Background

Gertrude Lawrence was born Gertrude Alexandra Dagmar Klasen in Clapham, London, the daughter of two music-hall performers, Arthur Lawrence Klasen and Alice Louise Banks Klasen.

Education

Her education was largely professional at Italia Conti's school of acting and Madame Espinosa's dancing academy.

Career

A child of the music halls, Lawrence made her stage debut in 1908 at Brixton in the Christmas pantomime Dick Whittington. Subsequently she appeared as a child chorister in Max Reinhardt's The Miracle (1911). Two years later in Hauptmann's Hannele she met Noel Coward, with whom she was to enjoy a lifelong association. After two years of touring in a series of inconsequential revues, Lawrence was engaged by André Charlot, the originator with C. B. Cochran of the intimate revue, a product of World War I economy measures. Under his management she appeared in London as a chorus girl in Some (1916) and Cheep (1917). During the run of Tabs (1918) she replaced the ailing Beatrice Lillie but was dismissed from the subsequent Buzz-Buzz (1919) for missing too many performances.

Temporarily abandoning the theater, she performed in cabaret at the Mayfair Club in London, then toured in a night-club act with Walter Williams. Lawrence returned to the stage, once again to replace Beatrice Lillie, in Charlot's A to Z (1921) and during this engagement introduced her first real song hit, "Limehouse Blues. " Her success led to her appearance in Noel Coward's first independent revue, London Calling (1923), in which she scored again, notably with his song "Parisian Pierrot. "

Inspired by the success of these two revues, Charlot in 1924 took a composite, Charlot's Revue, to New York City with Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Jack Buchanan as the stars. Tuneful, witty, and sophisticated, it was an instant success, a welcome contrast to the overblown productions of Florenz Ziegfeld and Earl Carroll, and it established the three leading players as international favorites. Following an appearance in a further edition of Charlot's Revue, Gertrude Lawrence played the leading role in George and Ira Gershwin's Oh, Kay! (1926) and in their subsequent Treasure Girl (1928). By now a major star in revue and musical comedy, in Candle-Light (1929), with Leslie Howard, Lawrence proved herself an attractive light comedienne as well.

Her greatest triumph, however, was in Coward's Private Lives (1930). She continued, nonetheless, to appear in musicals, notably in Cole Porter's Nymph Errant (London, 1933). Rejoining Coward two years later, she gave renewed proof of her talents by appearing with him in a three-evening series of nine short plays, Tonight at 8:30, a success both in England and the United States.

During the mid-1930's Lawrence was plagued by financial problems and tax difficulties. Extravagant, impulsive, and generous, she was forced into bankruptcy, but her activity was undiminished and she enjoyed long runs in Susan and God (1937) and Skylark (1939). Her last major success before World War II was in the Moss Hart-Kurt Weill-Ira Gershwin musical Lady in the Dark (1941).

With the advent of the war she took an active part in volunteer activities, helped found the Stage Door Canteen, and toured widely, entertaining troops in France, Belgium, Holland, and the South Pacific. At the close of the war Lawrence returned to the American stage in revivals of Pygmalion and Tonight at 8:30 and performed in London as well, notably in September Tide (1948).

Her last major success was in New York in Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I (1951). During the engagement she found time to teach a course in acting at Columbia University. When she died in New York City during the run of this show, the lights on the theater marquees were dimmed on both Broadway and Shaftesbury Avenue in tribute to a genuinely international star.

Gertrude Lawrence's talents were limited but she used them to maximum effect and she had in abundance what Coward called "star quality. " She was not an exceptional dancer but moved with captivating grace. She was sometimes cheerfully off pitch, but her voice was irresistibly appealing. Not beautiful by conventional standards, she gave the impression of radiance. In her autobiography she complained that "Ever since Private Lives people have been confusing me with the heroine of Noel's play, " but the confusion was inevitable. Offstage as well as on, "Myth" Lawrence, as her fellow actress Constance Collier called her, never tired of her role as a leading lady and chic woman of the world. As Amanda Wingfield in the 1950 film of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie she played a faded Southern belle, but the performance was not convincing, and it is as Amanda Prynne, not as Amanda Wingfield, that she will be remembered. Her other performances in films were also generally undistinguished. Perhaps her most effective serious performance, however, was with Charles Laughton in the 1936 film Rembrandt, as Geertje Dirx, the artist's model and mistress. The film Star (1968), based on the story of her life, is biographically inaccurate and gives little impression of Gertrude Lawrence's talents or charm.

Achievements

• Lawrence was noted for her stage appearances in Noël Coward’s sophisticated comedies and in musicals. Her greatest role was in Coward’s "Private Lives". As the brittle, sophisticated Amanda Prynne, she proved the ideal costar for the author, and their performance in this play, perhaps Coward's best comedy, set a standard for the comedies of manners of the 1930's. Perhaps her greatest triumph was as Liza Elliot in the Moss Hart–Kurt Weill musical "Lady in the Dark" (1941). Lawrence's best-known American film role was that of Geertje Dirx in "Rembrandt".

Works

More photos

• book

  • Rembrandt

    (Academy AwardÂ(r) winner* Charles Laughton brilliantly ca...)

  • GERTRUDE LAWRENCE A REMEMBRANCE vinyl record

    (GERTRUDE LAWRENCE A REMEMBRANCE Label: DECCA RECORDS...)

  • Gertrude Lawrence: Songs From Two of Her Greatest Starring Vehicles - Oh-kay! & Nymph Errant

    (ASIN: B00709P1MQ Title: Gertrude Lawrence: Songs From Two...)

  • Men Are Not Gods

    (Ann Williams, secretary to eccentric drama critic Frederi...)

  • Noel and Gertie: Show Music From the 20s 30s and 40s

    ( This double album features a huge selection of numbers ...)

  • Gertie

    (I will ship by EMS or SAL items in stock in Japan. It is ...)

  • A Star Danced

    (Gertrude Lawrence's life in her own words. The autobiogra...)

  • Elegance 2 - A Musical Mix From the 1930s & 40s

    ( Timeless vocals. This album is a continuation of our jo...)

  • Noel Coward & Gertrude Lawrence
  • Star

Connections

Gertrude was married to Francis Gordon-Howley, a stage manager, by whom she had a daughter, Pamela. Their marriage was later dissolved. On July 4, 1940, Lawrence married Richard Stoddard Aldrich, a banker of conservative background and owner of the Cape Cod Playhouse.

Father:

Arthur Lawrence Klasen

Mother:

Alice Louise Banks Klasen

Spouse:

Richard Stoddard Aldrich

banker

Spouse:

Francis Gordon-Howley

manager

Daughter:

Pamela Lawrence

References

• Gertrude Lawrence: A Biography
• Gertrude Lawrence as Mrs. A.
• Gertrude Lawrence