# Margaret Halstan

Margaret Halstan (25 December 1879 – 8 January 1967) was a British stage, radio, television and film actress. In theatre and film roles she often played upper-class ladies of the gentry, with a career spanning over six decades. She was particularly known for her Shakespearian roles, having debuted in 1895. At the turn of the century she joined Sir Frank Benson's theatre company, and also played in the theatrical companies of Sir George Alexander and Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, before making her debut in silent films in 1916.

## Biography

She was born Clara Maud Hertz in Greater London in 1879, of apparently Jewish descent and later used the stage name Margaret Halstan. Her parents were Henry Anthony Hertz and his wife Elizabeth Maud.
Before becoming a professional actor, Halstan performed as an amateur with the Strolling Players and the Bancroft Amateur Dramatic Society. She performed in a show titled Beethoven's Romance at the Royalty Theatre on 1 December 1894. Halstan made her first professional stage appearance at the Haymarket Theatre on 30 October 1895, as a walk-on in Trilby. She was fluent in English, German, and French, and performed on stage in all three languages. Halstan also acted in BBC radio productions such as the 1938 radio adaptation of the novel If I Were You, and the 1940 radio adaptation of the short story "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime".
Halstan married lawyer John Hartman Morgan in 1905.

## Theatre

| Show | Dates | Theatre | Role |
| Antony and Cleopatra | 24 May – 5 June 1897 | Olympic Theatre | Octavia |
| My "Soldier" Boy | 3 January – 18 March 1899 | Criterion Theatre | Geraldine |
| You Never Can Tell | 26 November 1899 | Royalty Theatre | Gloria Clandon |
| The Wisdom of the Wise | 22 November 1900 – 12 January 1901 | St James's Theatre | Mrs. Tommie Bistern |
| Das große Licht | 16 December – 22 December 1902 | Great Queen Street Theatre | Charlotte Eggers |
| The Good Hope | 26–27 April 1903 | Imperial Theatre | Jo |
| Ina | 15–17 May 1904 | Royal Court Theatre | Ina |
| Othello | 12 January 1907 | Queen’s Theatre, Manchester | Desdemona |
| The Rights of the Soul | 21–22 February 1909 | Kingsway Theatre | Anna |
| What the Public Wants | 2 May – 26 June 1909 | Aldwych Theatre and Royalty Theatre | Emily Vernon |
| Twelfth Night | 8 January 1910 | Queen’s Theatre, Manchester | Viola |
| A Fool There Was | 21 March – 13 May 1911 | Queen’s Theatre and Aldwych Theatre | The Wife |
| Arms and the Man | 18 May – 1 July 1911 | Criterion Theatre | Raina |
| The Man of Destiny | 28 January 1912 | Savoy Theatre | Strange Lady |
| The Gold Thread | 7 November 1912 | Royal Court Theatre, London | Mrs. Innes |
| A Scrap of Paper | 16 June – 25 July 1914 | Criterion Theatre | Lucy, Lady Icebrook |
| The Stormy Petrel | 30 September – 9 October 1915 | Criterion Theatre | Frances Weir |
| As You Like It | 24 January 1916 | Queen’s Theatre, Manchester | Rosalind |
| Where Is He? | 4 September 1916 | Gaiety Theatre, Manchester | Marged |
| The House of Peril | 8 March – 7 June 1919 | Queen's Theatre | Anna Wolsky |
| Brown Sugar | 7 July 1920 – 19 February 1921 | Duke of York's Theatre and Garrick Theatre | Lady Honoria Nesbitt |
| The Desire for Change | 26 October – 14 November 1925 | Playhouse Theatre | Countess Sucha |
| The Blue Kitten | 23 December 1925 – 24 April 1926 | Gaiety Theatre, London and London Pavilion | Mme Lucile Popp |
| The Lady-in-Law | 29 September – 12 November 1927 | Wyndham's Theatre | Magda Kramsen |
| Wooden Shoes | 13 November – 13 December 1930 | Kingsway Theatre | Trine Krebs |
| The Young Idea | 31 August – 24 October 1931 | St Martin's Theatre | Julia Craigworthy |
| The Admirable Crichton | 28 October – 23 December 1943 | His Majesty's Theatre, London | Countess of Brocklehurst |
| The Dark Lady of the Sonnets | 28 November 1944 – 17 January 1945 | Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith | The Lady |
| Pygmalion | 12 December 1944 – 20 January 1945 | Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith | Mrs. Higgins |
| The Holly and the Ivy | 28 March – 29 April 1950 | Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith | Aunt Lydia |
| The Holly and the Ivy | 10 May 1950 – 5 May 1951 | Duchess Theatre | Aunt Lydia |
| Indian Summer | 12 December – 29 December 1951 | Criterion Theatre | Muriel Petersham |
| The Children's Hour | 19 September – 28 October 1956 | Arts Theatre | Amelia Tilford |
| My Fair Lady | 30 April 1958 – 19 October 1963 | Theatre Royal, Drury Lane | Queen of Transylvania |

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1916 | A Bunch of Violets | Lady Marchant | |
| 1917 | Profit and the Loss | Unknown role | |
| 1922 | Tell Your Children | Lady Sybil Edwards | |
| 1922 | Brown Sugar | Honoria Nesbitt | Performed the same role in the 1920 play |
| 1930 | The Middle Watch | Lady Agatha Hewitt | |
| 1931 | The Beggar Student | Countess Novalska | |
| 1935 | Drake of England | Lady Sydenham | |
| 1940 | Old Mother Riley in Society | Duchess | |
| 1941 | Quiet Wedding | Lady Yeldham | |
| 1942 | The Black Sheep of Whitehall | Matron | |
| 1952 | The Holly and the Ivy | Aunt Lydia | Performed the same role in the 1950 play |
| 1953 | Blood Orange | Lady Marchant | |
| 1955 | Touch and Go | Mrs. Pritchett | |