Robert Armand René Michaelis (22 December 1878 – 29 August 1965) was a French-born actor and singer who worked in
musical theatre, mainly in England, but he also made appearances on
Broadway.
By 1901, Michaelis and his parents had settled in
Hampstead, and he was married there in 1913. He was naturalized as a British subject in 1914.
After retiring from the stage, he became a manager, and during the Second World War was an air raid warden, by then having made his home in the west of England.
Career
Born in 1878, according to different sources in
Saint Petersburg[1] or
Paris, Michaelis was the son of Guilllaume Paul Hermann Michaelis and Marie Leonie Heloise Michaelis. His mother was French, and his father was born a German but naturalized as French.[2] He was educated in London and Paris and trained as a singer in
Vienna with Felice Bottelli.[3]
At the time of the 1901 census, Michaelis was living in Latchmere,
Battersea, with his parents, Herman Michaelis, a
schoolmaster, aged fifty, and Marie, aged 45, and his occupation was stated as actor.[4]
Soon after the beginning of the First World War, Michaelis, then living at 8 Eton Villas, South Hampstead, was naturalized as a
British subject, declaring the names of his parents and his place of birth as Paris.[2]
In 1920, Michaelis appeared in the
silent filmThe Little Welsh Girl,[9] then for more than a year, from 1920 to 1921, he sang the part of Beaudon in a London production of Irene at the Empire Theatre which had a run of 399 performances.[1]
When he was granted probate on his mother's estate in 1933, Michaelis was described as a "manager".[10]
In October 1939, Michaelis was living at Wychwood,
Tickenham,
Somerset, and soon after the outbreak of the Second World War was registered as an
air raid warden and retired actor.[11]
In his Nights of Gladness (1956), English theatre historian
Walter MacQueen-Pope, known as "Popie", called Michaelis "one of the very best performers Daly's ever had".[12]
Personal life
Michaelis's father, Herman Michaelis, died at
St Pancras in 1912.[13]
In 1913, at
Hampstead, Michaelis married Phyllis Le Grand,[14] the actress[11] with whom he had starred in The Count of Luxembourg the year before.[8] Their daughter Rosemary Evelyn Helene was born in March 1914.[15]
She later became a nurse and radiographer.[11] Michaelis's mother, Marie, died in 1933, aged 78. Her address was 8, Eton Villas, South Hampstead, and she left an estate valued at
£2,293.[10][16]
In 1940, Rosemary Michaelis married John A. Parsons in
Somerset.[17] Three grandchildren were born between 1943 and 1949.[18] Michaelis died on 29 August 1965 at the
Bristol Royal Infirmary, when his address was given as "Summerlands
Nailsea", and he left an estate valued for
probate at £7,051.[1][19][20] His widow, Phyllis, survived him until 15 May 1981.[21]
Orange Blossoms (
Fulton Theatre, New York, 1922) as Baron Roger Belmont[25]
Notes
^
abcKurt Gänzl, The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre (Schirmer, 2001), p. 994: "MICHAELIS, Robert [Armand Rene] (b ?St Petersburg, 22 December 1878; d Bristol, 29 August 1965)...."
^
abReginald McKenna, Secretary of State, Certificate no. 25480 "Robert Michaelis" dated 7 September 1914 in U.K. Naturalisation Certificates and Declarations 1870–1916 (National Archives)
^
abcDerek B. Scott, German Operetta on Broadway and in the West End, 1900–1940 (2019),
p. 144
^UK census 1901, Latchmere Ward of Battersea, p. 12
^
abThe Best Plays of 1899–1909 (Dodd, Mead, 1944), p. 534
^
abWalter MacQueen-Pope, David Leslie Murray, Fortune's favourite: the life and times of Franz Lehár (Hutchinson, 1953), p. 137
^
abW. J. MacQueen-Pope, Shirtfronts and sables: a story of the days when money could be spent (Hale, 1953), p. 59
^
abMusical News and Herald, vol. 42 (1912), p. 194
^
abDenis Gifford, British Film Catalogue, Volume 1 (2016), p. 256
^
ab"Michaelis Marie" in Probate Calendar for 1933 at probatesearch.service.gov.uk
^
abcNational Registration Transcript Book, Long Ashton Rural dated 4 October 1939 (National Archives, ref. 314/5 WPRF), p. 14: "Michaelis Robert / M / 22 Dec 78 / M / Actor retired / Air Raid Warden ; Michaelis Phyllis / F / 25 Nov 87 / M / Actress retired / First Aid St John Ambulance; PARSONS Rosemary / F / 26 Mar 14 / S / Radiographer S. R. N."
^Walter MacQueen-Pope, Nights of Gladness (1956), p. 192
^"Michaelis Herman 61" in Register of Deaths for Pancras Registration District, vol. 1b (1912), p. 24
^"Michaelis Robert A R and Le Grand Phyllys M" in Register of Marriages for Hampstead Registration District, vol. 1a (1913), p. 1298
^"Michaelis Rosemary E H / Le Grand" in Register of Births for Hampstead Registration District, vol. 1a (1914), p. 1074
^England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: "Marie Michaelis, 78" Registration district: Hampstead, Volume: 1a (1933), p. 531
^"Michaelis Rosemary E H & Parsons John A" in Register of Marriages for Weston Registration District vol. 5c (1940), p. 1609
^"Parsons Prunella R / Michaelis" in Register of Births for Bristol Registration District, vol. 6a (1943), p. 68; "Parsons William M / Michaelis" in Register of Births for Bristol Registration District, vol. 7b (1946), p. 8; "Parsons Stephen J / Michaelis" in Register of Births for Weston Registration District, vol. 7c (1949), p. 411
^"MICHAELIS ROBERT A R (86)" in Register of Deaths for Bristol Registration District, vol. 7B (1965), p. 42
^"MICHAELIS PHYLLIS MILDRED /ABOUT1888" in Register of Deaths for Weston Registration District, vol. 22 (1981), p. 1,174; "MICHAELIS, Phyllis Mildred... died 15 May 1981" in Probate Calendar for 1981 at probatesearch.service.gov.uk, accessed 29 July 2019
^Lionel Carson, ed., The Stage Year Book (1912), p. 185