Olga Nethersole (1870-1951)

Olga Nethersole (1870-1951)

Olga Isobel Nethersole was born in Kensington, London, on 18th January, 1870. She was the youngest daughter of Henry Nethersole, a solicitor. Olga was educated in London and on the continent and gained acting experience as an amatuer before turning to the professional stage.

Her first professional role was as 'Lettice Vane' in "Harvest", opening at the Theatre Royal, Brighton on 5th March 1887 and then continuing on tour. She then joined the company of Arthur Dacre and Amy Roselle under whose direction she appeared in a number of roles culminating in her first London appearance as 'Alice Pengelly' in "Our Joan" at the Grand Theatre, Islington on 3rd October, 1887. She was still only seventeen years of age.

She first appeared on the West End stage in June the following year when she opened as 'Nelly Busby' in the farcical comedy "The Paper Chase" at The Strand. Despite her tender years and lack of experience she had little difficulty in finding work in the West End and appeared in a number of productions at other West End theatres in the months that followed. In July 1888 she opened as 'Ruth Medway' in "Union Jack" at The Adelphi, her first major role in 'straight' drama. She ellicited great praise for her emotional portrayal of a dishonoured young woman in that piece, so much so that she was lured away from the Adelphi halfway through the run to star in "The Dean's Daughter" for the grand re-opening of the St. James's Theatre on 29th November - which she did with complete success.

With only two years experience behind her, Olga was already recognised as one the most promising new talents on the British stage, and was next engaged by the actor/impressario John Hare at his newly built Garrick Theatre. She appeared there on the opening night on 24th April 1889 in Pinero's play "The Profligate". Kate Rorke was Hare's leading lady on that occasion but Olga attracted much attention in the secondary role of 'Janet Preece. When Hare's leading lady for his next production, "La Tosca", was suddenly taken ill Olga was entrusted to step into the breach which she did with complete success. Still only nineteen, she was already a star!

She next embarked for Australia on a twelve month extended joint-starring tour with the experienced actor Charles Cartwright. Among other roles she played on that tour was the female lead of 'Leslie Brudenell' in "The Profligate" which she had seen Kate Rorke play so well. Much valuable experience was gained on that tour so that when she returned to England she was a much more polished performer. Back in London, she greatly enhanced her reputation through her sterling performances as as Mercede da Vigno in "Agatha" (at the Criterion from May 1892), and 'the Comtesse Zicka' in "Diplomacy" (at the Garrick, January 1893). The all-star cast of the latter production included John Hare, Kate Rorke, Forbes-Robertson, and the Bancrofts.

The following year (1894), still only twenty-four years of age, she took the bold step of entering into management and produced A.W. Gattie's play "The Transgressor" at the Court Theatre. Olga herself played the leading role of 'Sylvia Woodville', and following it's run at The Court she took the production on tour in England and subsequently to America. Her first US appearance was in that piece at Palmers Theatre on 15th October, 1894. The play was not a great success in the US, the The New York Times review labelled it "a Generally Competent, but by No Means Brilliant, Performance of a Very Bad Play", but still nevertheless noted that it ended to "A Great Deal of Very Loud Applause" and said of Olga that "She came in like a small cyclone".

Olga was then approached by the famous theatrical impressario Augustin Daly who was seeking a replacement for Ada Rehan who had fallen into dispute with Daly and decided to withdraw from his company. Before any contract could be signed however, Daly and Rehan resolved their differences and Olga's services were no longer required. Olga was temporarily bereft of an American sponsor until Daniel Frohman, brother of Charles Frohman and manager of the Lyceum Theater in New York, stepped in to handle her American interests. With his brother assistance he constructed a tour schedule for Olga which would keep her in the USA for the next six months and see her return the following year. This included leading roles in "Denise", "Frou-Frou", "Camille", and "Carmen" among others.

Over the next few years she regularly alternated between seasons in London and the USA producing and appearing in many successful plays. The most successful, and controversial, of these was Clyde Fitch's play 'Sapho' which led to Olga and other members of her theatre company being arrested by New York City police on charges relating to public indecency. The play, which was based on a novel by Alphonse Daudet, opened at Wallack's Theatre in New York on 16th February 1900. It immediately drew sell-out crowds but contained a sexually suggestive scene that raised the ire of moral crusaders. The central character of the play, Fanny Legrand (played by Olga), was an enchantress who seduced young men and kept many lovers. The scene which so offended the moralists was one in which Fanny was seen being carried up a flight of stairs by a man she was not married to, and seeming to be eagerly anticipating what might transpire when she and her paramour reach the upper floor. On March 5th the production was shut down by the police, and Olga was arrested and charged as a "corrupter of public morals". Released on bail, she replaced "Sapho" with a revival of "The Second Mrs Tanqueray", a play which itself had been the focus of much moral indication when it was first produced in New York seven years previously. The trial began on April 3rd 1900 and rapidly became a national sensation. Olga's case was greatly helped by a police inspector who had found it necessary to watch the play six times "in the line of duty", and subsequently gave evidence that he had found it not at all offensive. The trial lasted three days and resulted in Olga's acquittal by the jury (who took only 15 minutes to reach their decision). Sapho then reopened to even bigger audiences than it had enjoyed previously. [For a more complete telling of this incident see my article "The Sapho Affair"]

This was not the only occasion that Olga ran foul of the US authorities. On another visit to the USA a theatre manager in Chicago was charged under new more stringent child employment/protection laws over two British children playing in his theatre with Olga's company. The manager was found guilty and fined.

Olga continued to produce and appear in plays on both sides of the Atlantic until the outbreak of the First World War, although her appearances in London during that period became gradually less frequent. Amongst the plays that she produced were "The Second Mrs Tanqueray", "Carmen", "Camille", "Magda", "The Labyrinth", "Adrienne Lecouvreur" (which she adapted herself), "l Pagliacci", "Mary Magdalene", and "Sister Beatrice" to name but a few. She enjoyed a successful season at the Theatre Sarah Bernhardt in Paris in spring of 1907, where she presented revivals of "Sapho" and some of her other best known roles. Her last major stage appearance in England was at The Prince of Wales Theatre in Birmingham from October 1912 when she played in the title role in "The Awakening of Helena Ritchie". The following year, from September she toured America in Vaudeville (including a reprise of the Third Act from "Sapho") before retiring from the stage. She made only one further stage appearance, a single performance as 'Barbara Lawrence' in "The Writing on the Wall" at Wyndham's in July 1923.

During the Great War Olga helped her country as best she could by taking part in recruitment initiatives and by joining the British Red Cross in 1916, serving on the nursing staff of the Hampstead Military Hospital as a VAD. As a result of her nursing experience she became much interested in the promotion of public health and in 1917 founded the People's League of Health whose stated aim was 'to raise the standard of health of the British nation'. Throughout the 1920's and 30's Olga campaigned tirelessly to pormote the objectives of the League and was it's representative at international conferences in Brussels (1920), Lausanne (1924), Washington DC (1926) and Rome (1928). In England however, the medical establishment for many years refused to take her seriously, even labelling her a dangerous meddler. She did however acheive a major success in 1935, when a team from her organisation established a trial to assess the benefits of dietary supplements during pregnancy. Ultimately, more than 5000 women participated at ten London Hospitals and the ground-breaking research remained the largest properly controlled study of its type for over fifty years. The study found that women who had received supplements during pregnancy were significantly less likely to have developed 'toxaemia' during pregnancy or to have delivered early.

Olga Nethersole, actress, producer and health and welfare campaigner, passed away on January 9th, 1951.