Joan Clarkson Explained
| Joan Clarkson |
| Birth Date: | 14 March 1904 |
| Birth Place: | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Death Place: | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Notable Works: | The Mystery of Fu Manchu (1923) |
Joan Rosaline Clarkson (14 March 1904 – 19 June 1982) was an English actress who was most active in the 1920s and 1930s.
Early life
Clarkson was born in Tottenham, London, the daughter of Frederick William Clarkson and Ellen Theresa Clarkson.
Career
Clarkson was an actress associated with English theatre producer Charles B. Cochran, who called her his "English rose".[1] She was known for her long blonde hair, and her contract with Cochran required her to surrender half her salary if she cut her hair in a bob.[2] [3] Her stage credits included roles in Cyrano de Bergerac (1919), The Little Whopper (1920),[4] [5] An Old-Fashioned Girl (1922)[6] Fun of the Fayre (1922),[7] The Happy Ending (1922),[8] John Galsworthy's Havoc (1924),[9] Cochran's 1930 Revue (1930),[10] Noel Coward's revue sketches A Tube Station, Ignorance is Bliss,The English Lido, and Rules of Three (all 1928),[11] and Sunshine Sisters (1933).[12]
On film, Clarkson was best known for her appearances as Karamaneh in The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu, a 1923 series of more than a dozen short silent films, based on the 1913 novel and starring Harry Agar Lyons.[13] Dorinea Shirley also played the Karamaneh in some later installments.[14] Philip de László painted a portrait of her in a white dress in 1935.[15]
Personal life
Clarkson married producer William Mollison in 1928;[16] [17] she left him in 1935,[18] and they divorced in 1939.[19] She died in 1982, aged 78 years, in London.
External links
Notes and References
- News: 1928-08-13 . Loaned to America . 3 . Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph . 2022-08-17 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1927-09-01 . No-Bobbing Contract . 6 . Liverpool Echo . 2022-08-17 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1927-09-21 . British Actress Paid to Keep Tresses Long . 9 . The Pasadena Post . 2022-08-17 . Newspapers.com.
- Book: Wearing, J. P. . The London Stage 1920-1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel . 2014-03-27 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-0-8108-9302-3 . 22, 197 . en.
- May 26, 1920 . In One of her 'Janet Gregor' Dresses . The Sketch . 110 . 118.
- 1922 . An Old-Fashioned Girl . The Play Pictorial . 40 . 8.
- Book: Cochran, Charles Blake . The Secrets of a Showman . 1926 . H. Holt . 375–376 . en.
- December 16, 1922 . 'The Happy Ending' at the St. James's Theatre . The Sphere . 91 . 289.
- 1924-07-10 . Joan Clarkson . Mid-Week Pictorial . 19 . 20 . 11 . Internet Archive.
- Book: Breese, Charlotte . Hutch: The true story of our biggest cabaret star, and the inspiration for Downton Abbey's Jack Ross . 2012-01-16 . A&C Black . 978-1-4088-3113-7 . en.
- Book: Coward, Noël . Coward Revue Sketches . 2014-06-13 . A&C Black . 978-1-4725-0336-7 . 58, 68, 83, 102 . en.
- Book: Wearing, J. P. . The London Stage 1930-1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel . 2014-05-15 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-0-8108-9304-7 . 319 . en.
- Book: Gifford, Denis . The British Film Catalogue: The Fiction Film . 2018-10-24 . Routledge . 978-1-317-83701-5 . en.
- Book: Soister, John T. . Up from the Vault: Rare Thrillers of the 1920s and 1930s . 2010-06-28 . McFarland . 978-0-7864-8185-9 . en.
- Web site: The White Dress - a Portrait of Joan Clarkson, 1935 (oil on canvas) . 2022-08-17 . Bridgeman Images . en.
- News: 1928-07-29 . Stage Romance; Actress Asks for Part and Gets a Husband . 7 . Sunday Mercury and News . 2022-08-17 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1928-08-02 . Theatrical Romance; Producer Marries Actress in London . 6 . Citizen . 2022-08-17 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1939-06-26 . Decree Against Actress . 13 . Evening Standard . 2022-08-17 . Newspapers.com.
- News: 1939-06-27 . Decree for State Producer; Wife's Desertion . 11 . The Daily Telegraph . 2022-08-17 . Newspapers.com.
