Neva Carr Glyn Explained

Neva Carr Glyn
Birth Name:Neva Josephine Carr Glyn
Birth Date:1908 5, df=y
Birth Place:Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Death Place:Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Occupation:Stage and screen actress, radio performer
Years Active:1908-1975

Neva Carr Glyn or Neva Carr Glynn (born Neva Josephine Mary Carr Glyn, 10 May 1908 – 10 August 1975) was an Australian stage, film and radio actress born in Melbourne to Arthur Benjamin Carr Glyn (died 16 January 1923),[1] a humorous baritone and stage manager born in Ireland, and Marie Carr Glyn (late Mola), née Marie Dunoon Senior (10 June 1874 – 24 December 1953),[2] [3] [4] an actress with the stage name "Marie Avis".[5] She had one half-sister Gwendoline Arnold O'Neill and two half-brothers Sacheverill Arnold Mola and Rupert Arnold Mola. She was named "Neva" after a great-aunt, who was a contralto of some quality. Both spellings of her surname appear in print roughly equally and apparently arbitrarily.

Early career

Neva was born while her parents were with the Fred Niblo company touring the J. C. Williamson circuit. Her theatrical debut was four months later, in New Zealand, when Fred Niblo carried her on stage.[6] She was playing the young William to her mother's Lady Isabel Vane in East Lynne at the age of four.

From age five to twelve, when her father died, she was a boarder in various convent schools, ending in Sydney. At eight she was enrolled in the Minnie Hooper School of Dancing and at eleven she was dancing in a revue The Queen of Sheba at the Sydney Town Hall.[6]

At thirteen her dancing skills won her a place in the chorus line of a Fuller Brothers pantomime Dick Whittington and His Cat at the Majestic Theatre, Newtown then in 1925 toured with the Band Box Revue. For the following six years she worked for them under contract, touring Australia and New Zealand in revues. Robinson Crusoe from 1925 to 1926 as Principal Girl,[6] "Aladdin" 1927–28 as Principal boy and Clowns in Clover for the Frank Neil company are noted appearances,[7] this last starring Roy Rene. Other stars she worked with at this time were Jim Gerald and George Wallace.

In 1929 she and her mother joined the Frank Neil company in a tour of South Africa playing leads in such comedies as Up in Mabel's Room.[5]

She travelled to London in 1931 and got a break with the Firth Shephard company playing the Sigmund Romberg operetta Nina Rosa (produced by Carol Reed) then with Firth Shephard and Leslie Henson in a string of "Aldwych comedies" such as Living Dangerously (1934), Accidentally Yours (1935), and Aren't Men Beasts? in 1936. She also appeared in four movies including Girls, Please! (1934) with Sydney Howard and The Squeaker (1937) with Ann Todd.[7]

There in 1936 she married an Australian grazier named Arthur John but left him when he insisted she give up the stage. In 1937 she returned to Australia and was soon in work, playing in Cinderella (playing Dandini) and other pantomimes by day and revues with Jim Gerald and Ella Shields at night.[5]

Radio and stage

The following year she was working for the Australian Broadcasting Commission doing radio plays with Peter Finch. The two became a famous pair, starring in dozens of dramas including a Max Afford husband-and-wife detective series Greyface as Jeffery and Elizabeth Blackburn.[5] It was around this time that she was given the nickname "Nessie".[8] [9]

In 1940 she married actor John Tate[10] and their son Nick Tate, also an actor was born in 1942. In 1941 they commenced as a husband-and-wife team for the Macquarie network, where they were known as the "sweethearts of radio", playing romantic leads on the Lux Theatre, the premier drama show in the days when radio was king, and the dark-haired imperious Neva was one of the three "Queens of Radio" (with Lyndall Barbour and Thelma Scott).[5] She played Mrs Cogg, the undertaker's wife in the series Granny Martin Steps Out.[8] She also appeared in Star Theatre shows for Macquarie; one series with John Tate, another with Arundel Nixon. She played in the long-running ABC series Blue Hills.

She had not left the stage entirely; in 1944 she and John toured New Zealand, and she had regular appearances at the Minerva Theatre such as Love from a Stranger with Grant Taylor, Clutterbuck, Storm in a Teacup, Separate Rooms and Dangerous Corner by J.B. Priestley.[6] But the marriage was foundering. John went off to Central Australia to live with the Arunta tribe[5] (they divorced in 1954). She joined John Alden's Shakespearean touring company;[11] playing roles such as Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Paulina in A Winter's Tale and Mistress Ford in The Merry Wives of Windsor.[6] In 1957 she joined the Trust Players at the Elizabethan Theatre (the old "Majestic" renamed), also toured performing Richard Beynon's The Shifting Heart and Peter Kenna's Slaughter on St. Teresa's Day.[5] Neva appeared in two episodes of Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, 'Esmerelda' and 'Fred'.

Film and television career

The world was changing for Neva. Television had taken over as the star medium and required youthful good looks and different skills.

She appeared in Slaughter of St Teresa's Day with Annette Andre who called her "a wonderful actress – I was always terrified of her, she was a really tough lady, but very professional and experienced. I have to say I learned a lot from her."[12] She had played the role on stage.[13]

She was consigned to unsympathetic older roles like Mrs Gillipop in The Gillipops, and in movies like Age of Consent (1969) and Ride a Wild Pony (1975). Her last role was in the ABC-TV series Certain Women. She died mid-series.

Recognition

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage

Selected radio performances

Notes and References

  1. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16038413 Sydney Morning Herald 22 January 1923
  2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3580028 marriage Brisbane Courier 18 May 1894
  3. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16325688 divorce Sydney Morning Herald 14 September 1926
  4. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18402507 death notice Sydney Morning Herald 28 December 1953
  5. Lane, Richard The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama Melbourne University Press 1994
  6. Porter, Hal Stars of Australian Stage and Screen Rigby Ltd., Adelaide 1965
  7. http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130412b.htm Australian Dictionary of Biography
  8. [Patti Crocker]
  9. News: Neva Carr-Glynn . . New South Wales, Australia . 31 July 1939 . 23 April 2020 . 8 . Trove .
  10. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17675546 Sydney Morning Herald 23 July 1940
  11. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18515780 The Sunday Herald 21 December 1952
  12. Web site: Filmink. Stephen. Vagg. Annette Andre: My Brilliant Early Australian Career. 29 August 2020.
  13. Filmink. Forgotten Australian TV Plays – The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day. Stephen. Vagg. October 19, 2020.
  14. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23037111 The Argus 12 February 1951
  15. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2848326 Canberra Times 11 February 1952
  16. News: Radio award to Sydney actress . . New South Wales, Australia . 11 February 1952 . 23 April 2020 . 5 (LATE FINAL EXTRA) . Trove .
  17. Filmink. Forgotten Australian TV Plays – The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day. Stephen. August 8, 2024. Vagg. October 19, 2020.
  18. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22316984 The Argus 23 July 1946
  19. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23160872 The Argus 2 February 1952
  20. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18401638 Sydney Morning Herald 17 December 1953