This article presented by www.stagebeauty.net (Copyright 2007)

The Actress and the Opium Den

The use and abuse of hard drugs is not a modern day phenomenon, nor is the misery and destruction which inevitably follows on from their use. Studies suggest that in many great cities around the world, New York, London and Paris included, there were more drug addicts per head of population in the year 1900 than there were in the year 2000.

Some of the drugs have of course changed over the years; Amphetamines for example, were unknown in 1900; Arsenic and Belladonna were little used in 2000. Other drugs on the other hand have remained virtually the same; Cocaine was known then and now, as was Heroin (although its less refined forms of Morphine and Opium were then much more common), and Hemp is generally better known today as Marijuana.

The extent to which the acting profession, and young actresses in particular, was caught up in the drugs scene was brought sensationally to light amidst the celebrations following the armistice that brought an end to the Great War in 1918. London, and indeed the whole World was shocked by the revelations of visits to Opium dens and drug induced all-night parties that were unearthed by the inquiry into the untimely death of the young actress Billie Carleton.

A few years later, London was shocked yet again when it's former favourite, Cissie Loftus, was held up in court on drug charges - news of her addiciton to Morphine finally explaining her mysterious disappearance from the stage a few years earlier. Cissie was lucky, few Morphine addicts ever recovered in those days, but she was strong and had good friends who would stand by her. By incredible strength of will, she fought her way back from her pit of despair to reclaim not only her life but her career. Others were not so lucky, their careers and often their lives being brought to a premature end by a pernicious habit that at first seemed just innocent fun.

It was generally held at that time in fact, that actresses as a class, and young actresses in particular, were more addicted to the use of Opium and other narcotics than people in any other walk of life. Why that might be so, or at least seem to be so, is perhaps not so difficult to understand. The young actresses of that era in most cases had had little real experience of the world before they were catapulted into a social scene far beyond their imaginations. Even mere chorus girls, who were invariably pretty, commonly found themselves feted by rich and fashionable young men, constantly vying for their attentions. Suddenly they founds themselves the bright lights of society. They were fed in the best restaurants, and invited to the gayest parties, drawn into a lifestyle far removed from what most of them had ever experienced. And since Opium use was not uncommon amongst a certain hedonistic quarter of London society in those days, when these young girls began to move in those cirles it is hardly surprising that many of them came into contact with it.

Opium, Morphine and Heroin

The most common of the narcotics used during the Edwardian era were Opium and its derivatives, Morphine and Heroin. Raw Indian opium had first been introduced into England at the beginning of the 17th century by trading ships chartered by Elizabeth I. Its use grew slowly at first, but by the early years of the twentieth century there were many Opium dens in the seedier parts of London. Indeed, it was generally held at the time that there were more such establishments in London than in any other city in the western world. This was perhaps a kind of rough justice since the bulk of the World's Opium production came from India, which was then a British possession where the cultivation of the Opium poppy was not only tolerated but in many ways encouraged by the British Government for its trade value. Britain had even fought two 'Opium Wars' to enforce the trade into China when the Chinese emperor attempted to stop it.

Opium was smoked by rolling a small quantity of raw Opium gum into a 'pill', about the size of a pea, which was then impaled on the end of a fine needle. The pill was next dexterously rotated over a small oil lamp until the excess moisture was driven off and the pill was 'cooked'. The cooked pill was then deposited in the bowl of a special pipe from which the smoke could be inhaled. Opium was a relatively mild drug, so that those in search of a stronger fix would roll the cooked pill in hashish, which came in the form of a green syrup, and which would be absorbed into the pill over the heat of the lamp before smoking. The form of Opium used for smoking was not the medicinal form, nor could Opium as prepared for smoking be used in medicine.

The medical form of Opium, Morphine, was even more insidious. The morphine alkaloid was first isolated from opium by Fredrick William Serturner, a German pharmacist, in 1805. He named the white crystalline substance after Morpheus, the classical god of sleep and dreams. The English chemist Thomas Morson first began its commercial manufacture at his workshop in Farringdon Street, London, in 1821, leading to its ready availability. Morphine was a pain killer, a sleep aid, and a remorse killer. It was often these last two attributes that led its victims into its grip. Many addicts first use of Morphine was as a remedy for sleeplessness, stress or melancholy. Addicts generally administered it to themselves by hypodermic injections of Morphine solution, so that the habitual user would become permanently scarred with needlemarks that pock-marked their their arms and inner thighs.

