23 Facts About Zena Dare

Zena Dare starred alongside her sister Phyllis in the production, and they both adopted the stage name of Dare soon afterwards.

Zena Dare returned to the stage in 1926 where she played the title role in The Last of Mrs Cheyney.

Zena Dare made a successful transition to "talkies" appearing in The Return of Carol Deane in 1938 and Over the Moon a year later.

Zena Dare was born in Chelsea, London, the oldest of three children of Arthur Albert Dones, a divorce clerk, and his wife Harriette Amelia.

Zena Dare had her first performance on stage in 1899, at the age of 12, in the Christmas pantomime Babes in the Wood at the Coronet Theatre in London.

Zena Dare spent much of 1904 touring but returned to London to play Aurora Brue in Sergeant Brue for Frank Curzon's theatre company.

Zena Dare left the company to create the role of Angela on in September 1904 in The Catch of the Season at the Vaudeville Theatre opposite Hicks.

Zena Dare left Catch of the Season in 1905 to play Beauty in Sleeping Beauty in Bristol.

In 1905 to 1906, Zena Dare was hired by producer George Edwardes to play three roles at The Prince of Wales Theatre in London: the title role in Lady Madcap, Lady Elizabeth Congress in The Little Cherub and the title role in The Girl on Stage.

Zena Dare left Edwardes' company in 1906 to play Betty Silverthorne in Hicks' The Beauty of Bath at the Aldwych Theatre.

Zena Dare spent 1908 and the beginning of 1909 touring both in The Gay Gordons, this time in the lead role of Peggy Quainton, and in Sweet and Twenty, among other pieces.

Zena Dare spent the better part of 1910 touring as Duc de Richelieu in The Dashing Little Duke, before returning to the Hippodrome to perform in The Model and the Man.

Eager to help the war effort during World War I, Zena Dare nursed injured soldiers for three years at Mrs Vanderbilt's American Hospital in France.

In 1926, after fifteen years away from the stage, Zena Dare played the title role of Mrs Cheyney in The Last of Mrs Cheyney at Golders Green, London and then on tour.

Zena Dare began her own theatre company in 1928 and toured South Africa in The High Road, The Trial of Mary Dugan, The Squeaker and Other Men's Wives.

Zena Dare returned from her tour at the end of 1929 and took over the management of the Haymarket Theatre, where she played Mrs Fraser in The First Mrs Fraser.

In 1933, Zena Dare began her long association with Ivor Novello, playing his mother in Proscenium at the Globe Theatre.

In 1941 at the Globe Theatre, Zena Dare played Lady Caroline in a revival of Dear Brutus.

Zena Dare rejoined Novello at the Hippodrome in 1945, taking over the part of Charlotte Fayre in Perchance to Dream.

In 1954, again at the Palace, Zena Dare played Julia Ward Mckinlock in Sabrina Fair.

Zena Dare was the only one of the principal performers to stay for the complete run, followed by a season on tour.

Zena Dare's films included the silent films No 5 John Street and A Knight in London Zena Dare's "talkies" included The Return of Carol Deane and Over the Moon.

Zena Dare appeared in several television movies in England including: Spring Meeting, Barbie, The Burning Glass and An Ideal Husband.