A promising star first with the Metropolitan Opera then on the Broadway
and London stages, soprano Mary Ellis had little chance to prove
herself as either a musical or dramatic film star with only a few
creaky vehicles left for audiences to ponder. Her versatility on stage,
however, was extensive, ranging from heavy doses of Shakespeare and
Eugene O'Neill to the Restoration comedies
of Sheridan and the light operettas of
Oscar Hammerstein.
Born May Belle Elsas on June 15, 1897 of humble means in New York City,
her family had emigrated to the States earlier from Alsace. Her father
eventually prospered as a successful paper merchant. Mary inherited many
artistic leanings from her mother who was a gifted pianist. She
initially delved into painting before the desire to dedicate herself to
song took hold. Studying with Madame Ashworth, Mary had the makings
of a great classical singer and was offered a multiple year contract
with the Metropolitan Opera company at the age of 21. Given the stage
name of Mary Ellis by the company, she made her debut with Puccini's
"Suor Angelica" (1918) and went on to appear in "The Blue Bird" and
"Boris Gudunov", among others. Arguably the highlights of her brief
operatic career include her appearances opposite the legendary tenor
Enrico Caruso in his final performance
(Christmas Eve, 1920) of "The Elixir of Love" (he died the following
year of pneumonia), and the renowned prima donna
Geraldine Farrar in "Louise". However,
in 1922, Mary's burgeoning desire to act on the legitimate stage took
over and, against all advice, left the Met in 1922 to pursue her "new
dream".
Already a name in opera, Mary joined the
David Belasco theatre company.
Belasco produced and directed her in her first Broadway production "The
Merchant of Venice". A lovely, vibrant presence on stage, she
subsequently appeared in "Casanova" and "The Merry Wives of Gotham",
but did not become a full-fledged star until playing the titular
heroine in Hammerstein's operetta "Rose-Marie". Career-threatening
problems incurred when the impulsive Mary decided to leave the show
before her tightly binding contract with Hammerstein was completed. As
a result, she was prevented from ever performing again as a singer in
America. She was now forced to return to high drama in straight plays.
She subsequently appeared in a series of Broadway productions
co-starring British actor Basil Sydney,
which included her playing of Katherine to his Petruchio in "The Taming
of the Shrew". Sydney became her third husband (following two
short-lived marriages) in 1929.
Unable to escape her career restrictions, she and Sydney moved to
England in 1931. She met with instantaneous success in O'Neill's epic
drama "Strange Interlude" the following year. She also became a lovely
muse for Ivor Novello on the 30s British
stage, as noted in their successful teaming of "Glamorous Night" (1935)
and "The Dancing Years" (1939). England gave her the opportunity to try
films and she starred in two in 1934, the drama
Bella Donna (1934) with
John Stuart,
Cedric Hardwicke and
Conrad Veidt, and in the musical
All the King's Horses (1935)
in which she played the Queen of Langenstein. She also managed to
return to America to star in the films
Paris in Spring (1935) and
Fatal Lady (1936). After filming her
stage triumph
Glamorous Night (1937)
co-starring Otto Kruger back in England, she
retired from the screen, unable to gain a strong footing.
Her marriage to Basil Sydney lasted but a
few years. Her fourth and last husband, Jock Muir Stewart Roberts, a
Scotsman, was a happy one until his tragic death twelve years later in
a 1950 mountain-climbing accident. A volunteer nurse during WWII, Mary
appeared sporadically on the post-war stage (notably the Old Vic) in
such successful productions as "John Gabriel Borkman", "The School for
Scandal", "The Browning Version" and "Hattie Stowe" in which she
portrayed Harriet Beecher Stowe. After her husband's death she was seen
less and less and took her last curtain call in "Mrs. Warren's
Profession" in 1970. Isolated film appearances included
Der wunderbare Flimmerkasten (1951) and
Die drei Welten des Gulliver (1960).
Mary was seen briefly as late as the 1990s playing octogenarian roles,
and during her twilight years published two autobiographies: Those
Dancing Years (1982) and Moments of Truth (1986). Mary, who was
childless, died in London at the ripe old age of 105 on January 30,
2003.
