HER PRIVATE LIFE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 426, 22 August 1947, Page 17

HER PRIVATE LIFE

A STAR DANCED. By Gertrude Lawrence. . Invincible Press. ERTRUDE LAWRENCE, the "= British revue actress, is -not well \ . known to New Zealanders except as a name in the theatrical world; but to Londoners and New Yorkers she is one of the great entertainers. She is now 46 years old, and though that age need not

mean the decline of an actress, she has been able to rest on her laurels long enough to write her biography, running to 247 pages. She has appeared in a few films seen in ‘New Zealand, but she is better known to us through broadcasts of her recordings, notably with Noel Coward, in excerpts from his Private Lives. She tells frankly of the skimpy financial days of her Kennington childhood; of her first big chance when a group of British Tommies of. World War I subscribed the cash for her fare to London to appear in an Andre Charlot revue; of her domestic affairs, and of her work with ENSA during World War Il. Her 40 years oi stage life started in a familiar way-a childish song trilled for a sovereign with a seaside concert party. It was actually that song that launched her into one of the most competitive of all professions. The highlight of her career came when Charlot made her a star in England, and when Archie Selwyn, who took the Charlot revue to New York, established three Anglo-American stars in one nightGertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Jack Buchanan. The book tells of her successes, but omits none of her failures. Sixteen photographs are included for the benefit of those readers who like visual evidence of the changes from adolescence to maturity in a famous personality.

E.R.

B.