An even more potent form of opium, heroin, was first synthesized in 1874 by C.R. Alder Wright, an English chemist working at St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, England, by combining anhydrous morphine alkaloid with acetic anhydride. Alder's discovery, however, lay forgotten for 23 years until it was independently rediscovered by a German chemist, Felix Hoffmann, who gave it the name Heroin. Hoffman's heroin was three times more potent than morphine. Even so, it was originally marketed as a non-addictive morphine substitute, and was even used as an ingredient in cough medicine for children - until it was discovered that heroin is converted to morphine when metabolized in the body.

British Anti-Drug Legislation

By the mid 19th century, death from poisoning had assumed a prominent place in the mortality statistics. Toxicants, particularly Arsenic, were the major causative agents, but narcotics, like opium, were becoming increasingly available and more often involved in poisoning episodes. Consequently, the newly incorporated Pharmaceutical Society together with the doctors began to lobby the government to introduce legislation on this subject. The results were a series of enactments placing controls on the availability of dangerous substances:

The Fall and Rise of Cissie Loftus

Cissie Loftus made her stage debut at the tender age of fifteen, singing a ballad entitled "Molly Darling" at the Alhambra in Belfast, in October 1892, and made her first appearance on the London stage at the Oxford Music Hall in July the following year. That was the start of what was to be a monumental career and by 1915 she was a reknowned star of both legitimate stage and music hall on both sides of the Atlantic. But then, after a few sporadic appearances in 1915, she disappeared from the stage totally, and no-one knew why.

She was not heard of again until 1922 when, sensationally, the London newspapers carried stories of her arraignment into police custody for possession of narcotics. She had, it transpired, been arrested outside a pharmacy, and was charged with using a forged prescription in an attempt to obtain morphine. Found to be in possion of both morphine and atropine, she was taken into custody and forced to spend a night in a police cell before her former close friend and fellow actress Eva Moore put up the 100 pounds necessary to gain her release on bail.

The Cissie Loftus that then stood before the judge, admitting her guilt and begging for just one more chance, was a pathetic creature, a pallid shadow of her former rosy self. Everyone, but for a few of her closest friends, believed it was the end of her. But the judge took pity, suspending sentence and releasing her into the custody of her friends.

They took her to the peace and quiet of a country cottage where she endured the agonies of withdrawal. Somehow she found the strength to endure, and as the weeks went by the craving lessened, the vitality returned to her body, and for the first time in years she found herself able to sleep peacefully. Later, looking back on those dark days, she said: "God bless the bobby who arrested me that night in London. The touch of his hand on my shoulder stirred for the first time within me confidence that I could strike off the shackles of the morphine habit."

Later, explaining what had led her to such a sorry condition, she told a story of a well meaning nurse who, during one of her bouts of illness, had given her a little too much morphine to help her sleep. She became dependent upon it and developed a craving for it. Then, unable to work, she had retreated into herself, living only to feed her morphine habit, until the day came when that bobby laid his hand upon her shoulder.

Incredibly, having freed herself from the shackles of her addiction, Cissie set about resurrecting her career. She left England for good, crossing to America where her shame was not so intense and making a triumphant return at the Palace Theater in New York in September, 1923. She quickly re-established herself as a popular favourite in variety as well as a respected character actress, and made a number of talking films during the 1930's.

The Tragic Case of Billie Carleton

Billie Carleton was born Florence Leonora Stewart in London in 1896. She chose the stage name of Billie Carleton to launch her theatrical career and, within a few short years, worked her way up from anonymous chorus girl to celebrated leading lady. Her rise to fame and fortune was meteoric at a time when many other performers careers took a severe downturn because of the war. Lauded for her looks, she became one of the most glamourous girls in London and a favourite photo-portrait starlet. She was described as being "a young girl of flower like beauty, delicate charm and great intelligence".

