Gertrude Lawrence

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Gertrude Lawrence

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Gertrude Lawrence 1902?-1952, English actress and singer. Her original name was Gertrud Alexandra Dagmar Lawrence-Klasen. Performing on the musical stage from childhood, Lawrence made her New York debut (1924) in Charlot's Revue, together with Beatrice Lillie. A childhood friend of Noel Coward, she appeared with him in his Private Lives (1931) and Tonight at 8:30 (1936). Her charm and magnetic personality in Susan and God (1937) and in such musicals as Lady in the Dark (1941) and The King and I (1951) endeared her to the public. In 1950 she played Amanda in a film version of The Glass Menagerie.

Bibliography: See her memoirs, A Star Danced (1945); biography by her husband, R. S. Aldrich (1955).

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Lawrence, Gertrude

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre | 2004 | | © The Oxford Companion to American Theatre 2004, originally published by Oxford University Press 2004. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

Lawrence, Gertrude [née Gertrud Alexandra Dagmar Lawrence Klasen] (1898–1952), actress. Although she could not dance well and sometimes sang off‐key, this graceful, haughty beauty was one of the great stars of the musical stage, as well as of nonmusical comedy. She was born in London, where she had begun to make an important name for herself in revues before coming to America with Charlot's Revue (1924). After appearing in a 1926 version of the same show, Lawrence was starred in Oh, Kay! (1926), followed by leading roles in Treasure Girl (1928), Candle‐Light (1929), and The International Revue (1930). Lawrence then scored a major success as Amanda Prynne, playing opposite Noel Coward, with whom she was long and closely associated, in his Private Lives (1931). She returned to New York in 1936 to again play opposite Coward in his Tonight at 8:30, a bill of one‐act plays. Successes followed as Susan Trexel in Susan and God (1937), and as the neglected wife Lydia Kenyon in Skylark (1939). Lawrence returned to musicals to play editor Liza Elliott in Lady in the Dark (1941). After the war she appeared as Eliza Doolittle in a revival of Pygmalion (1945). Her last appearance on stage was perhaps her most beloved: as the English teacher Anna Leonowens in The King and I (1951). Bio: Gertrude Lawrence, Sheridan Morley, 1981.

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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Lawrence, Gertrude." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 23 Dec. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Lawrence, Gertrude." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (December 23, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LawrenceGertrude.html

Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Lawrence, Gertrude." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Oxford University Press. 2004. Retrieved December 23, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-LawrenceGertrude.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Sidney C. Lawrence Jr.(DEATHS)
Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 10/17/2007
Free Article The English novel in the twentieth century: 8 - D.H. Lawrence and his mother.
Magazine article from: Contemporary Review; 8/1/1996
Free Article Gertrude M. Remby, 96.(DEATHS)
Newspaper article from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, MA); 8/5/2009

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MCCUE, GERTRUDE LAWRENCE
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