Margaret Halstan (25 December 1879 – 8 January 1967) was a British stage and screen actress, who often played upper-class ladies of the gentry, with a career spanning over six decades.
She was particularly known for her Shakespearian roles, and it has been stated she appeared in every one of his plays, she was particularly noted for her role in Othello as Desdemona, she made her professional debut 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 Halstan was born Clara Maud Hertz in London, England on Christmas Day 1879, of apparently Jewish descent. and later used the professional 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 professional West End stage debut 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".
She made the easy transition to film roles debuting in the 1916 silent A Bunch of Violets and subsequently appearing in sound pictures.
She also played the elderly aunt Lydia, who comes to visit her family in Norfolk at Christmas, in the seasonal feature The Holy and the Ivy, in 1952 starring Ralph Richardson and was one of two actors to have also played the stage version in 1950.
Personal life Halstan married lawyer John Hartman Morgan in 1905.
Theatre Show Dates Theatre Role Antony and Cleopatra24 May – 5 June 1897Olympic TheatreOctaviaMy "Soldier" Boy3 January – 18 March 1899Criterion TheatreGeraldineYou Never Can Tell26 November 1899Royalty TheatreGloria ClandonThe Wisdom of the Wise22 November 1900 – 12 January 1901St James's TheatreMrs. Tommie BisternDas große Licht16 December – 22 December 1902Great Queen Street TheatreCharlotte EggersThe Good Hope26–27 April 1903Imperial TheatreJoIna15–17 May 1904Royal Court TheatreInaOthello12 January 1907Queen’s Theatre, ManchesterDesdemonaThe Rights of the Soul21–22 February 1909Kingsway TheatreAnnaWhat the Public Wants2 May – 26 June 1909Aldwych Theatre and Royalty TheatreEmily VernonTwelfth Night8 January 1910Queen’s Theatre, ManchesterViolaA Fool There Was21 March – 13 May 1911Queen’s Theatre and Aldwych TheatreThe WifeArms and the Man18 May – 1 July 1911Criterion TheatreRainaThe Man of Destiny28 January 1912Savoy TheatreStrange LadyThe Gold Thread7 November 1912Royal Court Theatre, LondonMrs. InnesA Scrap of Paper16 June – 25 July 1914Criterion TheatreLucy, Lady IcebrookThe Stormy Petrel30 September – 9 October 1915Criterion TheatreFrances WeirAs You Like It24 January 1916Queen’s Theatre, ManchesterRosalindWhere Is He?4 September 1916Gaiety Theatre, ManchesterMargedThe House of Peril8 March – 7 June 1919Queen's TheatreAnna WolskyBrown Sugar7 July 1920 – 19 February 1921Duke of York's Theatre and Garrick TheatreLady Honoria NesbittThe Desire for Change26 October – 14 November 1925Playhouse TheatreCountess SuchaThe Blue Kitten23 December 1925 – 24 April 1926Gaiety Theatre, London and London PavilionMme Lucile PoppThe Lady-in-Law29 September – 12 November 1927Wyndham's TheatreMagda KramsenWooden Shoes13 November – 13 December 1930Kingsway TheatreTrine KrebsThe Young Idea31 August – 24 October 1931St Martin's TheatreJulia CraigworthyThe Admirable Crichton28 October – 23 December 1943His Majesty's Theatre, LondonCountess of BrocklehurstThe Dark Lady of the Sonnets28 November 1944 – 17 January 1945Lyric Theatre, HammersmithThe LadyPygmalion12 December 1944 – 20 January 1945Lyric Theatre, HammersmithMrs. HigginsThe Holly and the Ivy28 March – 29 April 1950Lyric Theatre, HammersmithAunt LydiaThe Holly and the Ivy10 May 1950 – 5 May 1951Duchess TheatreAunt LydiaIndian Summer12 December – 29 December 1951Criterion TheatreMuriel PetershamThe Children's Hour19 September – 28 October 1956Arts TheatreAmelia TilfordMy Fair Lady30 April 1958 – 19 October 1963Theatre Royal, Drury LaneQueen 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
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