Beatrice Lillie

Beatrice Lillie (May 29, 1894 – January 20, 1989) was the most exceptional comic actress of her time.^{[citation needed]< /sup> Her real name was Beatrice Gladys Lillie and she was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.}

Life

She was married on 20 January 1920 at St Paul's Church, Drayton Bassett, Fazely, near Tamworth in Staffordshire to Robert Peel, 5th Baronet, who became known as Lady Peel. She eventually separated from her husband, but as she did not divorce they remained legally married until his death in 1934. Her only son, Robert Peel, 6th Baronet, died aboard HMS Tenedos in the port of Colombo., Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), in 1942.

In 1948, she met the singer and actor John Philip Huck, a gentleman 28 years younger than her who became her friend and companion.

He retired from the stage due to Alzheimer's disease and died on January 20, 1989 (his anniversary), in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, at the age of 94. John Philip Huck died of a heart attack 31 hours after her, and is buried next to her in a cemetery near Peel Fold, England.

Beatrice Lillie has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Stardom

He began performing in Toronto and other towns in Ontario in a trio with his mother and older sister, Muriel. Finally, her mother took her two daughters to London, England, where she made her West End debut in 1914.

She became famous in her beginnings for her performances in musicals and comedies, usually accompanied by Gertrude Lawrence, Bert Lahr and Jack Haley. Beatrice Lillie, as she liked to be known professionally, was taken advantage of by her gift for sharp satire, which kept her successful for more than 50 years. In musicals, she used sketches, songs and parodies that in her 1924 New York debut would earn her praise from the New York Times.

In 1926 he returned to New York City to perform. While there, she starred in her first film, Exit Similing, opposite Jack Pickford, brother of Mary Pickford. From then until the outbreak of World War II, Lillie crossed the Atlantic to perform on both continents.

Lillie is usually associated with the works of Noel Coward, although Cole Porter also wrote songs for her. She appeared in films such as Around the World in Eighty Days and as Mrs. Meers in Millie. In 1953 he won a Tony Award for his musical An Evening With Beatrice Lillie, and made his last appearance in High Spirits. >, the musical version of Coward's Blithe Spirit. After seeing An Evening with Beatrice Lillie, British critic Ronald Barker: “Other generations may have had her Mistinguett and her Marie Lloyd. We have our own Beatrice Lillie and we have rarely seen such a display of perfect talent.

Awards and nominations

Tony Awards:

• 1953: Special Award - An Evening With Beatrice Lillie (winner)
• 1958: Best Leading Actress in a Musical - Ziegfeld Follies of 1957 (nominated)
• 1964: Best Leading Actress in a Musical - High Spirits (nominated)