1. Gladys Lillian Moncrieff was an Australian singer who was so successful in musical theatre and recordings that she became known as 'Australia's Queen of Song' and 'Our Glad'.
22 Facts About Gladys Moncrieff
1. 2.
Gladys Moncrieff's father Robert Edward Moncrieff was a piano tuner, and her mother, who went by the stage name Amy Lambell, was a professional singer; they lived in North Isis.
3.
Gladys Moncrieff attended several schools in north Queensland, and quickly became involved in music.
4.
At the 1907 Charters Towers eisteddfod, Gladys shared first prize for her junior soprano rendition of "O for the Wings of a Dove" with local girl Eileen Coleman.
5.
Gladys Moncrieff worked in Brisbane and Toowoomba during 1909, and then went to Sydney with her mother.
6.
Gladys Moncrieff toured South Africa and New Zealand as a leading lady in numerous productions.
7.
The Maid was to become the most frequently revived musical of the Australian stage, and Gladys Moncrieff appeared in it some 2,800 times.
8.
Gladys Moncrieff was a success in A Southern Maid in 1923.
9.
In May 1924, Gladys Moncrieff married Thomas Henry Moore, at St James' Church, Sydney in a ceremony that attracted a large crowd.
10.
Gladys Moncrieff left Australia for the stage in England in 1926.
11.
Gladys Moncrieff's first show there was poorly received, but when she appeared in Franz Lehar's The Blue Mazurka in 1927, her success in England was assured.
12.
Gladys Moncrieff's marriage was not successful and she began to live apart from her husband, and then returned to Australia to appear in John Fuller's Rio Rita.
13.
Gladys Moncrieff had a radio show in Australia and in the 1930s undertook tours for the New Zealand Broadcasting Service with New Zealand pianist Gil Dech.
14.
Gladys Moncrieff's career was put on hold in March 1938 when she was involved in a motor vehicle accident, and she did not return to the stage until June 1940.
15.
Gladys Moncrieff returned to perform in musical comedy, and was engaged to entertain Australian troops fighting in the Second World War at home and in New Guinea, and she became very active raising funds for war-related charities.
16.
Gladys Moncrieff continued her stage and radio work, and during 1958 and 1959 began her farewell stage tour of Australia and New Zealand.
17.
Gladys Moncrieff retired to the Gold Coast, Queensland in 1968 and prepared her memoirs My Life of Song which was ghosted by Lillian Palmer and published in 1971.
18.
In 1962 Gladys Moncrieff made guest appearances on George Wallace Jnr's television show Theatre Royal.
19.
Gladys Moncrieff came outside of her Gold Coast home on a canal to wave to the people on the canal cruise boats whilst they played her arias.
20.
Gladys Moncrieff died at Pindara Private Hospital at the Gold Coast at the age of 83.
21.
Gladys Moncrieff's image was featured on an Australian postage stamp in 1989.
22.
In 2009 as part of the Q150 celebrations, Gladys Moncrieff was announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for her role as an "Influential Artists".