Maudi Darrell | |
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![]() Maudi Darrell, from a 1908 publication. | |
Born | Maud Rhoda Didcott 10 February 1882
London, England, U.K. |
Died | 31 October 1910 |
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Actress, Gaiety Girl |
Maudi Darrell (born Maud Rhoda Didcott, 10 February 1882 – 31 October 1910) was an English actress on the London and New York stages, and a performer in vaudeville. She was one of the fashionable young women known as " Gaiety Girls".
Maud Rhoda Didcott was born in London in 1882, the daughter of Hugh Jay Didcott and Rose Fox. Her father was a theatrical agent, and her mother was a dancer who had a novelty act involving singing while skipping rope. [1] [2] Her father was Jewish, but Maudi Didcott was educated at the Sion House Convent at Bayswater. [3] Her sister Violet Raye was also an actress. [4] [5]
Maudi Darrell appeared in popular musicals and comedies, including The Beauty of Bath (1906), [6] Mrs. Ponderbury's Past (1907), [7] The Cassilis Engagement (1907), [8] The Gay Gordons (1908), and The Belle of Brittany (1908). [9] Her signature song was "By the Side of the Zuyder Zee", from The Beauty of Bath. [10] She was a popular "postcard actress", with portraits of her sold in postcard format. [8] "Her appearance has the peculiar exotic beauty of a Beardsley drawing," noted one critic, "if she appealed to a boy at all, she would appeal with great force." [11] She had a valuable collection of diamonds, and the "Maharaja of Kuch Behar" (Sir Nripendra Narayan) presented Miss Darrell with "the finest emerald in England", in admiration for her beauty. [12] [13]
Maudi Darrell married Scottish-born mill owner Ian Bullough in 1909. [14] [15] She died the following year, from complications of a paralysis of unknown origin and acute appendicitis, aged 28 years. [3] Her widower married again in 1911, to actress Lily Elsie. [16] There were reports that Elsie fell ill from the same illness as Maudi Darrell, almost immediately after marrying Bullough. [17]