Maudi Darrell

Maudi Darrell (born Maud Rhoda Didcott, 10 February 1882 – 31 October 1910) was an English actress on the London and New York stages, and a performer in vaudeville. She was one of the fashionable young women known as "Gaiety Girls".

Maudi Darrell
Photograph of a young white woman, in a glamourous pose, with bare shoulders and voluminous wavy hair.
Maudi Darrell, from a 1908 publication.
Born
Maud Rhoda Didcott

10 February 1882
London, England, U.K.
Died31 October 1910
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Actress, Gaiety Girl

Early life

Maud Rhoda Didcott was born in London in 1882, the daughter of Hugh Jay Didcott and Rose Fox. Her father was a theatrical agent, and her mother was a dancer who had a novelty act involving singing while skipping rope.[1][2] Her father was Jewish, but Maudi Didcott was educated at the Sion House Convent at Bayswater.[3] Her sister Violet Raye was also an actress.[4][5]

Career
Maudi Darrell in The Beauty of Bath (1906)

Maudi Darrell appeared in popular musicals and comedies, including The Beauty of Bath (1906),[6] Mrs. Ponderbury's Past (1907),[7] The Cassilis Engagement (1907),[8] The Gay Gordons (1908), and The Belle of Brittany (1908).[9] Her signature song was "By the Side of the Zuyder Zee", from The Beauty of Bath.[10] She was a popular "postcard actress", with portraits of her sold in postcard format.[8] "Her appearance has the peculiar exotic beauty of a Beardsley drawing," noted one critic, "if she appealed to a boy at all, she would appeal with great force."[11] She had a valuable collection of diamonds, and the "Maharaja of Kuch Behar" (Sir Nripendra Narayan) presented Miss Darrell with "the finest emerald in England", in admiration for her beauty.[12][13]

Personal life

Maudi Darrell married Scottish-born mill owner Ian Bullough in 1909.[14][15] She died the following year, from complications of a paralysis of unknown origin and acute appendicitis, aged 28 years.[3] Her widower married again in 1911, to actress Lily Elsie.[16] There were reports that Elsie fell ill from the same illness as Maudi Darrell, almost immediately after marrying Bullough.[17]

References
  1. Henry George Hibbert, Fifty Years of a Londoner's Life (Dodd, Mead & Company 1916): 110, 145.
  2. John Hollingshead, Gaiety Chronicles (A. Constable & Company 1898): 345-347.
  3. "Actress's Sad Fate" The Northwestern Advocate and Emu Bay Times (January 7, 1911): 2.via Troveopen access
  4. Richard Anthony Baker, British Music Hall: An Illustrated History (Pen & Sword 2014): 215. ISBN 9781473837409
  5. "A Chat with Miss Violet Raye" The Sketch (October 31, 1894): 45.
  6. "The Story of the Beauty of Bath" The Play Pictorial 45(7)(1906): 141-143.
  7. Photo caption, Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News (August 24, 1907): 1066.
  8. "Heard in the Green Room" The Sketch (February 13, 1907): 148.
  9. "It's Daffodil Time in Brittany" New York Star (November 28, 1908): 14.
  10. Seymour Hicks, Twenty-Four Years of An Actor's Life (John Lane Co. 1911): 312.
  11. "Mr. St. John Hankins' Comedy at the Stage Society" The Academy (February 16, 1907): 169.
  12. "Maudi Darrell Dies in English Home" The Inter Ocean (November 6, 1910): 9. via Newspapers.comopen access
  13. "Actress Find a Way to Win Back Suitor". The Inter Ocean. 1909-04-04. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Maudi Darrell, Spinster No Longer" The Sketch (March 31, 1909): 367.
  15. "Wedding Interest London" New York Times (March 28, 1909): C1.
  16. "'The Dollar Princess' Who Took the Dollars" Oregon Daily Journal (December 3, 1911): 65. via Newspapers.comopen access
  17. "Lily Elsie, Pet of the English Stage, Who is Dying". The Buffalo Enquirer. 1912-08-31. p. 10. Retrieved 2020-05-04 – via Newspapers.com.
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