Cyril Maude

Maude circa 1913

Cyril Francis Maude (24 April 1862 — 20 February 1951) was an English actor-manager.

Biography

Maude was born in London and educated at the Charterhouse School. In 1881, he was sent to Adelaide, South Australia, on the clipper ship City of Adelaide to regain his health.^{[1] [2]} He returned to England without having regained his health, but nursing the ambition to be an actor.^[1]

Maude fulfilled his acting ambition in Denver, Colorado, in the U.S., in 1883. From 1896 until 1905 he was co-manager of the Haymarket Theatre in London with Frederick Harrison. There he became known for his quietly humorous acting in many parts. In 1906 he went into management on his own account, and in 1907 he opened The Playhouse, also in London.

Maude became very well known for his role as "Grumpy" a spoilt old man, who as a retired lawyer solved a crime to keep his loved ones happy. Maude took this play to Australia and toured Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney where it was immensely popular.^[1][2] In 1923 he toured America with Lydia Bilbrook and Mabel Terry-Lewis in If Winter Comes, playing at Chicago in April and New York in the autumn.^[3]

Films

He starred in several films in the 1930s, including Grumpy. In 1947, he appeared at the age of 85 in the film While the Sun Shines.

Personal life

Winifred Emery with her children, c.1901

In 1888, Maude married actress Winifred Emery, the daughter of Samuel Anderson Emery and granddaughter of John Emery, both well-known actors in their day. Their children included Margery Maude, who became an actress; Pamela Cynthia Maude (1893–1975); and John Cyril Maude, who became a barrister, judge and Member of Parliament.^[4] Pamela Maude married Major William La Touche Congreve VC, DSO, MC on 1 June 1916. He was killed in action on 20 July 1916 during World War I, for which he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.^[5] On 22 December 1919 she married Hon. William Fraser DSO, MC (1890-1964), who later became a Brigadier General.^[6]

They also raised a niece, Winifred Isabel Emery (1890–1972),^[7][8] after the girl was abandoned by Emery's brother in 1895. This niece, together with her pupil Ruby Preece, was present when dramatist W. S. Gilbert died in his lake at Grim's Dyke in May 1911.^[9] Winifred Isabel Emery was the mother of poet David Gascoyne.^[7]

Actors' Orphanage Fund

In 1905, Maude succeeded Sir Henry Irving as the President of the Actors' Orphanage Fund (now called the Actors' Charitable Trust). During some remarkable years of service he established the first orphanage for actors' children at Croydon, inaugurated innovative fundraising schemes and events, attracted royal patronage, and secured committee members from among leading actors of the day. He served until 1914.^{[citation needed]}

Death

Maude died at Torquay in Devon on 20 February 1951.^[10]

Filmography

• Beauty and the Barge (1914)
• Peer Gynt (1915)
• The Greater Will (1915)
• The Headmaster (1921)
• Grumpy (1930)
• These Charming People (1931)
• Counsel's Opinion (1933)
• Orders Is Orders (1934)
• Girls Will Be Boys (1934)
• Heat Wave (1935)
• While the Sun Shines (1947)

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Cyril Maude". History of Australian Theatre. 28 October 2010. http://hat-archive.blogspot.com/2010/10/cyril-maude.html. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "THE CYRIL MAUDE SEASON.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842-1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia): p. 16. 4 August 1917. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15744976. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 
3. ^ "Dramatis Personae", The Observer, 25 February 1923, p. 11
4. ^ The family of Winifred Emery on thepeerage.com, accessed 8 June 2011
5. ^ Eton College - Rolls of Honour, accessed 8 June 2011
6. ^ Lord Saltoun of Abernethy on cracroftpeerage.co.uk, accessed 8 June 2011
7. ^ ^{a b} Gascoyne, David, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, accessed 2 June 2011
8. ^ Dark, Sidney and Rowland Grey. W. S. Gilbert: His Life and Letters, Methuen & Co Ltd, London (1923), pp. 222–223
9. ^ Goodman, Andrew. Grim's Dyke: A Short History of the House and Its Owners, Glittering Prizes ISBN 1-85811-550-4, pp. 17–18
10. ^ "Cyril Maude (1862-1951)". Collector's Post. 21 February 2009. http://www.collectorspost.com/maude.htm. Retrieved 4 June 2011. 

External links

• Cyril Maude at the Internet Movie Database
• Cyril Maude at the Internet Broadway Database
• portrait Gallery of Cyril Maude at the New York Public Library (NYPL)

Source

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Persondata
Name	Maude, Cyrilfrancis
Alternative names
Short description	English stage and film actor
Date of birth	24 April 1862
Place of birth	London, England, UK
Date of death	20 February 1951 (aged 88)
Place of death	Torquay, Devon, United Kingdom