Henrietta Watson Explained

Henrietta Watson (11 March 1873 – 29 September 1964) was a Scottish actress.[1] She was born in Dundee, Scotland, on 11 March 1873, into a theatrical family. Her maternal grandfather was actor J.B. Johnston, whom Edmund Yates considered to be “the most sterling actor on the English stage.”[2] After the death of her father she went onto the stage, as did most of her four brothers and two sisters.

Career

She first appeared on stage was at the age of seven as the "son" of Lady Isabel Carlyle in East Lynne, a play adapted from the 1861 novel by Ellen Wood of the same name. By the time she turned 16 she was experienced enough to take "second lead" in comedies and modern dramas. As she grew older she given larger parts and was sometimes the understudy of the leading lady.

She toured Britain for a year as the ingénue in the comedy farce Our Flat. One of her more emotionally demanding roles was playing Nellie Denver in The Silver King. She was playing the part of Stephanie in A Royal Divorce at the new Olympic Theatre, London, when she was offered a six-month engagement in Australia.

She toured Australia in 1892, with the Mrs. Bernard Beere Company, appearing in, “As in a Looking Glass.” When the company returned to Britain she was offered a three-month extension during which she appeared in The Lost Paradise. She also appeared as "Kate" in The Churchwarden, a three-act farce, at the Princess Theatre (Melbourne), in 1893.

She visited Australia again, in 1899, when she appeared as Countess de Winter in “The King’s Musketeers.”

Selected filmography

Film

YearTitleRole
1916DrivenLady Crichton[3]
1918The Divine GiftThe Hostess
1924Miriam RozellaLady Laverock
ReveilleMother
1931Creeping ShadowsLady Paget
JealousyMrs Delahunt
1932CollisionMrs Carruthers
1933A Shot in the DarkAngela Browne
The Pointing FingerLady Anne Rollestone
1935Things Are Looking UpMiss McTavish
Barnacle BillAunt Julia
The Guv'norMrs Granville
1936The CardinalDonna Claricia de' Medici
The Brown WalletAunt Mary
1939The Four Just MenMrs Truscott

References

  1. Web site: Henrietta Watson. BFI. 11 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20121023190718/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/individual/140615. 23 October 2012. dead.
  2. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/145709831?searchTerm=%22“Henrietta%20watson”%22&searchLimits=exactPhrase=“Henrietta+watson”|||anyWords|||notWords|||requestHandler|||dateFrom|||dateTo|||sortby ”Miss Henrietta Watson,” Table Talk (Melbourne) 14 October 1892, p.4
  3. Web site: Henrietta Watson . https://web.archive.org/web/20190327090910/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba3582a4c . dead . 27 March 2019 . BFI.org.uk . BFI . 16 August 2023.