Gladys Morris

Gladys Mary Ellen Morris (28 July 1896 - 30 August 1979)

Orange County, California, U.S

was an English-American Broadway actress, who is best remembered for her performances in The Lady In Red, The Woman In Black, The Mousetrap, The Lady and The Pauper and But I'm A Lady, she also had minor roles in The Royals and A Life Gone By. She was married to Edwin Stewartson, who was her theatrical agent. As well as being an actress, Morris also was an egalitarian and fought for freedom of speech for women.

## Early life

Morris was born in Manchester, on the 28th July 1896, the oldest of her parents, who both came from Cornwall, she had one younger sister called Stella. Having left school at 12, she and her ten year old younger sister Stella, would join their mother and sew clothing, that they would sell to make money, whilst their father was at work. Beginning at the age of 13, Morris began to get a strong likeness for theatre, when her father took her and her mother and sister to watch a play at the local Midhurst Theatre in Stretford, though when telling her parents that she wanted to be an actress, her father told her that she would never make it, as he believed that you would have to be born into a rich family and unfortunately for them, they were poor. Though Morris did not let that stand in her way and given every opportunity, she would watch more plays with her friends.

## Career

It was not until 1918, that Morris began to perform in musicals, it all began when her then husband Albert King, bribed the musical's director Alfred Campbell, who gave Morris a very small role in his musical Keep Up With The Dandelions, which she enjoyed and knew that she did not want to do anything else, apart from appearing on stage, the director told Morris, that she had talent and wanted her to appear in his next musical Say Hello Before You Die, which she was given a bigger part in, but not a leading role. Due to Alfred Campbell referring Morris to other directors, she was given more opportunities to appear in bigger musicals and plays, one of which was in 1919, when she was given her first leading role in the musical Dance Before You Fly, which she played a character called Evelyn Thomas. Though she enjoyed her work, she could not help but feel somewhat remorse that the musicals were only local in the city of Northumberland and never travelled to other cities to perform, which she wanted to do. In 1920 however, she was given her second major role in the play Let Us Dance Today, which was seen by Edwin Stewartson, who was an American theatrical agent, who had toured England for two years, looking for new actresses, to appear an upcoming musical in California, called The Lady In Red. Morris began to spend more time with Stewartson and over a time she began to get attracted to him, as she knew that he could give her the life, that her husband Albert could never give her. When Stewartson gave more information about The Lady In Red musical, he told her that it was in California for four years, but it was a once in a lifetime chance and that he had to return to America within a matter of weeks, she accepted his invitation and filed for divorce from her husband, which Stewartson paid to be finalised quickly, before they flew off to the United States, leaving her children behind and never seeing them again. Morris lived with Stewartson in his eight bedroom mansion in Orange County, they married the following year. Due to Stewartson finding Morris leading roles in musicals and plays, she began to get more attention from the public, who began to adore her. In 1928, she was given the leading role in the upcoming play, The Woman In Black, which she played the character Grace Morgan, who was a black widow, that kept the secret, that she was a killer, from her daughter, who was getting married and wanted her father to be at her wedding. In 1932, she then appeared in her third major role in California, in The Mousetrap, that she toured America with. In 1935, she was given her fourth big role in The Lady and The Pauper, which reflected her marriage to Albert King. In 1940, she was given her fifth but final leading role, in the musical But I'm A Lady, as she believed that she was too old to play the main character, though she did not stop acting and appeared in The Royals and A Life Gone By, which also reflected her marriage to Albert. She continued to play minor characters until 1962, when she gave up acting, at the age of 66.

## Stage credits

### Title Year Role

Keep Up With The Dandelions 1918 Flower Seller

Dance Before You Fly Evelyn Thomas

Say Hello Before You Die 1919 Krystal White

Let Us Dance Today 1920 Krystal Carrington

The Lady In Red 1921 Demetria Morris

The Woman In Black 1928 Grace Morgan

The Mousetrap 1932 Rosaline Hart

The Lady and The Pauper 1935 Susannah Johnston

But I'm A Lady 1940 Bernadette Ridgman

The Royals 1959 Evie Cowell

A Life Gone By 1960 Janice Taylor

## Marriage and children

Morris married twice, her first husband was Albert King, who she met in 1914, at the Maltings Theatre, in Northumberland, North East England, where they both watched a play together, they married the following year, in the same city and had four children together named Jeffrey(b. 1917), Julia(b. 1918), Thomas(b. 1919) and Steven(b. 1920). Her marriage to King only lasted for five years, but he supported her in her acting career, which he made happen, when bribing Alfred Campbell, who directed the musical, that Morris first appeared in. Though successful, Morris was not happy in her marriage to King, as she wanted bigger things, that he could never offer and whilst she loved him and their children, it did not stop her leaving them behind, when she moved to California, with her agent Edwin Stewartson, who she met, after the musical Let Us Dance Today ended. Morris and Stewartson married in California, in 1921, their ceremony was held at Queen Elizabeth Cathedral. Her marriage to Stewartson made her famous, he gave her the life, that her father never thought she would have, but he was also the main reason, why she had to leave her family and friends behind. Morris and Stewart's marriage lasted for thirty-eight years, before Stewartson died in 1959, from a heart attack, which was caused by a tightness in the chest, Morris honoured her husband's life, by scattering his ashes from a balcony, which was watched by thousands, though she saved a little, which she scattered around Clarke Lake and privately said goodbye to him.

## Death

On the evening of 29th August 1979, Morris attended an award ceremony in New York City, where she gave a public speech on stage, referring to her husband and agent Edwin Stewartson, however, whilst giving the speech, Morris began to have blackouts, which made her slur her words, she felt a tight chest pain, which she had to place her right hand on and began to have shortness of breath, though she was helped off stage by the staff at the Westworth Theatre. When being flown back to her house in Orange County, where she lived alone, with the gardener visiting everyday. Whilst in the helicopter, the chest pains worsened and carried on until the following morning, when she walked into her living room and blacked-out, the moment that she collapsed onto the floor, was the moment she died, she was found approximately twenty-five minutes later, by the gardener, who looked through the patio door and saw her lying on the ground, the gardener called for an ambulance and she died whilst on the way to the hospital. With no family left, all her belongings was sold at auction, including her house, which was auctioned at four and a half million dollars.

Morris was buried at Orange County Southern Cemetery.