Nancy Price

Christened Lilian Nancy Bache Price in Kinver, Staffordshire, England, in 1880, Nancy was the daughter of William Henry Price (a retired farmer) and Sarah Mannix. Her mother was the granddaughter of Sir Henry Mannix. After schooling in her home village and then in nearby Malvern Wells she decided at an early age to become an actress. She married the actor Charles Maude on 17 May 1907, and they were together until his death in 1943. They had two daughters Joan Maude and Elizabeth Maude. Joan, Elizabeth, and Elizabeth's daughter Jennifer Phipps all went on to become actresses.[1] Soon after Charles and Nancy's daughters were born, they made the village of Findon in Sussex her home, living in a cottage called 'Arcana' in Heather Lane on the Downs. [2]

She also wrote many books, including her autobiography, The Gull's Way (1937). At one time she managed the 'Little Theatre' in the Adelphi, off the Strand.

Findon remained her home until her death in 1970.

Nancy joined F.R. Benson's theatre company whilst still at school. The company specialised in Shakespeare's plays and toured extensively in the provinces. Her first big break came when she caught the attention of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who cast her as Calypso in Stephen Phillips's production of Ulysses at Her Majesty's Theatre, London in 1902, a role in which she enjoyed great success.[3] The part of Hilda Gunning was written for her by Arthur Wing Pinero in Letty (1904),[4] a role in which the theatre critic J. T. Grein said: "In Letty, while others enhanced their fame, Miss Nancy Price, in the part of Hilda, the shop-girl, made her name. If we read the character aright, Miss Price realised it well-nigh to perfection".[5] In 1909 she appeared as Mrs. D'Aquila in George Dance's production of The Whip at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. She joined Edith Craig's Pioneer Players at the Kingsway Theatre in 1911 for a performance of Christopher St. John's The First Actress. In March 1912, she appeared as India in Sir Edward Elgar's Imperial Masque The Crown of India at the London Coliseum.

Together with the Dutch-born theatre impresario J.T. Grein, Nancy Price founded the People's National Theatre in 1930. Their first production was The Man from Blankleys by F. Anstey at the Fortune Theatre.[6] When Grein left the company Nancy became its honorary director, and in 1932 a permanent home was found at the Little Theatre in the Adelphi with Nancy as manager. The enterprise came to an end with the destruction of the theatre in 1941.[7] During this period, Nancy established the English School Theatre Movement, which toured productions of Shakespeare plays to working class children.[8]

In the 1950 King's Birthday Honours, Nancy was awarded a CBE for services to the stage.[9] In the same year, she gave her final stage performance as Martha Blanchard in Eden Phillpotts' The Orange Orchard at the New Lindsey Theatre.[10]

Having established herself as a stage actress in London's West End, Nancy's first film role was in the black and white, silent film The Lyons Mail. In the next decade she appeared in a further eight silent films before her first 'talkie', The American Prisoner, which was recorded in mono sound in 1929. The last silent film in which she appeared The Price of Divorce was adapted by producer Oswald Mitchell to incorporate sound and released under the name Such is the Law.

• Photos of Nancy Price
• Little Theatre in the Adelphi
• Nancy playing banjo
• Tribute to Warrior birds commissioned by Nancy Price
• British Pathe newsreel film featuring Nancy Price
• Photograph of Nancy Price as Mrs. D'Acquilar in The Whip