45 Facts About Gertrude Lawrence

Gertrude Lawrence was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York.

Gertrude Lawrence's father was a basso profondo who performed under the name Arthur Lawrence.

Gertrude Lawrence's heavy drinking led her mother Alice to leave him soon after Gertrude's birth.

At her mother's urging, young Gertrude sang a song and was rewarded with a gold sovereign for her effort.

Gertrude Lawrence auditioned for Conti, who thought the child was talented enough to warrant free lessons.

Gertrude Lawrence worked steadily with various touring companies until 1916, when she was hired by impresario Andre Charlot to understudy Beatrice Lillie and appear in the chorus of his latest production in London's West End.

The marriage was not a success, and Gertrude Lawrence took Pamela with her to her mother's home in Clapham.

Gertrude Lawrence saw Lawrence at an opening night party at Ivor Novello's invitation two days before she was cleared to return to work by her doctor.

In early 1919, Gertrude Lawrence accepted a job singing at Murray's, a popular London nightclub, where she remained for the better part of the next two years.

Gertrude Lawrence became her friend, escort, and ultimately lover, and taught her how to dress and behave in high society.

When Gertrude Lawrence became romantically involved with Wall Street banker Bert Taylor in 1927, Philip Astley proposed marriage, an offer Gertrude Lawrence refused because she knew Astley would expect her to leave the stage and settle in rural England.

When Gertrude Lawrence divorced Francis Gordon-Howley, she and Taylor became engaged and remained so for two years, with each free to enjoy a social life separate from the other.

In 1928, Gertrude Lawrence returned to Broadway opposite Clifton Webb in Treasure Girl, a Gershwin work she was confident would be a huge hit.

Gertrude Lawrence starred opposite Leslie Howard in Candle Light, an Austrian play adapted by Wodehouse, in 1929, and in 1931 she and Noel Coward triumphed in his play Private Lives, first in the UK, and later on Broadway.

Gertrude Lawrence felt the play needed work prior to opening on Broadway, and a run at the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts was arranged.

Gertrude Lawrence was friendly with her son-in-law but lost contact with him after his 1950 divorce from Pamela, according to Cahan's memoir that was published in 1992.

Gertrude Lawrence returned to the musical stage in Lady in the Dark in 1941.

Gertrude Lawrence's performance prompted Richard Watts of the New York Herald Tribune to call her "the greatest feminine performer in the American theatre," and Brooks Atkinson described her as "a goddess" in his review in The New York Times.

Gertrude Lawrence remained with the show throughout its Broadway run and its subsequent national tour over the next three years.

Decades later, Ira Gershwin told American songwriting historian Sheila Davis about a contribution Gertrude Lawrence made to honing the lyrics of the song "My Ship" in Lady in the Dark.

In 1945, Gertrude Lawrence starred as Eliza Doolittle opposite Raymond Massey as Henry Higgins in a revival of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, who initially resisted the idea of Gertrude Lawrence playing the role.

Gertrude Lawrence's long-term friend Noel Coward later suggested it was a romanticised and less than wholly factual account of her life.

Gertrude Lawrence's attorney booked the actress on a British Airways charter flight from Washington, DC to an airfield near London; the flight lasted 36 hours, including two refueling stops.

When Gertrude Lawrence boarded the plane, she discovered that she, Ernest Hemingway and Beatrice Lillie were among the few passengers without diplomatic passports.

In 1948, Gertrude Lawrence returned to the United Kingdom to star in September Tide, a play written specifically for her by Daphne du Maurier.

Gertrude Lawrence's role was that of a middle-aged Cornish woman whose son-in-law, a bohemian artist, falls in love with her.

The playwright had intended her to open the play on Broadway, but Gertrude Lawrence's husband thought it was too British for the American market.

Between 1929 and 1950, Gertrude Lawrence appeared in only nine films.

Gertrude Lawrence made her screen debut in 1929 in The Battle of Paris, which featured two songs by Cole Porter.

Gertrude Lawrence was cast as Georgie, an artist living in pre-World War I Paris, who becomes a cabaret singer and falls in love with an American soldier.

Tennessee Williams, who had written the play, thought casting Gertrude Lawrence was "a dismal error" and, after the film's release, called it the worst adaptation of his work he had seen thus far.

In 1943, Gertrude Lawrence hosted a weekly series of American radio shows, some of them featuring discussions with guests and others adaptations of Hollywood hit films.

Gertrude Lawrence opened accounts with dozens of shop owners but assumed she had unlimited credit and paid little attention to the invoices they sent.

Gertrude Lawrence taught the class again in the spring 1952 semester at Columbia, this time allowing a New York Times reporter and photographer to attend and take pictures.

Gertrude Lawrence went to see the film Anna and the King of Siam with her mother-in-law then asked Fanny Holtzmann to look into acquiring the rights to the book.

Gertrude Lawrence wanted Cole Porter to write the score, but when he proved to be unenthusiastic about the suggestion, Gertrude Lawrence sent the book to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.

Gertrude Lawrence's triumph was short-lived; her health deteriorated rapidly, forcing her to miss numerous performances until she finally was hospitalized with what would be her final illness.

On 16 August 1952, Lawrence fainted backstage after a Saturday matinee of The King and I After "a few days at home," wrote her husband Richard Aldrich, she was admitted to what was then called New York Hospital for tests.

Gertrude Lawrence was admitted to New York Hospital [located across the street from the hospital where Cahan worked on the staff].

Gertrude Lawrence's doctors were puzzled by what was described in the press as "a liver problem," and suspected that she might have cancer.

Gertrude Lawrence was the first person for whom the house lights were dimmed in all Broadway theaters during the immediate aftermath of a beloved performer's death.

In early 1953, Gertrude Lawrence's name was included on a list of Columbia University professors who had died the previous year and were honoured with a memorial service and flags on the campus lowered to half-staff.

The Glass Menagerie was Gertrude Lawrence's only film that was a box-office success and in which she worked with an American studio and an entirely American cast: Jane Wyman, Arthur Kennedy, Kirk Douglas.

Gertrude Lawrence provided information about Lawrence for American viewers who were not familiar with her.

The first of Gertrude Lawrence's three grandchildren, he is a tenor saxophonist based in Los Angeles.