Gladys Emily Merredew (5 January 1905 – 30 January 1972) was a British actress and singer, sometimes credited as Gladys Merridew or Gladys Meridew. She was married to the actor Bernard Lee, and died in a house fire.

Life and career

Merredew was one of the earliest British entertainers to appear on television. She appeared in 1930.[1][2]

A 1930 issue of Electronic Engineering said "Here are some of the artists who have quite recently appeared on your "Televisors" and a number of whom will again be seen and heard during the month of July," including Merredew. The journal said she "sings songs of a light character with that facial expression so essential to television."[3]

Merredew married actor Bernard Lee in 1934.[4] They had[5] a daughter named Ann[6] Gladys in 1942[7] who may have also become an actress. Ann Lee married the actor Alan Miller in 1970;[8] the actor Jonny Lee Miller is their son.

In 1934 Merredew appeared at the Annual Dinner for Lord Williams's School held at the Florence Restaurant on Piccadilly Circus alongside Bertha Wilmott, The Western Brothers and Norman Long. "For the first time, a microphone was installed."[9]

Jack Warner says Merredew was an "outstanding Fol-de-Rols artiste". Rex Newman had invited Warner to join the troupe in 1938. The company was split off into different concert parties: Warner joined "Rex Newman and his Dancing Coachmen". (Don't know if Merredew was part of this same specific concert party.)[10]

Between 1940 and 1946 Bernard Lee was in wartime service with the Royal Sussex Regiment

Cyril Fletcher describes her as the "Eastbourne comedienne" and mentions an incident when Bob and Dolly Harbin's dog bit her. Dolly Harbin was disfigured in a dressing room fire at some point.[11]

She died on 30 January 1972 in a house fire.[12] According to actor Jack Warner, "Bernard and Gladys had a lovely seventeenth-century cottage in the Kent village of Oare, and it was there she died tragically in a fire early in 1972. Bernard and Gladys were trapped in their bedroom when the fire started on the ground floor. Bernard escaped through a window and ran to get a ladder in an attempt to rescue Gladys but unhappily was unsuccessful. It was an awful end to a long and happy marriage."[13]

Credits

Film

  • Idle Dreams (1933)[14]
  • I Would if I Could... (1933) "Gladys Merredew 1933".
  • The Baby's View of Things (1934) "Gladys Merredew 1934".
  • Cows and Fishes (1936)[14]
  • Children First and Last (1936) "Gladys Merridew On Sleeve As Glady's Meridew".

References

  1. ↑ "Hastings and the Baird of Mechanical Television".
  2. ↑ "untitled (image)".
  3. ↑ unknown (1930). "unknown". Electronic Engineering. Television Society (Great Britain). 3. {{cite journal}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  4. ↑ More prohibited OR: British marriage records list the following: Merredew, Gladys E: 1934, Hampstead, London; spouse name: Lee, John Bernard. British marriage records also lists: Merredew, Gladys E: 1930, Hampstead London; unknown spouse name, but not Lee but whose first or middle name appears to have also been Bernard.
  5. ↑ More prohibited OR: British birth records list the following: Lee, "Male": 1940, Hackney, London: mother's maiden name Merredew. This entry can't be found when "male" is inserted as the first name, only when the forename field is left empty.
  6. ↑ Several websites incorrectly claim "Anne"
  7. ↑ More prohibited OR: British birth records list the following: Lee, Ann G: 1942, Horsham, Sussex
  8. ↑ More prohibited OR: British marriage records for the years 1960 to 1980: Lee, Ann G: 1970, Richmond upon Thames, Surrey
  9. ↑ "OT News from the Past 1900 - 1999".
  10. ↑ Warner 1975, p. 49.
  11. ↑ Fletcher 1978, p. 31.
  12. ↑ Luck, Norman (31 January 1972). "Cottage fire kills wife of actor Bernard Lee". Daily Express. p. 8.
  13. ↑ Warner 1975, p. 52.
  14. 1 2 Gifford 1998, p. 174.

Bibliography

  • Fletcher, Cyril (1978). Nice One, Cyril: Being the Odd Odessey and the Anecdotage of a Comedian. Barrie & Jenkins. ISBN 9780214205811.
  • Gifford, Denis (1998). Entertainers in British Films: A Century of Showbiz in the Cinema. Flicks Books. ISBN 9780948911767.
  • Warner, Jack (1975). Jack of All Trades: An Autobiography.
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