Unfortunately, there was a darker side to her new lifestyle which became increasingly apparent as her career progressed. She had begun to mix with the wrong company and rumours of her drug use became so insistent as to begin to damage both her personal and professional reputation. Chief among these bad influences was one Raoul Reginald (Reggie) de Veulle [also known as Reggie Devoe]. de Veulle was a fashion designer for Miss Phelps of Albermarle Street, who had a large theatrical clientele, and was responsible for Miss Carleton's account there from her early days as a chorus girl. He was also a member of the 'bohemian' set in London and New York, an inveterate cocaine user, and rumoured homosexual (despite having a beautiful French wife).

The de Veulle's lived in a flat at No. 116 Dover street, in fashionable Mayfair in London. This flat was the site of frequent all-night drug-taking orgies which Miss Carleton often attended. On these occasions, the persons present would divest themselves of their regular clothing in favour of light pajamas and chiffon nightdresses, and distribute themselves around the drawing room, lounging on pillows and cushions placed upon the floor. The narcotics used at these parties were often provided and prepared for use by Mrs. Ada Ping You (23), the Scottish born wife of Lo Ping You, a chinaman who ran an opium den on London's Limehouse Causeway. Mrs. Ping You would officiate in the center of the room, surrounded by tins of opium and various paraphernalia connected with the preparation of the drug. She prepared the opium by roasting small pellets of the drug impaled on needles over the naked flame of a small lamp, and then placed the prepared 'pills' in the bowls of pipes to be used by those present for the purposes of inhaling the fumes of the drug. The party members would often remain at the flat, in a drug-induced stupor, in excess of twenty-four hours.

On the evening of Miss Carleton's death, she left her apartment at Savoy Court Mansions (an annexe of the Savoy Hotel) at about 7:30pm to travel the short distance to the Haymarket theatre - where she was appearing in the evening performance of Walter Hackett's play "The Freedom of the Seas". She had already appeared in the matinee performance earlier that day, it being a Wednesday, and had returned to her apartment to catch some sleep. When she departed for the theatre on that second occasion she carried with her a decorative 'Dorothy' bag (a kind of fabric pouch with drawstrings) in which she normally kept, amongst other personal items, a little gold and jewelled vanity box - an item which would become a focal point of the subsequent coroner's enquiry. On this occasion, however, the little box was left behind, and Miss Carleton later telephoned her maid with instructions to deliver the box to her at the theatre. The maid obeyed, carrying the box (which she later testified had been perfectly empty) to the theatre and depositing it in the Dorothy bag in Miss Carleton's dressing room as instructed. She then waited in the dressing room until Miss Carleton finished her performance at around 11:15pm in order to dress her for the Victory Ball.

Miss Carleton left the theatre at around 11:30pm in the company of her friend and physician, Dr. Frederick Stewart, with whom she dined before continuing on, by cab, to the Victory Ball at the Royal Albert Hall. She remained there until the early hours of the morning, where she was seen frequently in conversation with de Veulle. When the ball began to break up, at around four o'clock in the morning, some of Miss Carleton's friends were discussing how to get home when miss Carleton, who had had the foresight to retain the cab driver who had delivered her there, offered them a lift. Sharing the taxicab were Miss Carleton, Miss Fay Compton (actress), an army officer friend of Miss Compton, Dr. Stewart, Miss Olive Richardson (actress) and Lionel Belcher (actor). They drove first to Miss Compton's residence, and there dropped Miss Compton and her companion. Next, they dropped Dr. Stewart at his home in Knightsbridge, after which the three remaining passengers returned to Miss Carleton's flat, where Miss Carleton dismissed the cab after paying the driver generously for his time. The party then went inside and Miss Carleton ordered breakfast for the three of them, before excusing herself for a short time to visit her friend, Miss Vernon Castle, in an adjacent apartment as she wished to see her dress, which had cost around £500 - a staggering sum in those days. On her return, she undressed and ate breakfast with her companions, sitting up in bed wearing a kimono. Her friends talked with her a short while, then left her to sleep and departed for the home they shared nearby.

Miss Booker (Miss Carleton's maid) returned to Miss Carleton's apartment at 11:30am on the Thursday morning and found her mistress apparently sleeping, breathing heavily. She checked on Miss Carleton from time to time and became alarmed at around 3:30pm in the afternoon when Miss Carleton's breathing appeared to have stopped. She then called another maid for assistance and summoned Dr. Stewart by telephone. Dr. Stewart went immediately to the apartment where he found Miss Carleton in bed in her night dress. He injected her with strychnine and brandy and tried artificial respiration for some little time before declaring that she was dead. Another doctor later examined the body and deduced, from her blown pupils, that death had been caused by narcotics poisoning. Miss Katherine Jolliffe, an aunt of Miss Carleton, later formally identified the body.

