Theatre Register

Jessie Matthews

Shows · Jessie Matthews

Actor 1907–1981 On stage 19241929

Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer who rose to fame in the 1920s and 1930s, with her career continuing into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, such as Evergreen, Matthews developed a following in the United States, where she was dubbed "The Dancing Divinity". Her British studio was reluctant to let go of its biggest name, however, which resulted in offers for her to work in Hollywood being repeatedly rejected. After the decline of her film career, Matthews achieved a comeback in her native Britain when she took over the role of Mary Dale in the popular BBC Radio serial The Dale…

On stage 2 productions, 5 years

1924 Andre Charlot’s Revue Of 1924 Times Square Theatre · Original · directed by Andre Charlot 298 perf.
1929 Wake Up and Dream Selwyn Theatre · Original · directed by Hassard Short 136 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

Worked with more than once3 names

Wyn Clare 2 productions
Marjorie Brooks 2 productions
Jack Buchanan 2 productions

Both names in the same cast list, more than once. It is not evidence of a partnership — a long-running company puts the same forty people together every night — but it is where one would start looking. 2 of these names are not links because we hold no record behind them; the name is set from the identifier and its punctuation may be wrong.

Also credited on1 work

Andre Charlot’s Revue Of 1924

These come off the person record, which names a work and not a production. So we can say this name is attached to the work and we cannot say which staging, or in what capacity. For a composer or a writer that is the whole career we hold; there is no cast list to find them in.

In the literature8 passages

  • Cast: Beatrice Lillie, Gertrude Lawrence, Jack Buchanan, Douglas Furber, Herbert Mundin, Jessie Matthews, Constance Carpenterebooks/Green, Stanley/Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell.txt
  • I think this is essential in understanding both works. In The Boy Friend we don’t look at Polly Browne and think Jessie Matthews, Sepha Treble, Binnie Hale. Polly is Polly , a sort of embodiment of something we can’t pin down to any individual. We have a vague idea that she is somehow typical of a 1920s heroine, even though some of them h…ebooks/Wright, Adrian/Tanner's Worth of Tune_ Rediscovering the post-war British Musical, A - Adrian Wright.txt
  • PC: Sally : Jessie Matthews; Maxie : Richard Hearne; Gaston de Frey : André Randall; Tom Blair : Frank Leighton; Rosie Roxie : Elsie Percival; Diamond Jim Brady : Jack Morrison; Lillian Russell : Linda Grayebooks/Wright, Adrian/West End Broadway_ The Golden Age of the American Musical in London - Adrian Wright.txt
  • young Jessie Matthews, understudying Gertie, was able to hnd much magic backstage: Itheatre-pdfs/Gertrude Lawrence - Sheridan Morley.txt
  • not a great applause-getter. In the heat of a Broadway July she began to get tired of it; sending the costume up to Jessie Matthews in the understudies’theatre-pdfs/Gertrude Lawrence - Sheridan Morley.txt
  • New York run ‘Parisian Pierrot’ was duly sung by Jessie Matthews. Early in September they finally closed at the Selwyn; business was stilltheatre-pdfs/Gertrude Lawrence - Sheridan Morley.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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