Wikipedia

Ethel Warwick

Ethel Maude Warwick (13 October 1882 – 12 September 1951) was a British stage actress, appearing in both plays and films.[1] Warwick was also a model for several artists, prominently for John William Godward.

Ethel Warwick
Photograph from 1924
Born13 October 1882
Hardingstone, Northampton, United Kingdom
Died12 September 1951 (1951-09-13) (aged 68)
Bognor Regis
Occupations
  • Artists model
  • Actress
Years active1900–1936
SpouseEdmund Waller (m. 1906; d. 1915)

Biography

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Early years

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Ethel Maude Warwick was a daughter of Frank and Maude Warwick, and was born in Hardingstone, Northampton, on 13 October 1882. Her education began in Margate and Hampstead, but by the early 1890s she was studying to become an artist at the London Polytechnic.

Ethel became an artists model to help pay for her tuition at the London Polytechnic,[2] which led to her meeting Herbert Draper; Draper used her as a model for several of his paintings, including The Lament for Icarus.[3] Through him she became a favoured model for several artists, including John William Godward and Linley Sambourne, for whom she posed nude in a series of photographic studies.[2] She was also sketched by James McNeill Whistler.

Acting career

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Despite training to become an artist, Warwick instead began to take part in acting lessons at Henry Neville’s acting school during the late 1890s, and in July 1900 she made her debut by starring in The Corsican Brothers as Emilie de L'Esparre at the Grande Theatre, in Fulham.[4]

Though still an artists model, Warwick continued to pose for many studies, photographs and portraits. During this time, she was most notably posing for Herbert Draper. However, on 24 March 1906, Warwick married Edmund Waller, and therefore discontinued her modelling.[2]

Edmund and Ethel had stage grandeur at the time of their marriage, and embarked on a worldwide tour together—in 1910 did they arrive at London. Whilst living at London they took management over the Queen's Theatre.[2]

 
A photograph of Warwick, ca. 1930

In 1915 Warwick and Waller divorced, which, upon Ethel’s extravagant lifestyle, caused her to go bankrupt in 1923. Warwick still acted after this, and was well-known at the New Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Death

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Ethel died in a Bognor Regis nursing home on 12 September 1951,[5] presumably due to lung cancer.[citation needed]

Selected filmography

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Appearances in art

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References

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  1. ^ Low, p.279
  2. ^ a b c d "John William Godward- Study of a head in drapery, Miss Ethel Warwick". Sothebys. Retrieved 31 March 2019.
  3. ^ Toll, Simon (Autumn 2001). "Ethel Warwick (1882-1951), artist's model and actress: The life and career of a real-life Trilby". The British Art Journal. 3 (1): 51–55. JSTOR 41614356.
  4. ^ Toll, Simon (Autumn 2001). "Ethel Warwick (1882-1951), artist's model and actress: The life and career of a real-life Trilby". The British Art Journal. 3 (1): 51–55. JSTOR 41614356.
  5. ^ "Obituary-Ethel Warwick- Actress of wide range". The Times. 13 September 1951. Gale Document Number: CS103238957. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Keepers of Youth (1932)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Letting in the Sunshine (1933)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 8 September 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  8. ^ "The Man Outside (1933)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Hydrangeas - Object Detail (PD.185-1975, id:3)". The Fitzwilliam Museum. 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Ethel Warwick asleep on a sofa-The Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler". University of Glasgow. Retrieved 1 April 2019.

Bibliography

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  • Low, Rachael. The History of British Film The History of the British Film 1914 - 1918. Routledge, 2013.
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