Much of the testimony given at the subsequent coroners inquest centered around Miss Carleton's little gold box, which was known to have been empty when delivered to her at the theatre on the Wednesday evening, but was found on her dressing table the following day still containing an amount of Cocaine two or three times enough to kill a person in weak health or unnacustomed to the drug. Since the Coroners conclusion was that death was caused by 'cocaine snuffed up the nose', how this little box became filled with the drug in the course of the evening became central to the Coroner's investigations. It seems unlikely Miss Booker would have lied about the box being empty when she delivered it to her mistress, there would have been no need, and why would Miss Carleton have left it behind. It seems more likely that Miss Carleton deliberately or carelessly left the box behind knowing it to me empty, but then sent for it when she espied a chance to replenish its contents. But if so from whom?

Reggie de Veulle was arrested and put on trial for alleged complicity in supplying the drugs which caused her death. At the trial, it took three days for the prosecution to present the evidence which it believed warranted de Veulle's conviction for manslaughter. Sir Richard Muir, the prosecuting officer, summed up the prosecution's case in the following words: "The facts I submit, conclusively prove that the defendant had for a considerable number of months been supplying Miss. Billie Carleton with cocaine — a deadly and dangerous drug. He knew it was dangerous, and if he violated his duty by giving her this thing, how can it be said such an unlawful and criminal act was not such as to render him liable to conviction for manslaughter".

In reply on behalf of the prisoner Mr. Huntly Jenkins referred to Miss Carleton's indulgence in drugs and the illness through which she passed, and begged the jury not to lightly dismiss the possibility of suicide in the case. He also attempted to cast suspicion elsewhere, particularly on Lionel Belcher of whom he said "what he is besides being a cinema actor I don't know, excepting that he is a most dangerous man, and the most dangerous and artful witness. He is clearly a liar, he is clearly a perjurer, and he is clearly a trafficker in drugs. That is what you have got to deal with. He was in about as tight a corner as any man could be in. Belcher ought to be there..." he continued, pointing to the dock "and there he would have been but for his clever lying and the position he has taken up. You cannot possibly convict de Veulle while you know that such a man as Belcher was the last person with Billie Carleton. Why should he not have given her the cocaine."

But even if de Veulle was found to have been supplying the actress with cocaine, whether that would be enough to find him guilty of manslaughter was a very difficult point on which the judge would have to direct the jury. Was it necessary for the prosecution to prove that de Veulle supplied the actual lethal dose that killed Miss Carleton or could they succeed on a conspiracy charge of supplying her with drugs over a period of time? Defending counsel's submission was that "no act of the defendant caused Miss Carleton's death and that Miss Carleton either by design or inadvertency caused her own death." He admitted, however, that the defendant "had bought drugs from the woman Lo Ping You".

In summing up, the judge said that in order to warrant a conviction the prosecution must, establish three things to the jury's satisfaction.

  1. They must be satisfied that the death of Miss Carleton was caused by an accidental overdose of cocaine.
  2. They must be satisfied that the accused supplied her with that cocaine.
  3. They must be satisfied that the act of the accused in supplying her with that cocaine was the cause of her death.

He said that the presence of cocaine in the swabs was a matter of the gravest importance, and that whilst it did not prove she died from that poison, it did prove that she had recently taken a considerable dose of the drug. All the indications, without being conclusive, were consistent with death by cocaine, and it was certain she had recently taken it. As for the suggestion of suicide, he said that people did not usually take their lives without a reason. Miss Carleton was young and seemed to be amply supplied with money. She had pawned her jewels, but the necessary monies were immediately forthcoming for their redemption. Her theatrical prospects were good, and up to the last she was in high spirits, full of life, and looking forward to the future. In reference to Belcher, he said that he was "a very unsatisfactory witness, who admitted lying before the coroner."

The Judge instructed the jury that the defendant must be acquitted unless they were satisfied that his part in supplying Miss Carleton with cocaine was the "real, efficient and immediate cause of death". But, most damningly, he also directed them that if a man handed a drug which he knew to be dangerous to a young woman whom he knew to be addicted to drug taking, then in his opinion there was little doubt that his act was negligent in a criminal sense. If he caused her death by criminal negligence he was guilty of manslaughter.

