Margaret Halstan

Margaret Halstan (25 December 1879^[1] – 8 January 1967^[2]) was a British stage, radio, television and film actress. In theatre and film roles she often played upper-class ladies of the gentry, with a career spanning over six decades.^[1] She was particularly known for her Shakespearian roles, having debuted 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.^[3]

Margaret Halstan
Margaret Halstan, from a 1904 publication
Born	Clara Maud Hertz 25 December 1879 (1879-12-25) London
Died	8 January 1967 (1967-01-09) (aged 87) Hornchurch, Greater London
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1895-1963
Spouse	John Hartman Morgan ​ ​ (m. 1905; died 1955)​

Biography

She was born Clara Maud Hertz in Greater London in 1879, of apparently Jewish descent^[3] and later used the stage name Margaret Halstan.^[4][5] Her parents were Henry Anthony Hertz and his wife Elizabeth Maud.^[1]

Before becoming a professional actor, Halstan performed as an amateur with the Strolling Players and the Bancroft Amateur Dramatic Society.^[1] She performed in a show titled Beethoven's Romance at the Royalty Theatre on 1 December 1894.^[6] Halstan made her first professional stage appearance at the Haymarket Theatre on 30 October 1895, as a walk-on in Trilby.^[1] She was fluent in English, German, and French, and performed on stage in all three languages.^[7][8] Halstan also acted in BBC radio productions such as the 1938 radio adaptation of the novel If I Were You,^[9] and the 1940 radio adaptation of the short story "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime".^[10]

Halstan married lawyer John Hartman Morgan in 1905.^[11]

Theatre

Show	Dates	Theatre	Role	Ref(s)
Antony and Cleopatra	24 May – 5 June 1897	Olympic Theatre	Octavia	[6]
My "Soldier" Boy	3 January – 18 March 1899	Criterion Theatre	Geraldine	[6]
You Never Can Tell	26 November 1899	Royalty Theatre	Gloria Clandon	[12]
The Wisdom of the Wise	22 November 1900 – 12 January 1901	St James's Theatre	Mrs. Tommie Bistern	[13]
Das große Licht	16 December – 22 December 1902	Great Queen Street Theatre	Charlotte Eggers	[13]
The Good Hope	26–27 April 1903	Imperial Theatre	Jo	[12]
Ina	15–17 May 1904	Royal Court Theatre	Ina	[12]
Othello	12 January 1907	Queen’s Theatre, Manchester	Desdemona	[14]
The Rights of the Soul	21–22 February 1909	Kingsway Theatre	Anna	[13]
What the Public Wants	2 May – 26 June 1909	Aldwych Theatre and Royalty Theatre	Emily Vernon	[12]
Twelfth Night	8 January 1910	Queen’s Theatre, Manchester	Viola	[15]
A Fool There Was	21 March – 13 May 1911	Queen’s Theatre and Aldwych Theatre	The Wife	[16]
Arms and the Man	18 May – 1 July 1911	Criterion Theatre	Raina	[17]
The Man of Destiny	28 January 1912	Savoy Theatre	Strange Lady	[17]
The Gold Thread	7 November 1912	Royal Court Theatre, London	Mrs. Innes	[18]
A Scrap of Paper	16 June – 25 July 1914	Criterion Theatre	Lucy, Lady Icebrook	[17]
The Stormy Petrel	30 September – 9 October 1915	Criterion Theatre	Frances Weir	[17]
As You Like It	24 January 1916	Queen’s Theatre, Manchester	Rosalind	[19]
Where Is He?	4 September 1916	Gaiety Theatre, Manchester	Marged	[19]
The House of Peril	8 March – 7 June 1919	Queen's Theatre	Anna Wolsky	[17]
Brown Sugar	7 July 1920 – 19 February 1921	Duke of York's Theatre and Garrick Theatre	Lady Honoria Nesbitt	[20]
The Desire for Change	26 October – 14 November 1925	Playhouse Theatre	Countess Sucha	[20]
The Blue Kitten	23 December 1925 – 24 April 1926	Gaiety Theatre, London and London Pavilion	Mme Lucile Popp	[20]
The Lady-in-Law	29 September – 12 November 1927	Wyndham's Theatre	Magda Kramsen	[20]
Wooden Shoes	13 November – 13 December 1930	Kingsway Theatre	Trine Krebs	[21]
The Young Idea	31 August – 24 October 1931	St Martin's Theatre	Julia Craigworthy	[21]
The Admirable Crichton	28 October – 23 December 1943	His Majesty's Theatre, London	Countess of Brocklehurst	[22]
The Dark Lady of the Sonnets	28 November 1944 – 17 January 1945	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	The Lady	[22]
Pygmalion	12 December 1944 – 20 January 1945	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Mrs. Higgins	[22]
The Holly and the Ivy	28 March – 29 April 1950	Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith	Aunt Lydia	[23]
The Holly and the Ivy	10 May 1950 – 5 May 1951	Duchess Theatre	Aunt Lydia	[23]
Indian Summer	12 December – 29 December 1951	Criterion Theatre	Muriel Petersham	[23]
The Children's Hour	19 September – 28 October 1956	Arts Theatre	Amelia Tilford	[23]
My Fair Lady	30 April 1958 – 19 October 1963	Theatre Royal, Drury Lane	Queen of Transylvania	[23]

