Janice Adair

Janice Adair (25 May 1905 – 11 November 1996) was a British film actress of the early sound era.[1] She was married to the film editor Alfred Roome.

Janice Adair
Born25 May 1905
Morpeth, Northumberland, England, United Kingdom
Died11 November 1996
Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, England, United Kingdom
OccupationActress
Years active1929–1934 (film)

Biography

Janice Adair was born Beatrice Mary Duffy in Morpeth, Northumberland in 1905 to Thomas and Bridget Duffy. She was one of six children: three sons and three daughters.[2] After the family moved to West Hartlepool, Beatrice began her acting career when she joined the local Operatic and Musical Society.[3] In 1925 she played the role of Mina in Miss Hook of Holland[4] and the following year she played Franzi in A Waltz Dream where she was praised for her "magnificent acting".[5] She then went to London with another girl and began hanging around the Islington Film Studios. Eventually the casting director W J O'Bryen found Beatrice a small role.[6] In 1928, Beatrice was cast as Lucy in the film The Streets of London as she was of the "Colleen Moore type".[7] Shortly after, Alfred Hitchcock, who was then at Elstree, chose the stage name Janice Adair for Beatrice which she used for her subsequent roles.[8]

She gave up acting following her marriage to the English film editor Alfred Roome.[8] They were married on 20 February 1936. The ceremony was officiated by two of Beatrice Duffy's brothers the rev Vincent Duffy and the rev Cuthbert Duffy, her third brother Thomas gave her away.[9] The Roomes had two children, a daughter Deirdre, and a son Christopher[10] who died in the Kings Cross Fire in 1987.[11]

Beatrice Mary Roome (nee Duffy), also known as Janice Adair, died peacefully at her home in Gerrards Cross on 11 November 1996, she was 91.[10]

Selected filmography

References
  1. Goble p.106
  2. Duffy, Beatrice Mary. "England and Wales Census, 1911". FamilySearch. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  3. "Morpeth's own glamorous". Morpeth Herald. 7 October 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
  4. "Miss Hook of Holland (advertisement)". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. No. 14633. 21 March 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 25 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. "The Waltz Dream". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. No. 14943. 9 March 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 25 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  6. "By the way". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. No. 15879. 13 March 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 25 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  7. Burton, Lionel (21 November 1928). "Gossip of London". Exhibitors Daily Review. Vol. 24, no. 118. p. 3. Retrieved 25 November 2018 – via Internet Archive.
  8. "Mistaken Identity". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. No. 21403. 9 January 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 25 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  9. "Wedding of Local Film Artist". Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail. No. 18032. 20 February 1936. p. 4. Retrieved 25 November 2018 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. Roome, Beatrice Mary (Janice) (15 November 1996). "Personal Column (Deaths)". The Times. No. 65736. p. 22. Retrieved 25 November 2018 – via Gale Group.
  11. Sloman, Tony (12 December 1997). "Obituary: Alfred Roome". The Independent. Retrieved 25 November 2018.

Bibliography
  • Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.


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