Constance Collier (1878-1955)

Constance Collier (1878-1955)

Constance Collier was born Laura Constance Hardie in Windsor, Berkshire on 22nd January, 1878. She was the daughter (and only child) of Auguste Cheetham Hardie and his wife Eliza Georgina (Collier), who were both professional actors though neither enjoyed a career of any great note. Eliza came from a long line of theatrical performers, whilst Auguste (known as 'Cheet' to his familiars) came from a very different tradition, having broken away from his wealthy merchant family in order to take to the stage.

Little Constance made her stage debut at the age of three as the fairy Pease-Blossom in 'A Midsummer Nights Dream'. She later appeared as the child 'Cissy' in "The Silver King" with the great actor/manager Wilson Barret (playing one of his best remembered roles) at the Theatre Royal in Hull. In October 1893, she joined George Edwardes company at the Gaiety playing the child 'Fernando' in "Don Juan" at the Gaiety, then becoming one of the famous "Gaiety Girls" dance troupe (feted for their beauty). She was only fifteen when she turned up at The Gaiety stage door to audition for a job but Edwardes was at once much taken with her. He invited her to have tea with him, but on discovering she was underage arranged to meet with her mother who gave her consent to her joining Edwardes company.

Constance was already a classic beauty, with strong acquiline features, and in spite of her tender years soon became so tall as to tower above the other dancers. Before allowing her to appear on stage, Edwardes groomed her with an intensive course of elocution, singing and dancing lessons. She amply repaid his faith in her and he in turn recognised her talent in making her one of his original 'Big Eight' - the creme-de-la-creme and centrepiece of his chorus line. She was also equally popular with her fellow performers. When she was invited to a glamorous party with the rest of the 'Big Eight' she felt left out as she could not yet afford a suitable oufit for such an occasion. But when she returned to the dressing room on the evening in question she was astonished to find a beautiful evening gown and all the proper accessories all ready laid out for her - a present from the other girls. She wrote in her autobiography that it was the most wonderful present she had ever received.

In that period she played in two of Edwardes biggest hits, "A Gaiety Girl" and "The Shop Girl". In the latter she appeared in a fortune-telling scene with Seymour Hicks in which she had to hold out her hand for Hicks to pretend to read. In an impromptu ad lib during one performance, Hicks used her delicate arm as a razor strop and announced "shave or haircut?" to roars of laughter from the audience. The gag was kept in throughout the run. In 1895 she transferred to the Duke of York's theatre playing ingenue parts in "Her Advocate" and "Tommy Atkins" before rejoining Wilson Barret at the Lyric where she understudied Miss Maud Jefferies lead role of 'Mercia' in "The Sign of the Cross" (standing in on several occasions) as well as playing her own role of 'Ancaria'. Over the next few years her career blossomed and soon she was commanding leading roles of her own.

In 1901, Sir Henry Beerbohm Tree, who himself was very tall and needed a tall leading lady, invited Constance to join his company at His Majesty's Theatre. She remained there for the next six years, during which time she would play opposite Tree in a number of major productions including, among others: "Ulysses" (as 'Minerva'), "The Merry Wives of Windsor" ('Mistress Ford'), "Twelth Night" ('Olivia' and later 'Viola'), "Julius Caesar" ('Portia'), "Oliver Twist" ('Nancy Sykes'), "Nero" ('Poppoea') and "Antony and Cleopatra" ('Cleopatra'). In "Oliver Twist" which opened on July 10th 1905, her performances as 'Nancy' to Tree's 'Fagin' earned her widespread acclaim, but it was Tree's revival of "Antony and Cleopatra" which marked the pinnacle of their work together. Tree was famed for his realistic productions and lavish sets, none more so than in "Antony and Cleopatra". As 'Cleopatra', he dressed Constance in a range of fantastic costumes, particularly the tableau where Cleopatra assumed the identity of the Goddess Isis, robed in silver, wearing a silver crown and carrying a golden scepter and sacred golden calf. The tragic melodrama of the story was well suited to both their talents and both stars earned rave reviews.

In April of 1907, Tree took the latter production, and Constance, to Germany where they twice performed before the Kaiser in Berlin. The following year she paid her first visit to the United States, appearing as 'Anne-Marie' in "Samson" at the Garrick Theatre in New York opposite the great American actor/playwright William Gillette. Constance was now firmly established as a popular and distinguished actress on both sides of the Atlantic and would spend the next few years regularly alternating between the two. In 1912 she reprised her role of 'Nancy Sykes' in an all-star revival of "Oliver Twist" at the New Amsterdam Theatre, returned to London in the same role at His Majesties Theatre, then recrossed the Atlantic to continue to tour in the same part. Most of the next two years were spent in the US before she returned to England in June 1914 to tour in variety theatres. In 1915 she appeared in two all-star benefit revivals, as 'Lady Sneerwell' in "The School for Scandal" at Covent Garden on 2nd February 1915 for the actors benevolent fund, and as 'Patience' in "King Henry VIII" at His Majesties on 5th July for King Georges Actors Pension Fund.