The jury retired for fifty minutes to consider their verdict. On their return, the foreman of the jury was asked: "Are you agreed on your verdict: Do you find Reginald de Veulle is guilty of manslaughter?" He replied: "We find he is". de Veulle was sentenced to six month's imprisonment.

In other criminal preceedings arising from the affair, Lo Ping You pleaded guilty to a charge of possessing opium unlawfully and also to charges connected with the possession of various utensils connected with the preparation and smoking of opium. Ada Ping You was charged with supplying prepared opium for smoking to Miss Billie Carlton and others at the Mayfair flat of Mr. and Mrs. Reginald de Veulle.

For more information, read a contemporary account of The Billie Carleton Case.

The Degredation of Hallye Peck

Hallye Peck was a young woman from Louisville, Kentucky (USA) who had abandoned her husband just before the Great War and crossed the Atlantic in search of a career on the stage. Whilst her stage career was far from stellar, she quickly became a great social success and became prominent in the liveliest set of fashionable London society. She frequented the most expensive hotels and restaurants and all of the most fashionable night clubs. After a time it became known that her expensive lifestyle was being funded by a famous millionaire.

She had a charming house in fashionable Curzon street, London, with a full staff of domestics and her parties there were attended by all the best known London luminaries. Her extravagances were excessive, on top of which she became a reckless gambler. After an evening spent in wining and dining she would spend the rest of the night in some gambling den, usually losing all her money and borrowing more on her dazzling jewels. Eventually, her millionaire benefactor friend grew weary of her and the supply of money and jewels dried up.

Forced to give up her luxurious home, she turned to her close friend Gaby Deslys for assistance. Gaby secured a position for her as understudy for "Suzette" at the Globe Theatre, in London. Whilst this met her most basic needs, it could not fund the type of lifestyle to which she had become accustomed, and eating in second rate restaurants and sleeping in low grade hotels and boarding houses soon began to eat at her soul.

She again turned to her friend Gaby to find something for her in Paris. Gaby took her there, and introduced her to several managers, but before anything could be accomplished in the theatrical line Gaby Deslys fell ill and died. The Beautiful Hallye, however, still only in her twenties, found new ways of satisfying her love for luxury. She made new rich friends and for a time began to live again in as luxurious and extravagant a manner as she had done in London, giving extravagant parties at which she served the best champagne in inexhaustible quantities. But without a dependable income of her own it could not last. One by one her wealthy friends deserted her, growing weary of her feckless ways. Her beauty marred by the effects of her reckless lifestyle, she resorted to alcohol and then drugs to drive away the spectre of approaching ruin.

A few of her theatrical acquaintances remained faithful to her, but she no longer could find the means to pay for the life of luxury she craved. She had to live in a cheap lodging Louse and eat in the poorest restaurants. She became an opium fiend and twice tried to kill herself before finally succeeding through an overdose of Veronal on Christmas Day, 1920.

Other Drug Related Deaths

Genevieve (Lucie) Lantelme was reputedly the most beautiful actress on the French stage in the early years of the 20th Century - she was also a known user of opium which grew to an addiction after she married Alfred Charles Edwards, newspaper tycoon and notorious womaniser. She met her end on July 24th, 1911, following a gay party aboard her husbands houseboat whilst cruising from the Seine to the Rhine. Retiring from the party, she fell, or some say jumped, from the boat and drowned. Her body was recovered after a search of many hours. Whilst there was no evidence that she was under the influence of drugs at the time of her death, she was well known to be a regular user.

Olive Thomas, an American star of the silver screen, died of a drug overdose in Paris in September 1920, after a night of partying with her husband in the Montmartre district. Several of the establishments they visited that night were subsequently investigated by the police.

Author: Don Gillan, www.stagebeauty.net.
Primary Sources: Various contemporary newspapers.
Reproduce this article: This article is Copyright. You may, however, freely reproduce this article provided that a) it is not done for profit (including: incorporporation in any compilation of materials produced for profit or on any paid access website), b) that it is reproduced in full and unaltered, and c) that you clearly credit the source, ie. "Reproduced courtesy of Don Gillan (Copyright), www.stagebeauty.net"
Home