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Biography
Sir Gerald du Maurier (1873-1934), the British actor-manager, was the son of George Du Maurier, the author of Trilby and the first Captain Hook in Peter Pan.
He made his stage debut at the Garrick Theatre in 1894 and toured with Forbes-Robertson’s company. On 1895, he joined Beerbohm Tree at the Haymarket and, in that year, played a small part in the dramatisation of his father’s novel. In the years he spent with Tree' company, he received a firm grounding and a growing reputation as an actor with an easy, natural style.
He first achieved public popularity at the Duke of York's Theatre under Charles Frohman, in the premiere of Barrie's The Admirable Crichton (1902). Also in the cast was Muriel Beaumont (1881-1957), whom he married shortly afterwards. At the same theatre, he also created the part of Mr. Darling and Captain Hook in the first production of Barrie's Peter Pan (1904).
His popularity grew even more after his move to the Comedy Theatre in 1906. During his stay there, he played the lead roles in Raffles, Arsene Lupin (1909) and Paul Armstrong’s Alias Jimmie Valentine (1910). He then took over the management of Wyndham's Theatre where he appeared in a series of highly successful light comedies, although he also played the lead part in his third Barrie premiere - Will Dearth in Dear Brutus (1917). A few years later, he played the part that consolidated his fame, the title role in Sapper's Bulldog Drummond (1921).
The following year, he was knighted for his services to the theatre in 1922. His daughter, the novelist Daphne Du Maurier (1907-89), wrote her father’s biography, Gerald, a Portrait (1934).
| Items for Sale on Collectors' Post |
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| 014648 |
Theatre: Programs (UK) - pre 1940 | INTERFERENCE (by Roland Pertwee & Harold Dearden) with GERALD du MAURIER |
| 012761 |
Theatre: Photos - Signed | GERALD DU MAURIER - signed postcard |
| 012831 |
Theatre: Photos - Signed | GERALD DU MAURIER - signed postcard |
| 016072 |
Theatre: Postcards - Pre 1920 | ENID BELL, GERALD DU MAURIER & OLIVE HARVEY in 'The Dust of Egypt' - postcard |
| 016110 |
Theatre: Postcards - Pre 1920 | HENRIETTA WATSON as Dulcie Elstead & GERALD DU MAURIER as Thomas Pelling in 'The Perplexed Husband' - postcard |
| 016120 |
Theatre: Postcards - Pre 1920 | MARIE TEMPEST & GERALD DU MAURIER |
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