She returned to the USA with Beerbohm Tree in 1916 and whilst there made four silent films, including playing 'Lady MacBeth' in Tree's disastrous first film "MacBeth". On this occasion she would remain in the US for three years during which time personal tragedy would strike in the death of her husband of thirteen years. In 1905 Constance had married the Irish actor Julian L'Estrange (whose real name Julian Boyle). In New York in October 1918, Julian became a victim of the worldwide influenza epidemic and died from pneumonia. Consoling herself in her work, Constance made a fifth silent film as 'Mme Kraska' in "The Impossible Woman" before returning to England in 1919.

Back in London, the rapid growth of cinema meant that theatre had passed its heyday and was already beginning to wane. Nevertheless Constance's career continued unabated as one of the most influential stars of the West End. In 1923, at The Globe, she played the 'Duchess de Surennes' in Somerset Maugham's "Our Betters" which ran for over twelve months and totalled 548 performances. Around this time she established a close friendship with Ivor Novello, who was still a young rising star, and collaborated with him in writing his first play, "The Rat" (using the joint pen name David L'Estrange). Novello played the lead role and Constance was producer when the play aired at the Prince Of Wales Theatre in June 1924. This was Contance's second foray as an author, having penned her own play "Forever" (based on Du Mauriers novel Peter Ibbetson) a few year earlier, nor was it her last.

Throughout the twenties and thirties she continued to be active on stage on both sides of the Atlantic but her career was soon to take a strange twist. The advent of talking movies in the late twenties presented Hollywood with the problem of many established box-office stars who lacked diction. Constance was hired as a vocal coach to work with the stars of silent film and teach them to speak as well as to act in the more lifelike manner that accompanies spoken dialogue. She soon became established as Hollywood's most famous and influential drama and voice coach. As this new career blossomed she had less time for the stage. She was last seen in London at The Shaftesbury in 1933 playing 'Judith Bliss' in a revival of "Hay Fever". Her last stage appearance in New York was as 'Madame Bernardi' in "Aries is Rising" at the Golden Theatre, although she was seen on tour in the US as late as 1941.

During this time she continued to write, including collaborating with Deems Taylor on the libretto for his lyric-opera of Peter Ibbetson (which had been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera) and also appeared in supporting roles in over twenty films throughout the thirties and forties. Most noteable among these were the classic "Stage Door" (1937) in which she quite aptly played a drama coach, 'Lady Markby' in "An Ideal Husband" (1947) and 'Mrs Atwater' in Alfred Hitchcocks "Rope" (1948).

The latter part of her career is most notable however, for her work as a drama coach and she aided many of the rising Hollywood stars on their road to fame and fortune, including the legendary Marilyn Monroe. For her work in training and guiding actors in Shakespearean roles she was presented with the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre Award.

After a long and highly successful career both on and off stage Constance passed away on 25th April 1955 in New York. She will always be remembered as a highly accomplished and technically proficient actress. She left an account of the early part of her career in her reminiscences published in 1929 under the title 'Harlequinade'.

Movie Credits (source www.imdb.com)
1916 - Jane Bartlett in 'Tongues of Men'
1916 - Marcia Gray in 'The Code of Marcia Gray'
1916 - Lady Macbeth in 'Macbeth'
1916 - Extra in 'Intolerance'
1919 - Mme. Kraska in 'The Impossible Woman'
1920 - Lady Dedlock in 'Bleak House'
1922 - Queen in 'The Bohemian Girl'
1935 - Aunt Melissa Pilson in 'Shadow of Doubt'
1935 - Countess Lidia in 'Anna Karenina' (uncredited)
1935 - Augusta in 'Professional Soldier'
1936 - Lady Constanzia Lorridale in 'Little Lord Fauntleroy'
1936 - Professor Augusta Wimmer in 'Girls Dormitory'
1937 - Duchess Of Glenavon in 'Thunder in the City'
1937 - Mrs. Allardyce in 'Wee Willie Winkie'
1937 - Catherine Luther in 'Stage Door'
1937 - 'She Got What She Wanted'
1937 - Lady Caroline in 'A Damsel in Distress'
1937 - Eugenia in 'Clothes and the Woman'
1939 - Nathalie in 'Zaza'
1940 - Mrs. Jefferson Breckenridge in 'Half a Sinner'
1940 - Lady Millicent Wigstaff in 'Susan and God'
1945 - Mme. Jaleska in 'Week-End at the Waldorf' (unconfirmed)
1945 - Lady Susan Dowitt in 'Kitty'
1946 - Mrs. Kingsley in 'The Dark Corner'
1946 - The Queen of France in 'Monsieur Beaucaire'
1947 - Julia Gibbs in 'The Perils of Pauline'
1947 - Lady Markby in 'An Ideal Husband'
1948 - Mrs. Atwater in 'Rope' (aka Alfred Hitchcocks Rope)
1948 - Mrs. Brooke in 'The Girl from Manhattan'
1949 - Tina Cosgrove in 'Whirlpool'
Non-acting
1929 - 'The Taming of the Shrew' - vocal coach
1938 - 'The Baroness and the Butler' - diction advisor (to Annabella)

Writers Credits (source www.imdb.com)
1921 - 'Forever'
1925 - 'The Rat' (play)
1927 - 'Downhill' (play)
1927 - 'The Triumph of the Rat' (characters)
1927 - 'Peter Ibbetson' (adaptation)
1929 - 'Harlequinade' (book - reminiscences)
1937 - 'The Rat' (play)