Meggie Albanesi

Margherita Cecilia Brigida Lucia Maria Albanesi (8 October 1899—9 December 1923) was a British stage and film actress.

Meggie Albanesi
Meggie Albanesi in 1922
Born
Margherita Cecilia Brigida Lucia Maria Albanesi

(1899-10-08)8 October 1899
London, England
Died9 December 1923(1923-12-09) (aged 24)
Broadstairs, Kent, England
Alma materRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
OccupationActress
Years active1919–1923
RelativesCarlo Albanesi (father)
Effie Adelaide Rowlands (mother)

Life and career

She was born in London on 8 October 1899. Her father was Italian-born Carlo Albanesi (1856-1926), a pianist and teacher at Royal Academy of Music, while her mother was Effie Adelaide Rowlands, a writer who published over 100 romance novels.[1] She attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and appeared on the stage in The School for Scandal, Mr. Todd's Experiment and A Pair of Spectacles. She appeared in small film roles in The Romance of Old Bill, Darby and Joan and Mr. Wu.[1]

She enjoyed a successful theatre career, starring in plays such as Galsworthy's The First and the Last, opposite Owen Nares. She was soon being hailed by critics as one of the brightest prospects in British acting.[2]

Death
Portrait by Henry B. Goodwin, 1922

After making just six films,[3] Albanesi died at the age of 24 in Broadstairs, Kent, on 9 December 1923, of intestinal obstruction and laparotomy, allegedly as a result of an illegal abortion.[4][5] She was buried in St Pancras Cemetery in central London.[6]

Albanesi had a relationship with the theatre and film producer Basil Dean who continued to be obsessed with her after her death.[7] Dean was first attracted to his wife the actress Victoria Hopper because of her physical resemblance to Albanesi and cast her in a number of his productions. His final film as a director 21 Days was based on a play, The First and the Last on which he had worked with Albanesi.[8]

Dean commissioned Eric Gill to create a memorial plaque to Albanesi, which can be seen in the foyer of the St Martin's Theatre, West Street, London.[9] Her friend Noël Coward dedicated the first published text of his play The Rat Trap to the "dear memory of Meggie Albanesi" in 1924.[1]

Selected filmography

References
  1. Dorney, Kate (2018). "Albanesi, Margherita Cecilia Brigida Lucia Maria [Meggie] (1899–1923), actress". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. doi:10.1093/odnb/9780198614128.013.62700.
  2. Chambers p. 15
  3. "Albanesi, Margherita". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 22 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  4. "Obituary: Victoria Hopper". The Telegraph. 5 March 2007. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  5. Hoare, Philip. "Carleton, Billie (1896–1918)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
  6. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of Over 14000 Famous Persons by Scott Wilson
  7. Sweet p. 117
  8. Sweet pp. 142–43.
  9. 'Remember Meggie Albanesi', London Walking Tours

Bibliography
  • Chambers, Colin (2002). Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre. Continuum. ISBN 978-1847140012.
  • Sweet, Matthew (2006). Shepperton Babylon: The Lost Worlds of British Cinema. Faber & Faber. ISBN 978-0571212989.
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