom Walls for what became virtually a stock company at the Aldwych Theatre, led by Walls, Ralph Lynn and Robertson Hare, performing Aldwych farces.[1]

At the Aldwych between 1926 and 1931, Coleridge played Gertrude in Rookery Nook; Lady Benbow in Thark; Mrs Orlock in Plunder; Kate, the maid in A Cup of Kindness; Mrs Knee in A Night Like This; and Mona Flower in Turkey Time.[1][4] Established as a character actress, Coleridge continued to be cast in West End productions. Among her best-known roles was the bullying Clara Soppitt in J. B. Priestley's comedy, When We Are Married (1938).[5]

Coleridge continued to act during and after the Second World War, and later appeared on BBC radio and television. She acted in films in the 1930s and 1940s.[6]

• Rookery Nook (1930)
• Plunder (1931)
• Laburnum Grove (1936)
• Lonely Road (1936)
• Keep Your Seats, Please (1936)
• Feather Your Nest (1937)
• Penny Paradise (1938)
• Second Best Bed (1938)
• When We Are Married (1943)
• Murder in Reverse? (1945)
• The Loves of Joanna Godden (1947)

• Ethel Coleridge at IMDb