FAVOURITE ACTRESS DEAD

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8358, 19 February 1913, Page 10

FAVOURITE ACTRESS DEAD

MISS MAUD HOBSON, THE ORIGINAL ALMA SOMERSET. AMUSING SCENE RECALLED. There has just passed away in London a well-remembered and favourite actress, whoso fine presence and genial method secured for her greater popularity than many artists of higher powers and ambitions have obtained. Miss Maud Hobson, an Australian by birth, was a ■member of the fast disappearing old Gaiety company, and, though she owed her appearance upon the. stage to the influence of her uncle, the late Mr John Hollingshead, sho was . possessed of sufficient ability to warrant a long succession of engagements under the managements of Mr George Edwardes, of Messrs A. and S. Gatti. of the Alhambra Company, and other conductors of theatres. Commencing with small parts in the days, just prior to 1885, when the “sacred lamp of burlesque” betrayed unmistakable signs of flickering, Miss Hobson, largely by reason of a handsome and pleasant face, retained her connection with the stage for many seasons. She was graced with a stately and majestic figure, and after leaving the chorus at the Gaiety married Captain Hayley, of the 11th Hussars, proceeding with him to Honolulu, where her husband acted as Chief Minister to King Kalakana of Hawaii, the consort of the Queen Lillukelarni, whoso name offered such tempting attractions to the punsters of tho period. These matters were not obtruded upon public notice when Miss Hobson, a few years later, quietly returned to London and recruited in the Gaiety ranks a second time, but the characters she sustained were not very prominent. Miss Hobson’s chief claim to remembrance lies in the circumstance that she was tho original Alma Somerset in the comedy “A Gaiety Girl,” produced at tlie Prince of Wales's Theatre in the autumn of 18i>3. It will be remembered that the piece caused a good deal of discussion and excitement at the outset. According to the evidence given before the Parliamentary Select Committee three j-ears ago. Mr Pigott, then Examiner of Plays, thought the authors intended to present the chaplain of Windsor Barracks on the stage, and a delay of a few days occurred before the license was obtained. Mr Edwardes warmly repudiated the suggestion of pillorying any public personage, and the play came out with the character in question a harmless clergyman, “I thought him very morose/’ said the manager, ‘‘so after a month or two I converted him into a doctor." A celebrated judge was also “identified” by some smart people, although there was no ground whatever for their wonderful discovery. , During the progress of “A Gaiety Girl” around the suburbs an amusing incident occurred. The touring comnany comprised a favourite baritone who had been rendered rather nervous by the presence of so many actors and actresses. So when it came to his lot to say, melodramatically, “I will neyer desert Alma Somerset,” ho electrified his hearers by protesting, "I will never desert Alma Stanley. This slip provoked shrieks of merriment, and Miss Stanley, who was a great stage favourite at that period, must have been astounded at the outburst of unselfish devotion. Miss Hobson appeared in a sketch at the Alhambra which ran for two nights only, but her performances in “Three Little Maids ’ and In Town” are pleasantly remembered, for all her work was genial and effective, and no one was belter able to set off the charms of beautiful dresses.