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[20]
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[23]
1953	Blood Orange	Lady Marchant
1955	Touch and Go	Mrs. Pritchett

References

1. Parker, John (1939). Who's Who in the Theatre: A Biographical Record of the Contemporary Stage (ninth ed.). New York: Pitman Publishing Company. p. 744.
2. "Obituary". The Stage. 12 January 1967. p. 15.
3. "Margaret Halston: Beautiful Shakespearian Actress and Film Star". The Cabinet Card Gallery. 2017-07-18. Retrieved 2020-12-27 – via cabinetcardgallery.com.
4. Mills, Steve (2019). The Dawn of the Drone: From the Back-Room Boys of World War One. Casemate. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-61200-790-8.
5. Room, Adrian (2014). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (5th ed.). McFarland. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-7864-4373-4.
6. Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1890–1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Scarecrow Press. pp. 232, 342, 401. ISBN 978-0-8108-9282-8.
7. The Royal Magazine, Volume 7. London: C. Arthur Pearson Ltd. 1902. p. 311.
8. The Royal Magazine, Volume 12. London: C. Arthur Pearson Ltd. 1904. p. 291.
9. "'IF I WERE YOU'". BBC Genome: Radio Times. BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
10. "Oscar Wilde's famous story 'LORD ARTHUR SAVILE'S CRIME'". BBC Genome: Radio Times. BBC. Retrieved 16 December 2020.
11. Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News, Volume 63. George S. Maddick. 1905. p. 740.
12. The Incorporated Stage Society (1909). Ten Years 1899 to 1909. Chiswick Press.
13. Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1900–1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 36, 123, 453. ISBN 978-0-8108-9294-1.
14. Carson, L. The Stage Year Book 1908. Carson & Comerford, Ltd.
15. Carson, L. (1911). The Stage Year Book 1911. London: The Stage.
16. Carson, L. (1912). The Stage Year Book 1912. London: The Stage.
17. Wearing, J. P. (2013). The London Stage 1910–1919: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2nd ed.). Scarecrow Press. pp. 81, 123, 212, 278, 288, 345, 374, 499. ISBN 978-0-8108-9299-6.
18. Carson, L. (1913). The Stage Year Book 1913. London: The Stage.
19. Carson, L. (1917). The Stage Year Book 1917.
20. Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1920–1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 42, 395, 410, 541. ISBN 978-0-8108-9302-3.
21. Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1930–1939: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 67, 140. ISBN 978-0-8108-9304-7.
22. Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1940–1949: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 129, 177, 178. ISBN 978-0-8108-9306-1.
23. Wearing, J. P. (2014). The London Stage 1950–1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel (2nd ed.). Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 13, 20, 137, 454, 568. ISBN 978-0-8108-9308-5.